Some Lessons in Geography 



197 



trial arts and of the great commerce of 

 the world, placing us where we are now 

 in the production of iron and steel, more 

 than equal to Great Britain and Ger- 

 many combined, nearly half the product 

 of the whole world. Had it not been 

 for the excess in the price of iron and 

 steel, which the duties on imports en- 

 abled the iron masters of this country to 

 charge by a far heavier price to our 

 consumers than the prices charged in 

 Great Britain and Germany, we might 

 long since have assumed the paramount 

 position which we are now rapidly at- 

 taining in the export of the higher 

 products of iron and steel, the ma- 

 chinery, the tools, and the fabrics that 

 give employment to ten skilled mechan- 

 ics where the mere production of the 

 crude metal gives occupation to one or 

 two, being a small relative force in point 

 of number, mostly common laborers. 



Again, the time has come when the 

 forces of commerce are being summoned 

 to the suppression of the brute element 

 in man, from which war and warfare 

 are generated. Commerce demands 

 peace, order, and industry. The man- 

 ufacturers, the merchants, and the 

 bankers hold paramount power when 

 they choose to use it, and when they 

 refuse the supplies that are wasted 

 upon war and warfare, the end — peace 

 on earth — may be within their power. 

 Now they are coming up to demand 

 that the ferry-ways of commerce upon 

 the high seas shall be neutralized, and 

 that the ' ' ships that pass from this 

 land to that, weaving the web of con- 

 cord among the nations," shall no 

 longer be subject to destruction at the 

 will of a belligerent whose only duty is 

 to destroy commercial vessels. The men 

 of affairs are now combining to establish 

 the rights of neutrals and to stop the 

 nefarious work of commerce destroyers. 

 The mental energy which is developed 

 in the conduct of commerce, requiring 

 powers far higher than those required 

 in the conduct of war, may soon assert 



its power and bring into living light the 

 vision of peace and good will among 

 men. 



In this treatise I have given an ac- 

 count of how I happened to gain a very 

 considerable amount of education in 

 geography through the study of cotton. 



Were I a teacher in a school, espe- 

 cially in an evening school where young 

 men and women occupied in the various 

 trades make an effort to continue their 

 education, I would call upon each one 

 to bring to the school an example of one 

 of the leading subjects of trade in which 

 their employers deal. They would bring 

 cotton, wool, flax, hemp, silk, and other 

 fibers, gums, examples of paint and var- 

 nish, food products of different kinds, 

 wood, metals, leather, and many other 

 common articles of trade. 



I would then take up at a venture one 

 subject — for example, a bit of leather. 

 I would put my questions, "What is- 

 this?' ' The answer would be, ' 'Leather. ' ' 

 ' ' What is leather and how is it pre- 

 pared ? " The answer would be, "By 

 tanning. " " What is tanning ; what is 

 used ? " Answers would be few, if any. 

 ' ' Mow many kinds of leather are there ? 

 Where does each kind come from ? 

 From what animals ? Why do we de- 

 pend on this or that section for different 

 kinds of leather ? Why are these ani- 

 mals fed here and not there ? What is 

 the soil ? What is the climate ? What 

 is the fur or hair ? What becomes of 

 it ? " and so on. And before the end of 

 the winter's course the simple subject 

 of leather would have extended the 

 thoughts and knowledge of the pupils 

 throughout the world. 



Again, another method : Please bring 

 to the next session a statement of what 

 was on your breakfast, dinner, and sup- 

 per table yesterday, including the cloth, 

 the crockery, the table ware, and every 

 article of food or beverage. These being 

 listed, put the questions,- " Where did 

 that table cloth come from? What was 

 it made of ? Whence came the spices r 



