DUKE UNIVERSITY LIBRARY The Glenn Negley Collection of Utopian Literature ^/-^- >-£»-*-^^ Digitized by the Internet Archive in 2010 with funding from Duke University Libraries http://www.archive.org/details/ricemillsofportmOOheus THE RICE MILLS OF PORT MYSTERY THE RICE MILLS OF PORT MYSTERY B. F. HEUSTON SECOND EDITION CHICAGO CHARLES H. KERR & COMPANY 1892 Copyright 1891, By B. F. Heuston W. B. CONKCY COMPANY CHICAGO PRINTERS ANO BINDERS R0K CONTENTS I. — Physical Character of the Pacific Northwest. 7 II.— Early History 18 III. — The Mysterious Northwest Passage 27 IV. —The First Period of Rapid Growth 38 V. — The Mechanical Age 47 VI. — The Chemical Age 57 VII.— The Rice Mills 66 VIII.— The First Great Industrial Conflict 73 IX.— The Inland Empire 84 X. — The Second Period of Rapid Growth 90 XI.— The Great Affliction , 95 XII.— The Will 102 XIII. — The Mysteries of Port Mystery 106 XIV.— The Rice Mills Found 115 XV.— The Last Industrial Conflict 120 XVI. — What Determines Wages 127 XVII. — Money 140 XVIII.— More Record 148 XIX. — Lemon Culture in Washington 159 XX. — The Rest of the Record 173 XXI. — The Era of Greatest Progress 184 XXII. — The Monument of Progress. 194 THE RICE MILLS OF PORT MYSTERY CHAPTER I PHYSICAL CHARACTER OF THe PACIFIC NORTHWEST The largest, densest, darkest forests ever known to man, the wide world round, extended over the northwestern corner of the United States even up to the latter part of the Nine- teenth century. It was such a luxuriance of vegetable growth as might have done credit to the old Carboniferous age. Great trees, 30, 40 and 50 feet in circumference, covered the entire surface of the land, (as near as circles can cover surface). From their foundations, deep, strong and firmly interlaced, abutting and supporting one another, they rose, three and four hundred feet, so tall and straight that, being severed at the ground, they would not fall, and tapering so gradually and regularly that, looking up from below, it seemed but the perspective ; and at the top again spread to 8 THE RICE MILLS form a second covering with their leaves and branches ; while in the space between grew vines and underbrush, and on the great wet trunks, and on the vines and underbrush, grew heavy moss, and on this moss, more moss. It was apparent from the very first that a soil which bore such giant trees, must be very productive, but how to prove it was a conun- drum. The trees could be cut down, to be sure, but they would only cover the soil the more completely. Nevertheless, the ingenuity of man vfas sufficient to conquer these giants and turn them to his advantage, as it has so many other forces in these later days. The similarity of the climate of this country to that of western Europe, was early noticed. The Pacific Coast had its Italy, its Spain, its France, its England, its Germany, and its Land of the Midnight Sun. This variety of climate extended along the shore of the ocean as great a distance, and included as large a tract of country, as Europe's populous western shore. But the same application of labor to the earth was soon found to be rewarded by much greater returns than even the best of Europe. No other country ever grew such vines, such fruit of every variety, such grain, such vegetables, and in fine, whatever man could wish. For, as the virgin forests exceeded those of other lands, so OF PORT MYSTERY 9 its fruitage, under cultivation, and so its power to support population — all in conformity with nature's known laws ; for vegetable growth is composed mainly of Carbon, Hydrogen, Nitrogen and Oxygen, elements which are supplied from the atmosphere as much as from the soil. And the air, coming full and pure off the plantless expanse of two-fifths of the earth's surface, builds up vegetable life marvelously. To make sure that this favored strip gets the full benefit of this, a mighty wall of earth bounds it at the proper distance from the sea, and midway between, to give variety of climate, is placed a lesser wall on which stand mighty sentinels at regular intervals. The day was when these sentinels bore torches lighting up the whole coast from the torrid to the frigid zone, brilliant enough to guide by night vessels hundreds of miles at sea. But no commerce was ever so guided, for, because of man's pro- crastination in making use of them, or his precociousness in inventing a substitute, these lights were extinguished long before vessels visited this shore, of which we have any record. Had our Aryan ancestors, when they left their first home at the foot of great Mount Everest in search of the final metropolis of the 10 THE RICE MILLS world, traveled east instead of west, under nature's guidance, they would have sailed on the tide through the open portals over which Olympus stands guard, and directly through the myriad-harbored Sound to the base of the greatest, brightest, highest of all that galaxy of lights, old Mount Tacoma,and there landing, would have built that metropolis which only after ages and ages of wandering about the world they have now established. And what a fitting monument to mark this precious spot is Mount Tacoma! Beginning at the water's edge, it rises by hills, foothills, mountains and great mountains to Great Mount Tacoma, more than two and three quarters miles per- pendicular height above the tide — not peaked and pretty, but full, broad, massive, rugged, ponderous to the fulness of gratification. Another mile might have been added to its height without destroying its shapely propor- tions. At first sight, it does not seem so wonderful, but however often afterward looked upon, each time it grows mightier. Solitary and alone it stands ; for the adjacent Cascade range on either side, though mighty by them- selves or elsewhere, are not half its height, and only serve to make it look more sublime. But grand as may be the sight from below, it is literally incomparable to the ecstasy of OF PORT MYSTERY II sublimity of the prospect from the mountain top. Beginning at your feet and then gradu- ally broadening the view as you look down, down, down, it seems as if the world were pass- ing out from under you or that you were being transported into the skies — in a dream. When you have regained composure, what a rich prospect is in store ! You are standing away above other mountains, above everything. The Cascade range seems but a furrow separating the east and the west field of view. Toward the east may be seen the outlines of the Blue Mountains, and lying between is the fair valley of the Columbia, the Inland Empire, with its rich carpet of vegetation, checkered and varie- gated in the foreground, but all blended into a grayish green as it stretches further and further away, now lost behind itself, then re- appearing on the summits of the Blue Mountains and then again disappearing forever. Throughout this whole expanse is the great Columbia to be seen, winding its serpentine form here and there, as if intent upon supply- ing the means of irrigating the entire region. One has only to glance at its sinuous course, its many branches, its narrow escape through the mountains and the topography of the whole valley, to be amazed at the fulness and exact- ness of the Creator's design (or if not designed, 12 THE RICE MILLS the more amazed) and the faithfulness with which man has executed it, in the reduction of this country to its wonderful productiveness. Turning now to the west and the scene is, if possible, even more entrancing. The view is inclosed by the Coast Mountains of Oregon on the south, the endless expanse of the Pacific on the west, and the mountains of British Columbia on the north, comprising "Western Washing- ton. " Here are its countless orchards and gardens, cities and villages, with Puget Sound reaching its numerous arms into every nook and corner of the land. And everywhere are all the wonderful ministers of commerce gliding over the land and water like living animals trained to do man's bidding. Although the summit of the mountain is rather like a large triangular plateau, there are three principal elevations or peaks, varying somewhat in altitude, one at either corner of the triangle, and each distant about a mile from the others. Between these peaks are broad valleys in which have fallen, the whole year around, the snows of ages. Not only does it snow here when it snows or rains below, but also when it neither snows nor rains anywhere else ; for, as the winds come over the broad ocean, they become more or less saturated with moisture. When they strike the mountains, OF PORT MYSTERY 1 3 they are deflected upward, become cooler and less able to hold it ; and the air is dry indeed that is not forced to give up part of its load before it clears the summit. On this account is the mountain enveloped in a cloud whenever the wind blows over it from the west. These vast accumulations of snow and ice tumble from the crags in thundering avalanches into the valleys and gorges, down which they flow as gradually and incessantly as they accumulate, moving but a score of feet a year, but tearing away rocks and crags which would obstruct their course, perfectly irresistible, cracking and rumbling like the battle of mighty hosts, to a lower and warmer region, where they break forth from strict confinement into some temperate valley or upon a sunny slope and stop, their power overcome with mildness. They dissolve, and the waters, glad of their liberty, leap merrily down the mountain side, laughing at the mockery of power. The Nisqually glacier is a huge river of ice, ten miles in length and five hundred feet in thickness, which plows its way down the southern side of the mountain to temperate climes far below the snow limit. In its course down the mountain slope, it flows through a beautiful prospect called Paradise Park. Here, on either side of the great wall of ice, all H THE RICE MILLS vegetable life flourishes surprisingly. There is a rich flora, and the plants bloom continually during the summer. All sorts of wild berries grow abundantly to this day, for man has never presumed to improve on nature here. The view from the Park is grand in the extreme. The air is always fresh, flowing and exhilarat- ing. This effect, added to the prospect, makes the lovely slope very inspiring, and causes it to be constantly thronged by visitors from the business centers of the Sound, and by tourists from all parts of the world. The Nisqually river bursts forth full grown from beneath this glacier, and, after such sprightliness as may be pardoned on its sud- den release after ages of restraint, assumes the majesty of a noble river. In its short course from the glacier to the sea, this river has three tides,two at its head and one at its foot. The latter is ascribed to the moon's influence on the ocean. The two at its head are due to the influence of the sun on the glacier; for, in the winter, when the sun looks side-wise at the mountain, it is out almost entirely, while in the summer, it flows strongly. But its diurnal tide, because of the suddenness of its ebb and flow, is even more marked. The river that, at sunrise, is six or eight inches deep, its water dodging leisurely around the boulders in the OF PORT MYSTERY 15 bed of the river and jumping lightly over the precipices, at sundown is a raging torrent sweeping everything before it. But the harbor of Puget Sound was even greater, in the industrial topography of the world, than Mount Tacoma in the geographical. Who could not foresee that this great harbor with its 2000 miles of excellent water front all within 70 miles of a common central point, securely locked from the open sea, free from rocks and shoals, storms and ice, extreme heat and extreme cold, off from the largest body of water in the world and within the territory of the strongest nation, industrially — who could not foresee that just this harbor would be the center of the industrial world? The Golden Gate, the entrance at once to both Spain and Italy-California, was the way to the land which more nearly answered the fancies of man in former times. There, in that land of bright sunny skies, were fields producing the neces- sities of life in abundance with orchards, vine- yards and gardens growing all the delicacies of the appetite. There was a mild and equable climate and healthful influence, and right there, too, was hidden treasure in fabulous store. Hundreds of millions of precious metal were brought forth, and many realized the dream harbored by the fanciful in all ages of absolu- l6 THE RICE MILLS tion from further toil and care, of golden palaces of indescribable splendor and of all the luxuries that wealth could bring. But golden palaces mean strong guards, numerous trains of # attend- ants and servants, the masses toiling to produce not only the necessities of their own existence, but also the necessities, luxuries and magnifi- cence of the rich, their guards, attendants, servants and followers, all of whom of course produce neither the delicacies they consume, the magnificence they enjoy nor the gold they give in exchange. In fine, such visions of riches were extremely selfish. The coveted treasure was merely the means of shifting, not lifting, men's burdens. What of leisure, inde- pendence and privilege the few enjoyed was at the expense of counterbalancing toil and sub- jection of the masses. The mean of human happiness was not raised. There was no progress. But the portals of Puget Sound open upon a vision fairer by far than any ancient dream of boundless splendor. The forces of nature are here bent to serve humanity. It is not that another shall do my work, but that the objects which satisfy my desires are secured with very little work on jthe part of anybody ; and the mean of human happiness has attained a noble height. The progress hence was not miracu- OF PORT MYSTERY 17 lous, but natural and simple, the principle on which the world has ever progressed, namely, finding out and applying every means of secur- ing things with the least labor. j8 the rice mills CHAPTER II EARLY HISTORY The discovery of the New World by Colum- bus in 1492 can hardly be called an event in the history of the Pacific Northwest. Never- theless, in order to understand the nature and purpose of subsequent discoveries within its limits and to derive the territory from the very earliest times, we must begin, if not with that event, at least very soon thereafter. For, within two years, we find the celebrated treaty of Partition concluded between Spain and Portugal, then the greatest maritime powers of Europe, founded on the bull of Pope Alexan- der VI, agreeably to which the Spaniards took that half of the world lying to the west, and the Portuguese that lying to the east. By this partition, therefore, we fell within the dominion of Spain. As the eastern limits of Asia were unknown, and the circumference of the earth was supposed OF PORT MYSTERY ig to be much less than it really is, the newly discovered land across the Atlantic was taken to be part of Asia; and Spain was elated at her prospects of a shorter route to India than her rival, Portugal, would have around the southern extremity of Africa. As soon as these and other jurisdictional questions were settled by the highest authority then recognized among the civilized nations, each of the two nations that owned the earth set diligently about inspecting their respective hemispheres. While the Spaniards were vainly exploring the Atlantic coast of the new World in search of an opening through which they might proceed to India, the Portuguese made their way around the Cape of Good Hope, and firmly established themselves in India. Their commerce increased rapidly and became exceed- ingly profitable, to the great chagrin of the Spaniards, who, however, were strictly con- fined to only half the earth. They must go past or through the New World. In 1513, Balboa, the Spanish governor of a colony on the Atlantic near the isthmus of Panama, after a short march across the mount- ains, arrived on the shores of the Pacific ocean, which he supposed to be the long sought Southern Ocean, and of which he proceeded to "take possession" in the name of Spain. 20 THE RICE MILLS The land crossed by him was so narrow that subsequently every little river and inlet was carefully surveyed in the hope of finding a passage for ships. In the meantime, Ferdinand Magellan, a Portuguese in the service of Spain, discovered the strait which bears his name, in 15 19, and, passing through it, continued westward to India, thus solving the great geographical question of the possibility of circumnavigating the globe. But the Strait of Magellan was intri- cate and dangerous. Its distance from Europe was almost as great as India's by the eastern route. The Pacific was far wider than ever supposed, and the wind, throughout the course traversed, blew continually from the east. Therefore, the Spaniards were quite disheart- ened ; but discovering and plundering (or con- quering) Mexico, Peru and Chili about this time, did much to console them, and by inter- esting themselves in the New World, their disappointment was partially overcome. The enterprising conqueror and governor of Mexico explored the whole country from Mexico to South America, together with both shores, for the much sought for passage, and then turned his attention to the region to the north- west. Various expeditions were undertaken, and in 1543 one succeeded in following the OF PORT MYSTERY 21 coast north to about midway of the western coast of what is now the state of Oregon. Attempts were also made to expore the region to the northwest by land. To avoid the violence which military men would exercise, if a nation possessing great treasure should be discovered, as it was said, and perhaps inciden- tally, in order that something might be left for the governor, he sent two Franciscan friars and some Indians on a tour of discovery. It is said the reverend explorers returned before the end of the year, bringing accounts of countries which they had visited in the north- west, abounding in gold and precious stones, and inhabited by a population more numerous and more civilized than either Mexico or Peru. According to the letter addressed to the governor by one of the friars, upon his return, these rich and delightful countries were situated beyond the 35th degree of latitude, in the vicinity of the sea, and were separated from those previously known to the Spaniards by extensive tracts of forest and desert, through which it would be necessary to pass in order to reach the golden region. The friardescribes with minuteness his route, as well as the situation, extent and divisions of the new countries ; dwelling particularly on the magnificence and greatness of a city called Cibola, the capital 22 THE RICE MILLS of a province of the same name, which he describes as containing more than twenty thousand large stone houses, all richly adorned with gold and jewels. The people of this place, as the letter says, were at first hostile to the strangers ; but in the end they had evinced a disposition to embrace Christianity, and to submit to the authority of Spain, in conse- quence of which, the friars had secretly taken possession of the whole country for their sovereign, by setting up crosses in various parts. These and other things of the like nature, gravely related by ecclesiastics who professed to have witnessed what they described, were admitted to be true by the governor ; and he accordingly prepared, without delay, to conquer these new countries, which were con- sidered to belong of right to Spain, as well as to convert their inhabitants to Christianity. This city has never been definitely located, but doubtless was not in the Pacific Northwest. Indeed, the commander of the expedition sent out to conquer it reported : "The reverend father provincial has told the truth in nothing which he said respecting kingdoms, provinces and cities, in this region ; for we have found all quite the contrary. " This conquering expedition went as far north as San Francisco, where they found natives wno OF PORT MYSTERY 23 told of ships laden with rich goods and adorned with gilded images, supposed to be Japanese vessels such as have since visited the coast. In 1564 the Spaniards made another attempt to establish themselves in the East Indies, and accordingly a squadron was sent out from the west coast of Mexico which subjugated the Philippine Islands and effected a highly im- potant discovery. Until that period no one had ever crossed the Pacific from Asia to America, because of the constant east wind along the entire course over which they would travel. Part of this squadron took a northeasterly course to the North Pacific, then a southeasterly course to the Californian coast about the fortieth parallel of latitude, along the whole of which route they found variable winds; and from California, the prevailing northwest winds soon carried them to Mexico. By this route the Spaniards at last gained a position in East India, and large ships sailed regularly from the Pacific ports of Mexico laden with precious metals and European merchandise, and brought back the silks and spices of the Indies, either for consumption in Mexico or transportation to Spain. The sea was comparatively safe, and as it was for many years free from all intrusion on the part of other nations, little care or cost was bestowed upon the defense of the vessels 24 THE RICE MILLS or of the towns on the coast ; in consequence of which, the Spaniards now had a cheaper route than the Portugese, and could success- fully compete with them in the markets of Europe. It was soon learned by navigators that the only practicable route across the Pacific was by way of the North Pacific, and therefore all commerce necessarily passed the Northwest coast. So the Spanish merchant's ships always set in toward the American shore, and knew well the general land-marks, but it is not known that vessels then fell in close enough to become acquainted with the coast above the present northern boundary of California. As their commerce increased, the Spanish government adopted every sort of restriction and exclusion in order to maintain their monopoly. The subjects of all foreign nations were prohibited, under penalty of death, from touching the Spanish possessions in America or from navigating the Pacific Ocean. Against these restrictions the other nations gradually rebelled. Queen Elizabeth of England, in particular, encouraged her subjects, openly as well as secretly, to violate laws which she declared to be unjustifiable and inhuman. The Spanish seas were soon haunted by English crews, who, under the name of free-booters, set OF PORT MYSTERY 25 at defiance the restrictions upon commerce, and plundered the Spanish ships and settlements all over their hemisphere. The great western continent, which thus far had so effectually separated the Atlantic from the Pacific to their great annoyance, came to be a bulwark of defense to their Pacific ocean commerce. But the daring English mariners soon overcame this obstacle, and in 1578 the first English ship appeared upon the Pacific ocean, com- manded by Francis Drake. He plundered the defenceless ships and towns, and for many years his name was never mentioned by the Spaniards of the Pacific without exciting a feeling of horror. Drake passed several weeks in a harbor on the Californian coast, probably San Francisco bay, repairing his ship and pre- paring for the long voyage across the Pacific. Here he was entreated b}' the savages to be- come their king, and, as he says, he "thought meet not to reject the crown ; because he knew not what honor and profit it might bring to his own country. Wherefore in the name and to the use of her Majesty, Queen Elizabeth, he took the sceptre, crown and dignity of the country into his hands; wishing that the riches and treasures thereof might so conveniently be transported for the enriching of her kingdom at home." He was accordingly crowned with 26 THE RICE MILLS ceremony. He called the country New Albion and erected a monument on the shore of the bay with an inscription commemorating the transfer. Drake did not follow the coast further north than midway of the western coast of the present state of Oregon. The success of Drake's adventure caused other English navigators to undertake similar voyages. Thomas Cavendish made his name almost as terrible to the Spaniards, and in the same way. The English now desired a short cut to the Pacific, and according^ took up the search which was dropped by the Spaniards many years before. It was by this time pretty well demonstrated that if such a passage existed, it must be well to the north. During the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries, there were many rumors of the discovery of the northwest passage, generally called the strait of Anian ; and not a few mariners claimed to have passed from one ocean to the other, and gave detailed accounts of their voyages, one of which will be here noticed. OF PORT MYSTERY CHAPTER III THE MYSTERIOUS NORTHWEST PASSAGE In 1596 an English merchant, named Lock, met at Venice an ancient Greek, calling himself Valerianos, who stated that he had been a mariner in the Spanish service for more than forty years under the name of Juan de Fuca. That in 1592 (the first centennial of the dis- covery of America) he acted as pilot in a voy- age made by order of the Viceroy of Mexico in search of "the Straights of Anain, and the passage thereof into the North sea." That he started from Mexico, followed his course west and northwest along the coast of Mexico and California as far as the 47th degree of latitude, between which parallel and the 48th, he entered a "broad inlet of the sea, and, sailing therein more than twenty days, he found the land trending sometimes northwest and northeast, and north, and also east and southeast, and very much broader sea than was at the 28 THE RICE MILLS entrance ; and he passed by divers islands in that sailing ; and that at the entrance of this strait there is, on the northwest coast thereof, a great headland, or island, with an exceeding high pinnacle, or spired rock, like a pillar, thereupon ; also he said that he went on land in divers places, and that he saw some people on land clad in beasts' skins ; and that the land is very fruitful and rich of gold, silver, pearls and other things like Nova Spania. And also he said that being entered thus far into the said strait, and being come into the North sea (the Atlantic) already, and finding the sea wide enough everywhere, it being about thirty or forty leagues broad at the mouth of the straits, where he entered, he thought he had well discharged his office, and, not being armed to resist savages, he set sail, and returned homeward again to Acapulco. " This narration has been subject to wonderful vicissitudes in subsequent times. Sometimes it was implicitly believed ; sometimes it was doubted whether any such a man ever lived. It is, however, probable that such a man entered the strait that bears his name, followed what is known as the "inland passage" to Alaska, nearly to Mount St. Elias, and again came out into the Pacific ocean. Many think he believed he had come into the Atlantic ; but he probably OF PORT MYSTERY 29 knew better, though one who has made this voyage is quite likely not to know where he is when he reaches the end, except he is told. For two centuries after this, the Pacific Northwest continued to be the corner of the earth with which men were least acquainted. It became the favorite field for the wonders and mysteries of the world of fancy. Bacon laid the scene of his Atlantis here. Brobdignag, according to the very exact account of its dis- coverer, Captain Lemuel Gulliver, was situated immediately north of the Strait of Fuca. And even Utopia (Nowhere) seems to have been in this region. During the last few years of the third century after the discovery of America, the Pacific Northwest was touched by voyagers from many of the European nations, some of whom observed, and even entered a short distance into the Strait of Fuca. Captain Jonathan Carver, who made a trip to the country west of the great lakes of North America, in 1766, summing up the information he had obtained, gives account of the "heads of four great rivers that take their rise within a few leagues of each other, nearly about the centre of the great continent, viz. : the river Bourbon, (Red River of the North,) which empties itself into Hudson Bay; the watere 30 THE RICE MILLS of the St. Lawrence; the Mississippi; and the river Oregon, or river of the West, that falls into the Pacific at the Strait of Anian." Carver says nothing about the meaning of the word Oregon, and nothing satisfactory is known about it. Indeed it seems to have been inven- ted by Carver himself. He must have learned of the river from the Indians, but was misin- formed of its location, supposing it to have its rise near the head of the Mississippi and Red River. In 1778 the celebrated English Navigator, Captain Cook, reached the Northwest shore about a hundred miles north of Cape Mendocino, and proceeded north along the coast, passing the mouth of the Columbia without noticing it during a stormy night. Finally the winds, which had given him much trouble, became more favorable, and, proceeding along the coast, he came to a projecting point which, in token of his improved prospects, he named Cape Flattery. He searched diligently between the 47th and 48th degrees of latitude for the strait through which Juan de Fuca was said to have sailed from the Pacific to the Atlantic in 1*592 ; but finding that the coast extended unbroken across that distance, he decided that no such passage existed. Had he searched between 48 and 49 degrees, he might have found an OF PORT MYSTERY 31 arm of the ocean apparently penetrating the continent, through which he might have sailed for days without being assured that the story of Juan de Fuca was incorrect. However, he did not observe the strait, and passed on to the north. In 1787, Captain Berkley, sailing under the Austrian flag, entered a short distance into an arm of the sea which corresponded almost exactly with that through which Juan de Fuca claimed to have sailed into the Altantic ; where- upon he immediately named it the Strait of Fuca. Next year John Meares, an Englishman, sailed south along the coast in search of the harbor or river reported on Spanish maps at about the 46th degree of latitude. He says that in the latitude of 46 degrees and 47 minutes he discovered a headland which he