sely populated as the island of Java, we would have in this
country one and one-half times the present population of the entire
globe, and yet the United States would not then be more densely
populated than Belgium.
Taking the State of Texas as an illustration, if France were an island
and Texas a sea, and the island were in the midst of the sea, the people
on the island would be out of sight of land in every direction. Counting
the population of the world as seventeen hundred millions, if all the
millions of Africa, Asia, Europe, South America, North America, etc.,
were in the one State of Texas,--not a man, woman or child anywhere else
in the world,--there would be only ten to the acre!
Sections of America are not capable of sustaining a large population,
it is true, but on this topic we quote a third time from _The United
States in the Twentieth Century_:
"If the dry lands of the West account for one third of the 3,000,000
and more square miles of the United States, at least four fifths of
Australia and the same proportion of South Africa are far more barren
than this arid zone; three fourths of Canada is unfertile, or rendered
so by cold; one half of Argentina consists of steppes or semi-desert
country; and, finally, fully two thirds of the enormous Russian Empire
is uncultivable, either by lack of heat or by lack of rain.
"More than this, in respect to mineral wealth, in respect to water
power, and in respect to agricultural possibilities, all of the
countries just mentioned are far less endowed than is the United
States."
God has made America a giant in size that America may do a giant's
share in the world-wide propagation of the Gospel.
2. Mineral resources. The United States furnishes the world to-day
with 63 per cent. of its petroleum. Copper is indispensable in this
electric age, and 57 per cent. of the world's supply comes from the
United States. In the production of coal, America leads the world, and
according to the _Statesman's Year Book_ all Europe has only one
fourth as much coal as the United States. The gold output of the
United States is many times that of any other country, except the
Transvaal in Africa.
3. Railroads. Railroads are an indication of wealth and progress and
power. Canada has more railroad mileage than all the continent of
Africa. Almost 38 per cent. of the total mileage is in the United
States; or, putting it in another way, the United States could
duplicate all the ra
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