AMERICA FULFILLING PROPHECY.
By L. A. S.
It is with no spirit of boasting that the assertion can be made to-day that the United States of America is taking the lead in industry, and therefore in influence among the nations of the earth. This statement is not a conclusion deduced from the strained logic of fervid patriotism, but a statement summing up plain and indisputable facts. And the reason such a statement is made in these columns, is that inspired prophecy has pointed out the rise of this nation, and that in becoming great, as it has, it is preparing for the fulfillment of that which the word of God has spoken concerning it. Thus to Seventh-day Adventists, and to all who would understand the prophecy of Rev. 13:11–18, the position of this nation among the Powers of the earth becomes a matter of practical importance, as much as the fulfillment of any prophecy is a matter of importance to those who are privileged to be witnesses of the events which it foretells. There are many facts which testify to the influential position among the nations that is held to-day by the United States. Here are some which we find given in a recent issue of the New York Sun:— “The total production of coal in the United States in 1900 was 240,065,017 tons; in France, 32,270,385 tons; in Germany, 140,551,058 tons; in Belgium, 23,462,817 tons; in Austria-Hungary, 38,728,372 tons; in Russia, 16,137,736 tons; in Great Britain, 225,181,200 tons; in Canada, 5,507,842 tons; in Australia and New Zealand, 7,337,000 tons. England exported 44,080,107 tons in 1900, and the United States 7,900,000 tons. “The first iron works in the United States were set up in Virginia in 1610. The first iron not made from native ore was cast at the Lynn foundry, in Massachusetts, in 1645. The first American steel was made in Connecticut in 1728. The first rolling mill was erected in 1816 in Pennsylvania. These facts are from the last annual report of the American Iron and Steel Association, which gives a total world’s production of pig iron in 1900 of 40,400,000 gross tons, of which the United States made 13,780,242 tons, or thirty-four per cent. In the same year the world’s production of steel was 27,200,000 tons, of which the United States made 10,188,320 tons, or over thirty-seven per cent. “Our exports of iron and steel more than doubled in value from 1897 to 1900, and in the same time our exports of agricultural implements increased in value more than threefold. We are producing twice as much iron ore as Great Britain, ninety per cent more pig iron, three times as much Bessemer steel, and three times as many Bessemer steel rails. We have constructed and equipped our own railroads, and have made the machinery to develop our own farming, mining, and manufacturing interests, and now we are doing more to develop and supply other countries than any other nation.” In the prophecy to which we have referred, this nation is described as “saying to them that dwell on the earth, that they should make an image to the Beast, which had the wound by a sword, and did live.” This plainly implies that the Power that will do this will at the time occupy a commanding position among “them that dwell on the earth.” The United States has heretofore been conspicuous among the nations not by reason of its products or of its wealth or its military power, but by reason of the principles of its government. Its power in the world has been the power of the appeal and invitation of liberty, enthroned in this free government, made to the heart of every oppressed individual in other lands to whom its message could be borne. But now it is swiftly looming up as a “world Power” in the material sense of the term,—a nation possessing the greatest resources, the greatest wealth, among the Powers, and wielding that potent influence which wealth commands in every land to-day. Almost, if not quite, this nation is in a position to influence “them that dwell on the earth” in the manner which the prophecy describes. “As America, the land of religious liberty, shall unite with the papacy in forcing the conscience and compelling men to honor the false sabbath, the people of every country on the globe will be led to follow her example.”—“Testimonies for the Church, Vol. VI, page 18. And thus will this nation say “to them that dwell on the earth, that they should make an image to the Beast.” As this nation rises higher among the Powers of the earth, and its prestige and influence are augmented, it is to us a token of the nearness of the hour when the prophecy will be fulfilled, and this nation will influence the Protestant nations of the world to form an “image to the Beast,” and will revive the spirit and work of the papacy in all lands. It is a token that the end is near.