called Cape Shoalwater. Sailing thence along the coast to the south, he beheld a high bluff promon- tory, and afterward land was discovered beyond, which made him think that he had discovered the harbor. He rounded the promontory and discovered a large bay which bore a very promising appearance and into which he started with very encouraging expectation. But as he approached, the water shoaled to nine and eight and seven fathoms, and breakers were seen from the deck right ahead, and from the 32 THE RICE MILLS mast head they were discovered to extend across the bay, and therefore he hauled out. The name Cape Disappointment was given to the promontory, and the bay was called Decep- tion Bay. This was found to be in latitude forty-six degrees, ten minutes, (the latitude of the mouth of the Columbia,) and he went away asserting that there was no river or har- bor there. The third centennial of the discovery of Amer- ica found in the Pacific Northwest its two great- est discoverers and explorers, Captains George Vancouver of England, and Robert Gray, of Boston, Massachusetts. Vancouver arrived upon the coast near Cape Mendocino and followed it north to the entrance of the Strait of Fuca, where he met and conferred with Gray. Upon parting, Gray proceeded south along the coast and discovered and explored what he named Bulfinch Harbor, in compliment to one of the owners of his ship. It is, however, now known as Gray's Harbor, in honor of the dis- coverer, while English maps frequentlydesignate it Whidby Harbor, because it was afterward surveyed by Lieutenant Whidby, the comman- der of one of Vancouver's vessels, though it was then known that Gray had discovered and named it. From here, Gray went to the great river south of Cape Disappointment, dashed OF PORT MYSTERY 33 through the breakers that always extend across the bay, presenting a formidable appearance, and found himself on a broad river which he ascended twenty miles and set about trading with the Indians. On leaving the river, he bestowed upon it the name of his ship, the "Columbia." Meanwhile, Vancouver prosecuted his survey of the Strait of Fuca. He sailed along the south side about a hundred miles, where he found a harbor which he named Port Discovery, after the sloop of war "The Discovery" in which he sailed. He next entered the passage opening to the south, which, in honor of the department of goverment called "The Admir- alty," he named Admiralty Inlet, and explored it to its termination, about a hundred miles from the strait, in a bay called by him Puget's Sound, in compliment to one of the Lieutenants of the "Discovery. " On the king's birthday he landed and took possession of the whole region in the name of his sovereign, calling it New Georgia, and the water where he landed, he called Possession Sound. Accompanying Vancouver, as subordinate officers, were also Joseph Baker and Joseph Whidby and his friend Mr. Orchard : and high in his esteem were the Marquis of Townsend, Lord Hood, St. Helens, (the British minister 34 THE RICE MILLS to Spain) Vice Admiral Gardner, Rear Admiral Rainier, and Captains Vashon and Wilson, of the British navy ; all of whom are recognized in the geography of the Pacific Northwest. Vancouver also named Port Orchard, Deception Pass, Port Susan, Bellingham Bay and New Dungeness, from its resemblance to Dungeness in the British Channel. After fully surveying the inlets south of the Strait of Fuca, Vancouver proceeded north along the northwest coast, exploring the various bays, islands, sounds and channels, many of which had already been discovered, to all of which, however, he assigned names in honor of the royal family, the ministry, the peerage, and the other branches of the government of Great Britain. Thus, on Vancouver's map of the Northwest Archipelago, we find islands and groups of islands named King George the Third, the Prince of Wales, The Duke of York, The Admiralty, Pitt, etc. In fact, the explor- ers of every country visiting this region assigned names to the places, so that almost every spot has had from two to half a dozen names. The surviving name has usually been the one assigned by the nation to which the territory ultimately fell, and the names given by Vancouver, except perhaps in that part of the country which fell to Great Britain and OF PORT MYSTERY 35 certain names within the present limits of the United States, have pretty generally been sup- planted by the names originally given by the natives, or by the people inhabiting the locality. The names designed to perpetuate the memory of bigoted royalists in particular, have not been received by the Americans, nor indeed by the subjects of any other nation, with very great favor. After the beginning of the Nineteenth cen- tury, exploring expeditions were sent from the United States to the Pacific Northwest; the first of which, in 1805-6, under Messrs. Lewis and Clark, of the United States Army, crossed the Rocky Mountains and explored the valley of the Columbia from the source of the Lewis to the sea. An American trading post was established at Astoria in 181 1, and soon after the Hudson Bay and the Northwest Fur companies of Great Britain began establishing trading posts in this region. The first settlers, other than for commercial and missionary pur- poses, located in the Pacific Northwest in 1836. About this time the importance of this region began to be realized by the Americans. Ac- cordingly the United States government sent the renowned American naval officer, Charles Wilkes, to survey the entire region. He set sail with six ships, and arrived on the North- 36 THE RICE MILwS west coast in 1841. One of his vessels was the United States Brig "Bainbridge. " "Maury" and "Case" were two of his lieutenants. He named Hale's Passage after the philologist of the expedition, Dana's Passage, after the miner- alogist, and Drayton's Passage, after the draughtsman. He also named Port Madison, Elliot Bay, Blake Island, Colvo's Passage, Useless Bay, Gig Harbor, Commencement Bay, Budd's Inlet, Hammersley's Inlet, Henderson's Inlet, Port Gamble, etc. Up to a very late day the whites who visited the coast were distinguished by the Indians as either King George men (Englishmen) or Boston men (Americans). The first American settlements on the Sound were made around the lake near old Fort Steilacoom, and the Indians at once named it "Boston country, " as distinguished from the "King George country" at Fort Nisqually ; and out of this grew the name of "American Lake." As may be inferred from the time and manner of its discovery and early exploration, this region was claimed by several European nations and by the United States. Under the treaty of 1803, by which France ceded Louisiana to the United States, the latter succeeded to all the claim and interests of France in the Pacific Northwest ; and likewise the United States OF PORT MYSTERY 37 acquired Spain's interest under the treaty of 1819, by which Spain ceded Florida to the United States. By the treaty concluded be- tween the United States and Great Britain in 1846, the boundary between those nations was fixed at the 49th degree of north latitude, and in 1867 the United States purchased the whole Russian possessions in America. That part of the Pacific Northwest that fell to the United States was constituted the territory of Oregon in 1843. In 1852 the in- habitants north of the Columbia River petitioned Congress for separate political organization under the name of the territory of Columbia. When the matter came up in Congress in 1853, Mr. Stanton of Kentucky said : "I desire to see, if I should live so long, at some future day, a sovereign state bearing the name of the father of his country. I therefore move to strike out the word "Columbia" wherever it occurs in the bill, and insert in lieu thereof the word "Washington." Oregon was admitted into the Union of states in 1859, and Washing- ton in 1889. The fourth centennial of the discovery of America was the most important epoch in the history of the Pacific Northwest, in that it marks the discovery and occupation of Port Mystery, of which more will be said hereafter. 38 THE RICE MILLS CHAPTER IV THE FIRST PERIOD OF RAPID GROWTH It was not until the admission into the Union of the great territories in the northwestern part of the United States, about the beginning of the last decade of the Nineteenth century, that the Pacific Northwest began its astonishing career. The wonderful rapidity of its settle- ment and development is common fame the world over. Besides its natural advantages, apparent in all times to those who would look, there were several causes operative just then to effect such a result. It was the last of all the wests into which, one after another, poured our Aryan forefathers in their search for the great city. At first roaming over the plains of western Asia in feeble bands, then traveling westward with increased numbers and settling eastern Europe, then, overflowing western Europe, peopling every land and build- ing mighty empires, then crossing the Atlantic OF PORT MYSTERY 39 in irresistible numbers and establishing the Great Republic, and there overcoming with one mighty wave of emigration after another one west after another ; this ever increasing force of humanity at last struck the shore of the broad Pacific. The stop was the more abrupt by meeting here the east. Here was the field of the world's greatest battle, not the trial of animal strength for the physical control of fellowmen, but of genius, intellect and pro- ductive ability for the industrial supremacy of the world. At that time the world was much more densely populated than ever before. Especially was this true of the United States. The then unprecedented growth of the preced- ing great Northwest, the valley of the Upper Mississippi, was the marvel of the age. When that growth began, the United States had a population of only some thirty or forty millions, while the Pacific Northwest had between sixty and seventy millions people to draw from. Moreover, when that Northwest was settled, the eastern part of the country was exceedingly thinly populated. There were opportunities for all. It was at the time of the application of the then new agency, steam. Factories were being started — steamboats built — railroads constructed — everything new and experimental, demanding many men and much wealth. It is 40 THE RICE MILLS not far from the truth to state that to every man unemployed or seeking other fields of employ- ment, and to every dollar seeking investment, in the days of the development of the old northwest, there were a hundred men and a thousand dollars when the Pacific Northwest was first developed. Not only were all the conditions ripe for a wonderfully rapid growth, but by reason of the progress in the mechanical world, during the years immediately preceeding, it was pos- sible to develop a country with a rapidity never before within the power of man. The development of the earlier northwest was limited by the nation's progress in mechanics. The great prairies stretching from the Missis- sippi to the Rocky Mountains were supposed to be utterly useless, even when emigration was forging its way further and further into them ; for, it was argued, conceding the productive- ness of the soil, its products can never recom- pense the labor necessary to market them. But the steamboats, and the railroads, and the thousand other inventions, solved the problem when it was reached ; yet only gradually. When, however, the Pacific Northwest was settled, these problems of mechanics were mainly settled. There was needed only the application. And so there poured into this OF PORT MYSTERY 41 country thousands upon thousands of indus- trious, energetic and capable men, and millions of needed wealth. Railroads were built through wildernesses and became the principal agency in their settlement, when always before the settle- ment was a condition antecedent to the con- struction of railways. They brought to the tide the whole country not already there. Wharves, storehouses, elevators, mills, factories and foundaries, sprang up everywhere. The hundreds of miles of water front of Puget Sound were set at short intervals with bustling cities. In everything was exhibited the spirit of un- trammeled progress. It is astonishing how people cling to custom and tradition. The past has always revealed in the main but an unsightly mass of error and absurdity when looked back upon, though of course, at the time the people would have nothing else. Cumbersome old machinery has been retained, extravagant processes continued and false ideas stubbornly adhered to through man's vanity, avarice, prejudice and ignorance, (or, perhaps better, through his humanity,) after experience, reason and truth dictated otherwise. But in this new country, by force of circumstances, everything was of the most approved type. Everything was new. This alone gave the countrv a wonderful advantage 4 2 THE RICE MILLS over other localities. When proprietors else- where were making every effort to avoid pur- chasing new machinery, here the newest was purchased of course. Moreover, the scarcity of laborers, as compared with the results to be accomplished, gave a special impetus to the invention and application of all sorts of labor- saving devices ; so that manufacturing, which clung to old processes and machines in other countries, was here done with much less human exertion. And when, even in parts of the United States, common councils and influ- ential citizens were still suspicious of the bene- ficient designs of electricity and required gas to be used to light the streets and horses to pull street-cars, the youths of the great cities of Puget Sound never heard of lamp posts or horsecars, and would look upon the spectacle, so common in eastern cities, of weary horses dragging overloaded street-cars up and down hill and over parched pavements, as barbarous. But more important than all was the charac- ter of its citizens. A great state is no more made of land and water, than is a great college of stone and mortar. The people were broad- minded — the select of all nations, but domi- nated by none. Combined, they possessed the knowledge, skill, genius and art of all lands, with the courage and disposition to use the OF PORT MYSTERY 43 best, regardless of pride or prejudice, sources or consequences. At this time, too, the United States was just beginning to wrest from the parent country her commercial supremacy. For years it was sufficiently powerful, but, like a rapidly matured child, all unconscious of its growth, did not appreciate its strength until in an accidental contest it was established as a reality. But still the mother country remained powerful on the Atlantic. She had herself settled most of its shores. Her supremacy had grown through centuries as gradually as the settlement, and could only be overcome by much exertion. Nor was England the only rival. There was sharp competition from other European nations almost as powerful commercially. Still all these nations were handicapped to a large degree by monarchies, nobilities and privileged classes. They had large standing armies and navies. All valuable land was appropriated centuries before, and descended from generation to generation, giving rise to a landlord class which produced nothing nor contributed anything to produc- tion, but merely lived, like the soldiers and nobility, upon the products of the toil of some one else. In addition to this, the people of European countries were inclined to be more superstitious, and upon one pretext or another, 44 THE RICE MILLS supported many more non-producers than did the matter-of-fact people of the United States. At an early day the Asiatic trip became very popular with tourists, especially those seeking rest and escape from business cares and those of moderate means. Japan furnished a delight- ful climate, and unlimited accommodations and hospitality. A journey thither was like being transported into another world. There was nothing to remind one of business, or of anything he had ever seen before. If he could not here free himself from cares, there was no place on earth where he could. The people were glad to receive the tourists, and showed them every attention, at an extremely low price compared with the cost of like services else- where. Therefore, when the people went abroad, they went to Japan. The Alaskan trip was also very common among the wealthier classes. This travel had a very beneficial in- fluence upon the Pacific Northwest in two prin- cipal ways : First, by passing twice through the region and here changing each time the mode of transportation and necessarily stopping over more or less for particular boats and trains, the attention of the traveler was directed to the magnificent harbor, the vast resources of the country and its rapid development. And, secondly, every traveler through eastern OF PORT MYSTERY 45 Asia did much to introduce to the people there the instruments of civilization. The merchants of the Pacific Northwest energetically followed this up, and developed an almost unlimited commerce. « Upon the whole, therefore, it was clear that countries with less natural resources than the United States, and with a large part of their able-bodied men producing nothing and con- suming and destroying much, could not long compete with this nation of workers. The "Star of Empire" had already crossed the Atlantic, and it was surely only a question of time when the world's metropolis would follow. And looking more particularly, the Pacific Northwest was observed to be not unlike its former home. Here was a northernly latitude, with its change of seasons to insure a healthful climate and stimulate exertion, yet not so ex- treme as to dwarf the faculties or suspend or retard industrial action during any part of the year. The earnings of the summer season were not required for consumption during a long, severe winter. The temperature rarely fell below the freezing point during the coldest weather, and in summer it was always dry and temperate, with cool and healthful nights. Production and accumulation were unabated. Vegetation flourished all the time. It was a 46 THE RICE MILLS continual succession of crops. The flocks and herds could be pastured the whole year round, thus avoiding the labor and expense of curing and storing feed for the wasteful winter seasons of other climes. The sea gave an abundance of food unequalled anywhere else. Such quantity of fuel was nowhere known. In short, the abundance and cheapness of all the necessaries and conveniences for an unlimited population was beyond all parallel. If one will stop to think of these things in their different aspects, until he realizes their full industrial impor- tance, he cannot fail to look upon them as the most powerful agencies in the development of this locality. In fine, old England herself, favored as she is, has not been blessed with anything like as favorable a climate for indus- trial purposes. But above all was the fact that here was a hemisphere tributary to the Pacific ocean and peopled with two-thirds of the globe's inhabitants, still unsupplied with the mechanisms and appliances of modern civiliza- tion, and no competitor upon the hemisphere. OF PORT MYSTERY 47 CHAPTER V THE MECHANICAL AGE The Nineteenth century might well be called the Mechanical Age. To be sure, before that century the laws of mechanics were understood by the scholars ; but then was the age of prac- tical applications ; an aee of relief and progress with the whole people. It seemed as if the limit of invention of labor-saving machinery was reached. Men knew how to span the ocean and move mountains, but their spans and cables would break of their own weight. It seemed as if progress must stop for lack of new elements and substances. It looked somewhat curious that the vehicles used in transportation either by land or water should weigh nearly as much if not more than the load ; but that was not man's fault. It was the best he could do with the forces given him. But the truth is not all told of any age when only good is said of it. It is true that no 48 THE RICE MILLS former century at all compared with the Nine- teenth in the material advancement of the masses of humanity. Machinery lifted the loads from the shoulders of the toiling millions as never before. The purpose and effect of these machines were to enable men to acquire objects with less labor. This would result in their producing, with the same amount of physical exertion, many more of the things that satisfy human desire, or in producing the same number of things with fewer hours' work. In actual effect, the two were combined, and the masses produced more and labored less. The home of the common cottager came to contain more conveniences and luxuries than were to be found a few centuries before in the abodes of royalty. The peasant girls wore velvet robes that would have aroused the envy of haughty Queen Elizabeth. Nevertheless, all this progress was effected only by overcom- ing the obstinate resistance of an amount of ignorance and superstition almost incredible of an age of reason. It should perhaps be said in justification of the people of that century, that the ridiculously erroneous opinions so prevalent were not the results of inability to reason but rather of a disinclination to do so, consequent upon habit, prejudice and vanity. The bulk of these erroneous notions may be OF PORT MYSTERY 49 stated as comprised within one or the other of two principal propositions urged in a vague and incoherent way by the multitude, in expec- tation of advancing their welfare, viz: I. The more labor necessary to acquire objects the better ; because, as it was argued, the more labor, the greater the demand for laborers, the greater this demand, the higher the wages, and the higher the wages the better for the laborer. 2. The fewer laborers employed in the per- formance of that labor the better ; because the fewer laborers competing for work, the greater the demand for those doing it, the greater the demand the higher the wages, etc. Under the first proposition may be classed the relic of the disposition manifested by the ignorant in all ages, to oppose labor-saving machinery. It was the Very spirit which prompted the knitters in olden time to rise in force and destroy the knitting machines then being introduced. And so also was opposed every plan for accomplishing the support of the world with less labor, whether in the line of production or distribution. Whenever the people were enabled to produce or distribute a commodity with a suddenly diminished amount of toil, those required to rearrange their affairs to accord with the improved condition, raised a cry which was responded to by a general 50 THE RICE MILLS reverberation of sympathy throughout the whole society ; and this whether the disturbance was caused by the invention of a machine which supplied the places of many hands in production, or the introduction of a system of distribution by which many merchants and middlemen were disemployed. Under this head, too, would fall the invec- tives against capital which played so prominent a part in social disturbances during the latter part of the century. Capital exhibits itself mainly as the means whereby discoveries and inventions are applied to matter and made to serve humanity, and as such has been an indis- pensable factor in the progress of the human race; and at the time of this greatest out-cry against capital, science had so far advanced as to permit of far better support with much less labor, if only there had been capital enough to put the latest improved instruments in the hands of every toiler, so that his labor might be made many times more effective. Still, it is due to the age to say that there was never a permanent and reliable majority of the people in support of any one of such false conceptions. Otherwise, we should expect to hear of their reversing the operation of the patent laws so as to give a bonus to the invention and use of labor-creating machinery. It would have taken OF PORT MYSTERY 51 no genius to invent a machine requiring the application of a year's labor to make a common wooden chair. And certainly if the happiness of mankind lay along that line, it would have been quickty accomplished. The monopoly created by the patent laws to favor the inven- tion of labor-saving machinery, was objected to by very few. No one ever presumed to suggest the policy of encouraging or even of tolerating the invention and adoption of machinery with a view to creating labor. Nor, except in isolated cases where interested per- sons appealed to the prejudice and ignorance of certain classes, did any one ever presume to openly urge a policy which would tend directly to make objects more difficult of acquisition. Under the second proposition should be mentioned the almost universal, but utterly indefinite, conception of non-competition. In obedience to this idea, many insisted that those unfortunates whom society found it necessary to imprison should not be required or permitted to produce anything which could compete with free labor. And since the production of any useful object competed with such labor, they insisted that convicts be not permitted to engage in producion. This idea was doubtless largely responsible for the continuance of stand- ing armies and navies, ©f royalty, nobility, and 52 THE RICE MILLS indeed hordes of needless office-holders, pen- sioners and non-producers of all kinds. It was supposed that their competition,' as it was called, would injure rather than aid producers. Where a certain aggregate production was necessary to support the world at all, and where the greater this aggregate the better the support, it is difficult to conceive what expla- nation could be offered for the notion that the fewer engaged in accomplishing the task the easier it would be for them. But here again the proposition was to be observed only spasmodically, the cases being entirely inde- pendent of one another, so that when the idea was totally refuted in any one instance (as it always might be,) it broke out in an entirely new and unexpected place, to be cured only by an application of the same remedy. If the proposition had been sound, it would have been policy for one half of the people to support the other half in large public boarding houses in the greatest possible elegance (there- by creating the largest possible demand for labor) in order to be relieved of their compe- tition in production. It would not be necessary to kill one another, or destroy property, to make a demand for labor. A careful study of the character of the people of that time will convince any one that a sufficient number OF PORT MYSTERY 53 would have volunteered to occupy the board- ing-houses, to fully make up the non-compet- ing class. Another obstacle to progress was especially potent in the Pacific Northwest ; namely, land speculation. At the time of the admission into the Union of the great territories much land was already appropriated by private parties. Town plats covered more ground than was occupied by the many millions of all England's municipalities. Hundreds of men became rich in a single season. A good share of the appro- priated land was owned by non-residents who did nothing to develop the country. Not one thousandth of the land was actually used ; nor did its owners in most cases ever intend to use it. The countless millions representing the speculative value of the land and the thousands of fortunes "made" as it was called, were the mere creations of law. The land, constituting the so-called wealth, would produce no more fruit or grain, nor support more or higher buildings than a few years before when it was worth nothing. Nothing useful was given to society. Production was not assisted nor stimulated. Nothing valuable was brought into the country from without, nor produced within ; nothing even taken presently from one person and given to another. In fine, this 54 THE RICE MILLS pretended wealth was merely a power or fran- chise created by the conventional laws of society and secured to the speculator, which enabled him, his heirs and asigns forever, to appropriate a certain portion of whatever was produced by the toil of others upon the land, to eternity. This present value of this quasi annuity comprised the wealth of the specula- tors. The product of labor which rolled in upon this class of society under their annuities enabled them to live in greater elegance than the gold princes of California. Like the power of gold, too, it merely shifted the burdens from one man to another. The world's labor had to be done in the same way and by somebody. The land power merely relieved some people of their share of the burdens and cast it upon others, who, of course, were compelled to bear a double burden. Nothing was given the pro- ducers upon whom devolved the burden. On the contrary, their task was rendered more difficult by reason of the inclination to play the "dog in the manger" and neither use the land nor allow any one else to, in order to increase the number of products due under the power. The producers would have fared far better under a pure pension from the government, or under the boarding-house system ; for labor would then have had the full use of that other of port Mystery 53 indispensable factor in all production, the earth itself. The greater the restriction upon the ap- plication of labor to the earth, the less the pro- duction and the poorer the support. Therefore, it mattered not how much labor and capital were brought into the new country ; unless they could be applied to the land, either directly or indirectly, there could be no production and no development ; and the more ready and free the application, the more rapid the develop- ment. May it be understood here that no reflection is intended upon those who came here and secured land, whether as pioneers or afterward, and, by the application of labor, cleared and tilled it, built cities and established industries. These men brought all that was brought into the country, their own labor if nothing more. To these men was due not only the gratitude of the whole people, but also the ever-increasing stream of products paid to people, principally non-residents, simply because they knew enough to seize upon the greatest opportunities in the world when they cost nothing. It was the toil and devotion of these industrial pioneers that created the power to exact the tithe of the producer. After