The Alaska daily empire., 1923-06-07
A QUESTION UF VISION.

In writing concerning the Louisiana Purchase the time of it's consummation Thopas Jefferson visua ized the United States century hence. He said great Nation populated from the Atlantic the Pacific with thriving seaports the Pacif Ocean we'll the Atlantic and prosperous con mercial and industrial cities the lakes and rive between the He pictured farms in all tl valleys and on the prairies. He water craft the rivers and canals everywhere. He predicted population the Nation of SC, 900 900 inhabitan with organized States extending from ocean to oceal An editorial written for the Now York Post b Alexander Hamilton at that time printed July 1903, under the heading, Purchase of Louisiana, said:
 At length the business of New Orleans
 has terminated favorably to this country.
 Instead of being obliged to rely any longer
 the force of treaties for place of deposit,
 the jurisdiction of the territory is trans
 ferred to hands and in future the nayi-
 gation of the Mississippi will be
 molested. This, it will be allowed, is an
 important acquisition; not indeed, as terri
 tory, but being essential to the peace and
 prosperity of our Western country, as open
 ing free and valuable market to com
 mercal States.
 It has been usual American writers
 this subject to include the Flordas in
 their ideas of Louisiana, the French for
 merly did and the acquisition has derived
 inconsiderabe portion of it's value and i'm
 portance with the public from this view of it. It may, however, be relied on. that no part of the Flcridas not foot of land
 the cast of the Mississippi. excepting New
 Orleans falls within the present cession.
 And when consider the present extent of
 the United States, and that not one-sixteenth
 part of it's territory is yet under occupation.
 the advantage of the acquisition, as it relates
 to actual sediment appears too distant and
 remote to strike tho mind of sober po-
 tcian with much force This, therefore,
 can only rest in speculation for many years, if not centuries to come. For ourselves
 we are very much inclined to the opinion
 that after all, it is the island of N Orleans
 by which the command of free navigation
 of the Mississippi is secured that gives this interesting cession it's greatest value
 and will render 1t in every view of immense
 benefit to country
 Within nine years from the time Hamilton edi toral appeared Louisiana was admitted as a Stat and nine years later Missouri came into the Union Arkansas admitted fifteen years later and an other decade brought in Iowa In less than centur alter Hamilton wrote there fourteen sovereig1 States carved from the Louisiana Purchase Tn Louisiana Purchase laid the foundation for the Flor ida Purchase under Monroe from which three addi nexation of Texas and the California and Gadse puichases were also in the same transaction an they gave us four States within the country Stretching the single century only few years an we got one more States from the Louisiana Purchase Oklahoma, and two more from the Mexican cessior Arizona and New Mexico
 Jeherson's mistakes only two: We had raj roads instead of canals and nearly 100 900 oo0 popr laton instead of 50 0000000
 However, Hamilton praised Jefferson for the Lou lana Purchase. It than anything else say only his quarrel with Burr was the cause for Han hton tendency during his later years to gro nearer and nearer to Jefferson Had Hamilton live another decade there is little reason to question tba he like Adams and his son, would have been srr porting the Virginia Regency" of which Jefferso was the spirit and the motive power He prohabI "ouid nave commanded the army during the secon war With Great Britain and-,who can say? perhar canada would have history that would hay peeh part of ours for the last century and more