THE UNITY OF THE NORTHERN HALF OF THE WESTERN HEMISPHERE UNDER THE NEW
REPUBLIC
Seven years had passed since Philip Dru had assumed the administration
of the Republic. Seven years of serious work and heavy responsibility.
His tenure of power was about to close, to close amidst the plaudits of
a triumphant democracy. A Congress and a President had just been
elected, and they were soon to assume the functions of government. For
four years the States had been running along smoothly and happily under
their new constitutions and laws. The courts as modified and adjusted
were meeting every expectation, and had justified the change. The
revenues, under the new system of taxation, were ample, the taxes were
not oppressive, and the people had quickly learned the value of knowing
how much and for what they were paying. This, perhaps, more than any
other thing, had awakened their interest in public affairs.
The governments, both state and national, were being administered by
able, well-paid men who were spurred by the sense of responsibility, and
by the knowledge that their constituents were alert and keenly
interested in the result of their endeavors.
Some of the recommendations of the many commissions had been modified
and others adjusted to suit local conditions, but as a whole there was a
general uniformity of statutes throughout the Union, and there was no
conflict of laws between the states and the general government.
By negotiations, by purchase and by allowing other powers ample coaling
stations along the Atlantic and Pacific coasts, the Bahamas, Bermuda
and the British, French and Danish West Indies were under American
protection, and "Old Glory" was the undisputed emblem of authority in
the northern half of the Western Hemisphere.
Foreign and domestic affairs were in so satisfactory a condition that
the army had been reduced to two hundred thousand men, and these were
broadly scattered from the Arctic Sea to the Canal at Panama. Since the
flag was so widely flung, that number was fixed as the minimum to be
maintained. In reducing the army, Dru had shown his confidence in the
loyalty of the people to him and their satisfaction with the government
given them.
Quickened by non-restrictive laws, the Merchant Marine of the United
States had increased by leaps and bounds, until its tonnage was
sufficient for its own carrying trade and a part of that of other
countries.
The American Navy at the close of Philip Dru's wise administration was
second only to that of England, and together the two great English
speaking nations held in their keeping the peace and commercial freedom
of the Seven Seas.