'Cbe Conservative *
ONE HUNDRED YEARS OP COMMERCE.
The approach of the end of the cen
tury calls attention to the faot that it
has been marked by a tremendous de
velopment of commerce. The various
inventions in machinery operated by
steam and electricity have all contrib
uted to this end , and commerce in turn
has aided in their promotion. The peace
of the latter part of the period , in con
trast with the prolonged wars that pre
vailed at the beginning of the century ,
has made an unusual development of
the international carrying trade possible.
The growth of the credit and clearing
house system has been another factor.
Progress in commerce can be ex
pressed superficially , it is true in dollars
lars and cents , and so is more readily
summarizad than a corresponding ad
vance in music or art or literature. In
an article in the North American Review
Mr. O. P. Austin , chief of- the bureau of
statistics , gathers the figures of a cen
tury of commerce. One hundred years
ago it was estimated that a population
of 640 millions exchanged goods valued
at 1,500 million dollars. Since that time
the population has increased 135 per
cent , and the commerce 1,283 per cent.
The trade , which , at the century's be
ginning , was only $2.31 for each person ,
has now increased to $13.27. The ad
vance in the decade from 1830 to 1840 ,
just after the introduction of the rail
way , was more than twice as rapid as
that of the ten years previous to the
railway era. The telegraph system in
troduced in 1844 has spread , until now it
embraces a million miles of wire , with
170,000 miles of submarine cable. A
large proportion of the million land
messages sent every day are commercial
in character. Other factors in the
growth of commerce have been the in
crease in the cultivated areas of the
world from 860 to nearly 900 million
acres ; the advance in coal production
from 11 million to 600 million tons , and
in pig iron from 460,001) ) to 37 million
tons ; the development of other natural
and manufactured products.
The bare figures show little of the ex
tent and meaning of the growth of com
merce. What trade really stands for is
the comfort of the people. The fact that
$13 worth of goods for each person is
exchanged in a year instead of $2 , as in
1800-is significant , because it means
j | that each person has a far larger share
of the comforts of life now than at the
opening of the century. Then a fam
ily's furnishings in America were chiefly
confined to what its members could
make themselves , and the range of its
food was little beyond that produced in
the neighborhood wherein it lived. Now
the workmen of the world contribute to
the household goods of every family ,
and the gardens of temperate zones and
tropics are at the service of its table.
The real meaning of commercial develop
ment M to be found in increased hap
piness. Kansas Oity Star.
A. NEW INDUSTRY.
In view of the rapid increase of our
population any new industry which will
afford reasonable opportunity for am
bitious young men to acquire reputation
and fortune should be widely welcomed.
In the career of an American citizen
whose name is familiar to many of our
countrymen an illustration is offered of
a hitherto measurably new industry.
Some ten or twelve years since there
lived in a Nebraska town a man who
was usually known as Bill Bryan. He
had received a fair education and was
admitted after the usual period of study
as a member of the bar.
For many years , however , his earn
ings in the line of his profession were
very small. He rated as a fourth or
fifth class lawyer , and the faot that he
lost the most of his cases was a
hindrance to his rise in his chosen pro
fession. His command of words was
phenomenal , and upon the slightest pro
vocation they would flow from his lips
in an uninterrupted and harmonious
torrent. When addressing a court or jury
the fact , however , that these words seem
ed to be upon a variety of subjects not
pertinent to the case under consideration ,
and when by accident they were per
tinent , bore often against the side of the
case on which he was detained , seemed
an additional drawback in-his legal
work.
He was industrious and persistent , but
for the reasons above indicated his an
nual earnings never for many years ex
ceeded the sum of $100 per month , and
even this amount in the eyes of his
associates of the bar seemed excessive in
view of the character of his work.
He decided , therefore , to adopt the
profession of a candidate , and in the
course of a few years had such measure
of success in thislifae that he became
known as W. J Bryan.
His ambition then took a loftier range ,
and he decided to become a candidate
for the presidency of the United States.
The fact that he had no qualifications for
the position , had no experience in mat
ters of statesmanship to fit him for this
most exalted work and no fitness for any
serious work except a cataract of words
that could be turned on at a moment's
notice , caused him no hesitation.
After his candidacy was announced he
became William Jennings Bryan. His
peregrinations extended over all parts of
the great republic , and everywhere his
deluge of words came down as rain upon
the mown grass. From the fact that his
stock in trade was the advocacy of an
absurd issue his first candidacy was un
successful. Undeterred by this faot ,
however , he continued his wanderings ,
sought to galvanize into life the issue
which the people had decided should be
buried out of sight , selected a large
number of words from his repertory ,
arranged them in platitudinous senten
ces to make a book , became his own
advertising agent , exhibited himself and
his book and his flow of words , charging
an admission fee to view the aggrega
tion , and thereby accumulated a com
fortable fortune.
He then again became a candidate tor
the nomination , and the Spanish war
being nearly over he" volunteered as a
colonel of a militia regiment , and risked
his life for his country by proceeding as
far as the malarial regions of Florida by
the time the Cuban war was over. He
thus became Colonel William Jennings
Bryan , and , having again received the
nomination for president , he added to
his previous subject of discussion cer
tain new features.
With an undiminished deluge of words
he proceeded to explain to his country
men that all who had risen by diligence
and economy above the condition of day
laborers had so risen by robbery ; that
those who by reason of exceptional
ability and thrift had acquired sufficient
capital to be able to employ workmen
were public enemies , thriving by steal
ing from their employees. These ideas ,
with the corpse of the dead issue and
clothed in words multitudinous as the
stars , were scattered throughout the
country in a series of meetings which
attracted oftentimes large crowds of
people. Many went out of curiosity ,
others because their friends went , and
great enthusiasm often prevailed at the
meetings. Comments such as "See how
his necktie has slipped , " or "See how he
sweats , " were often heard from his
auditors.
The people , however , had tired of the
subject and the book and the man , and
he was again relegated to private life ,
but the possessor of a handsome fortune ,
the results of his exhibition of himself ,
his book and his automatic jaw.
Here is an obj act lesson in what may
be fairly termed a new industry. To be
sure many other people have been can
didates for the presidency , but rarely
have such candidates possessed abso
lutely no qualifications for the exalted
position. No man need , therefore , hesi
tate to make a similar effort. The num
ber of men who have absolutely no
qualifications for the office and who are
therefore equally eligible for the office
with Colonel Bryan is very great , and
his example may inspire such men with
the hope of a similarly acquired com
petence. Franklin H. Head in the
Chicago Times Herald.
A NEW MANUFACTORY.
The latest manufacturing industry in
this state has been established at Ne
braska Oity by J. Sterling Morton. It
is a condensed vituperation factory and
all the leading Grover Cleveland gold
bugs are buying , stock in the concern.
The republican newspapers have the
contract for doing the advertising.
Sohnyler Quill.
