The Montgomery advertiser., 1908-05-14
COUNTRIES
 RESOURCES
tcontlnaed from Psss one.l


 of the world has gone on slowly, with. occasional setbacks, but on the whole steadily, through tens Of centuries to the present day. But of late the rapid fty of the process has increased at such q rate that more space has been act ualiy covered during the century ana a quarter occupied by our national life than during the preceding six thous- ends years that take us back to the earliest cities of the Babylonian plain
 Early Days of Republic.
 When the founders of this nation met at fndependence Hall In Phiiagei,, phia the conditions of commerneN had not fundamentally changed from what they were when the Phoenician keels first furrowed the lonely waters Of the Mediterranean. The differences were those of degree. not of kind, and they were not in all eases even those or dee gree. Mining was carried on funda- mentally as 1t had been carried on by the Pharaohs in the countries adjacent
 .aThe wares of the merchants of of the merchants of Nineveh and sidon; if they went by water. were caIrie1 by boats propelled by sails or oars: If they went by land were Sg. carried a. ,n , packs on the backs of beasts or biW' den. The ships that crossed the nigh seas were better than the snips tnat had once crossed the Aegean, but they were of the same type. after all-they were wooden ships propelled by sails; and on land. the roads were not as Dire, while the service of the posts was
 Tn Washington's time anthracite coal was known only as a useless black stone; and the great fields of bituminous coal were undiscovered. As steam was unknown. the use of coal for power production was undreamed of. Water was practically the only source of power. save the labor of men and animals and this power was used only in the most primitive fashion; But few small iron depositss had s use of iron by our countrymen was very small. Wood was practically the only fuel. and what lumber was sawed were regarded chiefly as obstructfons to settlement and cultivation.
 Such was the degree of progress to which civilized mankind had attained when this nation began its career It is almost impossible for us Tn this day 10 realize how little our revolutionary ancestors knew of the great store or or use have been sucn vital factors in the growth and greatness of this nation. and how little they. required to take from this store in order to satisfy their
 "since then our knowledge and use of the resources of the present terri ed d hundred-fold. Indeed. the growth of this nation by leaps and bounds makes one of the most striking and im- portant chapters in the history of the world. Its growth has been due to the rapid development. and alasi that 1t should be said, to the rapid destruction. of our natural resources. Nature has supplied to us in the United States. and still supplies to us. more kinds of resources in a more lavish degree than has ever been the case at any other time or with any other people. Our position in the world has been att tained by the extent and thoroughness of the control we have achieved over nature: but we are more. and not less, dependent upon what she furnishes than at any previous time of history since the days of primitive man.
 First Waterways Movement.
 'sYet our fathers. though they knew so little e6 the resources of the coun- try, exercised a wise forethought in reference thereto. Washington clearly