all, it must be admitted that aside from the notions entertained by disconnected 56 THE RICE MILLS and inharmonious factions, each controlled by its supposed special interests and all contending with one another for the supremacy of their particular whim, instead of co-operating for a general principle, the great majority always appreciated the abstract proposition that with- out the assistance of science, discovery and invention, and the means of applying them — capital — the present population of the world could not exist ; that the world was getting better and afforded its people a much easier and happier existence than ever before ; and that the whole progress from the savage state to the state of enlightenment with all its incidents, could be traced to the principle of contriving and applying every means of procur- ing objects with the least possible labor. Certain discoveries and inventions about the close of the nineteenth century, principally within the domain of chemistry, so emphasized many popular errors as to attract public atten- tion, and when looked upon in the light of reason, they vanished forever. OF PORT MYSTERY 57 CHAPTER VI THE CHEMICAL AGE The advent of the so-called Chemical Age brought many changes to both social and industrial affairs. As before stated, mechanical arts and invention reached such a degree of perfection during the nineteenth century, that further marked industrial progress seemed im- possible without new elements upon which to operate. Chemistry immediately took up the line of progress, developed the new elements and substances as fast as demanded, and the world advanced with giant strides beyond all precedent. Aluminium was one of the first of these sub- stances. The metal had long been known and used in chemistry, but the amount of labor required to obtain it was too great to admit of its use in the mechanical arts, and hence, it was of very little practical service to man. The process of reducing aluminium was gradually 58 THE KICK MILLS improved until it cost little more than fifty cents per pound. Inasmuch as it weighs only about one-third as much as iron, a pound of it would go as far as three pounds of iron, and therefore, its cost was but three or four times as much as iron. Then came the great chemi- cal discovery by which the amount of labor necessary to reduce it was so diminished that it cost less per pound than steel. Partly in honor of the inventor (for here may it be said to the lasting praise of our people, the old saying that "a prophet is not without honor save in his own land," never had any applica- tion) and partly because by education our people were quicker to accept an entirely new idea, the lead in the manufacture of aluminium ware was assumed and has ever, since been retained. The hundreds of brick-yards that sprang up so suddenly all around Puget Sound in response to the demand of the new cities growing up simultaneously on every hand, were converted into aluminium-works, and many new works were started. Every old clay bank along the water front at once bristled with busy hands reducing aluminium. In the cities this was put into every conceivable form. It sup- planted nearly all the other metals, giving a cheaper and more serviceable article. Except where weight was necessary, it supplanted iron OF PORT MYSTERY 59 and steel entirely. Aside from cheapness, its lightness gave it decided preference. Its tensile and traverse strength was as great as steel. It would not burn, rust nor corrode, was not affected by time or the elements in any way ; and withal of only one-third the weight of steel. It solved the problem of reducing the weight of the carriage to a fraction of the load, and therefore came into general use in the manufacture of all sorts of vehicles. Its influ- ence upon ocean transportation was still greater. Boats and vessels of every character soon came to be built of aluminium. The hulls were light, strong and unaffected by the sea. The mast, spars, decks and cabins, the cables and chains, were all of aluminium. Only the pon- derous black anchor, significant of the gravity of its duties and the gloom of its field of action, remains to remind us of the once proud era of iron ships. What could more fitly represent the change from the cumbersome old notions of resting a man by giving him more work, and easing his burdens by putting another man's upon him, to the principle of securing to men the most possible with the least labor, than the change from the heavy black hulls and clumsy rigging of the iron ship, to the light and trim form and untarnished silvery luster of the modern queen of the sparkling 60 THE RICE MILLS realm? On the land, too, all was bright and glistening. The railroads, bridges, electric wires, farming implements, fences, side-walks, all formerly constructed of iron or some other more destructible substance, can now hardly be told from silver. The expenditure of labor in replacing and repairing the effect of rust and decay and the many hours of distressing toil saved by the discovery of the new method of reducing aluminium, would alone have immortalized the discoverer, but this was hardly a beginning of the accomplishments of this most renowned prince of the industrial world. Aside from his genius, he was just such a man as the spirit of the age most admired. He was a modest, unas- suming person, ever kind and gentle, a friend to humanity, conscious of his own faults and weaknesses and always ready to overlook and forgive those of others. He had a cheerful salutation and a good word for everybody, and addressed whomsoever he thought would return it. He knew his neighbors, rich and poor alike, and seemed to have an ambition to know every one in the metropolis. While these may not have been considered qualities of greatness in ancient times, the world was tired of pomp, boasting, conceitedness, vanity and power. He was, moreover, a typical American, that OF PORT MYSTERY 6l is, he was born at Chicago. His mother was French and his father Australian. His mother was born in Alsace-Lorraine while that was a province of France, her father being German and her mother French. She was what might be called a patriotic woman. No matter how far away she got from the much loved home of her childhood, she always knew what was occurring there, and entertained keenest sym- pathy for the neighbors of her youth. Many of her friends and relatives were imprisoned and killed in war and during the long conten- tion in that border province. She knew both sides of the contest and of course knew how utterly needless and cruel it was ; how those people abandoned their homes, their friends and their consciences and fought and killed their neighbors to maintain the supposed glory of lifeless, soulless creatures of law which sacri- ficed, oppressed and enslaved them all in the fair name of patriotism. She knew how all the suffering and misery was occasioned by the pride, ambition and brutality of perhaps less than one person in the hundred, the ninety- nine of whom bore the burdens and paid the penalty of the crime. She often talked of these things to her son and explained how it all resulted not from necessity or any law of the Creator, or even from the conduct of the one 62 THE RICE MILLS man in the hundred (for what could he do) but from the ignorance of her own people. His father was of English descent, and indeed from that sect called Friends or Quakers, whose peculiarites in speech and dress he did not adopt, but who, nevertheless, held firmly to their beliefs and inculcated not a few of them into the young man. As a boy, he knew all the ins and outs of the city of his birth. In his school-boy days, he saw it grow from a country village to a great city. He caught the movement of its people, who had not time to walk but always ran or rode. Inheriting a roving disposition and an intuition that the place of his birth was not necessarily the centre of all there was to live for in the world, he resolved to pass the short period allowed for his existence in a country that afforded at least comfort, and to locate in that one which had the best industrial prospects. The Pacific Northwest answered most nearly these requirements in his opinion, and he accordingly came to a little village on Puget Sound and set about his work. He attracted no particular attention. No one knew just who he was, nor what he was there for, but assumed that he knew and that was as far as they were interested. There was a disposition on the part of some to pass such an one by, OF PORT MYSTERY 5, because of a feeling of superiority growing out of long residence or greater wealth, or some petty official position, but there was never any- thing like the spirit of rank and distinction prevalent in older communities. The majoritv of the people received openly and cordially every one who bore the marks of good character. They had all recently been over the same course. That a man was a son or nephew or cousin of so-and-so, was not conclusive Be- side, the men who might be looked upon with scorn to day, were likely to be leaders to- morrow. The smoothest, politest and prettiest men, who paraded their wealth and virtues were very often masquerading to escape iden- tification and extradition for some delinquency « their former abodes. Hence, probably, no people ever so invariably investigated for them- selves the merits of a person, and paid so little attention to what was said of him, or what he said of himself, as here. The inventor was a close student of science especially chemistry and physics. He was a keen observer of human nature and studied well the laws of society and of industry. His greatest genius, however, lay in his Yankee quality of applying everything he knew to some use. He took up and established to the satisfaction of many people the theory that all 64 THE RICE MILLS substance consists of one primary element. The idea had existed for thousands of years, and every time what had previously been set down as a primary element was separated, it gave new force to the theory that all the so- called elements would be reduced to one when man came to know enough to do it. But up to this time no benefit had resulted from the theory. All the knowledge involved in the new process of reducing aluminium was pos- sessed by many, but no one applied the knowl- edge so as to benefit the people. Although he by no means proved the theory that any substance could be created from any other by reducing it to the primary element and then recombining it in the manner of the substance required ; yet he did succeed in separating many elements before inseparable, and combining them in connection with the common elements so as to form substances entirely different, and produce most astonishing- results. The most striking instances of discoveries in this line were those in which, for all practical purposes, inorganic matter was changed to organic. Changing such subtances as wood, coal and the like into vegetable products for the nourishment of human beings, seemed be- yond the power of mortal conception, The O^ PORT MYSTERY 65 very suggestion of such a thing aroused all the doubts and prejudices of human nature. The introduction of such a product was resisted by the enemies of progess with the supernatural strength rallied upon the last struggle for life. All the sophistry of all the ages was employed, every human weakness played upon in private and in public, in the pulpit and on the platform, to arrest the impending innovation, which was destined to have such a far-reaching effect in the industrial world. One of the first in time as well as importance of these marvelous discoveries, and therefore the one against which was hurled the accumu- lated energy of the opposition, was that of the new process of manufacturing rice ; and inas- much as it involves the principles in a very large class of processes for acquiring objects with less labor, and marks the overthrow of most of the errors concerning economic matters so common with the people up to that time, a detailed history of the conflict in all its bear- ings will be given. 66 THE RICE MILLS CHAPTER VII THE RICE MILLS It was of course general knowledge that the chemical composition of rice was principally starch, nitrogenous matter and water. Starch is composed of the elements Hydrogen, Oxygen and Carbon, united or combined in certain proportions, or as the specialists express it, Starch=Ci2 Hio Oio. As the two elements Hydrogen and Oxygen compose water, our starch is seen to be merely Carbon and water. The principal element in coal, wood and vegetable matter generally, is Carbon. The principal element of air is Nitrogen. There- fore, aside from a few minor parts, such as fatty matter and ash, there was an abundance of all the elements of rice in the Pacific Northwest. But the wonder begins with the invention of the so-called rice machine, which was a mechanical device for so combining the carbon- iferous products of the country with air and OF PORT MYSTERY 67 water as to produce rice with much less expen- diture of labor than the old fashioned way of growing it. Nor was the inventor of the machine inclined to satisfy the curiosity of the people by explaining its operations or making public its principles. On the contrary, on account of certain decisions of the Supreme Court of the United States, the inventor feared that a patent would not hold by reason of its being merely an application of known principles to known matter in a perfectly simple and natural manner. Therefore, to avoid any question, he decided to keep his process a pro- found secret, and for this purpose, he resolved upon the plan of operating his machines in some hidden retreat where no one might dis- cover them. Away over on Hood's Canal, the loneliest and most secluded of all the arms of Puget Sound, where it washes the western base of the wild Olympics, was a hidden cove appar- ently shut in by the mountain's foot hills, arising perpendicularly on every side and all covered with such a growth of forest and vegetation as only the Sound country knows. The entrance to this cove was almost completely concealed from the outside world. In passing along the canal, one observed nothing but a slight indenture in the shore, apparently shut 68 THE RICE MIL,,S in on every side like thousands of other little bays. No one would expect to proceed any distance, should he turn into it. Nevertheless, he who left his regular course and chanced to enter here, found in store such a surprise as nowhere eise in this most romantic region. For he would chase the end of the bay, carefully for fear of colliding with it, for miles among hills and forests, through the sublimest scenery faultlessly mirrored in the rich sombre water, new scenes swiftly opening up before and as swiftly closing behind, until he at last reached the end. So complete was the deception that, in the government survey of the land in this locality, the cove escaped the notice of the surveyors entirely. On account of the rugged character of the country, the survey extended at farthest but a few sections inland, and the entrance to this particular cove fell in such part of the township that the land was pretended to be surveyed but a quarter of a mile back from the shore. In their haste to get out of the wilder- ness, and thinking the character of the land did not deserve a closer examination, the surveyors merely marked it by a slight indenture in the meander line, crossed it in a boat, (contrary to regulations, ) and passed on. The surveyed land was filed upon and the unsurveyed land OF PORT MYSTERY 69 back of it and entirely inclosing the cove was settled upon, by those interested in the manu- facture of rice. An old hulk, swung across a narrow place a short distance from, but out of sight of, the main canal, served as a gate to shut out all intruders ; and as the place was otherwise inaccessible, there was no one to interfere with the operation, nor betray the secret process, of the mysterious rice mills. For greater security these machines were operated in the hulls of ships anchored in the cove, absolutely secure from storms and wild beasts, and most important of all, from the occasional appearance of an explorer, or per- haps now and then a spy. That was all the world knew about the mysterious rice machines, and thus much was ascertained with difficulty. What the world did well know, was that cargo after cargo of coal and timber was shipped from every port on the Sound to the Metropolis and from there to the mysterious cove, into which they disap- peared, and from which returned cargo after cargo of rice so perfectly composed and sym- metrically molded that no expert could tell it from the natural. This new industry developed so rapidly that, within a single year, actual enumeration showed 20,000 men in round numbers engaged directly and indirectly in the 70 THE RICE MILLS production of rice, and the number was increas- ing daily. Only a few of these were employed at the mills and in the commerce to and from the mills. The others were engaged at the mine, in the forest, and in the transportation of the products to the Sound. Investigation showed those men to be in a most thriving con- dition. They and their families added to the Sound country more than a hundred thousand souls. Then there were also the capitalists, merchants, professional men and the like, with their families, who derived support in one way or another from this same industry. Moreover, massive railroads were built from the mines and forests to the tide, enormous engines and cars were constructed and powerful machines were employed, by which products were obtained with much less labor and hence much cheaper. The large amount of material required permitted the application of the various econ- omies always incident to production o» a large scale, and the general market price was sur- prisingly low. The effect was that a large and profitable trade sprang up with other parts of the United States and with foreign lands, by reason of which many more were employed in the regular trade than would have been but for the rice machines, to say nothing of those engaged in that special industry. Investigation OF PORT MYSTERY 7 1 showed that the amount of labor required to produce rice by the new process was only about one-half that required to grow it, and hence it could be produced at one-half its former price. Now, rice manufacture was at this time the closest imaginable monopoly. As no one in all the nations knew the secret, the inventor was relieved of that implacable enemy of all monopoly — the never-ceasing action of uncon- trollable international competition. There was no occasion for combinations, for there were none to compete with him anywhere. He enjoyed more security than a patent would afford him, for when a poor, industrious inven- tor made a machine which attracted attention because of its usefulness, the moneyed concerns in the industry affected usually hired second- class mechanics to make sufficient changes to avoid the law, and with the advantage of pos- session of the field and unlimited resources, generally forced the inventor to sell out for a pittance, and thus deprived him of the fruit of his toil. The inventor was thus able, by means of his peculiar monopoly, to amass unheard of riches had he desired to do so. But why should he do that? In a few years it must go to the state for politicians to plot against, or to cer- tain individuals to curse their children and 72 THE RICE MILLS their children's children, or to the charity of an unborn generation. No subsequent genera- tion would so much need charity. Why should he all his life draw upon his fellow men, his friends and neighbors, whatever they may have been to him, the nearest and dearest there would ever be, and repay to those whom he never knew, and who knew him only in fame? Where was the mere policy of making a debtor of himself all his life? What good is credit to a dead man? In response to his great nature, rather than by reason of policy, however, did he make himself trustee of his own monopoly for the benefit of his people. Instead of placing rice on the market at a price just low enough to undersell other producers, and keep- ing the difference between that price and the actual cost, he supplied the whole country at a price correspondent to the quantity and nature of the labor in its production, as under the law of competition. The result was that rice sold everywhere in the United States at one- half its former price. OF PORT MYSTERY 73 CHAPTER VIII THE FIRST GREAT INDUSTRIAL CONFLICT As soon as the influence of the cheap rice began to be felt on the Atlantic coast, a vigor- ous protest was interposed against this "un- natural and unholy compound. " Probably no more comprehensive, and at the same time concise, account of this most important industrial conflict can be given, than that contained in the contemporaneous records of the Congrsss of the United States. Every idea, argument and movement which rose to such prominence as to warrant its mention here, found its way into this record. Therefore, much of the record relating to this subject will be set forth at length. The portentous rumblings of discontent began to be heard soon after the new machines were put into successful operation, and rapidly spread with continually increasing fury, until 74 THE RICE MILLS the storm broke forth in the form of a petition to the United States Senate as follows : "To the honorable Senate of the United States : "The petition of the undersigned plantation hands and others engaged in the production, securing and marketing of rice throughout the Southern Atlantic and Gulf States of the union, respectfully shows : That there are now en- gaged in the rice culture in the south-eastern states twenty thousand men who have long been, and who are now, so employed, without any other livelihood ; that the average price of rice prevailing for the last ten years has paid hardly as much as has been paid for similar labor in other employments and has been barely sufficient to support the laborers and their families ; that notwithstanding this, one Robert Landaner has invented some sort of infernal machine whereby he is enabled to make rice by some art of magic to your petitioners un- known ; that such rice is made of poisonous min- erals and gases and various unknown and un- clean substances injurious to the human health and system ; that this rice is so prepared and molded that it cannot be distinguished from the genuine, and is put upon the markets to compete, and does compete, with the natural grown rice ; that said spurious article can be produced with much less labor than the real, to-wit : one half as much, as your petitioners are informed and believe ; that in consequence thereof the manufacturer is enabled to and does sell his product at one-half the price at which OF PORT MYSTERY 75 your petitioners are able to sell theirs : that the sale of this bogus rice works a fraud on the people of the United States, to the irreparable injury of your petitioners; that if said manu- facturer is permitted to continue his deceptive practices, it will be impossible for your peti- tioners to maintain the present price of rice, but the same will necessarily fall at least one- half, whereby the occupation of your petitioners will be rendered unprofitable, and your peti- tioners compelled to cease raising rice and seek employment in other branches of industry, already over-crowded ; that the effect will be to beat down the wages in such industries to the permanent injury of the whole mass of wage-workers in this country. Wherefore, your petitioners pray that your honorable body may investigate the premises and enact proper legislation prohibiting the further manufacture of spurious rice, or impose upon it such a tax as, added to the actual cost of its production, will raise its price so that your petitioners may successfully compete with it in the markets of the country, and thus be furnished with employment. " The foregoing petition was signed by one Edward Davis, and about 7,000 others, residents of a dozen southern states, mostly of the Carolinas, Georgia, Florida and Louisiana. There were also numerous resolutions, memor- ials and petitions on the same subject preferred by various industrial organizations throughout the whole country. Several hundred Granges, 76 THE RICE MILLS Alliances and other local farmers' organizations and hundreds of Knights of Labor Assemblies, Trades Unions, etc., sent in resolutions of their respective organizations, all of about the same tenor. The whole subject, together with all the petitions, resolutions, etc, was referred to a select committee, with directions to report by bill or otherwise as they might be advised. The facts were fully investigated, and, after proper hearing and investigation, the com- mittee made the following report : "Your Committee, to whom was referred the petition of Edward Davis and 7,000 others, relating to the rice industry, having fully investigated and considered the matter, beg leave to submit the following report. "We find the following facts : "1. One Robert Landaner, of the State of Washington, has invented or discovered a process by which he is able to manufacture rice from various substances obtained in that region, the principal of which are coal and wood, with an expenditure of about one-half the labor necessary to grow it. "2. We have caused the rice thus manufac- tured to be put to' every conceivable test, and we believe there is no means known to modern science by which the artificial can be distin- guished from the natural. We have seen and eaten many specimens of it, and have taken the stat&ments of many others who have made it a OF PORT MYSTERY 77 regular article of food, and our investigation shows that the artificial is as wholesome and nutritious as the natural. "3. There are now in the Pacific Northwest, about 20,000 men engaged in the rice industry. "4. The manufacturer of the rice has put the product upon the market at a price sufficient to cover a fair reward to the labor and capital employed, and the usual profits of such enter- prises ; which places it at about one-half the price heretofore existing, and at which natural rice must be sold in order to secure to the labor and capital employed in its production, the usual rate of wages and interest. "5. At the present rate of manufacturing there will be placed upon the market this year at least twice as much rice as before, and perhaps more will be demanded. "6. If the manufacturer of rice is permitted to prosecute his business without interference, the rice growers must accept one-half their previous income or go out of the business. "After hearing the arguments in favor of interference of every one who has asked to be heard, and upon full consideration of the above facts, your committee are of the opinion that the Congress of the United States has no right under the constitution to shield one industry from the effect of the competition of another. It could, perhaps, usurp the power under its authority to levy taxes, but we are of opinion that it would not be good policy, good economy or good government. We believe the operation of these rice machines cannot have the effect 78 THE RICE MILLS of ultimately disemploying any one, or of reducing wages; for — "1. The facts show that while 20,000 men will in the first instance be disemployed in the southeast, yet the operation of the agency which brings it about, requires the employ- ment of an equal number who would not other- wise be so employed. This merely shifts labor from one industry to another, but does not result in increasing the number of the unem- ployed, and cannot have any tendency to reduce wages. "2. This very reduction in the price of rice is an increase in the wages of every one who uses it throughout the whole land. Wages are measured, not by arbitrary signs and high- sounding numerals, but by the number of desire-satisfying objects procurable with one's labor. Though a man be not in any manner connected with the rice industry — merely a consumer — the reduction enables him to pro- cure as much rice as before, and have one-half of the product of his own labor, theretofore required to be given in exchange for his rice, left. That is a net increase in his wages, for he gets the same objects as before and has left a certain amount of his own produce which he can exchange for other objects to make his labor more effective or satisfy other desires. Therefore, though no more rice were produced than before, and consequently, by reason of the doubled productive power of labor, 10,000 men were able to supply the country's demand for rice, thus disemploying the other 10,000 now employed, who would compete in the OF PORT MYSTERY 79 other industries and beat down the wages, as it is expressed, still, this reduction in wages would be more than counter-balanced by the increase resulting from the cheapening of rice. However, we find that even more than twice the amount of rice would be demanded, which would not only not disemploy any one now employed, but would create a positive demand for more laborers in the production of rice. And this, in connection with the increase of wages by reduction of the price of rice, would very surely and materially increase the general rate of wages throughout the country. "3. No one, in any event, could be thrown out of employment. Ordinarily the laborer uses but an exceedingly small portion of the things he produces. He works for the power they give him of procuring the products of the labor of others by exchange. This exchange of products is made on the basis of the quantity of labor entering into them respectively. If, by the use of some new machine or contrivance, a laborer is enabled to produce a pound of rice in one-half the time formerly required, its exchange value will fall one-half and another laborer will be able to procure it by giving in exchange one-half of what he was formerly required to give. The other half he would exchange for as much additional rice or for labor in some other form as would employ all the labor before engaged in producing rice in the old way. In other words, it would be a day's work for a day's work just as before, only in the one case there would be twice as much exchanged and twice as many desires satisfied 80 THE RICE MILLS as in the other. So far as the object of toil is to secure rice, wages would manifestly be doubled, and the same would be true whatever product of labor this