petition. It is, on the other hand, as evident, that other countries have enormous resources, and that they do no longer labour under any insurmountable difficulty in procuring their full development; that with an open sea, with railways, and river and canal communication, they possess ample means for the conveyance of coals, goods, and produce, at a comparatively insignificant cost; that, under the energising influence of free trade, though as yet scarcely understood and very imperfectly adopted, continental nations have become eager for improvement; and that with them, as with us, the first effect of open competition has been an increasing attention to the economic laws of production, especially by the exercise of augmented energy, greater economy of power and of time, and an increasing use of machinery. Capital is not only increasing everywhere, but is largely invested in commerce and manufacture, as more attractive and profitable than agriculture ; keenness for trade and devotion to mercantile enterprises are being widely spread, and the love of comfort and material wealth has produced a much greater appreciation of the substantial benefits of labour and industry than has ever before existed. Nor is it possible to witness the wonderful display of machinery at the recent exhibitions without perceiving that, even in that primary element of strength, Britain is no longer without formidable competitors.

It has, moreover, become evident that continental nations have striven to diffuse a technical knowledge of manafacture and design by means of their technical schools. In 1867 Mr. Bernard Samuelson, M.P., wrote a letter to the Vice-President of the Committee of Council on Education, concerning technical education in various countries abroad, in which he affirmed, That the rapid progress of many trades abroad has been greatly facilitated by the superior technical knowledge of the directors of works everywhere, and by the comparatively advanced elementary instruction of the workers in some departments of industry.' The author of this work made a report to the Privy Council on technical, industrial, and professional instruction in Italy and other countries. The Chambers of Commerce reported on the trades injured by the want of a technical education; and, in 1868, a committee of the House of Commons was appointed for the purpose of inquiring into the provisions for giving instruction in theoretical and applied science to the industrial classes. The report gave detailed information on the state of scientific instruction of the foremen and workmen engaged in manufactures, the smaller manufacturers and managers, and the proprietors and managers-inchief of larger industrial undertakings; as well as the relation of industrial education to industrial progress in different countries. "The industrial system of the present age,' said the committee, 'is based on the substitution of mechanical for animal power; its development is due in this country to its stores of coals and of

metallic ores, to our geographical position and temperate climate, and to the unrivalled energy of our population. The acquisition of scientific knowledge was shown by the witnesses to be only one of the elements of an industrial education and of industrial progress. And although the pressure of foreign competition, where it existed, was considered by some witnesses to be partly owing to the superior scientific attainments of foreign manufacturers, yet the general result of the evidence proved that it was to be attributed mainly to their artistic taste, to fashion, to lower wages, and to the absence of trade disputes abroad, and the greater readiness with which handicraftsmen abroad in some trades adapted themselves to new requirements. Nearly every witness spoke of the extraordinarily rapid progress of continental nations in manufactures, and they attributed that rapidity not to the model workshops which are met with in some foreign countries, and were but an indifferent substitute for our own great factories and for those which are rising in every part of the continent, but besides other causes, to the scientific training of the proprietors and managers in France, Switzerland, Belgium, and Germany, and to the elementary instruction which is universal amongst the working population of Germany and Switzerland. All the witnesses concurred in desiring similar advantages of education for the country, and were satisfied that nothing more was required and that nothing less would suffice in order that we may retain the position which England held in the van of all industrial nations.' The committee then made several recommendations with a view to the extension of scientific teaching into secondary schools, and the establishment of superior colleges of science, and schools for special scientific instruction in the different centres of industry. And in furtherance of these recommendations the Committee of Council on Education offered additional grants to schools for science Mr. Whitworth, with princely liberality, founded thirty scholarships of the annual value of 100l. each, to be applied for the further instruction of young men, natives of the United Kingdom, selected by open competition for their intelligence and proficiency in the theory and practice of mechanics and cognate sciences, with a view to the promotion of engineering and mechanical industry in the country. And a royal commission was appointed to make inquiry with regard to scientific instruction and the advancement of science, which published several reports, and recommended, among other things, the endowment of scientific research.

But nothing has yet been done to advance the theoretical and practical knowledge of commerce in the United Kingdom after the example of the Superior Institute of Commerce at Antwerp, the Superior School of Commerce at Paris, the Technical Schools of Commerce in Italy, and the Commercial Colleges in the United

States of America. It is to be regretted that England, the very centre of the commerce of the world, should be deficient in the means of elevating the character and enlarging the understanding of those engaged in trade; that our mercantile classes should be left to acquire, often at the cost of dearly-bought experience, the knowledge of even the first principles which govern mercantile intercourse; that the important economic phenomena exhibited by the money market and foreign exchanges should to the large majority appear but enigmatic problems and be seldom apprehended in their nature and bearing; that the instruments of commerce, such as bills of exchange, bills of lading, and policies of insurance, should be mechanically handled with little or no knowledge of the signification of their different classes; and that the laws affecting mercantile relations, such as partnership, agency, sale, shipping, and insurance, should be altogether unknown to the large majority.

