Removal of The Capital.
When the Stars and Stripes floated over the Entire Hemisphere in
1990 Washington, the National Capital, was removed to Mexico. The
name of the new capital unchanged. Vera Cruz becomes the Seaport
of Washington. The Canal completed in 1915. The new location
proves eminently satisfactory to all. The future of China and
the Philippines.
When the good Lord created the earth He reserved the Western Hemisphere
for the exclusive use and control of the Yankees. They were not slow
to avail themselves of their opportunity. This comes from force of
habit; opportunities they allow to pass by unimproved are as scarce
as Swiss Admirals. Americans are warranted to take care of themselves
under any circumstances.
It will surprise no one to learn that in 1999 the Western Hemisphere
had passed in its entirety under the dominion of the Stars and
Stripes. Americans did not pounce upon and seize the continent, nor
did they even fire one shot to secure its entire control. Canada,
Central and South America simply gravitated towards the American
Union and became absorbed into one great Republic.
The smaller Republics of the Americas realized that the United States
in 1899 were a peace-loving nation. Although its army was a mere
corporal's guard, America had a population in that year aggregating
75,000,000. Such a large nation with an insignificant army could mean
them no harm. One by one they joined our American Union of their own
free will and volition, until in 1999 the great American Union became
an accomplished fact.
To attempt to rule such a vast stretch of country under any other than
the great [It could Govern the World.] Constitution of the United
States, would result in a signal failure. The American Constitution,
that masterpiece and perfect symbol of human liberty, is great enough
and broad enough to govern the entire globe under one flag. Indeed
as early as 1999 there were already strong indications that before
the expiration of three more centuries such might be the eventual
result. It already looked in that year as though the great American
Republic would ultimately gather under its wings, Europe, Asia,
Africa and the islands of Oceanica.
However, there is a limit to human ambition; there is a boundary to
all possibilities. Comparatively speaking, we are dealing [America
does not want the Earth.] only with a near future when we behold,
in 1999, the proud flag of America, that emblem of liberty which
never suffered defeat, floating over one vast Republic from Alaska to
Patagonia. Other dreamers may hustle for notoriety by claiming in an
aimless way that in 2999 the American flag will float over all the
continents of the world. They may even wish to annex a few of the
planets under the American flag, but heed them not.
Daniel Webster's eloquent words: "The Union, now and forever, one and
inseparable," reached a climax when the United States of the Americas
consolidated in 1999. Nor was there a discordant note in the grand
concert of eighty-five states. Mason and Dixon's line became a memory
of the past. The northern states from Alaska and Canada to Florida;
the middle states from Mexico to Costa Rica and the southern states
from Colombia to Patagonia, were all linked together in the bonds of
friendship and brotherly love. At last Webster's prophecy had been
fulfilled; the great Union had become "one and inseparable."
To the inquiring mind the question naturally offers itself: In what
manner was the great American Republic governed in 1999? Were the
commands of the Federal government still issued from Washington,
D. C., or had it been found more convenient to transfer the seat of
government to a locality better adapted and more central to the new
conditions of the greater Republic?
In 1990, by decree of Congress of the United Americas, and at the close
of a [Capital transferred to Mexico.] special national election held
for that purpose, both houses of Congress by a two-thirds vote, elected
to transfer the seat of our National government from Washington, D. C.,
to the city of Mexico, which in 1999, commanded a position midway
between the North and South sections of the great Republic. Although
transferred by act of Congress to the city of Mexico, our National
Capital in 1999 still retained the glorious name of Washington. The
name of Washington, D. C., was changed to that of Columbia.
Statesmen in 1990 wisely decided to retain the name of Washington for
the National Capital of the great Republic. A few were in favor of
retaining the ancient name of Mexico for the new capital but the vast
majority of our American voters in 1990 treasured with patriotic love
and tenderness the revered name of the Father of his Country. They
believed that no matter where the capital of the Republic might be
moved to, whether it were located in Brazil or in Alaska, the fame
of Washington must go with it and bear the honored association of
that name.
