"Civil liberty, the means of building up personal and national character." "Toleration in religion the best fruit of the last four centuries. "A few dared, failed, and suffered; myriads enjoy the fruits.” "To the brave settlers who leveled forests, cleared fields, made paths by land and water, and planted commonwealths." "To the brave women who, in solitude, amid strange dangers and heavy toil, reared families and made homes. "We here highly resolve that government of the people, by the people, for the people shall not perish from the earth."* More than four centuries have passed since Columbus made his wonderful voyage in search of India. For a long time it seemed as if Spain was to possess the new-found continent. England, however, claimed North America as the fruit of Cabot's voyage, but France claimed a portion of it as the discovery of Cartier. In 1763, France gave up the contest for North America. In 1776, the United States became independent. Spain then extended from the Mississippi to the Pacific. But Spain conveyed Louisiana to Napoleon, and from him it was bought by the United States in 1803. This extended our domain to the Rocky Mountains. Spain lost Mexico in 1820, Texas in 1836, and California in 1848. Oregon was ours by discovery, occupation, and treaty. In 1829 we acquired Florida, in 1853 the Mesilla Valley, in 1867 Alaska, and in 1898 Hawaii, Porto Rico, and the Philippines. Perhaps the most significant evidence of the place held by the United States among the nations of the world was the commercial ascendency of our country in the closing years of the century. All through our national history the record of progress has comprised new chapters telling of mechanical inventions, useful discoveries in the arts, improved processes of manufacture and appliances without number, all tending to cheapen the cost of production, to extend the market, and in' nearly all instances to improve * Nos. 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, were from President Charles W. Eliot, of Harvard. 1860-1900] OUR PLACE IN COMMERCE 593 the article. American manufactures began about the time of the second war with England, 1812, and had to compete with the skilled labor and experience of older nations, of which the chief was the United Kingdom. In 1900 the production of manufactured goods in the United States reached the enormous value of $12,500,000,000, while that of Germany and the United Kingdom fell $450,000,000 below this. In other words, our country, at the close of the nineteenth century, became the leading manufacturing nation of the world. This mighty result was not an accident, or due to the decay of labor in other lands. It was the inevitable consequence of American inventive skill, of American improved methods, and American energy. In the history of the world no parallel can be found to the phenomenal growth of our country in manufactures. One item is a sign of the times: Great Britain, which for centuries has led in the iron trade, in 1899 produced 8,631,151 gross tons of iron, but the United States, nearly 12,000,000 long tons, and the iron trade is an accurate index of the industrial condition of a country. No less significant is the comparative agricultural condition of our country. Austria has a larger population engaged in agriculture than the United States; Germany comes next to us; then France. But the true index is production, not the mere number of farmers. "An ordinary farm-hand in the United States raises as much grain as three in England, four in France, five in Germany, or six in Austria, which shows what an enormous waste of labor occurs in Europe, largely because the farmers are not possessed of the mechanical appliances used in the United States. This is seen when we examine the production of grain per capita of the persons employed. In the United States it is 350 bushels, in the United Kingdom 119, in France 98, in Germany 75, in Austria 64, and in Italy 39. Ours is a country abounding in machinery of all kinds, and little is done by hand labor that can be done by machinery. American supremacy in this respect is signified by the fact that the use of machinery in the United * Hon. Carroll D. Wright, United States Commissioner of Labor, in the Century Magazine, July, 1900. States is 1,940 foot-tons for each inhabitant; in Great Britain it is 1,470, in Germany 902, in France 910, in Austria 560, and in Italy 380. This capacity of the American people to labor explains their commercial ascendency and lies back of that industrial conquest of the markets of the world which marked the closing years of the century. It But commerce varies in volume from year to year. is made up of exports and imports. The three commercial nations are the United States, Great Britain, and Germany. "At the present time [1900], the exports of the United States exceed those of any other country in the world." * From 1848 to 1900 the record shows that down to 1876 the value of exports exceeded that of imports during only three years, 1858, 1862, and 1874. Since 1875 the value of imports has exceeded that of exports during only four years, 1875, 1888, 1889, and 1893. Our exports constantly increase; our imports decrease. No other country is in like condition. Our exports constantly find new markets, and we increase our exports to the old ones. "In 1870 we sent to the United Kingdom $243,316,828 worth of goods, and during 1899 we sent $505,668,925 worth, while for the same years we took from the United Kingdom $152,066,269 and $118,472,048 worth of goods; that is, while more than doubling our exports to the United Kingdom, we greatly reduced our imports. The difference in the figures for Germany is still more marked, although the amounts are not so large. We raised our exports for the period named from over $41,000,000 to over $153,000,000, but in imports we increased from over $27,000,000 to $84,242,795." + Turning to new markets, their acquisition by Americans was even more striking. To Japan our exports increased from $3,000,000 in 1893 to $26,000,000 in 1900, and during the same time they increased from $3,900,000 to $15,000,000 to China; $4,000,000 to $8,000,000 to HongKong; $145,000 to $2,000,000 to Asiatic Russia; $7,800,000 to $24,000,000 to British Australasia; $2,700,000 to * Ibid. † Ibid. |