surplus is exchanged for, after paying one-half for the usual quantity of rice. "In conclusion, your committee are unani- mously of opinion that by the introduction and fullest use of the rice machines, wages will be higher and labor better employed. We have considered this question solely in its economic bearing. The conclusion reached obviates any remarks in behalf of charity and humanity. That these very rice machines will be the means of furnishing a most wholesome article of food to the poor, will satisfy the hunger and bring comfort to many suffering mortals in the great cities of our land, cannot escape the most thoughtless person. The principle involved — of procuring objects with the least Jabor — is at the foundation of all our progress. It has advanced us from a condition of savagery to what we now are, and given to us all that makes life worth living. We therefore report in favor of the unlimited operation of the rice machines, and recommend the speedy exten- sion of the patent laws to cover this new pro- cess of rice manufacture, to the end that the public may be secure against the loss of so valuable a secret, and have the benefit of the principles involved for further industrial development and greater human happiness." The report of the "committee was received and adopted by the Senate with little opposi- OF PORT MYSTERY 8 1 tion. Its publication throughout the country' created great commotion. Low mutterings and grumblings arose from every locality. Charges of deserting the cause of the people, etc., were made in various quarters. Threats of retiring members to private life, and the like, were common. But the committee had been wise enough to state the facts and their reasoning as a part of their report. The facts were indisputable and the reasoning invincible. The attempts at hostile demonstration and united opposition were lamentable failures. Industry soon adjusted itself on a natural and profitable basis according to the new condition of things, and every one was satisfied. The world had made a mighty stride forward. During all the time of this agitation, Lan- daner kept on discovering, inventing and enlarging. The phenomenal success of the rice machine, the power to amass fortune, the universal esteem, the general admiration and the sometimes almost reverence shown him by his fellow citizens, aroused no vanity, no con- ceitedness, nor did it distract him in the least from the pursuit of his mission of humanity. He applied himself with all the more diligence. He invented hundreds of devices and products useful to men, and discovered processes by which common articles were acquired with far 6 82 THE RICE MILLS less labor. For instance, wool, taken to the mysterious cove, would be returned in all its various finished products, at wonderfully cheap prices and in quantities of greater actual weight than the raw material itself ; proving conclu- sively that a substitute for natural wool had been discovered which comprised an important part of the manufactured article, though, here again, it was utterly impossible to distinguish the natural from the artificial. Many of the finest products in various lines came from the mills at Port Mystery. Carpets, lace, and other products of the loom, most excellent cutlery and the like, were produced at aston- ishingly low figures ; showing that the genius of the great inventor was limited by neither existing substances nor inventions. It seemed a pity that for hundreds of years industry should progress so slowly, sacrificing a life for each step, with squalor and misery on every hand, when here came a man with the genius of all times and nations, who gave to his people centuries of progress, spared them ages of irksome toil and saved them millions of years of time. No wonder the whole nation worshipped him. The gratitude of the Pacific Northwest was quite beyond expression. This region above all others profited by his genius. The attention of the whole world was attracted OF PORT MYSTERY 83 to it. Its wonderful resources insured confi- dence and stability. Emigrants poured in by the millions. All the laws, customs and insti- tutions favored freedom and independence of industrial action. Hundreds of millions of dollars came into the country from the other states and from the old world. Occasionally, to be sure, some misguided champion of the cause of the people would protest against this, because the interest was withdrawn from the country and "impoverished" it. But the people knew well when they borrowed the wealth that by its use their labor would produce enough more to pay the accrued interest and leave them a good profit beside. Otherwise they did not borrow. The capital, therefore, added to the wealth of the country the amount by which it "impoverished" it and a handsome profit beside. 84 THE MCE MILLS CHAPTER IX THE INLAND EMPIRE The great "Inland Empire," watered by the Columbia and its tributaries, was completely transformed. The time was when this was looked upon as a worthless desert. The soil was admitted to be prolific, but how could this vast region ever be irrigated? The subject early attracted the attention of engineers, and when the present system of irrigation was planned, there was no lack of funds to carry it into execution. A most vigorous opposition was at once offered by the inhabitants along the banks of the rivers. The most persistent came from those who owned paper villages located on the streams and whose little speculations would be upset. There were also many valuable ranches on the low land along the river bank and in places easily irrigable that would be continually submerged ; indeed the net work of lakes, bays OF PORT MYSTERY g«- and channels which furnishes the most com- plete and economic system of local inland communication ever known, covers the most valuable land of old. Although the full value of their holdings was secured to the owners, it took the governmental power of eminent domain to acquire their title. The fact that the gigantic dam at the gorge of the Columbia, through the mountains, by which the river was thrown back on the arid region, fell within three jurisdictions, that of the United States over navigable rivers and those of the states of Washington and Oregon, made further trouble and delay. There was really no objection on the part of any one except that the others thought it to their advantage and favored if which in the minds of the men in authority in those days, was sufficient evidence that it was to their disadvantage, and therefore they were against it. This contention was finally settled the dam was built and the water set back. At first the results of the enterprise were a little discouraging. It took several seasons of flood- ing to get the whole region into a moist con- dition and establish the complete success of the enterprise. By no means the least of the causes of financial success lies in the enforced economies of the system, which consist merely in the application to agriculture of the princi- 86 THE RICE MILLS pies all along employed in other industries. The water in the valley of the Columbia was maintained throughout the summer at such height as would leave dry enough for cultivation the lowest general level of the valley. What- ever land fell below such level, became perma- nent lakes and waterways. Immediately upon shutting the gates about the first of October, the great river began to overflow the lowest land under cultivation. Therefore, it became necessary to harvest and remove crops as railroads are built ; that is, with a large force of skilled men, each performing his particular duty, and all assisted with every aid that wealth could furnish. The crews traveled from place to place on floating crafts, combining the properties, firstly of locomotion, secondly of several harvesting machines. Thus, when the water reached a field of grain the "harvester" approached it until it ran aground. Then a light, jointed aluminium railroad was reeled out from the boat and an electric railroad established, which was shifted around the field at pleasure. Upon this railroad the products of the field were brought in their roughest state to the boat, where they were thrashed, cleaned pressed, etc., according to the necessities of the case. They were then carried on small boats to the store-houses. If, in securing the OF PORT MYSTERY 87 crop, power could be economically applied, it was only necessary to spin out a wire and attach an electric motor to the end, and the large engines on the boat did the rest. When a crop required attention at a certain stage of its development, such as hay and grain, it was cut and left in heaps in its crudest condition until the harvest boat came. There was no danger from storms or destructive agencies. Nearly all the work of harvesting was left for the harvester. The whole population of the country lived in the cities, which were built where they were accessible by water the year round. There were vast stables, store-houses, mills, factories and work-shops where the work of the com- munity was done under most favorable circum- stances. It is astonishing how much toil was saved by the application of the ordinary economies under this system. It has been estimated that a member of one of these com- munities produced from three to three-and-a- half times as much per hour of work, with less physical exhaustion, than a farmer under the individual system with all its traveling, handling, hauling and walking to and fro, and its cutting, lifting and digging by physical strength. In the Spring, when the water had been collected for nearly half a year, and was at its 88 THE RICE MILLS highest, it did not, by any means, cover all the land. The larger part of it was never sub- merged, but was rendered abundantly moist by the presence of the large bodies of water collected in the basins during the flooding season and used for irrigation during the sum- mer, as well as by the many permanent lakes and channels. Nevertheless, in every part of the country the same system prevailed. The people lived in villages and took advantage of the economies of the labor-saving machinery and the skill incident to division of labor. The practical illustration to the people of the benefit to them of saving labor, put an end to most of the erroneous notions which prevailed to a much later day in other places. Inasmuch as the ranchers possessed all the benefits and advantages of city life, and especially, inasmuch as the work was performed mostly by machinery, relieving them very largely from the irksomeness of toil, they all worked their own ranches, taking great pride and pleasure in it. There was no great mental strain, none of the nervousness and madness of speculation, nor the cares and anxieties of striving for or managing great fortunes. A general satisfaction grew out of their equality, for no one was enormously rich, and no one poor. The metropolis of the Inland Empire OF PORT MYSTERY 89 was the home of the wealthiest ranchers and of the great traders. These latter took on the disposition of their environments. They were not crafty nor overreaching. The climate was delightful and many made their homes there to avoid ceaseless strife and contention. It grad- ually grew into an enormous city, where poverty was almost unknown and the average wealth of whose citizens was higher than that of any other community in the world. As might be infered from these conditions, the average intelligence of the whole region was much higher than elsewhere, and, of course, the resulting average of happiness was greater. Its metropolis became the brightest, gayest and happiest of all cities. go THE RICE MILLS CHAPTER X THE SECOND PERIOD OF RAPID GROWTH Cross over the Cascades to western Washing- ton and Oregon, and quite a different picture presents itself. Here is a cosmopolitan air. The shipping of the world crowded the Sound. Grave problems weighed men's minds. Every- where was the fierce strife for riches. Every industry was developed to its fullest extent. Everybody was bus)-. The great metropolis was the center of all this activity. It was practically at the head of navigation of the world's greatest harbor. Here centred the four great trans-continental railway systems of the Nineteenthcentury,all but one of which here first struck the sea. Although this one had its ocean terminus at another port, its influence in determining the location of the Great Metropolis deserves mention. The line was built by foreigners, through a foreign land, while the others were constructed within OF PORT MYSTERY gi the United States by Americans. They had many common stockholders, and between the three there was much sympathy. They could enter into combinations, charge exorbitant rates, discriminate to the advantage or disad- vantage of a city, and in many instances, all this was done. The foreign road, however, had nothing in common with these. A fierce competition early set in between it and the other lines. There was no possibility of a trust or combine or pool. The distance from the main ocean terminal of this system to the Great Metropolis was less than 150 miles of Sound navigation, the cheapest and best there is. Therefore, the distance was annihilated in the commercial sense of freight rates, and it, too, practically terminated at the Metropolis. And so while other ocean terminals labored under monopolistic rates, the Metropolis enjoyed the advantage of cheapness resulting from constant competition. In addition, it was located where the sea reaches farthest inland to intercept the approaching lines of rails and blight their further usefulness by its deadly touch which instantly withers their life-sustain- ing elements— mileage and rates. Again, the Metropolis had an advantage over the cities of other harbors on the coast of no inconsiderable moment in this. There were many important 92 THE RICE MILLS cities on the Sound, and vessels could always get a cargo here ; if not in one port, then in several or all the ports. With the assistance of a light and inexpensive tug-boat, a ship could go without ballast, to a hundred different ports. Owners had no difficulty in securing charters for their vessels without delay. Such were the advantages which gave to the Metropolis the start from which she has grown to such enormous proportions. The impetus to trade given by the operations at Port Mys- tery led to the establishment of many industries which would otherwise never have been heard of. Although the commerce of the nations of the Pacific was still carried on mostly with Europe, a goodly part of it passing over the great trans-continental line through the British Possessions in North America, still a rapidly growing and exceedingly profitable trade sprang up between those nations and the United States. The greatest problem of the time with the statesmen was how to get control of this trade without detriment to the public welfare. Trade with some of the nations was looked upon as advantageous to our people, with other nations, disadvantageous. The test by which they distinguished the good from the bad is extremely amusing, to say the least. They seemed to think that if we gave more than we get back, OF PORT MYSTERY 93 it was an advantageous trade ; but if we got more than we gave, it was disadvantageous to our merchants or to the public or to somebody — perhaps the "statesmen" themselves. It was loosely stated in various ways, and no one seemed able to locate the mischief exactly. The statesmen kept accounts and made statis- tics of our trade with the different nations, and permitted and encouraged trades with those nations to whom we gave more than we got back, as they supposed. Of course this was merely a play with figures. Had it been true, the whole nation would have lost the amount of the excess value of the exports over the imports. Exchanges were not made by govern- ment nor by the public, but by our individual merchants with the foreign individual mer- chants ; and if there had been any such loss it would have fallen on some or all of the indi- viduals. Now you may be sure that the merchants oJ the Metropolis knew their busi- ness, and did not send away more than they got back, nor did they volunteer to take upon themselves any loss for the public welfare. If there was no loss in the individual, there certainly could not be in the aggregate. There was, however, no occasion for com- plaint. Every laborer found his complement in exchange, every product its taker. Millions 94 THE RICE MILLS of people came to the new industrial center ; and hence the city that so eclipsed even great Chicago's marvelous growth. That it was only a matter of time when it would be the principal city of the hemisphere, was apparent to every one ; and to the far-sighted, it was equally apparent that in time the metropolis of the world would withdraw from its proud island home already west of the main land of the Old World, and quietly steal across the Atlantic and the continent of North America, and take up its abode and finally establish itself in Puget Sound. OF PORT MYSTERY Q , CHAPTER XI THE GREAT AFFLICTION Right in the midst of this wonderful pros penty came the untimely death of Landaner The death of no one man ever before caused such general lamentation. No other man was ever looked up to by the people with such genuine personal attachment, such feeling of gratitude for blessings bestowed upon them and such reverence for purity and unselfishness of character. Every heart was sad and discon- solate. The whole nation went into mourning not in form pursuant to public proclamation' but instinctively and involuntarily, in response to the demands of their own emotions. In addition to all this, his death had an important industrial bearing. He was absolute monarch of the industrial world, with more power over the happiness, liberty and even lives of the people than any political ruler ever had. For however complete may be political freedom 96 THE RICK MILLS and equality under the law, if a man is deprived an opportunity of providing the necessities of life., it is a mockery. Though all men are born free and equal, when one comes into the world inheriting nothing but a life estate in the perpetual injunction to "move on," to disobey which is to become a trespasser in the hands of authority or charity, subject in either case to forfeiture of manhood ; his boasted political equality becomes an engine of vengeance, threatening the whole social fabric. The industrial control of man has always had more influence upon his life, liberty and hap- piness than has the political or physical control. Nearly every instance of shameless violence of the right to life or personal liberty, may be traced either mediately or immediately to industrial control over the subject as the primary cause of the mischief; and it matters little whether the cause is executed by open violence, or is permitted to execute itself. With all our boasted political advancement from government by a god, then a descendant of a god, then a god-appointed, then a monarch who imprisoned and beheaded his subject, forfeited his estate and corrupted his blood in more ways than one, "by his consent," to that form of government in which the subject is sovereign and does all these things to himself, OF PORT MYSTERY 97 the cause of it all remains the same. At the end of the nineteenth century there were kings and princes, dukes and lords, serfs and slaves in the realm of industry in the most enlightened nations, as there had been in their politics a few centuries before. Men strutted up and down the avenues of industry with as much security of their financial person and as much power over the industrial (and conse- quently, over the physical) lives and liberties of others, as the lords of physical force had on the king's highway in the days of chivalry. The danger lay in the sudden realization of their condition by a people already possessed of political equality and power. The rule of a good monarch is the best government known ; the rule of a bad one would be disastrous among such a people. A mighty monarch had fallen whose monopolies gave him more power than was ever held by mortal man. No one dreamed of such a catastrophe. His interest in family affairs and his enjoyment of domestic life, had always been marked. He looked upon the institution of the family as the most potent agency for the peace and happiness of society. Yet for some reason, perhaps his constant and intense engagement in other matters, he had never married. His father and mother were enjoying the declining years of their lives in 7 98 THE RICE MILLS a modest way upon the competence long before provided by him. He was an only child. His aged father and mother were his only surviving relatives. Who would succeed to his power? What would become of his estate? Were his secrets known to others? Would his death result in barring or checking further prosperity? Was it possible to avoid a panic? A thousand such questions flashed upon the minds of the people. Business came to a standstill. Every- thing was in a state of suspense and uncertainty. The estimates of the value of the estate by the people varied as widely as would their statements of how long the moon's diameter appeared to them. Beyond a few hundred thousand dollars, the ordinary mind is without comparison, and draws solely upon the fancy. Some used nothing less than billions to measure their estimates. The most conservative, how- ever, managed to express themselves in millions. By far the,most important property was the "plant" at Port Mystery. This was known to have netted millions in the few years of its operation ; but that was nothing to what it would earn if operated "for all that was in it" or "under proper management." A very moderate expression of the popular estimate of value of the property would be a billion dollars. OF PORT MYSTERY gg The next item of importance was the ship- ping. There were hundreds of vessels engaged in the sound, coastwise and foreign trade, beside those used in the commerce with Port Mystery. The shipping altogether was estimated at from $50,000,000 to $100,000,000. The extent of Landaner's interest, however, was not known. The very common practice of part-ownership with the crew had been early adopted, and all the vessels were supposed to be owned in that way. In fact, when a vessel was first sent out, Landaner required each mariner, unless he was a young man who had not yet had an opportunity to lay by anything, to take an interest in the vessel. He used to declare that a man who, having an opportunity to save, could not or did not improve it, was a dangerous man in business. Then again, he wanted this guarantee of the man's confidence and ability. But Landaner usually kept a controling interest. On settlement, all those performing labor of any kind in connection with the business, were allowed the current wages, commissions or salaries for the services. The usual rate of interest was allowed to the owners, whoever they might be, and after all other expenses were paid, whatever was left was distributed in the same proportion and to the same persons as wages and interest were paid. IOO THE RICE MILLS That is, the knowledge, skill or productive ability of those performing services was capi- talized. For example, in order to accomplish a certain voyage and earn certain freight, say $5,000, it was necessary to contribute capital the value of the use of which for the time, according to the regular rate of interest, was $1,000, and also knowledge, skill and labor the value of the use of which, for the same time, according to regular rates was likewise $1,000. This would make labor and capital equal partners in the enterprise. The $5,000 earned would be applied to pay wages, interest and other incidental expenses first. Suppose there was a net profit of $2,000. This would be divided between the two partners in its pro- duction, according to the amount each contrib- uted, as in all cases of ordinary partnership. In this instance, it would be divided equally ; $1,000 to labor and $1,000 to capital. And so, again, among the different laborers or owners, the $1,000 would be distributed according to the relative value each contributes. The men took a deep personal interest in the welfare of the business and property in- trusted to their charge, and the best possible service was secured ; yielding, no doubt, greater net returns to Landaner than if he had paid pure wages and kept all the profits. The OF PORT MYSTERY IOI seamen came to be a very thrifty and wealthy class of citizens, and in some instances, were known to own the whole of the ship they sailed, though it still went under Landaner's name. The utmost confidence prevailed between him and his agents, and it was difficult to ascertain the exact facts in reference to this property. The next item in order of importance was cash, credits, bills receivable, etc., such as would naturally be expected in a business of that magnitude ; and then there was some real estate in the Metropolis, consisting of valuable wharves, coal-bunkers, elevators, freight and store-houses, loading and discharging machinery, etc., a large office building and other minor property. 102 THE RICE MILLS CHAPTER XII THE WILL The second day after Landaner's death, his will was presented to the Probate court by the former general manager of his business at Port Mystery, who was therein named as executor, with a petition that it be admitted to probate and that letters testamentary issue immediately. The first clause of the will was : "I confirm in and unto the part owners therein, in proportion to their respective interests, all my right, title and interest in and to all ships and shipping of whatsoever kind and wheresoever situated, together with the contents thereof, formerly owned by me and by me heretofore given to said part-owners. " No one ever heard of this extensive gift of his entire interest in his shipping. This incident shows what excellent discipline and close counsel prevailed throughout the whole service, whether connected with Port Mystery OF PORT MYSTERY 103 or not. The second clause of the will was as follows : "All my real estate at Port Mystery ; also all receipts, processes, principles, together with all mills, machines and instruments for the full use and application thereof, except the shipping, materials and products heretofore dis- posed of by me as mentioned in the first clause of this will ; also the good will of all my business and industrial enterprises at Port Mystery, I give, devise and bequeath to the state of Washington, in trust, however, to be further operated and extended for the use and benefit of the people of said state and for the general welfare of the human race. " His money, credits, bills receivable, also his real estate and other property located at the Great Metropolis, he devised and bequeathed to the city, to be used in building an enormous "Home of Humanity" according to the spirit of his inclinations in that behalf expressed throughout his life, and under the direction of certain commissioners whom he selected as most nearly representing his ideas. He ap- pointed his general manager his sole executor, directed that he be not required to give bond, and then closed with the following peculiar clause : "I wish to be directly and quietly buried, and ask that my monument shall be a single 104 THE RICE MILLS block of granite of moderate proportions in- scribed only with my name and the date and place of my birth and of my death." For four days and until the people clamored for his burial "directly and quietly as he has requested," he lay in state where hundreds of thousands of weeping eyes took a farewell glance at him who relieved the toiling millions of so many burdens and of so much poverty and miser)', and who bestowed upon them countless comforts and measureless happiness. The last rites over his remains were then had, perhaps not altogether "quietly," but certainly quietly, compared with what they would otherwise have been. In the funeral train were represented undesignedly, but fully, the entire industrial force of the community. There were the pub- lic officers of state and municipality, the very rich and the ordinary rich, all in their costly equipages ; there were the manufacturers, merchants and professional men in the humble carriages ; and there were long solid columns of men marching by unions, assemblies, societies and organizations of every trade and calling. No one seemed to take notice of the immensity of the train. No one cared. Each one's eyes and thoughts and spirits were down- cast under the common affliction of all. On the very highest point of the spacious burial OF PORT MYSTERY 105 ground, even where it reached highest up the very mountain side, so that conforming to his will, they still might have Tacoma for his lasting monument, they buried the mighty leader. The public impulse was to erect a monu- ment mightier than the Great Pyramid of Egypt, to mark the burial spot of this fallen greatness. But why should thousands of years of life and toil be thus sacrificed? And why should others be burdened with the support of so many builders in addition to that of themselves? After all he said and did, and while the truth of his teaching was unques- tioned, the greater power of his life was all that overcame their weakness and vanity. He asked that his monument be humble and simple. No one would disregard his will. Such a monument was made in a day and immediately placed at his grave. That was all they could do. The publication of the will gave the people a feeling of confidence, and although general business started up and moved on pretty much as before, the people were slowly reconciled to their loss. It was the sole topic of conver- sation. Little else was published in the news- papers, or, if published, read. Io6 THE RICE MILLS CHAPTER XIII THE MYSTERIES OF PORT MYSTERY The executor received letters testamentary immediately upon proving the will, and pro- ceeded with the business without interruption. As time wore on, the people became curious to know what there was at Port Mystery. The end of the month in which the executor was required by law to file an inventory of the estate was watched with a great deal of interest. When that time arrived, however, the executor applied for a further extension, intimating that because of the magnitude of the estate, he had been unable to complete the inventory. This heightened the curiosity of the people. "The estate must be