and yet retain for our government such political and commercial powers as will allow us to control the trade of the Pacific and the Far East and forever hold the great door of China wide open so that through its majestic portals will flow into the East the religion, the arts, and the genius of the newest and best civilization which has ever blessed mankind.

Now, as to the position of the South on this last great question. What have been her traditions? Those who suggest that the South has been ultraconservative as to the widening of the sphere of this country's influence do not know her traditions. As to her action in the future, I confidently refer you to her past. It would be but trite for me to say that the acquisition of our additional domain, excepting Alaska, was all by the practically solid vote of the South, and excepting the acquisition of Texas, under President Filmore, it was all acquired under the presidency of Southern men. In 1809 and 1810, Mr. Jefferson and Mr. Madison, both men of the South, began the movement for the acquisition of Cuba and its incorporation into this government, and such was the settled and persistent policy of the South as long as she had influence in public affairs. As to the position of the progressive South, it is voiced by the Southern Cotton Spinners' Association, which demands in vigorous terms the closing of the Philippine question, in order that its markets and the markets of China may be fully open to our trade and commerce.

However rich and magnificent these markets may be, if a competitor has cheaper access thereto you receive no benefit. Of the great Far East market I have just spoken. There is another market which next to China is most important to us to control, that is the market of South and Central America. In the Far East and in South and Central America five hundred millions of people are waiting for the products of our abundant energy. Corea, Siam, China, the Philippine Islands, Japan, South America, and the Islands of the Sea desire your merchandise; and these markets must be reached by a cheaper route than around Cape Horn. England, by the completion of the Suez Canal, has the advantage in trade routes. Within twenty years, by the building of that canal, she has doubled her commerce to the East.

The building of the Nicaraguan Canal will be of infinitely more advantage to the American people than the Suez Canal has been to the British. It will place each of these great markets nearer to your manufactories than they are to Liverpool or London. With this canal completed, you can grasp in your strong hands the splendid markets of Central America and Western South America, and no one can compete therein with you. The American manufacturer can turn out his product, man for man, cheaper than can the English, and thus, with shorter distance to the markets, you have the advantage over England. Between London and Canton, the Suez Canal saves you

three thousand three hundred miles, while the Nicaraguan Canal saves you from five to eight thousand miles on every voyage. Between London and San Francisco it saves only seven thousand miles, whilst between Newark and San Francisco it saves ten thousand miles out of a total of fourteen thousand eight hundred. With the canal completed, you will be seven thousand miles nearer to the rich markets of Western South America than you are to-day, and have that much advantage over Britain and your European competitors. Observe the trade to China, which is worth twenty-five millions of dollars. To make this voyage, it takes one hundred and seventy days by sail. By the canal, it will take less than one hundred days by sail and less than forty days by steam. Reverse the condition which the Suez Canal gives England, and your peerless shoes, your splendid machinery, your locomotives and cars, your iron and steel, your pottery, your cotton and woollen goods, and the thousands of products of your manufactories would, to a large extent, occupy the place of England's products. From Newark to Melbourne, it is, by Cape Horn, thirteen thousand five hundred miles; by the canal it is ten thousand miles, a saving of three thousand five hundred miles. It will give us the advantage over England in distance to the Japanese market. It will place us nearer to Northern China than will be our great rival. If, with a long voyage, we have made the vast strides in China's trade, which excited the surprise of Lord Beresford, the British

Commissioner to China, with all of the added advantages of distance with us, how long would it be until you could practically have the whole advantage in that great market? If the canal would cost you two hundred millions of dollars, it would increase our trade with our Western coast twenty-five million dollars at once. The lowest estimate would give us an equal amount per year with Western South America. In addition to these markets, here will be the opportunity to stand face to face with five hundred millions of people who want our products, and in every case we would have the advantage of distance over England. Was there ever such an opportunity for trade? Shall we grasp our opportunities and take our future within our own hands and practically control the trade of the Far East and South? It will increase our output and add to our factories. It will give a trade which will grow as your knowledge of the markets grow, and, as the people of the world become acquainted with your products, it will open the shipyards and will send the American sailors to every market of the universe. In this great question of such vital interest to you, what is the position of the South? I reply that the father of the Canal legislation, who for years has stood sponsor for this great work, is a Southern Senator; and in Congress, the vote of the South, with her whole influence, is being solidly exerted to complete this great work. The South has never faltered and no interest has ever interfered with her persistent desire to see this great work completed by

American hands and for the glory of American

commerce.

To successfully carry out these great policies and control these markets we must have our own merchant marine. With our vast preponderance in manufacturing and productive ability it is a sad commentary upon the mercantile laws of the land which give to England, our great rival, the practical carrying trade of the world. The merchant marine is as important to our country as the manufacturing interest. No country can become a great carrying power unless it is a great ship-building country; and no country can control the markets of the world unless it commands the means of reaching those markets. The immense sum which we pay year by year to foreign carriers should, by liberal laws in the future, be paid to our own people. The presence of the distinguished Chairman of the Committee on Commerce in the House of Representatives, who is to follow me, will not allow a prolonged discussion of this great question by me. As to the South, I only wish to add that she is earnestly in favor of liberal laws which will increase the American merchant marine. Many of you are in favor of the subsidy idea. Some of our progressive Southern people are in favor of discriminating duties. My want of familiarity with the subject will not allow me to say what is the best policy for our country to adopt in order that we shall have a merchant marine commensurate with our great commercial interests. In the South we are in favor of some liberal