PROGRESS OF BRITISH INDUSTRY.

Declared value of the principal articles of British and Irish produce exported. (,000 omitted.)

CHAPTER XIV.

STATE OF BRITISH COMMERCE.

Triumphs of Commerce.-Progress of British Commerce.—British Imports.British Exports.--Direction of Exports.-Navigation, Banking, and Currency.- Insurance.-The Home Trade.-Increase of Property.-Use of Wealth in the promotion of Science and Art.-Use of Wealth in works of Benevolence.—True Source of British Prosperity.-Influence of Commerce on the Peace of the World.

WE have now concluded our examination of the various circumstances which have had a direct or indirect influence on British commerce, from the advent of the great mechanical inventions in the cotton manufacture to the present time, a period of about one hundred years of incessant activity, and of almost superhuman effort in the promotion of material progress. What has commerce done for England-ay, for the world during this century? It has stimulated the active powers of man, and developed to an almost unlimited extent the resources of nature; it has promoted enterprise, discovery, and inventions; it has advanced agriculture, mining, and fisheries; it has made of the sea the highway of nations, and rendered rivers, canals, roads, railways, and telegraphs instruments of intercourse between the most distant states. Ignorance, prejudice, and wars have thwarted the progress of commerce, yet, with its enlightening, diffusive, and pervasive power commerce stretched its action and influence over all regions. From being the humble vocation of the few it succeeded in attracting the attention of whole communities, and where once it was held in contempt as a sordid and mean occupation, the time has come when commerce has become itself a power which exercises a mighty influence on the politics of nations, and in a great measure controls the conduct of states.

The increase of commerce in the United Kingdom during the last one hundred years is something wonderful. In 1763 her population probably was 10,000,000. In 1878 it was 34,000,000. But if the population has trebled, the imports increased from 10,000,000l. to 368,000,000l.; the exports from 13,000,000l. to 193,000,000l.; the navigation of ports from 1,500,000 tons to 52,000,000 tons; and the shipping belonging to the United Kingdom from 550,000 tons to 6,555,000 tons. This is the rate at

which British commerce has been increasing; and even these large figures give only an imperfect idea of their real value. A trade amounting to about 614,000,000l. a year in a population of 34,000,000, means immense activity, large increase of comforts, and great accumulation of wealth.

The twenty-one millions of tons of shipping which entered at ports in the United Kingdom laden with precious produce from all parts of the world, estimated in value at 368,000,000l., brought large quantities of raw materials for our manufactures, of articles of food for the masses of the people, and of foreign merchandise to satisfy the increasing wants of the community. Of raw materials our manufacturers stand in absolute need. Whatever shortens the supply of such articles as cotton, silk, and even wool, limits the power of production. A bad crop of cotton in the far distant regions beyond the ocean, a disease in the cocoon, or any other calamity which increases the price of these articles, is so much actual loss to whole communities in Lancashire and Yorkshire, and through them to the whole kingdom. In 1840 there were entered for home consumption in the United Kingdom 4,545,000 cwt. cotton, 48,421,000 lbs. wool, and 1,896,000 cwt. flax. In 1878 the consumption was 10,634,000 cwt. cotton, 200,000,000 lbs. wool, and 5,900,000 cwt. flax, hemp, and jute. The world, we are thankful to say, has ample stores of produce to supply us with food, and, thanks to free trade, our people can get it whenever wanted. A large portion, indeed, of our population now depends on foreign corn, and we could not well do without the oxen and bulls, sheep and lambs, bacon and beef, butter and cheese, sugar and coffee, fish and eggs, which come in so great quantities. From 1840 to 1878 the increase in the consumption of foreign articles. of food has been very large. The consumption of butter has increased from 1.05 lbs. to 5.82 lbs. per head; of cheese, from 92 lbs. to 6:37 lbs. per head; of corn, from 42-47 lbs. to 188.29 lbs. per head; of tea, from 1.22 lbs. to 4.66 lbs. per head; of sugar, from 15-20 lbs. to 58.83 lbs. per head. What folly, what crime, was it by law to hinder the people from getting what will sustain life! And our people are well pleased to use foreign clocks and watches, foreign gloves and silks, and other articles of finery, which our neighbours near or far can produce cheaper or better than we The interest of the largest number should always be the first consideration in any sound legislation. Of the 360,000,000l. of imports nearly 150,000,000l. consisted of raw materials, 150,000,000l. of articles of food, 50,000,000l. of manufactured articles, and the remainder of other products and merchandise.

can.

Of course, if we import largely we also export extensively. A great part of our imports represents what is actually due to Britain in profits, in freights, in interest of money invested abroad, and for other purposes; the remainder we pay for in goods and produce,