enormous," the} 7 said. What an array of figures they did use to express their estimates of its value. Air castles were built without limit, by the simple-minded, and the good time was thought by many to be at hand when government would support the OF PORT MYSTERY 107 people without work. The court at once granted an extension of a month. When this time rolled around, the executor applied for a further extension, and after considerable hesitation, another month was granted, with a few advisory remarks on the necessity of increasing the force in order to close it up and relieve the court from criticism. The people had begun to murmur and suspect and intimate, etc. ; but everything was being done according to law, the claims of creditors were paid as soon as presented, and no one had any right to interfere. By the end of the second extension, there was a very decided diminution in the amount of commerce with Port Mystery. Where ordina- rily a vessel arrived every few hours, there was now only one every few days. The people openly charged conspiracy. The newspapers suggested that the public officers were derelict in duty in not taking charge of the state's great acquisition, instead of allowing it to be spirited away and destroyed, and the evidences and proofs of the secret processes effaced, to the irreparable loss of the people. The court, himself, became alarmed. The executor ap- peared, and asked a further extension of time. The court peremptorily refused it and demanded the inventory. The executor said it was nearly finished, but not quite. It was the last day to 108 THE RICE MILLS file it, unless a further extension was granted, and it certainly was not there. It was lawful for the court to extend the time one more month, but he refused to do it. There was the greatest excitement in the court and throughout the city. The court threatened to revoke the letters, and demanded bonds to secure the state ; but the executor was not of the kind to be intimidated, and suggested that if the court thought he could get an inventory quicker, or make anything in any way, by in- stituting a proceeding hostile to him, he was at liberty to try it. The whole affair was compromised — the executor agreeing upon his honor to file a full and exact inventory within a week, and the time was accordingly extended seven days. But such a general fever of excite- ment was never known. Suffice it to say that the executor was a prudent man, and conse- quently went directly to the steamer awaiting him, and betook himself from the city as rapidly as the ordinary methods of locomotion per- mitted. At the end of the week, an agent of the executor appeared before the court in private audience, and a long conversation and explana- tion were had. He produced what was said to be a sworn inventory. The court received it, filed it, put it in his pocket, and refused to OF PORT MYSTERY IO9 allow any one to see it, on the ground of public policy, he said. He immediately appointed three men, prominent in public affairs, ap- praisers of the estate, with directions to pro- ceed at once to Port Mystery and make a complete inventory, appraisal and report of everything they found there, with the utmost dispatch, giving particular attention to the interests of the state. Armed with the authority of the law, they entered the mysterious cove, and demanded admission to all ships, hulks and water-craft of every kind therein, the disclosure of all the secrets connected with the various industries there carried on, and the exhibition of the instrumentalities whereby they were applied. The guards received them courteously, and extended the freedom and hospitality of the place. A light messenger- boat was placed at their disposal, and they proceeded to explore the wonders of the place. After turning the first bend in the narrow canal in which they were proceeding, they met a huge barge steaming along toward the Metropolis. It was unquestionably one of those used in the traffic between the mills and the port of the Metropolis, with which they were perfectly familiar. Nevertheless, inas- much as they had determined to make a record of absolutely everything they found, whether 110 THE RICE MILLS material and necessary or not, so as to escape any possibility of criticism or censure by the public, they boarded the vessel and proceeded to investigate it. It was what it appeared to be ; the ordinary steam barge laden with a general cargo of merchandise, such as came to the port of the Metropolis every few hours. They examined its marine documents, consisting of the usual certificate of enrollment and license, took its official number, tonnage mark, name and port, returned to their own craft and each went its way. They wound their way along the sinuous course of the inlet mile after mile, through the foothills rising high on either side, until they came to a slight basin of per- haps a quarter of a mile in diameter, and almost completely surrounded by perpendicular walls of rock. Here were several barges like that already passed, loaded with material for the mills or general cargoes for the Metropolis, but with this peculiarity : none of them had a name, number or papers. They were all of exactly the same size and shape, finished and furnished in exactlj' the same manner, and there was no way of telling one from another. There were a number of other hulks in the basin, some were used for living purposes, others had stored in them large quantities of a new style of ships' spars and rigging, and still others were used as OF PORT MYSTERY III workshops, for the manufacture and repair of these new-fangled outfits. This was all there was in sight. Where were the rice mills and all those machines of which so much was heard and so little known? Had they all been sur- reptitiously removed and concealed? Rather than have the secrets disclosed, had everything been destroyed or sunk to the bottom of the deep basin? There were a few score of men engaged in the workshops and about the ships, in the performance of the ordinary duties inci- dent to the shipping business apparently there conducted. Where were the numerous opera- tives of the rice and other mills? No doubt a great saving of labor had been effected, but certainly that state of perfection and happiness had not already been reached, where no labor at all was necessary to support mankind. The appraisers insisted upon having the property, that had been given to the state, revealed to them. The executor declared that he knew of no property that had been given to the state except what was around there as apparent to them as to him ; that nothing had been concealed, removed or destroyed since Landaner's death ; and that everything was there that had ever been there. At this, the appraisers were inclined to be indignant, but in view of the fact that they were quite within 112 THE RICE MILLS the enemies' lines, and without any assurance but that they, too, might be abducted and caused to disappear as mysteriously as had the property they sought, they withheld all expres- sion of feeling and repaired to their stateroom in one of the hulks used as a hotel. Once in the privacy of their room, they conferred long over the events of the day. The only conclu- sion reached was that they had been completely frustrated and deceived, and that they still had the whole mystery to dispel. They deter- mined to take it coolly and show no distrust or anxiety, confident that in time, all would be brought to light. The presence of the anony- mous boats all laden either with material for the mills or their products for the Metropolis, and the fact that, among all the barges, there was ndt an empty one, nor one in process of loading or unloading, must be explained. The mills were certainly still beyond. With a firm determination to yet find them, they retired for the night. Next morning they arose just as the light of day was beginning to penetrate that hidden nook, although the sun was already well on its course. Their sleep had not been rest. Their minds were uneasy ; their thoughts full of doubts and fancies. From the deck of their boat, everything appeared just as upon the OF PORT MYSTERY II3 preceding evening, except, perhaps, that some of the boats had changed position. There were no mills in sight — no chance for any, unless they were concealed in some hidden cave in the rocky cliffs which surrounded the basin. A barge was about leaving the basin for the Metropolis, and they determined to inspect it — that nothing might escape. It was found to be one of those inspected the night before, but now it had a name, register number and papers. There was no question about it being one of those before visited, for there were the secret marks they had placed upon it without the knowledge of the workmen or executor, in order that they might identify it afterward. Thereupon, they set upon re-inspecting all the vessels in the basin, and found, to their amazement, that there was one more boat than the night before. It was laden with a general cargo for the Metropolis, and had not before been visited by them. Manifestly it had arrived during the night, from the mills. How did it get there? They had not passed it in the canal, nor would there be any occasion for bringing one back. Their investigation only deepened the mystery. They determined to mount the rugged cliffs and overlook the basin and surrounding country. Not that they sus- pected the ships of arriving by that route, but 8 114 THE RICE MILLS merely to see what was to be seen. After landing many times and making numerous attempts, they finally succeeded in making an ascent at a point down the canal a little way from the basin. They made their way slowly along the rugged cliff until they not only over- looked the basin, but to their great surprise, also the Strait of Fuca. Traveling on around the basin, they arrived upon a wall but a few rods in width, separating the basin from a slight indenture in the rugged shore of the Strait. They proceeded on around the basin and again descended to the canal, and were picked up a short distance below and on the opposite side from where they started out, by their boat and taken in for the night, com- pletely tired out and completely bewildered. Their tour had been through a wild and almost impassible region. They were no nearer the mills than before. OF PORT MYSTERY II5 CHAPTER XIV THE RICE MILLS FOUND Next morning they inspected the shipping with the same results as the preceeding morn- ing, except that two barges had been added to the fleet during the night, both laden with the usual cargo for the Metropolis. The men were engaged in hoisting from these new arrivals, spars and rigging, such as were found in store in large numbers. Up to this time the men about the place had paid no attention to their visitors. The appraisers at first were very independent and somewhat threatening and overbearing. They were treated courteously but no great friendship was shown for them. They had been very cleverly let alone. Completely baffled in their attempts to find the mills, or even ascertain whence came the ships, they became humiliated, and upon their better acquaintance, ventured to inquire how the vessels gained entrance into Il6 THE RICE MILLS the basin. The executor told them. Encour- aged by this, they made further inquiries. Everything they asked was answered openly and fully. All was explained and all became clear. Next morning he took them out and showed them everything as he had explained the night before, and had a ship rigged out by way of illustration. There was nothing more for the appraisers to do. The)' returned home and filed the following report with the probate court : "We, the undersigned, appraisers of the estate of Robert Landaner, deceased, heretofore appointed by this court with special instruc- tions to proceed at once to Port Mystery and inventory and appraise the property of the deceased there situated and make immediate return thereof to the court, do hereby report as follows : "We have fully investigated the matters re- ferred to and find that the only property owned by Robert Landaner at his death consisted of a ship's passage from Hood's Canal to the Strait of Fuca and the shores including said passage ; that the public already have a much more direct and convenient passage on the Sound by way of Port Townsend,and on account of the rugged character of the shores of said passage, we re- turn said property as of merely nominal or no value. "The supposition prevails very largely among the people that large and valuable properties OF PORT MYSTERY 117 were bequeathed to the state by the second clause of the will of decedent. In order to disabuse the public of this opinion and relieve ourselves from any imputation of neglect or duty, we beg leave to further report that the so-called rice machines and all similar machines whereby the products of our state, shipped out of the Metropolis by the Port Mystery barges were supposed to be converted into rice and the other products brought in by the return barges, existed only in the imagination. The only process of conversion was that of exchange We find that Port Mystery extended north from Hood's Canal to within a few rods of the Strait of Fuca, from which it was separated by a natural stone wall about 300 feet high ; that through this wall a tunnel was constructed' large enough to admit the passage of the so- called barges; that at either end of the tunnel are gates whose outer surfaces so closely imitate the rocky walls to which the V are attached, that when closed, they cannot be detected; that the so-called barges are, in fact, sea-going ships pro- vided with new-fashioned removable masts, con- structed of several lengths of aluminium cylin- ders of varying diameters to allow them to tele- scope into one another. The first and largest joint extends from the bottom of the ship through the hold to a few feet above the deck, and is securely clamped in its place. When the mast is needed, all the other joints, or so many as may be required, are run up by forcing water into the cylinders until one joint after another is driven out of the one next larger, and the mast is drawn out like an extended pocket tele- Il8 THE RICE MILLS scope. When the pressure Is suddenly removed the mast cylinders are automatically clamped in their places. When it is desired to lower the mast on account of an approaching storm or of entering a harbor, they are again un- damped by the application of sufficient pres- sure and may be gradually closed up. The stays and lines are attached to spring reels, fastened to the sides of the ship, by which they are taken up as fast as relieved by lowering the mast, and may be let out at will. The yards and booms are similarly adjustible. Each ship is provided with a screw and engines and machinery of sufficient power to control the ship in a storm, and to propel it into and out of harbors without the aid of a tugboat. The engines are also used for loading and discharg- ing cargoes in port. "Now, we find that the process of converting products has been merely this : These barges were loaded for the sea at the Metropolis. They then steamed down the Sound to Port Mystery, where an ocean crew was put aboard, a set of the new style masts closed up compact was quickly hoisted into place and securely fastened and the rigging properly adjusted. The ships then steamed through the hidden gates at the dead of night, crossed the strait into British waters and thence out upon the open Pacific, where the masts were raised and the ships proceeded under a foreign flag to all parts of the globe. The cargoes were ex- changed and the ships returned to the Strait, and, in the night, crossed over to the American shore, passed through the gates, were relieved OF PORT MYSTERY Iig of their crews, masts and rigging, and came to the Metropolis as steam barges. All of which can be verified by an examination of the barges and a visit to Port Mystery, which is now open to the bublic." 120 THE RICE MILLS CHAPTER XV THE LAST INDUSTRIAL CONFLICT This report attracted much attention throughout the whole country. At first the people inclined to discredit the report, saying that it was impossible that such a deception should be so long and so successfully main- tained. Port Mystery became a great attrac- tion for a long time. Those visiting the place the day after the report was filed, found nothing there except the passage and the tunnel, whose gates had been torn off and destroyed or sunk. In the Pacific Northwest the whole proceeding was looked upon as a huge joke and caused much merriment. Land- aner was held in no less esteem by reason of his artifice ; many admired him all the more. But clearly he was not that ideal of innocence and ingenuousnessthat many had imagined him. East of the Rocky Mountains the report was read with much more interest. Some smiled ; OF PORT MYSTERY 121 others took it more seriously. Some said the nation had been basely deceived and defrauded, and the commerce and navigation laws crimi- nally disregarded. Others said that inasmuch as the country had been benefited, they could see nothing so very criminal or serious about it. The proposition was argued in its different phases in every city and hamlet of the nation. As soon as it was certain that the plot would surely soon be discovered, the ships which h^d so regularly visited the Metropolis, failed to appear. Some of them were sold to innocent third parties, citizens of other countries — so they said. The new style of masts and rigging was applied to other ships, so that there was no means of identifying those formerly in the Port Mystery trade, and the seamen on all of the suspicious ships pretended to have never entered such a port. But, as the ships gradually ceased coming to port, the effect upon business began to be felt, and afcer a few weeks the situation became alarming. Many people east of the Mountains demanded the confiscation of the ships and cargoes. The Coast people clamored for their immediate return in order that the many idle workmen might be employed supply- ing the out-going cargoes. They demanded the repeal of all laws that tended to restrict commerce, or deprive the Metropolis of the 122 THE RICE MILLS glory justly due her as mistress of the Pacific hemisphere. To this end all sorts of petitions, memorials and resolutions from all sorts of people, commercial boards and chambers, labor organizations, city and state legislatures, not only on the Coast, but over the whole country, were preferred to the national Congress. On the other hand, there were many praying for the rigid enforcement of all laws relating to this subject, and of all the penalties incurred by their breach in the past. These latter man- ifestations, however, came solely from east of the Rockies. The Rice Dealers' Protective Union, comprising the chief producers and merchants through the southern states, pre- sented to the United States Senate an economic treatise not unlike that presented to a preced- ing Congress by their employees. Similar documents were presented by the Wool Growers Association ; by the Amalgamated Steel Association ; by the National Home Market Club; by the Society for Maintaining the Dignity of American Labor, and by numerous Labor Organizations, Farmers' Alliances and Granges. A joint resolution passed Congress for the appointment of a committee to investigate the Port Mystery fraud, and act in conjunction with the executive in securing due compliance OF PORT MYSTERY 123 with the laws. At the same time a bill was introduced into the United States Senate by a Senator from Washington, providing for the removal of restrictions upon commerce and exchange so far as consistent with the due administration of government, to the end that the Port Mystery commerce might be revived and openly and permanently established and extended throughout the nation. The bill, to- gether with all matters relating to the subject, was referred to a select committee of Senators — the leaders of the public affairs of the nation. The committee immediately entered upon the discharge of its duties, secured the necessary facts, heard the arguments of the ablest states- men and attorneys in the country, and after a full consideration made the following report : "The Select Committee to whom was assigned the duty of investigating the Port Mystery frauds, and to whom also was referred the bill for the removal of restrictions upon foreign exchanges, beg leave to submit the following : "We are unanimously of opinion that re- strictions and prohibitions which discourage or prevent exchanges between the people of this nation and those of foreign nations, tend to strengthen and enrich the nation, elevate the position of the American workingman, and promote the general welfare and happiness of the people. Laws which have this object in view should therefore be maintained, for : 124 THE RI CE MILLS i. The conditions are different in this country from those in others. The general scale of wages is higher. If, therefore, our people are permitted to procure a certain line of products from a country whose people are accustomed to receive much less than ours, it is clear that our own people must either accept the foreign wages or go out of business ; for exchanges will be made only in foreign lands where the most can be procured. If a particular nation pays as high wages as this, and the natural advantages are the same, exchanges may be permitted without endangering the welfare of our people. But this bill seeks to remove re- strictions upon exchanges with all nations, however cheaply they may produce things. 2. Restrictions upon exchanges under such circumstances tend to furnish employment to our laborers and increase their wages. If instead of exchanging an hour's labor for an hour's labor (in the form of products) among our own people, one is permitted to send his hour's product abroad and get what would be the product of two hours' labor here, the intro- duction of such product would deprive our own laborers not only of one, but of two hours' work. It would reduce the demand for labor at home, and wages must fall accordingly. 3. It is to just such restrictions and prohi- bitions as this bill seeks to remove that we have to look for the enviable position occupied by the American laborer, as compared with those of other countries. How long could they maintain their present high standard of com- fort and happiness, if compelled to work in OF PORT MYSTERY 1 25 competition with the pauper labor of Europe and the Cooly labor of the Orient? To what other cause than the very laws sought to be repealed by this bill, can be attributed the high rate of wages, the elevated position and the wonderful development and prosperity of the American people? 4. But, though we buy where we can buy cheapest, we must pay something. Is it not far better economy to keep our money at home and among our people, than to allow the country to be drained of it, to pay for foreign purchases? 5. It will be observed that the action of this government in relation to this bill is watched with intense interest by foreign nations. Are they so much interested in the welfare of the American people? Or is it not manifest that they regard the passage of this bill of the greatest importance and advantage to them? Are the American people already so affluent as to bestow such benefits upon strangers? 6. The proposition, in short, is to throw open our market to the world and permit it to be flooded with the cheap goods of pauper, convict, slave and Cooly labor. Then when our factories are all converted into poor-houses, and our industries finally transferred to foreign lands, the price of our necessaries and con- veniences will be so raised as to complete the permanent subjection and servitude of the people to our foreign masters. 7. A people of a single industry is never wealthy. The laws attacked by this bill tend to give diversity of employment whereby our 126 THE RICE MILLS people may enrich one another, instead of foreigners, by their exchanges. 8. It is only by reason of the opportunities afforded by such diversity of industry that the nation has won such fame in the field of inven- tion. Think of the amount of labor saved by American inventions and the consequent re- duction in price of the necessities of life, bringing them within the reach of all. Could such inventions ever have been made if our people had followed agriculture all their days, and exchanged for all the products of the shop and factory? "In conclusion, we again avow our loyalty to American industries, American labor and American institutions, and therefore, recom- mend that the bill be not passed." The following is the record of the proceed- ings in the United States Senate upon this bill when it came up for consideration "The Senate having under consideration the bill for the removal of restrictions upon foreign exchanges, on the motion that the bill be not passed." OF PORT MYSTERY 127 CHAPTER XVI WHAT DETERMINES WAGES Mr. Bright : "Mr. President, as a matter of personal privilege and favor, before this motion is put, I beg an opportunity to place myself upon record, that I may not be charged with infidelity or laches in a matter so vital to the progress and prosperity of my constituents. We have all heard the report, and recognize it as the staple article. The statements and arguments in refutation, have been so often repeated on this floor that, as a labor-saving device for clearing the Chamber, they are an unqualified success. But because of the devel- opments at Port Mystery, and of the present alarming state of industrial affairs throughout the Pacific Northwest, I beg to be heard upon the merits of this bill. "The report says, in substance, that the con- ditions of the countries with whom we have been trading through Port Mystery are different 128 THE RICE MILLS from those of our own ; that they are able to produce things cheaper. This is undoubtedly true. Otherwise there would be no advantage in exchanging with them. It is because cheaper wages and interest, or more favorable condi- tions and opportunities abroad, enable us to procure the articles sought by exchanging less labor than would produce the articles at home, that we make such exchanges. The induce- ment to all commercial exchange is the means afforded of procuring desired objects by ex- changing less labor in one's special industry, than would be required to produce the objects directly. In short, it is a means of saving labor. Ordinarily, if one would never lack employment, all he has to do is to produce all the simplest articles he consumes. But it is too clear for argument that what the people of this day want is, not to perform the greatest possible amount of labor, but to avoid it. Now here is a plan by which a man may per- form a certain number of hours' work in one employment, and secure at least twice as many of the objects he desires as by employing his labor the same number of hours directly to that purpose. Shall we permit him to do it? Make the case more concrete. Our people want rice. By working in the southern swamps, 20,000 men can produce a certain amount. OF PORT MYSTERY 120, By working, not there, but in the forests and mines of the Pacific Northwest, and exchang- ing their products with the inhabitants of the East Indies and China, they may procure the same amount in half the time, or twice the amount in the same time. Which shall we require them to do ; work ten hours under a boiling sun in malarial swamps ; or five hours in the equable climate of evergreen Washing- ton, and have the balance of the day either for leisure or the cultivation of desires higher and nobler than mere appetite? "It is said wages would be lowered. But is that so? How lowered? Was that not the very point urged against the rice machines of Port Mystery, and did not this Senate show that no such a result could possibly follow? Let us be consistent. By what magic is it that exchanges of cargoes via Port Mystery surely increase wages, and the same exchanges exactly, via Port Townsend, as surely de- crease them? What are wages? Do we want to increase or decrease them? How can they be increased? Since all these questions are peculiarly pertinent at this time, and, in my judgment, so mightily concern the welfare of the whole people, I ask to state my views fully, and beg the indulgence of the Senators, if I descend somewhat into elementary princi- I30 THE RICE MILLS pies. And if I should frequently refer to and closely follow those cardinal principles laid down in the report adopted by the Senate in the former investigation of this question, and which the senators now repudiate, I beg them to bear with me, for the reason, if none other, that they very recently held the same principles as applied to exactly the same state of facts, the only variance being in the course of navi- gation for a distance of twenty or thirty miles out of average voyages of four or five thousand miles. "Human life and happiness depend immedi- ately upon human production, without which no race could long survive. The spontaneous production of the earth would support but an insignificant part of its population. It takes both the earth (or as economists call it, land) * and more or less labor to support its people at all ; and in general, the larger the produc- tion, the greater the sum of human happiness. Nature and nature's laws are the same now as they have been all the time of man's habitation of the world. There have been fields and forests, metals and fuels, steam and electricity all the time ; and the more we learn of the world, the more it appears to be infinite in its capacity for production. At any rate, since we cannot enlarge the earth, if we increase OF PORT MYSTERY 131 production it must be by increasing tke pro- ductive power of labor. It has been increased many-fold, and the limit is far- from reached. "The demand for products increases with civilization. Human desires keep far in ad- vance of the power of satisfying them, and they are practically unlimited. "The real earnings of every one consist in what he produces. But the actual products of one's labor would ordinarily satisfy few of his wants ; sometimes none at all. He wants the various products of others' labor, which he can obtain by exchanging an amount of his labor, in the form of its products, for an equivalent amount of their labor, in the form of their pro- ducts. These products, either the original or exchanged, may be called the laborer's real earnings. They