Washington, D. C., took the new name of Columbia, having become a city
of secondary political importance. The name of Washington belongs to
the national capital alone, the home of Congress, the residence of the
National Executive and forum of the Supreme Court of the Americas. The
hero of Valley Forge and champion of American Independence was still
near and dear to every heart in 1990, and may centuries yet unborn
honor his memory.
The city of Mexico became the Capital of the Americas for manifold
reasons, [Mexico a Natural Centre.] chiefly political, strategical
and commercial. To those, who, in 1899 had been accustomed from birth
to regard the United States as that narrow strip of country lying
between Canada and the Gulf of Mexico, the announcement that the
capital of the Americas had been transferred to the city of Mexico,
must cause a shock of unpleasant sensation.
It is a human weakness to worship our idols. Woe to those who would
destroy them. Tradition must not be tampered with. Americans of 1899
had been taught that a small and beautiful city on the Potomac was
the capital of our Federal Union. To them it must come in the nature
of a shock to learn that in 1990 the name of that city had changed to
Columbia, and Washington, the National Capital, had been transferred
to the State of Mexico.
There are, however, other instances on record in which it has been
deemed advisable to change the capital of a great nation. If in the
year 1810 an intelligent Russian had announced to his countrymen that
the seat of government in Russia would be transferred in 1812 from
golden, sacred Moscow to bleak, cold St. Petersburg on the barren
swamps of the Neva, his prediction would have been laughed to scorn;
such a statement would have encountered a tempest of derision. Your
orthodox Russian would have raved at the mere mention of such an
eventuality. In 1810 any intelligent Russian would have regarded the
abandonment of ancient Moscow, the custodian of the Kremlin, for a
barren spot on the shores of the Baltic, as a positive sacrilege. Yet
it is historically true that in 1812 this very thing came to pass.
Instead of uprooting our National Capital from a spot hallowed
with sacred traditions [In Perpetual Sunshine and Flowers.] and
transplanting it into a cold, sterile region, as in the case of the
Russian capital, Washington, as a seat of government, was removed from
the banks of the Potomac into the splendors of a tropical region,--into
the domain of Montezuma and his brave Aztec warriors, where fruits
and flowers chase one another in an unbroken circle through the year;
a paradise where the gales are loaded with perfumes of the forests
in which birds of radiant plumage and exquisite song fill the air
with their delicious melodies.
Washington in 1999 was fast developing into a magnificent city,
worthy of its proud [An Earthly Paradise.] name and eminence as
the capital of the great American Republic with its population of
531,000,000 people. Built in the heart of the State of Mexico, it
was surrounded by magical charms of scenery such as only a tropical
paradise may develop. Its lofty domes and spires and stately public
buildings, many of them constructed of huge blocks of multi-colored
glass, were reared amidst a land luxuriant with the cochineal, cocoa,
the orange and sugar-cane.
The city of Washington in 1999 was hedged by nature's most subtle
art. Beyond the capital's limits were visible a gay confusion of
meadows, streams and perpetual flowering forests. From the centre of
the new Washington could plainly be seen the majestic outlines of
ancient Popocatapetl, rising as a sombre spectre whose rugged head
seemed to cleave the skies.
Stretching far away to the right, and clearly visible from the
observatory of the Executive Mansion might be seen, towering in its
solitary grandeur, the peak of the mighty Orizaba, with its eternal
shroud of snow descending far down its sides. How many centuries
this mighty giant of the Cordilleras has stood there, a sentinel in
the Garden of the Gods, none may tell. But ages and cycles of time
after the busy brains of 1899 shall have turned to dust, Orizaba,
with the Stars and Stripes adorning its summit, will still rear its
proud head and gaze down upon millions of American patriots yet unborn.
The transferment of the capital of the Americas in 1990 to the city
of Mexico, [Met with General Approval.] was generally regarded
as a master-stroke of policy. From a hygienic point of view alone,
the change proved eminently a desirable one. Its removal from the
malodorous swamps of the Potomac to the elevated plateau upon which the
Aztec race reared their ancient capital, with its balmy breezes and
tropical luxuriance, proved a most welcome change. It was generally
conceded in 1899 that the site of Washington on the malaria-breeding
banks of the Potomac, was not a happy selection.
