the blast-furnace are placed upon settled foundations, and two continents have been made his debtor—a debt which you will gladly join with me in recognizing on the first suitable public occasion which has occurred since the completion of his great work.
Having thus briefly traced out the mission of science in our day to bring capital into productive relations with labor, and to remove the just grievances of labor, not against capital, but against its ignorant administration, and to make commodities cheap for the benefit and not at the expense of humanity, let me, in conclusion, sketch the picture which will be presented at the beginning of the next century, when our mining interests will be developed on a scale somewhat commensurate with the area of the country and the extent of its resources. As New York will be the centre of capital, so will it be the initial point of our iron and steel industry. On the shores of the Hudson River, the ores of Lake Champlain, of the valleys of Connecticut, and of the highland ranges of New York and New Jersey, will meet the anthracite coals of Pennsylvania upon conditions so favorable that New York and its vicinity must become a great metallurgical centre. Thence the chain of fire, extending across New Jersey and following the banks of the Lehigh and Schuylkill to the Susquehanna, will lead us by the margin of the coal-fields, along the outcrop of the magnetic, hematite, and fossiliferous ores which extend through Pennsylvania, Maryland, Virginia, North and South Carolina, Tennessee, Georgia, and Alabama, nearly to the Gulf, so that the light of furnace answering to furnace will never be lost sight of in the long line of over 1,000 miles! Hence, turning to the West, Missouri, Kentucky, Western Tennessee, Ohio, Indiana, and Illinois, will be all aglow with furnaces, forges, and mills, fed by the admirable fuel of the inexhaustible coal-fields of the West, and the superb ores of Missouri and Lake Superior. The waters of the great lakes will reflect the flames which will light up their margin, while to the west, along the lines of the various Pacific Railways, the newly-found coal and iron of that hitherto trackless region will form an enduring basis for the growth of industrious communities, busy cities, and teeming farms. The West coast will not be behind in the race, but an iron industry, more valuable than its mines of gold and silver, will yet supply its growing millions with the fundamental basis upon which modern civilization rests. The growth of this vast industry will be accompanied by the school-master, the preacher, and the physician. Homes of which human nature may be proud will be established in its wake, labor and Christianity will march hand in hand, binding all interests and all classes so harmoniously and so indissolubly together, that peace and good-will between capital and labor shall prevail throughout the land forever.