are valued and exchanged on the basis of the quantity and quality of labor entering into them, respectively. There is thereby established a sort of natural scale of earnings, by which a certain amount of labor of a certain class rewards the laborers of that class with a uniform power of satisfying desires through the system of exchange. And the earnings in the different classes of occupations are fixed and determined naturally, by the agreeableness or disagreeableness, lightness or hardness of the employments ; the ease or 132 THE RICE MILLS difficulty, the expense or cheapness of learning them ; the probability or improbability of suc- cess in them ; the constancy or inconstancy of the employment, the amount of trust imposed, and numerous other causes. If the products of a given branch of industry have a greater power of commanding objects in exchange than the character of the labor naturally warrants, labor will shift to that industry from others until equilibrium is restored. This scale or natural relation of the purchasing power of labor, or of the various products of labor, is expressed, for conventional numeration, in money value. The value, then, of various products is a statement of the relative quantity (time and quality considered) of labor enter- ing into them. "It is to be observed that money, not in its character as a measure of value, but as a medium of exchange, figures but slightly. It is but an insignificant fraction of the wealth of the country. Of itself it satisfies no desires. It cannot, as such, feed, clothe, or house anybody. It is the instrument by which one's products are exchanged for what others pro- duce. It merely bridges the chasm of credit which exists during an exchange when the products are not actually present for barter. Nearly the whole of the aggregate of exchanges OF PORT MYSTERY I 33 of a country are effected without money, and it is not difficult to conceive of a plan by which it could be entirely dispensed with, without detracting from the real earnings of the indi- vidual in the least. At most it is a matter of convenience. "The producer's real earnings and the earn- ings actually retained and enjoyed by him are, however, quite different. Whatever products are enjoyed and consumed by royalty, nobility, standing armies, or by dependents of any kind upon government, are taken from the real earnings of the laborer, and reduce the earnings enjoyed by him to that extent. These classes are supported by taxation, which is merely the power of taking from the producers of a country a certain proportion of their real earnings — of their bread, meat, clothing, and other necessi- ties and conveniences, if you please— for which no return is, nor in the nature of things can be, made ; for a man who comes into the world with nothing, and there produces nothing, can give but nothing. The producer's real earnings are similarly taken to support all sorts of private non-producers who depend for their power of appropriation upon defective laws and social systems based upon human weak- nesses. "By the Ricardian Law of Rent, accepted by 134 THE RICE MILLS all economists as fixing the rent of land in its natural state and without any improvements, all that part of the laborer's products upon any land in excess of what the same labor would produce upon the best unappropriated land, would go to the landlord as the rent of the land on which the labor was employed ; and would, therefore, be taken from the laborer's real earnings and become earnings enjoyed by some one else. Then again a majority of laborers are employed by others, in which case their earnings retained and enjoyed are called wages. The great mass of wage-workers have no capital of their own and rely upon their employers to supply it. For this service, circumstances and custom allow the employer to take all of the laborer's real earnings above what could be produced by hand, as it is called, or without much capital ; for that is all the employee could get, should he refuse employment. This is a corollary of the law of Rent, not perhaps necessarily so, but so in fact. The earnings enjoyed, then, may be but a small portion of the real products of one's labor. "The power of obtaining the objects which satisfy our desires is what determines the com- forts and pleasures of life, and hence it is what we all seek. The employee's only source of power is his wages. To increase the number OF PORT MYSTERY I 35 of such objects obtainable, is to increase wages, and the converse. Therefore, there are two ways to increase wages, (i) Give the employee more of his real earnings. (2) Increase real earnings. The former is in the line of social reform ; the latter, rather of scientific progress and human development. As before shown, real earnings can be increased only by increas- ing the productive power of labor. "Wages are not paid out of the employer's property — not even advanced by him. The wage fund theory and all kindred fancies which gave political economy the name of the "dismal science" have long been discarded. The laborer produces his wages before he gets them. The so-called payment is merely giving him other products (or money, the instrument for procuring other products) in exchange for a certain share of what he has already given his employer. There is no use in trying to make an employer pay an employee more wages than the natural value of what the employee produces. No one will give something for nothing if he knows it, and he could not long do it if he would. "Now to apply these principles to the admit- ted facts before us with respect to rice. Here is a plan which enables our laborers to send abroad lumber, coal, farm products, etc., and I36 THE RICE MILLS receive in return twice as much rice as the labor whose results are sent abroad could pro- duce if applied directly to rice production at home. This condition of affairs may be the result of good fortune on our part, or mis- fortune on the part of foreigners. Be that as it may, it is certainly a fact. It is a veritable rice-mill, without a mystery, by which the efficiency of the labor engaged in procuring rice is doubled. And the question is again presented, shall their operation be permitted? If not, 20,000 men now engaged in the mines and forests of the Pacific Northwest will be thrown out of their present employment. To be sure, men will engage in rice culture when the price is artificially raised until the intrinsic value of the rice, plus the bonus, or increase of price resulting from restrictive laws, gives the growers the same power of commanding objects possessed by the laborers in other similar occupations. "The statistics compiled upon the former consideration of this subject by the Senate, showed that such price must be about double the price lately established under the Port Mystery exchanges, one-half of which will be intrinsic worth, and the other half, bonus. On account of this increase of price, of course not nearly so much rice will be demanded. As OF PORT MYSTERY 1 37 might be expected, the amount of rice con- sumed in this country, under the Port Mystery prices, has been about double the quantity con- sumed at the old price. It is just as clear that if the price is again raised, the amount consumed will be reduced to the former amount. There- fore, although the amount of labor necessarily expended to obtain a pound of rice will be doubled, at best only the same amount of labor will be employed, which will be represented by one-half as much rice. The power of the consumer to procure rice will thus be reduced fifty per cent. An hour's work of the consumer, engaged in the same grade of labor, will ex- change for an hour's work of the rice-producer, no more, no less; and when the latter procures only one-half as much rice, the consumer will get only half as much for his hour's work. That is, if you please, his wages, so far as the rice he consumes is concerned, will be reduced one-half. He must work two hours for the rice he now gets with one hour's work. What- ever he now procures with the second hour's labor, he must go without, and also, whoever now produces it must quit for want of a pur- chaser able to purchase. "And so, an increase in the price of the various commodities, which may be procured with less labor through exchanges, tends to I38 THE RICE MILLS reduce wages and disemploy the people. Con- sumers must be content with less, and the general scale of earnings throughout the country must fall. "But, it is said the laborer is better rewarded in this country than in any other, and we are asked why is this, with an air implying that, of course, it is because our laws restrict ex- changes. Now, there are two reasons. (1) He produces more. He has larger and richer fields of natural opportunities upon which to employ his labor, and, by reason of his intelligence, education, genius, skill and general aptness for applying his head and hands to the best advantage, he is able, with the aid of such inventions and instrumentalities as he has contrived, to produce more, even under the same circumstances, than a laborer in any other country; and with the superior natural advantages of this country, his real earnings are and ought to be much greater. (2) Less of these real earnings are taken from him. We have no royalty nor nobility, no great and wasteful standing armies and navies, as do most other countries. We have good land still unoccupied,and therefore, rents are not as high as where all the land is occupied. We are subject to fewer whims, superstitions and customs than most other people, and are thereby OF PORT MYSTERY 1 39 relieved from supporting numerous non-pro- ducers who impose themselves upon some of the older nations. Producing more, and giving up less, than the laborer of any other nation, no wonder his wages are higher." I40 1HE RICE MILLS CHAPTER XVII MONEY Mr. Miller: "Mr. President, I want to say a word or two on the third ground stated in the report, that foreign exchanges would drain the country of its money, as it is expressed. I have spent much time in studying up this money question, in connection with various bills, and as chairman of the Committee on Finance, it has been my duty and my pleasure to partici- pate in many investigations and listen to many able arguments throwing light upon this sub- ject. I must remark at the outset, that in most people's minds the subject is surrounded with a dense cloud of mystery. All sorts of supernatural power is attributed to it, and many look upon it as the all-important question of the day, whose solution (in accordance with their ideas, ) would relieve the world of its trouble and poverty and cure all ills; while the fact is, as stated by the Senator from OF PORT MYSTERY I4I Washington (Mr. Bright,) it has very little to do with the production and distribution of the world's wealth — subjects which are all- important and comprehend all other problems in social and economic affairs. The Senator well expresses its function when he says it merely bridges the chasm of credit, which exists during an exchange, where the products are not brought together. Exchange is always of labor, generally executed and represented by its product. There is nothing else to ex- change. The elements in their natural condi- tion have no value. A small part of the value of an article frequently consists in the power of the producer, by reason of the monopoly of some bounty of nature given him by society, to levy a tribute upon the consumer in addition to the value of the labor entering into it ; but the general element of value is labor. This labor is admitted to be irksome by all honest people ; and while some others say they take pleasure in work, they have such a horror for pleasure that they accomplish nothing. It is a universal rule in business that no one gives something for nothing ; and the converse follows, that no one can get something for nothing. The only something there is, is the product of labor. Every exchange, therefore is labor for labor. Should you wish articles from a foreign 142 THE RICE MILLS producer, you must send him yours ; or, by your products, procure another to send his, or assure such producer that you will in the future send your own or somebody's else products. The principle is the same, whether the exchange is with a neighbor or a foreigner. This is a gold and silver producing country. These metals represent labor as much as iron or coal or lumber, and there is no reason why they may not be as profitably exported. Whenever they are sent abroad, there is a demand for labor to produce more to take their place here. But if all coin should be sent out of the country and exchanged for necessary capital of various sorts, it could be replaced by sufficient money secured by government power and promise, to conveniently conduct business and maintain a uniform scale of values ; and the country would be ahead by the amount of interest the wealth, in the form of capital, would bring. Suppose nine-tenths of our money were suddenly con- verted into other property, how would it injure us? There would then be only one-tenth as much gold, we will say, in the country, and it would be as difficult to get ten cents (2.58 grains) of gold as it is now to get $1.00 (25.8 grains). What difference would it make to the furniture-maker whether he gave his day's labor in the form of a chair for 2.58 grains of OF PORT MYSTERY 1 43 gold and paid it out again for a pair of shoes, or whether he got 25.8 grains and paid that weight of gold for the same pair of shoes? Or what difference would it make to him whether the figure 1 on the piece of paper that rep- resents this negotiable credit from the time he delivers his chair to the. man who wants it, to the time he finds the pair of shoes he wants, has the decimal point on the right or on the left side of it? Of course he must know when he takes it as representing his day's work that it will procure another man's day's work in re- turn, and that is all there is of it to him. "It is often said that the more money there is, the lower the rate of interest ; but this is either error or inaccuracy in language. Where the word money is used, as it frequently is, as synonomous with capital or wealth, it is true. But when used in its proper sense, signifying the medium of exchange, it cannot be true, and there is no power, even in Congress, to make it true. Let me illustrate : A man wishes to engage in carrying brick across the Potomac. He has no boat, no capital in any form. It would take a hundred days to make a boat. He does not know how to make one, and, if he did, he could not subsist while making it. However, he can earn as much more carrying brick with a boat than he could earn otherwise 144 THE RICE MILLS that he can well afford to give ten days' work in every year for the use of a boat. That is, the boat enables him to earn so much more in a year that, after paying the earnings of ten days for the use of a boat, he has left more than he would have earned altogether without it. This boat may make his labor little or much more productive ; and if he could not get the use of any other boat, he might have been willing to pay one hundred per cent, of the value of the boat for the use of it. But here the amount to be paid for the use of boats is determined by the relation between their number (or means of building them) and the number of people wanting them, which, in turn, is governed by their cost and the amount they increase the efficiency of labor. On account of the interchangeability of labor and its products, this ratio will adjust itself to the general ratio, measured by a certain percentage of the value of articles of capital generally, no matter what figures or words may be used to express that value. Suppose the value of a day's work in making or using the boat is expressed by $1.00, and the established worth of the use of it per year is one-tenth its value. The total value would be $100, and the interest would be $10 per year. Now, suppose that by some manip- ulation of Congress, there is suddenly brought OF PORT MYSTERY 1 45 into circulation ten times as much money, so that it is ten times as easily obtained. This would amount to shifting the decimal point one place to the right, in expressing values by figures. A day's work would be $10 instead of $1 ; and the boat would be worth $1,000 in- stead of $100. But would the rate of interest be changed? Not in the least. There would be no more boats, and a boat would carry no more bricks. It would take just as much labor to carry a thousand bricks when the value of the boat was expressed by $1,000 as when it was expressed by $100. Therefore, the rela- tion, which determines the percentage of labor to be given in exchange for the use of a certain quantity of saved labor, would remain the same. The borrower would have to pay one-tenth of the value of the boat for its use, which would now be $100 instead of $10 per year. This he could afford to do, because he could get the $100 as easily as he could get $10 before. But where would he be benefited? It is true, of course, that a change in the relative value of legal tender always works in- justice so far as outstanding credits are con- cerned. For instance, if a man purchases a boat which exchanges for a month's work of the character he is engaged in, represented by $100, and agrees to pay for it a year I46 THE RICE MILLS afterward, when, on account of the change in the relative value of money that same month's work is worth but $50, his being required to pay the face of his note in legal tender would necessitate giving two months' work for what he intended to pay a month's. If money were made twice as easily obtainable, the man who sold the boat would get half a month's work when he sold it for a month's. In either case, there is great injustice and one honestly intent upon securing justice to all, should guard against changing the value of money in either direction. In my judgment, it behooves government to see that the value of its legal tender maintains the same relation to the general scale of wages, or, what is the same thing, the general scale of values. Where the prices of commodities generally rise, it shows that the legal tender representative of value is plentiful ; when they fall, it shows, not that there is a chronic state of overproduction or anything of that kind, but that money is scarce. "But, returning to our subject, there is no reason to think that other nations would want our precious metal more than we theirs. If they did, there has never been anything to prevent their getting it. There never has been any restriction upon the exportation or impor- OF PORT MYSTERY I47 tation of the precious metals. Two-thirds of the people of the globe do not use gold for money purposes and have no particular use for it. It does not multiply itself, does not assist in production to any great extent. It is no more good economy for a government to have a store of gold on hand larger than busi- ness demands, than for an individual. A wealthy merchant does not have a large amount of treasure and money in bank. His account is generally overdrawn. "Remember, I do not contend that if a foreigner should volunteer to send products to this country without any return whatever, his donation should be refused. If, for the pro- ducts of a certain amount of our labor, he will send us five times as many desired objects as the labor would produce at home, it would be a wonderful benefit to us ; as much so as an invention which enabled us to produce the objects with one-fifth the present labor. If he will send but little more, it is but very little better than no exchange at all ; and if no more, no exchange will be made." 148 THE RIC£ MILLS CHAPTER XVIII MORE RECORD "Mr. Smalley : "Mr. President, these gentle- men of broad ideas have a fine spun theory about wages and money, too delicate, altogether, for a common person like myself to compre- hend. It is one thing to sit in a study and theorize about how things should be, and apply the plan conceived to an imaginary state of affairs, but quite another to apply it to the uneven field of reality. Do not the gentlemen know that if all restrictions are removed foreign manufacturers will flood this country with cheap goods, at less than cost to them, if need be ; and then, when our factories have been sold on execution and converted into hay-sheds, and our artisans have become idle tramps for want of something to do, again raise the price at pleasure far above the legitimate cost of production here ; so that, in order to procure them, we will have to send abroad even more OF PORT MYSTERY 149 labor than would be required to produce them at home if our factories were running? Do the Senators rely upon the great love of the foreign merchant for us, or for humanity, to dissuade them from doing this very thing? Again, do not the Senators know that if our people are compelled to manufacture their own products, competition among themselves will regulate the price, and finally reduce the price below the foreign price? Has not the price of every product been cheapened in the past by this competition? Where would the numerous inventions of Americans be, if we had always exchanged grain and meat for our manufactured products? Does not the enormous wealth and unprecedented prosperity of our nation attest the policy of such restrictions? When- ever exchanges have been permitted, has it not resulted in financial crises and panics? Why do not the Senators consider some of the results of the application of their principles, instead of composing scientific theses to show that exchanges tend to raise wages?" Mr. Seymour : "Will the Senator from Rhode Island, [Mr. Smalley] inform us whether he believes that we should seek to increase or reduce the amount of labor neces- sary to procure objects?" Mr. Smalley: "I believe high prices should I50 THE RICE MILLS be maintained for the benefit of the American laborer. " Mr. Seymour: "Suppose an hour's work of a common laborer, as he is called, is used as the unit of labor with which is compared, and in which is expressed, all other grades of labor, so that all articles are valued and exchanged on the basis of the number of units of labor entering into them, instead of the units of value now employed. Does the Senator mean to say that changing the unit, for instance, making it two hours instead of one, would benefit the American laborer; or does he concede this to be merely a change in name, and that he would have to work just as long and just as hard for the object he desires, whether that labor is measured by units of two hours, or one hour or half an hour, and whether that unit, whatever it is, is expressed in money value by the words two dollars, one dollar or half a dollar?" Mr. Smalley : "My contention is that by manufacturing articles here, we increase the demand for labor, which tends to raise wages. " Mr. Seymour : "Yes, but in the report of the committee to investigate the rice-mills, of which the Senator from Rhode Island [Mr. Smalley] was a member, it was shown beyond all question, that this increase of demand for OF PORT MYSTERY 151 labor to produce an article was a decrease in the demand for the article itself, which result- ing in some one going without the article and some one else going without employment who might otherwise have it, and on the whole tended surely and materially to reduce wages. I would like to ask the Senator what he has to say about that report now?" A motion was here made that the Senate adjourn, but did not prevail. Mr. New: "I would like to ask the Senator a question. " Mr. Smalley : "Certainly." Mr. New: "It seems this process of domes- ticating an industry is accompanied by a huge swell, as it were, in the price of the product, and, of course, in the determinant, the quantity of labor entering into it. It first rises above the foreign, on account of the restriction placed upon exchange, and then, sooner or later, falls below it on account of the competition among domestic manufacturers. I would ask which is the period of advantage to the American workingman, when the price is above or when it is below the world's market price?" The previous question was here moved, but the Senate refused to order it. Mr. Viter: "It strikes me the statements and arguments of the Senator from Rhode 152 THE RICE MILLS Island [Mr. Smalley] are directly opposed to those of the committee of which he was a member, on the former investigation of this matter, and quite inconsistent in themselves. He says the price in this country will be regu- lated by the law of competition, and intimates that elsewhere it is regulated by the caprice of foreigners. The Senator seems to imagine that the law of competition is a statute of the United States. He arrogates to Congress not only the power to determine, by its laws of restriction and competition, the price of com- modities at home, but also indirectly, abroad ; for, if Congress permcte exchanges, the foreign price will be reduced below the legitimate cost of production here, and then, when our indus- tries are ruined, will be raised far above that price. This is a clear case of the tail wagging the dog. Just imagine the world's market price suddenly dropping and then as suddenly rising, covering a change of 50 to 100 per cent., in obedience to the will of the legislature of a nation, comprising one thirty-fifth of the people of the globe. What dominion we have over the nations of the earth, what charm, what soothing influence, that by our laws we harmonize the different languages, calm in- herited hatreds and jealousies among the different peoples, so that some of them volun- OF PORT MYSTERY 153 tarily and gratuitously reduce the price below cost and manufacture at a loss for our buyers until our industries are destroyed, and then all simultaneously raise the price at liberty. What wonderful beings we are, that we can suspend the great and universal law of compe- tition among all nations (except our own) even those that most despise our laws and institu- tions. Of course, foreign powers have no similar influence over us. We have no such self-sacrificing people, to manufacture and ship abroad at less than cost ; nor can the price be raised above fair remuneration, be- cause competition will not permit. We can hardly help marveling at the almost supernat- ural effect of competition in preventing trusts and combinations among our people, who stop at the same summer resorts and winter resorts and watering-places, and travel on the same special trains, and stop at the same palace hotels ; who are brought into the closest rela- tionship by language, custom, religion,patriot- ism, generosity and sympathy for the welfare of the dear people, and upon whom are exerted all the forces of human passions and sympathies. As against all these, one might think it would be necessary to call in the aid of the general competition of the world. Not so. We sus- pend the general competition most marvelously, 154 TIIE R1CE MILLS and harmonize all the repulsive agencies and tendencies set in motion at Babel and which ever since have caused more and more diver- gence, so that the world's market price rises and falls at our will. We cannot give ourselves too much praise for all we have wrought for the poor industrial outlaws of other lands. How sad would have been their lot to-day, if we had not nourished the principle of compe- tition in this country so as to enable us, in our great love for humanity, to reduce the price of their products among themselves to within the reach of their masses. Sometimes it is intimated that products might have cheapened abroad if America had never been discovered, and some ungrateful traitors say that it is the general competition of the world that has re- duced prices here more than anything else, but whenever such symptoms of insanity are exhibited, we have the time-honored remedy prescribed so effectively by our predecessors, namely : 'Take steel rails for instance ; has not the price been reduced from $150 per ton to $30 within the last 30 years?' " Mr. Seymour : "The Senator's prescription was undoubtedly good medicine in its day, but now that aluminium has been substituted for steel in most of its uses, I suggest that he take aluminium for instance. The cost of its OF PORT MYSTERY 1 55 production has been reduced from fifty cents to five cents per pound in a very few years." Mr. Viter : "But the Senator would steal the floor in the old way. There is a vast difference between aluminium and steel. The latter has much more weight, and that is the quality wanted here. The importation of aluminium has never been restricted, and, beside, every one knows that the cause of the reduction in the price of aluminium has no connection with the question of exchanges. But, inasmuch as the Senator's suggestion is irony we agree sub- stantially, and hence I yield to those who would contend. " Mr. Commoner: "Just one word, Mr. President, on the point that restrictions made the opportunity for invention. I can hardly state this proposition with proper sincerity. Exchange is one of the most common and effective labor-saving devices ; and to hear rational people talk about discouraging the use of one labor saving device to encourage the invention of another, seems extremely ridiculous to me. Why not prohibit the use of aluminium in order to develop the iron industry, or discourage progress in electricity in order to encourage further inventions and improvements in the . application and use of steam? But that is not what I had in mind 1^6 THE RICE MILLS to say, Mr. President. The United States has a world-wide reputation for inventive genius. This was not given until it was earned. Now, in what branches of industry do we find our greatest inventions, improvements and labor- saving expedients? Disavowing, of course, any ciaim that they are all included within any one class of industries, I ask if the greatest are not in these industries in which we have always not only permitted, but encouraged, exchanges, and in those by which exchanges are effected. Take our steam-boats, railroads, electric systems of telegraphs, railways, light and power, all relating to commerce and exchange ; the cotton gin, the harvesting machines and all our wonderful agricultural implements, our mighty flouring-mills, our wood- working machines, etc., all in industries whose products we export, and therefore in which exchanges are encouraged. More than that, our power of production in those indus- tries to which