Back to the Moon with Nuclear Rockets

Paul Israel is sympathetic to Edison.But the recent era has been one in whichone does not dream of radically increasingthe power of man over nature. Oureconomy bows down to the hyper-speculativeDow Jones "Industrial" Average,whose star is J.P. Morgan, while the Free-Market god shuts industry everywhere.We even impose devastating sanctionsagainst backward countries to preventthem from acquiring moderntechnology that could pose a"threat."An uncritical member of such asociety will have difficulty readingthe true spirit and directionalityof the classic United States ofAmerica, that experiment in theuplifting of mankind, of whichEdison's enterprise was a greatproject.It is as if a creature living in afracture zone at ocean's bottom,were to somehow snare a colorfulsea-bird. Down below itwould be black, with strange sidefins.In keeping with the Zeitgeist,Israel views technology as havinga certain capability for improvinghumanity, after which, he believes,it makes increasing mischief.So, the hypothesis on Edisonbecomes: He invented themodern industrial research laboratory,which then proceeded farin advance of him, under themore efficient corporate auspices.Good old Prometheus is obsolete.The National PartyBehind EdisonBut we can find a powerfulstory lurking among Paul Israel'sdetails. Let us first set the stage, ashe does not.After being pinned down for manyyears under Free Trade and slaveocraticpolicy, having survived the Civil War intact,the United States rushed forth to industrializethe universe. Lincoln's assassinationhad fastened the Free Traderacist Andrew Johnson on the WhiteHouse; but the 1868 election made GeneralGrant the President, and all stopswere off.The first transcontinental railway(Union Pacific), started during the war,;opened for business in 1869. The NorthernPacific, Lincoln's second projectedroute West, then commenced construc-tion. The brand new steel industry, protected by prohibitive tariffs, fired up forrails, locomotives, bridges, and farm m i-chinery.The nerve center for this political ar dindustrial revolution was the nationalistfaction which Benjamin Franklin F^dlong before established in Philadelphi i.The group's partners controlled tr ePennsylvania Railroad, the nationfsThomas Edison: "Shakespeare would hav ; been awonderful inventor—he seemed to see the inside ofeverything."biggest company; the Jay Cooke bankinghouse, which handled the fedeialgovernment's financing and organiz ?dthe Northern Pacific construction; t leUniversity of Pennsylvania and tieFranklin Institute, center of a worldwi Jealliance of scientists devoted to mar 'simprovement; and a vast set of ra I-roads, coal mines, and iron and steelmills, including Andrew Carnegie's c 3-erations.Their long arms helped move mountainseverywhere. In 1868, Japanese r« v-olutionaries set up a modern central gc v-ernment inspired by students ofPhiladelphia economist Henry Carey,who had also been Lincoln's chief economicguide. The American nationalistsassisted in building Japan's railroads andmodern industry, and pushed industrializationplans with their modernizerfriends in the leadership of Russia,China, Germany, and Latin America.Immediately after the Civil War, thePhiladelphians assigned one of their juniorpartners, William J. Palmer,to manage construction of theKansas Pacific railroad. A dashingCivil War Medal of Honor-winningcavalry officer, Palmer set offWest with his chief personal assistantEdward H. Johnson. Workingin association with Palmer's colleagueJosiah Reiff, they pushedthe line from Kansas to Denverbetween 1866 and 1870; andthey planned a connecting nationalrailroad all through Mexico.Sometime in this period,Palmer's agent George Gouraudmoved to England to represent thePalmer enterprises in London.By 1871-1872, the Philadelphiapartners controlled theUnion Pacific. Jay Cooke was negotiatingan industrial bankingarrangement with Japan, the startof a projected world-spanningbelt of railroads, canals, and shippinglines that could obliterateBritish Empire power, and assistpowerful nation-building in Russia,China, and Western Europe.Late in 1870, William Palmer'sassociates founded the AutomaticTelegraph Company, to competewith Wall Street's WesternUnion. In this effort, Palmer andReiff went into partnership withGeorge Harrington, who hadbeen President Lincoln's deputy Treasurysecretary.Enter Thomas EdisonAt this point, Paul Israel's narrative ofEdison's life intersects our wider story.Palmer initiated the Automatic company'sfull-time employment of theyoung telegraphic inventor Thomas Edison,who had already been working oncontract for the Automatic as well asWestern Union.In 1872, the Palmer company's managers,Josiah Reiff and Edward Johnson,arranged to pay Edison a regular salaryand a minimum of $10,000 for eachBOOKS21stCENTUItY Summer 1999 77