Daily capital journal. (Salem, Oregon) 1903-1919, 1908-05-13

ter occupied by our national life than
during the preceding six thousand
years that take us back to the earl
lest monuments of Egypt to the earl
lest cities of the Babylonian plain.
Rudiments Unchanged.
When the founders of this nation
met at Independence Hall in Phila-
delphia the conditions OF commerce
had not fundamentally changed from
what they were when the Phoenician
keels first furrowed the lonely wa
ters of the Mediterranean. The
differences we're those of degree, not
of kind, and they were not in all
cases even those of degree. Mining
was carried on fundamentally as VI
had been carried on by the Pharaohs
in the countries adjacent to the Red
Sea.
The wares OF the merchants OF Bos-
ton, of Charleston, like the wares
of the merchants of Nieveh and ST.
don, II they went by water, were
carried by boats propelled by sails or
oars; IL they went by land were car
ried in wagons drawn by beasts Of
draft or in packs on the backs OF
beasts of burden. The ships that
crossed the high seas were better
than the ships that 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 good as the roads OF the Ro-
man Empire, while the service Of
the posts was probably inferior.
In washington's time anthracite
coal was known only as a useless
black stone;a and the great fields OF
bituminous coal were undiscovered.
As steam was unknown, th' use OF
coal for power production was I'M
dreamed 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 a few small
iron deposits had been found In this
country, and the use OF iron by our
countrymen was very small. Wood
was practically the only fuel, and
what lumber was sawed was con-
sumed locally, while the forests were
regarded chiefly as distractions to
settlement and cultivation.
Such was the degree OF progress
to which civilized mankind had at
talned when this nation began Its
career. II is almost impossible for
us in this day to realize how little
our Revolutionary ancestors knew OF
the great store OF natural resources
whose discovery and use have been
such 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 needs.
Since then our knowledge and
USE OF THE RESOURCES OF the
present territory of the Unhed
States HAVE INCREASED A HUN
DRIED FOLD. Indeed. the growth
OF this nation by leaps and bounds
makes one OF the most striking and
important chapters in the history OF
the world. Its growth has been due
TO the rapid development, and alas!
that II should be said. to the rapid
destruction. OF our natural re-
sources Nature has supplied to us
in the United States. and still sup
plies 20 us. more kinds OF resources
In a more lavish degree than has
ever been the case at any other dime
or with any other people. Our posi-
tion In the world has been attained
by the extent and thoroughness of
the control we have achieved over
nature; but We are more, and not
less. dependent upon what she furn-
ishes than at any previous time OF
history since the days OF primitive
man.
Yet our fathers. though they knew
so little of the resources OF the
country, exercised wise fore
thought in reference thereto. Wash
ington clearly saw that the perpet-
uity OF the states could only be Sc
cured by union. and that the only
feasible basis of union was an econ
omic one.
II was In Philadelphia that the
representatives of all the states met
for what was In It's original con-
ception merely waterways confer
ence; but when they had closed their
deliberations the outcome was the
constitution which made the states
into a nation.
Discusses Constitution.