158 COLUMBUS, CHRISTOPHER. 



COMMERCE AND NAVIGATION. 



both were called before kings and councils, and 

 both found eloquent words for their fervid con- 

 victions. Both were tenacious of purpose and 

 conscious of personal integrity. To both, the 

 Hebrew prophets were familiar friends and re- 

 ligion the motive power of life. Both were in- 

 tensely imaginative, and both lacked the quality 

 of humor. Both were stung by the ingratitude 



LEADEN CASKET SUPPOSED TO CONTAIN THE BONES OF 

 COLUMBUS, IN SANTO DOMINGO. 



of princes and of people, and the mariner who 

 sailed the sea of darkness might well have 

 adopted Dante's language in regard to his own 

 career : " Truly, I have been a vessel without 

 sail or rudder, driven to divers ports, estuaries, 

 and shores by that hot blast, the breath of griev- 

 ous poverty ; and I have shown myself to the eyes 

 of many who, perhaps through some fame of me, 

 had imagined me in quite other guise, in whose 

 view not only was my person debased, but every 

 work of mine, whether done or yet to do, became 

 of less account." Of both these prisoners of hope 

 it may be said, in Lowell's words : 

 The hooting mob of yesterday with silent awe return 

 To glean up the scattered ashes into History's golden 



urn. 



Some of the actions of Columbus are persist- 

 ently criticised. As to his sending Indian pris- 

 oners to be sold to slavery : the markets of An- 

 dalusia were full of conquered Moors, and Isa- 

 bella sent negroes freely as slaves to Santo Do- 

 mingo. Certainly an American biographer 

 should not be the one to cast a stone, when he 

 remembers that three and a half centuries later 

 the Rev. Nehemiah Adams, of Boston. Mass., in 

 his " South-side View of Slavery," said : " Re- 

 ligion in the masters destroys everything in 

 slavery that makes it obnoxious ; and not only 

 so, it converts the relation of the slave into an 

 effectual means of happiness." In Spain in 

 those days an infidel had no rights that a Cath- 

 olic was bound to respect, and an infidel was 

 any one who was not a Catholic. Another ac- 

 cusation is that of cruelty and conceited bigotry 

 in compelling the signing of the document in 

 reference to "the finding of terra firma. That 

 point was vital to Columbus. To find not isl- 



ands, but Asia, was what he had promised the 

 sovereigns who furnished him the outfit. He 

 was turning back under protest from a quest 

 the results of which could only be made certain 

 to them by the word of those who saw the land. 

 There was no Grand Khan, no civilization, noth- 

 ing but the vast extent of the country and the 

 supposed position on the globe that could be 

 brought to proof. Columbus was convinced, 

 but he wanted to keep on, and, if he could not, 

 they must at least uphold him unitedly. It has 

 been said that he was a visionary. His words, 

 taken as a whole, furnish the best answer to 

 that charge. He was imaginative to a high de- 

 gree, but through most of his life he was also 

 extremely practical. When he was overwhelmed 

 with mortification and sorrow at the treatment 

 he received, was worn out by innumerable men- 

 tal and physical trials and hardships, racked 

 with fever, helpless, and almost blind, the gor- 

 geous fantasy of his mingled religious and scien- 

 tific imaginings is evidence of the undying na- 

 ture of his love and hope. 



COMMERCE AND NAVIGATION OF 

 THE UNITED STATES. The volume of 

 foreign commerce for 1891-'92 was the largest 

 in the history of the country. The total value 

 of the imports and exports of merchandise was 

 $1,857,726,910, which was $128,329,904, or 7 

 per cent., more than in the previous year, and 

 exceeded the total for 1889-'90 by 25 per cent. 

 The total value of the imports was' $827,39 1,284, 

 which was 2 per cent, less than in the previous 

 year. The chief items of decrease were tin 

 plates, woolens, and tobacco, which had been 

 largely imported in anticipation of the new 

 tariff, and after it went into effect were import- 

 ed in less quantities than they otherwise would 

 have been in consequence of its operation. The 

 imports of other goods on which the duties were 

 increased likewise declined, but many articles 

 that were placed on the free list were imported 

 in much greater quantities. The ratio of the 

 duty-free articles increased from 43 per cent, of 

 the total imports in 1890-'91 to 55 per cent, in 

 1891-'92. They grew under the operation of the 

 tariff changes from $366.000,000 to $458,000,000. 

 The domestic exports in 1892 reached $1,000,- 

 000,000 for the first time. They amounted to 

 $1.015,789,607. There was a heavy increase in 

 the exports of breadstuffs, owing to short crops 

 in nearly every grain-growing district in Eu- 

 rope and the famine in Russia, which cut off the 

 usual supplies from that country. In the ex- 

 ports of cotton there was a falling off in the 

 value of $32.250,000, owing to a great fall in 

 prices. The shipments of cotton were larger 

 than ever they were before. The exports of 

 petroleum, refined sugar, and provisions were 

 smaller in value than in the preceding year. 

 The other exports were normal in amount. If 

 it had not been for the large wheat crop, the ex- 

 traordinary demand in Europe for cereals, and 

 the consequent high prices, the exports would 

 have fallen short of the total for the previous 

 year. The imports of free merchandise have in 

 creased from one third of the total in 1889-'90 

 to more than half in 1891-'92. Sugar and 

 coffee increased enormously. The consumption 

 of goods paying duty has shown a correspond- 

 ing decrease, having shrunk greatly in the last 



