At length the Americans came to realise the truth that itbehoves a great nation not exclusively to set its heart upon theenjoyment of proximate material advantages; that civilisation andpower -- more important and desirable possessions than merematerial wealth, as Adam Smith himself allows -- can only besecured and retained by the creation of a manufacturing power ofits own; that a country which feels qualified to take and tomaintain its place amongst the powerful and civilised nations ofthe earth must not shrink from any sacrifice in order to securesuch possessions for itself; and that at that time the Atlanticstates were clearly the region marked out for such possessions.
It was on the shores of the Atlantic that European settlers andEuropean civilisation first set a firm foot.Here, at the first,were populous, wealthy, and civilised states created; here was thecradle and seat of their sea fisheries, coasting trade, and navalpower; here their independence was won and their union founded.
Through these states on the coast the foreign trade of the Union iscarried on; through them it is connected with the civilised world;through them it acquires the surplus population, material, capital,and mental powers of Europe; upon the civilisation, power, andwealth of these sea-board states depend the future civilisation,power, wealth, and independence of the whole nation and its futureinfluence over less civilised communities.Suppose that thepopulation of these Atlantic states decreased instead of growinglarger, that their fisheries, coasting trade, shipping engaged inforeign trade and foreign trade itself, and, above all, theirgeneral prosperity, were to fall off or remain stationary insteadof progressing, then we should see the resources of civilisation ofthe whole nation, the guarantees for its independence and externalpower, diminish too in the same degree.It is even conceivablethat, were the whole territory of the United States laid undercultivation from sea to sea, covered with agricultural states, anddensely populated in the interior, the nation itself mightnevertheless be left in a low grade as respects civilisation,independence, foreign power, and foreign trade.There are certainlymany nationalities who are in such a position and whose shippingand naval power are nil, though possessing a numerous inlandpopulation!
