92 ORIGINAL TERRITORY. OF THE UNITED STATES 



ness threaded by mighty rivers destined to bear upon their 

 bosoms the commerce of untold millions when these trackless 

 Avilds should be peopled by the makers of the Great West. The 

 history of the United States is the story of its continued bene- 

 dictions. Ampler vision has broadened the interpretation of its 

 meaning, and enlarged experience has widened the application 

 of its principles ; and today, as hitherto, the Constitution is 

 flexible enough to admit of adaptation to all the changing con- 

 ditions of our national development, yet strong enough to hold 

 in one harmonious system forty-five great states, spanning the 

 continent and including within their limits every diversity of 

 nature and every variety of man. Designed for a population of 

 three millions, it has become the fundamental law of more than 

 seventy; ratified by a little fringe of people scattered along the 

 Atlantic seaboard, it is accepted by a great continental nation ; 

 written in a period of legalized slavery, it has laid the founda- 

 tions of universal liberty ; expressing the final goal toward which 

 political evolution is tending — local government for local affairs 

 and a general government for general affairs — it presents a model 

 for the final organization of the entire human race, when some 

 far-distant dawn shall usher in 



" The parliament of man, the federation of the world." 



In a recent report to the Department of State, Consul-General 

 De Leon deals at some length with the proposed railway from 

 Guayaquil to Quito. The track is laid for the first 60 miles, 

 but the broadening of the gauge and the laying of new ties 

 and rails will almost amount to a new construction. The 

 present terminus is at the foot of the western cordillera of the 

 Andes, at an elevation of 1,130 feet above sea-level. Between 

 this point and Sibambe, a distance of 60 miles, there will be a 

 gradual rise to an altitude of 8,138 feet. This is considered to 

 be the most difficult part of the entire line, as not only does it 

 lie for the most part on the thickly forested mountain side, but 

 the geological formation will add greatly to the difficulty of con- 

 struction. Between Sibambe and Quito the line will have to 

 surmount three spurs of the cordilleras, ranging from 10,000 to 

 12,000 feet. The road, as a whole, will be a triumph of railway 

 construction and will open up a region of wonderful product- 

 ivity, the mountain valleys that will be rendered accessible pos- 

 sessing a fine climate and an exceedingly fertile soil. 