In spite of great precautions several epidemics had devastated the
national capital during the decades from 1900 to 1940. Among other
pestilential attractions of the Potomac swamps, great prominence
was given to a fierce and aggressive tribe of mosquitoes, called
"Swamp Angels," which in 1920 increased and multiplied greatly, to
the absolute terror of the Washingtonites. It is related of these
aggressive and dangerous pests that in 1925 a swarm of them actually
carried away a sheep while the animal was grazing upon the White
House downs.
But aside from its favorable hygienic considerations the central
position of the city of Washington in the State of Mexico commanding
the main avenue between North and South America, gave it great
political and commercial importance as the capital of the Americas
in 1990, one that was enjoyed by no other rival.
The capture and destruction of Washington, in the State of Mexico,
could not have [It Became Impregnable.] been effected in 1999 or
at any subsequent period. The city in that year became impregnable,
so rendered by a vast system or chain of fortresses from the city
proper to Vera Cruz, its seaport, a distance of about two hundred
miles. The mountain passes and rugged defiles between Washington and
Vera Cruz frowned with heavy ordnance. Dynamite guns were ready on
every hand to scatter their deadly missiles for the edification of all
invaders. From Washington to Vera Cruz, great sentinel forts stood in
the path of the invader, an unassailable chain, many of them being
hardly visible to the eye. Fortifications were constructed upon the
high table lands of the Cordilleras, also upon the apex of precipices,
and from these dizzy summits shrinking eyes might gaze down two and
three thousand feet and admire the bewildering beauties of tropical
vegetation. It was estimated by leading engineers in 1999 that with
its line of defences to the coast the capital of the United States
of the Americas was impervious to the assaults of the world.
The port of Vera Cruz, only two hundred miles east of Washington in
a direct line, had been permitted to retain its original name when
Mexico became a part and parcel [Washington's Outlet to the Sea.]
of the American Union. This concession was made in honor of Cortes,
the conqueror of Mexico, the boldest and most intrepid of all warriors
of the middle ages, who founded the city of Vera Cruz and destroyed
his fleet of vessels so as to compel his followers to wrest from the
sway of Montezuma, the city of Mexico. It was at Vera Cruz that Cortes
founded the first Spanish colony on the American mainland. In honor
and memory of the valiant Spanish commander and his daring exploits
in 1520, it was deemed a point of courtesy to retain for that city
the baptismal name Cortes had endowed upon it.
In 1999 its spacious harbor was taxed to its utmost capacity
to accommodate the world's commerce while en route through the
Nicaraguan Canal, which was opened to navigation in 1915, having
cost its American investors $195,000,000. The proximity of Vera Cruz
to the canal rendered that city an available port, bringing to it a
wonderful volume of trade and commerce, and as Vera Cruz in 1999 was
merely the ocean outlet of Washington, it will be readily appreciated
that the opening of the Nicaraguan Canal and the volume of traffic
it diverted in that direction, added materially to the importance
of that region as the seat in 1999 of our national government. The
completion of the Nicaragua Canal in 1915 was a triumph to the
American science of engineering, yet so tardy in conception and
execution that it reflected at best only an uncertain honor. It
should have been constructed and opened to navigation as early
[Importance of the Canal.] as 1885. It was a case of sheer neglect
on the part of America. As soon as the Panama bubble exploded and
Frenchmen discovered that they had been hoodwinked by speculators,
America should have lost no time in constructing the Nicaragua Canal.
The lesson of the Spanish War has taught America the value of an ocean
canal connecting the Atlantic and Pacific oceans. With the possession
of the Philippines and an enormous Oriental trade the operation of
this canal became a factor of the highest importance to America.
An American fleet of warships in the spacious bay of Vera Cruz,
only two hundred miles away from Washington, was enabled in 1999
to steam through the canal into the Pacific in only a few hours'
time and proceed to Hawaii and the Orient in short order. This was
a great improvement on the "good old days" of 1899 when war vessels
and transports, leaving New York to go to Manila, had to crawl around
the tempestuous Horn or travel via. Suez.
