Conservative 13
prosperity on which , as a nation , wo
have entered. The Intent power and
force inherent in the flold naturally trib-
xitary to Now Orleans , as well as the in
tense energy and activity of the people
inhabiting it , alike make for startling
achievements.
To properly develop the trade of this
country wo must seek the long-neglected
foreign markets of the South and the
Orient. To control this trade will re
quire a largo merchant marine. The re
cent territorial acquisitions , the contem
plated Nicaragua canal , and the largo
appropriations made by the last con
gress , for a larger and more efficient
navy should stimulate ship-building in
the United States.
The policy of our statesmen on this
subject must be a broad and liberal one.
Our national government must aid in
the upbuilding of our marine. Subsi
dies to steamships are analogous to land
grants to railroads. One is now of as
much national importance as was the
other in its time. The same liberality
which , within a generation , gave us the
largest railway mileage in the world ,
will bear yet richer fruits , when intelli
gently applied to commerce with for
eign nations.
The products which our railroads
carry to the seaboard for export should
bo transported in our own vessels. At
the present time vessels with foreign
flags streaming from their peaks fill our
harbors. Of the total foreign trade con
ducted in 1897 only 9 per cent in value
was carried in vessels flying the Stars
and Stripes. "When it is remembered
this trade amounted this year to over
$1,800,000,000 worth of goods it will be
seen how great is our yearly loss. Since
our decline as a maritime power thous
ands of millions of dollars in freight
money have been paid to European
shipowners. Had our merchant marine
kept pace with our internal growth this
nation would hold the commercial su
premacy of the world today. Our ships ,
as constructed today , are not outclassed
by those of any other nation , nor do
they cost more to build.
When , iu. 1882 , wo commenced to
build a navy the English press scoffed at
the idea of our producing either hull or
engine. In a short time we produced
two of the largest and fastest cruisers in
the world , the Columbia and Minneap
olis. Europe was astounded ; England
was amazed ; our ships aroused her jeal
ousy ; she produced the Powerful and
the Terrible to outclass them. The
whole world today acknowledges
our supremacy in building and handling
ships of war. Russia , since the out
break of the Cuban war , has placed
orders for several warships to be built
in Philadelphia. The record of the St.
Louis and St. Paul as fast Atlantic
liners , challenge the admiration of all
shipbuilders.
See the record of our internal re
sources which will provide the means to
profitably employ such a mercantile
marine.
The value of our staple crops , other
produce and live stock , for 1897-98 ,
reached the enormous figures of $5,110-
000,000 , being an increase of $809,000,000
over that of two years previous. The
total gain to agriculture for a period of
a little more than two years was $1,000-
000,000.
The farm indebtedness paid off during
the past two years is estimated at $100-
000,000.
The value of the last two wheat crops
of themselves was $861,000,000. This
was a gain of $401,000,000 over the two
previous crops.
For the past year we sold to foreigners
$871,000,000 of agricultural products.
In the same time we sold in the markets
of the world more than we purchased
therefrom by upwards of $600,000,000.
Our strides in manufactures have been
110 less. From a total of $102,000,000
exported in 1880 , wo have risen to $280-
000,000 in 1897 , an increase of $187,000-
000 , or over 188 per cent.
Our net imports of gold the past year
were over $100,000,000. From the re
sumption of specie payments up to July ,
1898 , the United States imported $50-
000,000 more gold than it exported.
When to this is added the products of
American mines , which amount to from
thirty to fifty millions yearly , the query
may be pertinent "Is the United States
a creditor nation ? " With such achieve
ments , with such resources and wealth ,
what is to be our destiny ?
In his tribute to America in 1878 ,
while contrasting the commercial future
of England with that of the United
States , Mr. Gladstone said :
"It is she alone who , at a coining time ,
: an and probably will wrest from us
that commercial primacy. Wo have no
title ; I have no inclination to murmur
at the prospect. If she acquire it , she
will make the acquisition by th.e right of
the strongest , but in this instance the
strongest means the best. She will
probably become what we are now , the
head servant in the household of the
world , the employer of all employed
because her service will be the most and
ablest. " STUYVESANT FISH.
In view of the
BISMARCK ON . . . . , ,
ill-judged craze
COLONIES.
for the annexation
of the Philippines , etc. , the following
Busch's "Bis-
quotation from Moritz -
niarck , " vol i. , p. 414 , may not be out of
place. Speaking of the proposed cession
of Pondicherry as part of the war in
demnity from France to Germany in
1871 , Bismarksaid :
"I do not want any colonies at all.
Their only use is to provide sinecures.
That is all England at present gets out
of her colonies , and Spain too. And as
for us Germans , colonies would be ex
actly like the silks and sables of the
Polish nobleman who hod no shirt to
wear under them. "
The Ladies
A QUEER STORY. . ,
TT T
Homo Journal tells
an anecdote of a gentleman who has be
come famous as an evangelist. Ho was
playing cards with his wife in their
room at a hotel , when in came a mes
senger boy with a telegram. "Won't
you sit down and have a game of auth
ors with us , my boy ? " says the evange
list ; and when the youth had declined
and withdrawn , and his wife asked him
what ho meant by making such a crack ,
ho explained that if he had not done so
all the morning papers would have told
that ho had been found playing cards.
Now the question is , is this a moral
story ? And if so , what is the moral ?
Our true mission
OUR TRUE
. as a nation is one
MISSION.
of peace. Our
missionary efforts are best , and will
prove , in the future as in the past , most
effective , by our demonstration to the
peoples elsewhere of a wise , peaceful ,
and beneficent administration of a great ,
free government , based upon the free
choice of its people , without the exercise
of external force as expressed in the
burden of a great standing army and a
great navy. Ex-Congressman Stewart
( rep. ) of Vermont.
If war for any purpose was not always
a calamity to men and nations , the
swift and energetic and almost magical
preparation for it which the most pow
erful and the most enlightened country
on the globe is making would be simply
magnificent.
The Nebraska City CONSERVATIVE , in
spite of early predictions , would seem
at lost to be launched upon a success
ful career. The admirable papers of
Mr. J. Sterling Morton on financial
and economic matters are still perhaps
its most prominent feature , and are
widely read , especially among those
who appreciate close reasoning and
strong , clear-cut logic , and who are
fully alive to Mr. Morton's exceptional
familiarity with all branches of his
favorite subjects. As was probably
foreseen , however , to restrict the scope
of a paper closely to these abstruse
themes did not tend to swell the sub
scription list. So the more frivolous
work of lighter hands became gradually
to bo apparent , and THE CONSERVATIVE ,
although one would not characterize it
as more interesting , became interesting
to a wider and more diverse number of
readers.
In this connection it will doubtless
interest those who knew Mr. A. T.
Richardson , a brother of Mr. F. M.
Richardson of The Excelsior during his
residence here several years ago , to learn
that the descriptive article on the In w. .
dian Congress at the exposition , which
first appeared in THE CONSERVATIVE
and was at once copied into The Bee
and then into the American Review of
Reviews , is his work. Omaha Excelsior.
