Of all subjects now occupying the attention of the world at large,
and of importance not only to the State of California, but to all the
territory west of the Rocky mountains and the islands and coasts of the
Pacific Ocean, over which the American flag floats in sovereignty, none
is paramount to the construction of the Panama Canal. The completion
of the canal, while a world event, will, of course, be of peculiar
significance and importance to that portion of the globe which borders
on the Pacific Ocean. Countries, islands, coasts and States that for
centuries have been isolated and far distant by water routes from
the centers of population of Europe and Eastern United States, will
be brought thousands of miles nearer to, and consequently, into more
intimate social, industrial and business relations with the more highly
organized governments of Europe and America.
In effect, the opening of the canal in 1915 to the commerce and trade
of the world will be the realization of the dream of Columbus, who
sailed across the Atlantic in 1492 to discover a shorter water route
between Europe and Asia, and the fulfillment of the prophecy of Baron
von Humboldt, who, between the years of 1799 and 1805, explored and
surveyed a great portion of Central and South America. Humboldt, as a
result of his explorations, predicted that within a reasonable period
of time the two largest oceans of the world, the Atlantic and the
Pacific, would be united by an artificial water-way. This water-way,
in his opinion, as expressed in a letter to his friend, the German poet
Goethe, would be constructed by the little republic at the north, the
United States, even then beginning to take an important place among the
powers of the world.
In 1867, the energy and foresight of Seward acquired Alaska as an
addition to American territory; and though Seward was laughed at and
reviled as a foolish dreamer because of his purchase of a so-called
iceberg and a fog-bank, nevertheless, that able statesman and diplomat
pointed out to the people of the United States that some day the
Pacific Ocean must become the world’s greatest sea of commerce and
trade, and that in that day Alaska would become one of the most
valuable possessions of the American nation.
Those dreams and prophecies today are reaching their culmination
and fulfillment in the opening of the Panama Canal, which will be
celebrated in San Francisco,--yes, not only in San Francisco, but
throughout all California and the sister States of the western
coast--by the greatest international exposition ever conducted in the
history of civilization. It will be a jubilee celebration in which all
the States and principalities, nations and empires of the world will
join in proud and thankful participation.