we are most naturally adapted, has thus been increased so rapidly that we are able, if permitted to do so, to procure such articles as other nations can more cheaply produce, with comparatively less work than ever before. An hour's work in any of our specialties will now procure from abroad a much greater excess, proportionally, over OF PORT MYSTERY 157 what the same hour's work would produce directly in the specialty of some foreign nation, than fifty or one hundred years ago. Therefore, ever more restriction is asked for. And in this way we continually impoverish and discourage our own specialties and faculties in order to encourage some one's else. This is never good economy. "On the point that the history of our nation shows that the removal of restrictions results disastrously, I have this to say: The greatest economists and statesmen differ as to the causes of these crises. The ablest say they resulted from speculation, from sudden change in the monetary condition of the country, such as that effected by the discovery of gold in California, the extravagant issuance of bank-notes, etc. But, whatever may have been the cause, when I see, as I think I do, that exchanges must, on the whole, benefit and enrich the people, I am convinced something else is responsible for them. A system under which exchanges would make the individual richer, cannot, by aggregation, make the whole poorer. The whole is always equal to the sum of all its parts. This is just as true of the aggregation of individuals under the name of government, as the aggregation of sectors under the name circle, although there have been times when I58 THE KICK MILLS the laws of government and of the circle were believed to be unique and supernatural, and the best of people were content to remain in superstitious ignorance concerning them. It may well be, too, that if an unhealthy condi- tion has been developed, a sudden and extreme change might prove disastrous. A fever must not be too suddenly stopped — but that is no argument in favor of the fever. Before a proper remedy can be applied, however, it must be decided whether the complaint is really beneficial or detrimental. That is the question now before us in respect to laws relating to exchanges." OF PORT MYSTERY 159 CHAPTER XIX LEMON CULTURE IN WASHINGTON Mr. North: "Mr. President, I beg leave to answer a point made by the committee. One of the most effective arguments in favor of the present system has always been that exchanges benefit some foreign country, generally the one against which there is r.he strongest preju- dice on the part of the greatest number of con- trollable voters. The most common form of statement is that exchanges benefit England. It is then left to prejudice to decide that they shall not be made. The full logic may be expressed in two syllogisms : First, when a rational people want to exchange with us, it is because it benefits them. The English are a rational people and want to exchange with us. Therefore, exchanges with us benefit England. The facts set forth in the premises are indisputable and the conclusion unavoid- able. The second syllogism, in which the l6o THE RICE MILLS major premise is never expressed, may be stated as follows : An exchange is always beneficial to one party and detrimental to the other. An exchange between an American and an Englishman benefits England. There- fore, such an exchange is detrimental to the United States. If the premises are true, this conclusion is irresistible. The error is in the first premise, and results from applying the principles of gaming, instead of the principles of production. In the former, there is no change of value, utility or desire. Each party wants the object as much as the other. If one gets it the other loses it. The one gains just what the other loses, and the one that loses gets nothing. A legitimate exchange is a species of production. Each party gives an object which the other wants, and receives one that he wants. The objects are one step nearer the consumer. Their power of satisfy- ing desire is greater. Otherwise, there would have been no exchange. A legitimate trade may be distinguished from a gambling deal by its benefiting both parties. Restrictive laws give certain articles greater value, that is, greater power of commanding objects in exchange. This increased purchasing power, his monopoly, bonus, or whatever it may be called, is exactly counter-balanced by the OF PORT MYSTERY l6l diminished purchasing power, decreased wages, tax, or whatever this may be called, of the producers of other commodities. As to the bonus or tax element of the value, the home producer makes just what the consumer loses, and to this extent, it is a gambling deal. Since such inflated prices have always been common in this country, it is not to be wondered at that people look upon all ex- changes as partaking the nature of gambling. "Which of the Senators goes from shop to shop until he finds the sign of the three balls and the man with a long-tailed coat, where sales are made just for your benefit, whose owner would rather keep the goods on his shelves than allow you to take them away for less than cost — almost nothing— etc., but who, nevertheless, will sacrifice his own interests to benefit you? Beware of a deal that benefits one party only, especially when it seems beyond doubt that you are the party benefited. Many ill-advised bargains are unquestionably made. But on the whole, I will risk a Yankee to keep up his end of a trade. Such as cannot do so, should be placed under duly qualified guardians ; but let us avoid the imputation of impotency which results from assuming a general guardianship over the affairs of others, lest they make improvident deals, especially l62 THE RICE MILLS in view of the financial records of some of this august board of self-constituted guardians of the business affairs of our people. "Just think of our egotism and self-conceit. The world is full of undeveloped opportunities, and full of shrewd business men, always on the alert to make use of them. Imagine such an opportunity. Here comes a shrewd specu- lator. He figures carefully and closely, con- cludes there is 'nothing in it,' and passes on. Next comes the specialist, the man of mature judgment and years of experience. He figures the cost of development and operation, and the value of the product. He anticipates the future so far as practicable. Upon an elaborate investigation and consideration, he concludes that it would not be a paying investment ; that taking everything into account, business economy does not warrant the investment of labor and capital. Next comes the newspaper man, lawyer, politician, and says they are all mistaken; that it will pay; and proceeds to make it pay. Nevertheless, such a business does not pay in an economic sense. The fact that men must be hired to go into it proves that they can make more at something else. Now, why bribe men to quit a more productive, to enter into a less productive, industry? You say it is only for a little while ; that it will, OF PORT MYSTERY 1 63 soon pay, and then the people will get their money back. But if it would pay in ^any business sense of the expression, private enter- prise would develop it, and when private business management cannot make an industry pay, it is folly for government to undertake it. As soon as it is good economy to undertake the enterprise, some one will do it without our interference ; and bad economy cannot be good government. "The waste of the people's wealth and energy by such adventures is astounding. It is measured by the sum of all the bonuses paid to hire men to leave more productive and engage in less productive industries ; that is, the difference between what it costs to procure articles without the aid of exchanges, and that cost with exchanges, where advantageous. The additional expense of some commodities is small and of others frightfully large. A nation must be highly favored with nature's bounty, which can stay in the race for commer- cial supremacy of the world with such extrava- gant habits. "I have been expecting some Senator to make the customary argument that the American manufacturers are not getting the increased cost resulting from restriction of exchanges. There is a long story, you know, about how 164 THE RICE MILLS the manufacturer works fifteen hours a day and lies awake nights thinking over his business ; and how the wealthy men of the nation have become so by rise in land values, by railroad deals and steals, by production under the exclusive right of patents, etc., and that is so. If any one will stop to think for a moment, he cannot but be convinced that it is utterly impossible to produce a million dollars of wealth in a life time. If one amasses so much as that, he must take it from many others who have produced it. In order to do this, he must have a way of getting products without giving anything in exchange. This 'way' or means or power is justly called a monopoly. Every restriction on competition tends to monopoly, as the term itself implies ; and in highly specialized industries, or those in which small quantities of products are demand- ed, and in those requiring enormous invest- ments of capital to economically carry them on, this effect is very manifest. In a country of such general intercourse and intercommuni- cation, and among a people so closely related in language, customs, thoughts and interests, it is not to be wondered at that all sorts of combinations grow up which, in the absence of foreign competition, are able to and do sus- pend the law of competition within the limits OF PORT MYSTERY 1 65 of the country ; and by the monopoly thus obtained many men have become millionaires, as every one of you must admit. But it has been repeatedly asserted in this chamber that the amount of the admitted expense of this system of restriction does not go to the manu- facturers and that, therefore, it must go to the laborers employed in that industry. Now, whatever may be the ethics of the practice of taking the earnings of those engaged in one industry, and giving them to those engaged in another, certain it is that such employees neither earn nor get the amount representing this in- creased cost. "The climate of the state of Washington is so mild and equable that with very little artifi- cial heat, easily applied, it could supply its own market with lemons. This industry would furnish a new field of employment, and, for what I know, might encourage invention of labor-saving devices and methods for the operation of green-houses. Suppose now it is proposed to encourage this industry, in order to secure the benefits set forth in the report of the committee. Imagine some public-spirited man attempting to persuade others to develop the industry for the benefit of the community. They would without doubt peremptorily refuse, with perhaps a tinge of resentment for the 1 66 THE RICE MILLS business incompetency imputed to them by the proposal. Imagine then a politician at- tempting the same thing, but in a 'business' way. He would go to one engaged in manu- facturing lumber we will suppose and say, 'We want the lemon industry developed in this state. Of course it will not pay, or all the power in the country could not keep you out of it. Now how much will )'ou take to raise lemons instead of manufacturing lumber?' The capitalist would figure the probable pre- dictiveness of the new concern and report that he would raise lemons at $1.00 per dozen. Their cost on the market is perhaps twenty- five cents. Therefore, he says, if he is given a bonus of seventy-five cents per dozen, (and of course a little extra to induce, him to change and to cover the hazardous nature of property in bonuses, ) he will raise lemons. This bonus may be made up in two ways. First, directly, by paying to him seventy-five cents for every dozen lemons put upon the market ; and, secondlv, by restricting the introduction of lemons from abroad, which would give him the power to charge as much as he chose for them except as limited by home competition. Because of the instability of the investment resulting from the uncertainty of maintaining such a system, and of the small demand at so OF PORT MYSTERY 167 high a price, labor and capital would not be specially attracted to the industry ; and as long as he sold lemons at anything like a reasonable price, there would not be much danger of competition. The cost of the re- strictive method would not be so apparent, and therefore there would not be so strict an account kept as in case of the direct bonus. For these among other reasons, the proprietor would be enabled to make a little something out of his monopoly, in addition to the neces- sary bonus: and it is because of this that, instead of the politician going to the capitalist, the capitalist goes to the politician, for the enactment of the necessary laws for the public welfare. But, however this may be, and whichever way the bonus is made up, home grown lemons would cost the people of the state seventy-five cents per dozen more than necessary, and the question is, who gets the seventy-five cents? You say the capitalist and the manufacturer does not ; for, you say, if he was making more than a reasonable profit on his investment, others would learn of it and at once set about securing a share for them- selves. Competition would begin and reduce the profits to the proper amount. And I say the laborer does not get it, because, if he did, laborers would compete for jobs in the green- l68 THE RICE MILLS house, and we all know it is contrary to human nature that an employer should retain men when just as good are at his door, offering to work for less. Competition reduces wages as well as profits. Therefore, wages in this industry would be adjusted to the general scale for work of that kind. Well, who gets the seventy-five cents? There are no foreigners in the case, so they do not get it. Who gets it? "Right here is the rub. If somebody only got it, (somebody beside foreigners, of course, ) there might be some excuse for such a system. If it amounted to taking one man's property and giving it to another, however much mis- chief might result from the moral effect of the system and its tendency to discourage honest labor, we could at least console ourselves with the thought that, so far as this property was concerned, it was somewhere. If the man who earned it did not have it, some one else did. But here all hands get no more than they would if they were manufacturing lumber to be shipped away to pay for four or five times as many lemons at one-fourth the price. What becomes of it? It is simply wasted. It is the price of man's folly and presumptuousness in contending against the immutable laws of nature. Express it as you may, there are certain preferred courses of action or lines of OF PORT MYSTERY I 69 least resistance arising out of the constitution of the material world, and others arising out of its habitation and the development of the different nations, which prescribe man's indus- trial conduct, the same as other laws prescribe his moral and physical conduct ; to contravene which incurs a penalty commensurate with the offense. If, instead of applying themselves to the production of those things which existing conditions most favor, the people of Washing- ton construct costly green-houses, and, by the expenditure of labor, artificially bring about the conditions necessary to the production of lemons, when, on some other part of the earth, nature gratuitously furnishes, heats, lights and waters boundless green-houses for their pro- duction, the people must simply pay for it. Not one pay another, but all sacrifice to nature. The entire amount of labor, or the amount of products the labor might have pro- duced, is burned up, and those engaged in the performance of such labor, economically con- sidered, are as if doing nothing; and of course some one else is supporting them. The power by which this support is levied, lies in the monopoly created by the restrictive laws. "You may say that this carries a correct principle to an absurdity, but I say if this is an absurdity and the 'principle' is carried to 170 THE RICE MILLS it, it is not a correct principle. And whether the difference in condition is brought about by climatic laws, or results from the time, man- ner or character of population of the different parts of the world, or from the distribution of nature's bounties, matters not. The resulting laws of industry are the same, and their disre- gard must inevitably impoverish or destroy the industrial welfare of the nation. "And, in conclusion, it seems that no labor- ing man, or man of moderate means, can look upon the necessary effect of such an unnatural system, without appreciating, at least to a limited degree, the weight of his handicap, the limitation of his sphere of enterprise and possibilities, and his necessary subjection to the dominion of monopoly which, by base in- trigues and deception, has usurped capital's power. The necessity and benefit of capital cannot be over-estimated. It is the instrument by which all past learning, discovery and in- vention are applied for our benefit. What good to us wofild be all the knowledge of the principles of the steam engine, if no one ever stored up enough labor in that direction to constitute one? The right of the producer to his wealth must be protected, for who will be generous enough to deny himself and lay by wealth when the prospects are that the benefits OF PORT MYSTERY 17* will be appropriated by others? Everything should be done to bring its productive aid to every toiler. Unfortunately, many people do not seem capable of saving up enough capital for their own use, and many others have never had a fair chance to do so. Great fortunes are exceedingly few, compared with population. To every man worth $10,000, there are a dozen worth $5,000, and a hundred worth $500. Now the effect of the system recommended by the committee is, to require more capital in order to engage in business. If one is to engage in mercantile business, his goods cost him more. If he is a farmer, he will have to pay more for his implements ; and the same is true if he is a blacksmith, a carpenter, or any other craftsman. It manifestly tends to keep the man of smaller means out of a business which he is as much entitled to enter, and very likely in which he would be as much of a suc- cess, as the man who happens to have a larger capital. Measureless energy and genius are thus wasted for lack of a chance to develop them. Untold natural opportunities lie idle, not for lack of labor to develop them, but because of the large amount of capital required, the expense of maintaining it and the burden imposed upon that industry to support others. Hence, for every great industry thus artificially 172 THE RICE MILLS raised high above the level of bankruptcy, a dozen smaller ones are submerged. To estab- lish one 'diverse' industry, several are destroyed. Dazzled by the brilliancy of the grand prize, and perhaps flattered with the hope that we may draw it, we overlook the countless blanks lying all around us which make up that prize twice over. Then there is the humanitarian side of the question. Why afflict your fellow- men with needless burdens? Why compel them to shiver and freeze, to trudge around in the hot sun, swinging cradle or scythe, to carry brick to the tops of buildings, when all this could, to a large extent, be avoided? It is not only senseress — it is barbarous." OF PORT MYSTERY 173 CHAPTER XX THE REST OF THE RECORD Mr. Dodge : "Everybody admits, Mr. President, that the argument is with unre- stricted exchange as an abstract principle. It is no doubt correct in theory, but the question before us to-day is not one of theory, nor of principle, in the abstract. This the Senators well understand ; nevertheless, they dally with fundamental principles which all admit to be true, and apply them to imaginary conditions in the realm of fancy ; and because they are irrefutable when so applied, would have us adopt them in the government of a nation in this world of reality, with all its friction and contention. The Senators, I am constrained to believe, purposely overlook the glaring fact that we have a government to support, in order to which a large income must be raised in some manner; and that the primary object of the system in question is the support of 174 THE RICE MILLS government. And the)' purposely overlook the fact that to secure peace, we must prepare for war — must protect our coasts with heavy armor, send worthy battle-ships to visit every port, and cover the seas with American seamen. To do which, means must be provided in some way. A very important element of strength in time of war lies in fully developed industries, making us independent of all foreign nations. It should be secured as our armor is, at con- siderable expense, if need be. Do the Senators show why all these objects cannot be attained by the system they so fiercely attack? No, they say nothing about these matters. It is all theory and principle with them. We must have an income. We must maintain the dignity and independence of the Great Republic." Mr. Notchett : "I have been expecting the point just made by the Senator from Pennsyl- vania, [Mr. Dodge] ever since the beginning of the argument. Does the Senator imagine he has a plan by which he can collect a tax on an article without an exchange by which it is brought into this country ; or, if there is any such exchange, does he think that the foreign labor represented by the article does not com- pete with our labor and displace it to that extent? that in addition to the benefit of the OF PORT MYSTERY ^ , income derived from its coming into the country, we may also encourage home industry and have the benefits incident to keeping it out? In other words, I understand that the Senator would eat his cake and keep it at the same time. "This is not a question of taxation at all If it were, there might be serious doubt as to whether it is the best system. The whole occasion for and purpose of the law is not the levying of a tax, but the restriction of exchanges, in order to secure the beneficial effect, not of exchange, but of non-exchange. I he two questions are entirely distinct. When one effect is obtained, the other is lost It is true, a system may be devised which might operate sometimes one way and sometimes another-permit exchange one time and restrict it next-^according to the will of the purchaser of commodities at some distant store. But the sole question now under consideration is whether a system which operates to restrict exchange, or so far as, or when, or to the extent that, or in a case where it does, operate to restrict an exchange which would otherwise be made, is, in respect to this quality, beneficial or detrimental to our people as a whole Though the present system might be the best means of securing an income to support govern- 176 THE RICE MILLS ment, it does not give force to the arguments made by the committee in favor of restriction of exchange. The question is as to the validity of these arguments. The Senators maintain that the system by reason of its restrictive properties is advantageous to our people. They are not here to support it if this principle of restriction should be proven injurious on its own merits." Mr. Franklin : "Though the time fixed for the vote on this bill is nearly upon us, I wish to protest against that part of the remarks of my colleague [Mr. Dodge] relating to our defenses. I know the Senator quotes an old adage, and perhaps reflects the popular opinion. Nevertheless, I doubt the wisdom of his remarks. While I shall refuse at this time to declare my position on the merits of the bill, I feel impelled formally to except to the doctrine of force. The religion of my ancestors many years ago discarded the principle as unnecessary to peace, honor, independence and happiness. And it is believed that every intelligent person has substantially done like- wise, as to his own personal conduct. The first consideration in every enlightened family is to train and educate the children in the ways of peace and happiness. Yet, where is the mother who supplies her boys with daggers, OF PORT MYSTERY 1 77 pistcJs and brass-knuckles, and exercises them in their use, in order to prepare them for peace? — who reads from the daily newspapers the narrations of prize-fights, sporting-matches and duels; who, taking thought, dresses them up as soldiers and policemen to strut around the house with clubs and guns as embryo peace- makers? Desiring to do so, how could a mother better inculcate a quarreling and fighting disposition? Doubtless children are sometimes raised in this way, and they almost invariably bear the marks of their training. But the sturdy men of ev^ry age have been taught from infancy to have some honorable business of their own, and to attend to it; to be gentle, upright and forbearing. To be sure, as has been spoken here to-day, there is a general impression — a relic of the doctrine of the divine right of kings and kindred superstitions by which the wily enslaved the ignorant in times not so long ago that I care to emphasize it — that government is ruled by a special set of principles known only to Congressmen, and differing materially, and generally diametrically, from those applied to individuals, families, corporations and other aggregations of men. But in this I do not share. I belive that government, like the several members who compose it, should itself engage in an honest 12 178 THE RICE MILLS and upright business, and encourage its people in doing likewise — should be just and manly. Such a nation is more likely to be let alone. Nothing could be more conducive to war than a large army of idle men, trained specially in that art, reading, talking and thinking of little else than the wholesale destruction of life and property. Standing armies have always been the tool of the minority to coerce the majority. They are a standing menace to internal peace. Had there been no arms and munitions of war, no class of people versed in their use, and no cultivated system of oppression sustained by force, we should have been spared the most painful blot on our fair history. "And, in any event, it was said away back in the seventeenth century, by Montecuculi, the great Italian warrior and by far the most celebrated general of his time, that the first requisite in war was money, the next, more money, and the next, still more money. At that time wars lasted generations. It was largely a trial of physical strength and endur- ance. A large man was equal to several small ones. The most effective engines of war known cost but little, and the advantage in their use was very inconsiderable. But all this is changed. Now the strongest nation would be exhausted in a year or two. The delicate per- OK PORT MYSTERY I 79 ception and gentle touch of the small man are now more valuable than the physique of the giant. They enable him better to regulate the force of the electric current which directs the movement of the aerial torpedo over rivers, hills, forests, moats and battlemented walls, and causes it to descend into the very heart of the strongest fortification with mathematical precision, and there to liberate its giant forces to work dire havoc with everything for miles around. Or, to guide a similar engine beneath the water, to annihilate some unsuspecting vessel far away. Or, if need be, to himself travel within the enemy's lines by this wonder- ful means of conveyance, for the purpose of locating the vital parts for destruction. And the small man has all the time the advantage of being a smaller mark for the enemy. There is no limit to the expense of war mechanisms, and their efficacy increases with the square of the cost. What was true in regard to mone)' (or as it should be expressed, 'wealth') in the seventeenth century, is a thousand times more emphatic to-day. The physical control of nations, like that of individuals, is comprised in the industrial control. Therefore, the best way to make ourselves invincible in war, is to aggregate wealth. This is done by each indi- vidual engaging in that occupation which he has l8o THE RICE MILLS learned is most profitable, and there employ- ing every help available to make his labor most effective. "In an economic point of view, a nation with a large portion of its population parading the streets of the cities, or idly sailing the seas, can no more acquire or maintain com- mercial supremacy in competition with a nation of workers, than a family, a part of whose members are loafers, can compete in business with an industrious family. Every day of idleness, and every day spent in constructing fortifications and building armed vessels, and ever} 7 day spent in production to supply material and provisions for such purposes, is wasted. Just think how much good could be done, how much happiness caused, if this labor were expended in the production of objects designed to make toil easier and people better and happier, instead of making them sad and desolate. As to covering the seas with American seamen, I am by no means certain of its desirability. "The employment is of such a nature that it breaks up the family — the security for all pros- perity—it is destructive of ambitions and morals and tends not at all to the elevation of the individual. If it is more profitable than working on land and hiring it done, he will, OF PORT MYSTERY 181 of course, engage in it ; but I am decidedly opposed to hiring my neighbor to quit a more profitable business to enter into such a demor- alizing employment. The charms and adven- tures of the deep blue sea and life on the ocean wave are all right in poetry and song, but the solid land of free America is good enough for us." Here the hammer fell. The President : "Senators, we will now proceed to vote on the motion pursuant to the order. " Mr. Short: "Mr. President, inasmuch as this is by far the most important measure before the Senate— the subject has always been the most important Congress has had to deal with — and at this very hour the number of producers and the amount of capital affected so far exceed that on any previous considera- tion of such measures, when months have been devoted to the question, it looks to me like neglect of duty and betrayal of trust to vote upon this measure according to the order. I have myself been unable to gain the floor. If I had been, I could not have done justice to so ponderous a subject, without special prepar- ation. In order to an intelligent vote on the subject, we should have an opportunity to investigate into the condition of trade and l82 THE RICE MILLS collect facts and statistics and have them pre- sented here for our consideration and enlight- enment. Coming up on short notice, we have been able to speak only on general principles, while this question depends upon the present state of facts. Therefore, I move that we take up the further consideration of this bill two weeks from this day, and make it the special order until.disposed of." Mr. Bright: "What is the use — may as well try to move a mountain with handspikes as one of these Senators with arguments on this question. Every member is perfectly familiar with it, and why delay this vote while my people unnecessarily and involuntarily go idle and hungry, in order that Senators may write campaign literature for free distribution in the Congressional Record — " Mr. Smalley : "I call the Senator to order. " The record would probably no longer be interesting. The motion to postpone carried. When the bill came up again in its order, there were speeches enough on the subject to make a small library. Only a few were delivered, the others being handed in and printed. The census of the United States was made a verit- able kaleidoscope. All shapes and forms and fancies were shown in rapid succession, each as true and plain as the others. Full paged OF PORT MYSTERY I 83 tables of comparative statistics of different states and countries represented work, not of a few score Senators, but of thousands of skilled men. The national capital was imme- diately besieged with the agents and attorneys of numerous manufacturers who came in the interest of the laborer, so they said, whose wages would be reduced, or cease entirely. The officers of corporations, the capitalists and speculators, every one who had any influence, religious, patriotic, political, personal or finan- cial, whether liquidated or not, happened to be in the Capital. Money flowed as freely as the Potomac. Such a season of revelry was never known on American soil, no matter how grave and important to the people the subject under consideration may have been ; and it may even be doubted whether the exaggerated pictures of the carousals of ancient times could equal it. It seemed as if there was no argument in favor of the bill. Yet it was known that the House of Representatives would surely pass it, the President favored it and its fate in the Senate was a question of serious doubt. After all had become sufficiently informed and had sufficiently informed others, the final vote was taken. It showed an equal division of the senators, and the bill was declared passed by a majority of one by the Vice-President. 