Lawrence High School - Lawrencian Yearbook (Falmouth, MA)

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8 The Lawrencian Salutatory: The Class of 1936 finds tonight its reward for long years of effort and realizes that never again will it meet as a whole on any similar occasion. We have looked forward to this moment and are deeply grateful to our parents, our teachers, and all those who have helped us attain this milestone in our edu- cation. The Class of 1936 is honored to take this opportunity tonight to welcome you here. INTERNATIONAL INTERDEPENDENCE Through changing conditions, the nations of the world have been bound more closely together than ever before. Improvements in com- munication and transportation have done much to bring people into closer contact with one another. When this nation was first founded, there were only a few roads. Today, however, hundreds of thousands of miles of roads and railroads run through the United States. These roads are the principal means of transportation on land. In colonial days, sailing ships voyaging from America to England completed the journey in five to nine weeks. To- day, fast steamships plying the ocean highways cover the same dis- tance in four to six days. Airplanes have cut down the great distance between continents. Telegraph wires and cables are distributed through- out the world, making it possible to send messages to any distant country in a surprisingly short time. Telephones and radios also have brought distant people together. These modern methods of trans- portation and communication have done much to bridge the distance between nat : ons. They have saved a great deal of time and created markets for goods, thus helping to build up world commerce. In early colonial times, colonists were independent of foreign coun- tries for their products. Later, how- ever, they began to build vessels and to trade with other parts of the world. This, they found, was more profitable than trying to produce everything they needed themselves. Some of the things they obtained from these countries were products which they could not raise them- selves, so they became more and more dependent upon their neigh- bors. That was the early stage of commerce. Today, we are more civil- ized, but a comparison of our lives with those of the colonists will show that our dependence on distant lands has increased to a far greater extent and is likely to grow even more in the future. Our steamships, swifter and larger than the ships of colonial days, visit many far-off regions of the world to carry on trade. From these distant countries, they bring back new foods to our markets. They are even equipped to carry perishable goods a long, long distance. This could not be done in the earlier days. As a result of our trade with the distant places of the world, there has sprung up a feeling of under- standing between nations. Trans- portation has made it possible for people to visit foreign countries and thus become acquainted with peo- ple from the distant corners of the earth. Yearly, a great number of people sail from the United States to visit Europe and other lands. These tourists have done a great deal to increase the good will and friendliness between nations. It is mainly through improved methods of communication and transportation and this understand-