The construction of the interoceanic canal added greatly to the
importance of the new location for our National capital in the State of
Mexico. Vera Cruz became the rendezvous of the world's commerce. The
central location of Washington in the State of Mexico, midway between
the two great continents, proved an advantageous and commanding one
and was eminently satisfactory to all sections of the great American
Republic in 1999.
In considering the vast importance of ocean canal navigation to
the Americas, it is well to ascertain what became of the Philippine
Islands and China in 1999.
In that year of our Lord, the world was practically governed by three
great powers. [Three Great Powers in 1999.] The first and greatest of
the trio was the vast American Republic, which in that memorable year
extended from Alaska to Patagonia. Next came Great Britain, whose
sway was undisputed over the vast continents of India, Africa and
Australia, along with valuable islands of the seas, like the articles
of a traditional auction bill, "are too numerous to mention." The
third great Power in 1999 was Russia. The ruler of all the Russias was
not only Czar of the European and Siberian domains, but he was also
crowned at the sacred Kremlin as the Emperor of China. A glance at
the map of the world will show that in 1999 Russia was in possession
of nearly one-fourth of the globe's real estate. Not satisfied with
this, Russian ambition had designs upon India, intending to employ
China as her base of operations. England, however, was always alert
and ready to frustrate her designs.
When the nations of Europe in 1898 were carving up China, (even Spain
and Italy joining in the scramble for pieces of China-ware,) Russia,
her nearest neighbor on the north, was careful to secure the biggest
share of the booty. In 1895 Russia saved China from the clutches
of Japan, for the philanthropic purpose of doing the stealing act
herself. After appropriating China's best provinces on the north,
and profiting by the completion of the Trans-Siberian railroad in the
year 1905, Russian influence at the court of Pekin, overshadowed all
others. The Chinese, like all other Orientals, believe only what they
see. Russia had long been their only neighbor in Siberia but when
the great Russian railroad was completed to Port Arthur, in a very
short period an army of 450,000 well drilled Russian soldiers was
bivouacked near the great wall of China, within rifle shot of Pekin.
Once firmly seated on China's neck, Russian [The Russian Emperor of
China.] diplomacy moulded the Middle Kingdom as clay in the potter's
hand. Its enormous population obeyed implicitly the Czar's ukases, and
in 1999 China became a Russian province as completely as the Crimea.
Russia, however, had always entertained a warm friendship and
cordial regard for the United States of America ever since the
rebellion of 1860-65 and her good wishes were reciprocated on the
part of all Americans. Russian respect for America became firmer and
more binding as the young American Republic attained its enormous
dimensions. Russia, great herself, realized that she had a right to
be regarded in the same class as our noble country. As an evidence
of Russian esteem for America, during the period from 1920 to 1999,
Russia granted to Americans special trade privileges in China in
which other nations were not permitted to share.
As a result of these generous concessions to Americans our trade with
China in 1999 attained gigantic proportions and nine-tenths of it
passed through the Nicaragua canal. So important did our Oriental trade
become in the twentieth century that the inter-oceanic canal would
have been built even though it had been necessary to pave its channel
with bricks of gold and silver. American wheat had largely supplanted
rice as the staple food of China, and in 1999 the American export
of wheat to China was estimated at a value of $95,000,000. America
monopolized nearly the entire Chinese trade in farming implements,
electrical machines, cotton goods, dyes and chemicals.
As to the Philippines, the trade with that [Peace and Prosperity
Restored.] archipelago was entirely controlled by America. After the
proud flag of America had floated one century over those islands, the
transformation scene was wonderful. The Filipinos had long learned,
after the fall of Aguinaldo, that the American Constitution was
broad and big enough to amply protect and to give them that measure
of liberty to which all nations are entitled. Long before 1920 they
became a docile, patient and laborious people and prospered in an
amazing degree. Their exports of hemp, rice and tobacco attained
immense proportions and the culture of sugar-cane became so profitable
that the Philippines were famed in 1999 as the "Sugar Bowl of the
Pacific." America proved a Godsend to those islands. The names of
Dewey, Otis and Lawton were held in high esteem for many centuries
after Dewey's great victory, which awakened America, electrified the
world and gave birth to the grandest Republic the world had ever seen.