184 THE RICE MILLS CHAPTER XXI THE ERA OF GREATEST PROGRESS The news of the passage of the bill created the wildest enthusiasm throughout the Pacific Northwest. Without waiting for the bill to become a law, industry leaped into even greater activity than during the period of the rice machines. Everybody was joyous, and there seemed to be a spirit of pride and patriotism among the people never before observed. There was a feeling of conviction that at last we had permanently established a government for the people, as well as of and by the people. The quiet and peaceful manner in which the outcome of the measure was received in the East surprised every one. It was expected that a contest involving so much feeling and prejudice, and which was so revolutionary, would create a financial panic ; not necessarily, but out of spite, in order to force a retraction of this line of legislation. But there seemed OF PORT MYSTERY I 85 to be a general submission to the new order of things, and one could see that, beside being acceptable to the political powers of all the states except those in the extreme east, it was not particularly objectionable to the people in those states when an honest expression was obtained. The opposition to the bill felt that they bad done all that could be done and had been beaten. They were conscious that it was the last conflict. It had taken a good share of the benefit they derived from the system to maintain it for some time past, and they seemed ready to finally retire from the field. Some changes were made in certain industries, some few were abandoned, but there was no lack of others to replace them. Prices dropped to the intrinsic value of the articles, exclusive of any bonus or monopoly. The eastern manufacturers procured every constituent of their products where they could get it the cheapest, and went out boldly into the world's market and sold them in the face of all competition, even in the markets of the very nations whose cheap products they had so feared. It is surprising what a difference a slight advantage made in enabling the manufacturer to put his products upon the open market. With one it was a little cheaper raw material, another the differ- ence in the cost of a single part, another merely l86 THE RICE MILLS in the price of paint used in finishing the product, and so on. With the amount of capital necessary to carry on the business reduced to its normal amount, the cost price of labor and material taken off their stilts, the advantages of the cheapest possible components of every product, and relief from the burdens of nobilities, armies and idlers of every descrip- tion, it was found that the factories on the west shores of the Atlantic could henceforth match those on the east in the strife for indus- trial supremacy. The transformation wrought to the shores of the Pacific, surpassed the widest dream of any prophet, save perhaps Landaner himself. The merchants and manufacturers of the Metropolis immediately sent their agents and commercial travelers into every country border- ing on the Pacific and Indian oceans, and stood threateningly at the entrances to the Atlantic, ready to round the capes and occupy the other hemisphere whenever their productive capacity should enable them to do so. There was two-thirds of the population of the globe, for the most part without railroads, steam- boats or conveyances of any sort that could survive in competition with those in use in the enlightened nations. Just think of it ! Here alone was work for fifty million people. These OF PORT MYSTERY 187 countries were practically without agricultural implements, wood, iron and aluminium working machines, as well as the products of these machines. There was an immediate demand to furnish two-thirds of the people of the world with all the instruments and products ' which comprise the progress of civilization for centuries ; to supply the other third of the people which furnished ages of employment to all the progressive nations of the Atlantic. And the Pacific Northwest to supply this great demand! How to open up exchanges with those count- less millions, whose languages and customs so varied from our own, was a delicate prob- lem ; but it was quickly and easily solved by the method of reason, instead of force. The economy of the Pacific had no place for the rifle and the sword. It was only a question of exchanges for mutual benefit. The messengers of peace from the Great Metropolis taught, as they had been taught, the principles of mutual interest and advantage. They explained how the operation of the rice mills, which those orientals were so anxious for, also benefited the nation of the Great Metropolis. They pointed out how labor could be saved here by this machine, and there by that, and how every little labor saved meant leisure or pleas- 1 00 THE RICE MILLS ures. Commodities were shipped in every di- rection as fast as they could be manufac- tured, in return for which was cheerfully given, especially by the Orientals, a surprising amount of labor, in their specialties. They were imitative and soon learned to operate the machines furnished them, and became, as it were, attached to the machines themselves, whereby we are spared the mechanical drudgery of operating highly specialized machines. In other words, instead of one great labor- saving machine on the principle of the rice mill, here were a billion machines, or attach- ments to machines, by the use of which the productive energy of the few million people of the Pacific Northwest was at least doubled, making it twice as great as that of any other, the most productive people on earth. The only way of securing such benefits was by means of exchanges. It would not do to have these people come to this country to perform the work here, for two reasons. First, they do not adopt our customs and institutions, do not affiliate with our people and we do not care to have them. They are repulsive to us, and, presumably, we to them. We have a right to choose our society, and choose to be without them. Secondly, there are strong reasons on economic grounds. So far merely OF PORT MYSTERY I 89 as working up our materials with our machinery is concerned, it would not make so much difference where they were. But, if here, they would themselves occupy our soil and more or less control our forces and opportunities. Now, while it is true that, by reason of large population and great wealth, economies may be secured which will provide each individual better earnings than if there were fewer people, there is manifestly a limit, as relates to the application of labor directly to the many forces of nature. For instance, in the matter of agriculture, suppose one man produces ten bushels of wheat on an acre of ground. Two men might produce thirty bushels, or fifteen bushels each. Yet, four men, producing forty bushels, would get but ten bushels each ; eisjht men, say forty-eight, or six bushels each ; and sixteen men, but three or four bushels each. Therefore, prudence requires some regard for the law of diminishing returns, and when the individual gain has reached the highest point, immigration should cease. That limit has seldom, if ever, been reached, and on account of the large portion of our people engaged upon raw material from all parts of the earth, is far from reached here now ; but where there are such hordes of people ready to overrun the country, especially where their presence is not igO THE RICE MILLS desirable on social grounds, it is unquestion- ably good government and good economy to prohibit absolutely, and from the very start, their coming into the country at all. That is the labor which would tend to reduce the wages of the American workingman. That is the competition of which he may well be jealous. With all these advantages, no nation could compete with us. The eastern United States entered the markets of the Atlantic, and, in order to compete at all, the nations of Europe were compelled to practice the same economies which gave the United States its advantage. The first great move was complete disarmament. This relieved the people of an enormous load, and at the same time, removed no little re- straint upon their independence and liberty. The immediate effect of this economy was a much better support with fewer hours of labor. This not only provided an opportunity for thought and education, which they never before had had, but also furnished a fruitful theme. And the more they read and thought, the more they insisted upon the removal of other burdens laid upon them in their ignorance. Seeing the impending danger, a last struggle was made by royalty to save its tottering thrones. The monarchs resolved to abandon all attempts at competition and withdraw from the world, OF PORT MYSTERY igi in order, if possible, to preserve their existence. To this end they adopted the same faithful tool of monopoly and oppression which had served them so frequently in the past ; they held numerous protracted conferences, and finally agreed upon and enacted, in their several kingdoms and monarchies, a system of laws and treaties known as the "Royal Reciprocity." The purpose was to permit exchanges only with nations of simliar conditions and institu- tions, to be determined by the treaties of the crowns, and proscribed exchanges with all others, in order to avoid the effect of competi- tion with their cheaper products. And the amusing feature of it all is, that they adopted a schedule of principles almost identical with, if not copied from, those enunciated by the Senate of the United States in support of similar laws to restrict exchanges between the United States and those very nations on account of their cheap products. But it was too late. The farce was too plain. The example of the United States was too clearly in mind. As soon as prices began to go up, and the people felt it more and more difficult to obtain their accustomed commodities, they complained grievously and threatened insurrection. To mairrtain peace, the kings called for soldiers. No one was anxious to enlist. Large bounties 1 92 l'HE RICE MILLS were offered and a few mercenaries secured. But when an attempt was made to impress others, they refused outright. They were imprisoned, but walked out during the night. In conflicts between soldiers and people, no one was injured. The mercenaries refused to kill any one, even for money. Finally the attempt to raise an army and enforce the laws, became such a nuisance to the people that they gradually organized and sent their rulers polite invitations to resign. Taking the hint, they collected their propety, employed it in honest industry, and monarchy was no more. While old England has been guilty of many wrongs and oppressions, and that when her enlightenment was such as to charge her with culpability while others might be excused, she has ever been ready, in her conservative way, to prove her fidelity to progress and liberty, and has shown her wisdom by timely yielding to the inevitable. And when the period of dethronement came, she was, as might have been expected, the first to conform to the new order of things. And although the metropolis of the world has left her, and with her the eastern hemisphere, never to return, it only descended to another generation of the same Anglo-Saxon blood ; and in its final seat at the foot of great Tacoma, this brightest and OF PORT MYSTERY I93 noblest gem of liberty and universal fraternity will be enjoyed by more people and protected by more hands than in its old island home. May its former faithful guardian feel that the re- moval is not -due to any fault of hers, but to the natural laws and forces that made the Pacific greater than the Atlantic, and peopled its longer shores more densely. While these changes no doubt resulted from laws which must sooner or later have been conformed to, there is no denying the fact that their enjoyment has been made possible to us, in this age, largely through the influence of Landaner. The universal esteem with which the Prince of Industry is held, cannot be better expressed than in the address delivered at the recent dedication of the Home of Humanity, at the Great Metropolis by one who is neither an author nor an orator, but who, in the chair of Political Economy of the greatest educational 'institution of the Northwest, fearlessly advoca- ted the truth, whether popular and politic or not ; who more than any one else, represented Landaner's ideas, and whose words will most appropriately close this simple narrative. '3 194 THE RICE MILL s CHAPTER XXTI THE MONUMENT OF PROGRESS We have to-day a double duty to perform ; announcing the completion and introducing this great temple to the service of humanity, and offering some humble words in memory of its most illustrious founder. The two go necessarily together. Study the plan of this bold, massive structure, and you will know its author. Go from its basements to its topmost towers, and you can read his character. Massive, grand, but not a foot of useless area. Not one day's toil is sacrificed to pride or vanity. In the great public baths in its ample basement chambers, the people may enjoy the bounty of its donor for all time. In the library, the gymnasium, social parlors, dancing-halls, lecture-rooms and theatres, will be merrily spent thousands of years of time snatched from evil employment and corrupt associations. In this mighty auditorium shall be held the councils OF PORT MYSTERY I95 of states and nations, scientific, political and religious conventions, celebrations of civic societies and the exhibitions of art and song. Not one of the millions of souls that enter into this building in the years to come, but will be influenced by the life, character and teachings of its giver. What nobler or more fitting monument could be built? Yet why call this his monument? What is a monument? There is nothing in this whole structure to indicate its author. Every portion of it has its apparent use. It reminds one, to be sure, of thoughtfulness, generosity and kindness ; of every virtue of noble humanity; but those are elements of great truth that involve all existence, of which no man hath an exclusive use. If such elements in this structure are a monument to him, then is everything high and noble in the world his monument. It is true, often have men in their pride and egotism imagined that they held great truth in close monopoly. For thousands of years have countless, nameless authors of forgotten fancies, staked the bounds of truth coterminous with their own conceit, and wielded well the strongest weapons of ancient warfare — ignorance and superstition — to restrain all further search; but finally their borders have been overrun by 196 THE RICE MILLS seekers after truth till now the only mark we have of them, is some old temple, tomb, or pyramid. And this we know by inference ; for there are countless similar remains among those tribes whose history is fairly known, and every instance shows that when their monuments were made, their builders thought the creed to be thus fixed in mind was all the truth and that of course, who did not so believe were wrong. So we find the surface of the earth o'erstrewn with monuments, designed to tell — we know not what, nor care ; because we know whatever may be the faith, it is false (except, of course, it be our own). The one effect the monument now has upon us is the idea the form and character of matter it contains give us. If this be precious or ex- travagant we think of wasted energy. When we see the decorative furnishings in eastern temples so highly carved and wrought in rare and precious woods and metals, and realize how it was done by the hands of the most skilled and capable of the race, working their lives away for naught but vanity, subjecting the masses who support them to ever lower degra- dation, we have nothing but pity and regret. Look upon the Great Pyramid of Egypt, whose buildings, we are told, took a hundred thousand men half a century. We know not OF PORT MYSTERY 197 certainly on what pretext so many men were thus enslaved and sacrificed. Whatever may have been the aim, it stands for time, of which its period of glory is hardly long enough to calculate, a monument of burifing shame upon its savage builder. It will not do to follow up this thought too far, or we shall find ourselves as much to blame as they, considering our greater knowledge of the truth. Therefore, we must beware what monuments we build. If you had gone not many years ago, upon a rugged, lifeless rock, a thousand miles out from the western coast of Africa — the Isle of St. Helena — you might have seen a common stone, but shaped and placed by act of man. You would have turned away from such a cold and lifeless spectacle. It lay there impotent, without the power to move the human mind, the thing most volatile in all the universe. A stone and nothing more. But if, when you stood gazing at it, you were told it marked the spot where lay the great Napoleon, a curious sensation would transfix you with a spell. In- voluntarily, would moisture come into your eyes, and through the glistening film would now appear a panorama of the world. For you would see a youth from Corsica appear upon the stage of human action, poor and ignorant, but with a marked degree of energy. 198 THE RICE MILLS He enters into military schools and shows great aptitude for what relates to war and power. He is commissioned in the service — always on the popular side. And in the chaos of bloody revolution, he rises swiftly to the top, contending always, not to bar or calm, but ever to o'ercome with force to his aggran- dizement. He puts his skill in military tact upon the market of the world and would transfer it to the highest bidder, with no thought of what was right and just. But France demanded just such skill ; and well she paid for it. He overruns the plains of northern Italy, destroying all that man had saved through years of ceaseless toil. He burns their splendid cities and destroys their works of art. Their temples, altars, and cathedrals fall before his power. He knows no holy work, no righteous thought, no sacred spot. He wrings from honqpt yeomen every product of their toil. And what is not consumed and suitable, he sends to France ; while on these desolated plains, are left its occupants either to start anew or starve. You see him next in Paris, where he is received in triumph and enthusiasm. He is appointed leader of a mighty host, intent upon invading England, or designed to conquer British India or Egypt — no one knew. What- ever may have been designed, we see him in a OF PORT MYSTERY I 99 flash transported to the shores of Africa, where, like a thunder-bolt from out a cloudless sky, he burst upon the unsuspecting Turks who now hold Egypt a dependency, while yet at peace (an act most barbarous as has been said by those who claim to be more civilized). Like hordes of savage Tartars does he take the cities and despoil the land, and by the battle of the Pyramids, becomes the master of the realm. Next, like a comet, does he cross the desert and advance far into Syria, and then, retreat- ing, leave a trail of fire many miles in length. We see him next in Paris, midst alarming discontent. The old Directory, which gave him all his power, he now abandons and o'er- thows, without the least compunction ; — takes control of all affairs of state and makes himself a monarch, absolute in all but name. He next is seen to cross the mighty Alps, whose loftiest peak- — Mount Blanc — afcises high a quarter of a mile above Tacoma. Great St. Bernard Pass, though which he marched his armies, reached a height of more than half that lofty altitude — much higher than the Cascade range. He enters Milan quite before the Austrians are aware of his determination to invade the realm. Again in Paris, he attends to civil matters with the same despotic sway ; disfavors education, save in branches needful 200 THE RICE MILLS in the art of war, and seeks naught else but blind obedience to his arbitrary will. Upon the grounds that France desires an empire as a symbol of stability, he makes an empty show of an election, which, of course, results in choosing him for Emperor, and by the Pope, or rather in his presence (for he rudely crowns himself) is crowned. The mighty warrior next is seen in Austria's capital — and then Berlin ; from whence he issues his decrees by which he would revoke the laws of commerce and proscribe exchanges everywhere except with France. What vain conceit! Disastrous error did it prove. For failure to obey those ineffectual restraints upon their trade, he wages war on Spain and Portu- gal. With every victory in foreign wars, his subjects' liberties, both civil and political, are ruthlessly curtailed. He places relatives and generals upon the thrones of conquered kings, dethroning rulers most unscrupulously where he has the power. And now does Russia fail to keep his vain Berlin Decrees ; and so with half a million men he marches on to force a strict obedience to his law. But Russia now had made one step of progress. She had learned one act of independence. When, therefore, her houses must be burned, her stores and goods destoyed, OF PORT MYSTERY 201 her armies do these things themselves in their retreat before the coming host. He follows them along the devastated line with reckless resolution. When the winter comes, the hardships are too much for human life to bear, and so returns the baffled warrior, not with half a million men, but only one in twenty. Now he asks a fresh conscription. With three hundred thousand men he marches into Germany, and throws his army with tremen- dous force against the bands of the allies. But here again, in one decisive conflict, is he worsted and compelled to cross the Rhine, not with his former force, but seventy thousand men. He next is forced to abdicate, but is permitted to retain the title "Emperor" with sovereignty within the Isle of Elba. His mania for power possesses him again, and, stealing from his narrow realm, he goes again to France. The army goes to him in body, and again, with not so many as a hundred and twenty thousand men, he rushes desper- ately on his foes assembling just across the line of Belgium. But here he meets his fate at Waterloo. Though France had not recalled him, had he been victorious, he would again have been the Emperor ; but since he had been vanquished, well he knows what to expect. Surrendering himself, he claims protection of 202 THE RICK MILLS the British laws. That government resolves to risk no more, and so confines him on this little isle. Moreover, now you see, unwritten though it is and always has been, how his selfishness has caused an aggregate of suffering and misery that mounts up higher than can all the glory ever won by mortal man. You see poor, wounded soldiers putrify beneath the scorching sun upon the plains of Lombard)', and freeze to death by inches next on Russia's boundless steppes. Just think of it, in one campaign, a half a million men forego the pleasures of this world to enter on their murderous pursuit, endure all human suffering and hardship, and are finally compelled to give up life itself ; for what? You see the wives and children look ing hourly for the cruel war to end, when once again the family may be made complete ; when happiness aud plenty shall abound. How eagerly they question every wear) 7 traveller to learn the news of battle, and the names of those who are no more! You see the aged men, the growing youth, the careworn mothers working in the fields like beasts of burden, while helpless babes must perish from neglect. For what? You see the genius of the age, which ought to be employed in saving capital, inventing and applying means of saving need- OF PORT MYSTERY 203 less toil, engaged in laying waste what little there may be, and in contriving more effective methods to destroy. Apart from mere humanity and sentiment, you see the waste of that ability which should support the world ; the sacrifice of both the factors in production, capital and labor; all for what? You see all this, I say. If now you feel a gentle touch upon your arm which breaks the spell, and tremblingly you wipe the moisture from your eyes to clear your sight, you see that there is nothing there at all — except the stone. That train of great events was not in- scribed upon the monument, but on its counter- part within yourself. So much as has been written in your mind, alone you comprehend. The monument since built with such magnifi cence in Paris does not express another thought ; aye, on account of much display, your thoughts are drawn away so that events are not so well inscribed. But why should we be brought upon a world where such dire fate prescribes the happiness of man? There is no fate; no destiny beyond Divine control. Why should a loving and all- powerful Creator have so ordered things that all these ages were compelled to bear such fester- ing loads and suffer so much agony? It was not ordered. It is due to man's own selfish- 204 THE RICE MILLS ness. It is no more use to try to shirk respon- sibility and cast the blame of all the sins and miseries of life upon the Great Creator — most ungrateful, selfish act of all. For what unnatural conditions, false and vain conceits, what vicious, monstrous creeds is human selfishness responsible! It was conceived that our Creator made this world and peopled it with races prone to populate it quite beyond its power of sustenance. That some must, therefore, be removed ; and in His love devised the plan of building up the social fabric not unlike a pyramid whose apex is composed of rulers, nobles, men of wealth and power, and whose broad base is ever ground away by famine, wars, diseases, vice and crime, to keep it in its normal size. That what of liberty, nobility and independence one enjoys, must be at the expense of counter-balancing subjection of the multitude. That some must have abund- ance — others toil and starve. And, so possessed of human form, has selfish- ness enslaved whole nations ; robbed the many for the few ; has made most barbarous wea- pons, horrid dungeons, racks for torture, turned the masses on themselves to work their own destruction. And so arose that ceaseless war of life, in which each strives to down each other, thinking that the only way to rise. The OF PORT MYSTERY 205 world has always in the main got what it has demanded. For each one through vanity and selfishness has sought to satisfy this want, and win the plaudits of the world. So when it patronized the fine arts, it got painters, sculptors, artists. When it sang of deeds of valor, acts of daring and adventure, it got poets, heroes, cavaliers. And when the people worshiped power, the world began to train for kings and warriors. If great riches were the form of power, then would the world at once rush madly after wealth. And there would be the very rich and very poor ; the miser and the prodigal. Or, if the truth and happiness were sought, if men would have equality and plenty, they have but to ask for it. The change from all the miseries of old as they appear upon the monu- ments, most honored in the past, to such sweet peace and plenty as resulted from the acts so plainly written in our rnjnds upon the monu- ments so lately built there by our friend now gone from us, is not of matter or of law, but merely in the kind of monuments we strive to build in others' minds, and gladly build to them in ours. Look well to this. So long as people hold the principles of our dead friend in dear remembrance, we are safe. But when they once begin to emulate Napoleon, and look 2o6 THE RICE MILLS with pride upon the deeds he did, then goes our happiness, our progress, our humanity. Beware, I say, what monuments we build. THE END. y