THE > OF ;C3RES W/////////////W/m "M//////mM////////M. >^ WWfflM WMM, ■///,/, Wf/fmrA f> 110 Spanish . . 32 „ 44 )t 36 Italian • 18 .. 30 »> 66 „ Portuguese • 8 „ 13 71 62 182 352 95 Thus, in 1801, English was spoken by one-eighth of the civilised people of the world, and to-day it is the language of one-fourth. The increase of the other languages is com- paratively small. Mr. Block's Tables of geometrical increase for the various nations show that England is much ahead of the rest of Europe, and that the principal nations have not been multi- plying since 1860 in the same manner as before. Annual Inceease foe 10,000 Inhabitants. Before 1860. Since 1860. England . 137 . 124 Russia 145 . 84 Prussia . 116 . 83 Austria-Hungary 50 . 85 Low Countries 60 . 89 Spain . 66 . 73 Italy 61 67 France . 48 1 Increase of population depends, in a manner, less on the number of births than on the death-rate. Most European states have a higher rate of births than Great Britain, and yet their increase is 25, or even 50 per cent less than ours. The average of twenty-three years (Eussia excepted), namely, from 1852 to 1874, was as follows :— INCREASE OF POPULATION. Rate per 1000 Inhabitants. Births. Deaths. Increase England . 35 . 22 13 Prussia . 3S . 27 11 Austria . 40 . 32 8 Spain . 37 . 30 7 Italy . . 37 . 30 7 Russia . . 41 . 37 4 France . . 26 . 24 2 The birth-rate in England is now 2 per thousand higher than from 1853 to 1859, whereas, in many of the Conti- nental states, it is falling. The most notable decline is in France, where the rate from 1810 to 1830 was 31 per 1000, or one-fifth higher than in the last twenty years. Taking the general average of Europe, there are 6 per cent more male infants born than females ; but the surplus falls to 3 per cent in Eussia, and rises to 1 6 per cent among Jews. After destructive wars, there is a great excess of male births, as occurred in France after 1815, and still more notably in Paraguay, since the exterminating war of 1865-1870 ; the male births in the latter country being 8 times as numerous as the females, as if Nature sought to restore the balance of the sexes. In the northern hemi- sphere, February is the month that shows the largest num- ber of births ; in the southern, July. The ratio of still- born infants is 4^ per cent, being always greater in towns than in rural districts, and less among Jews than Chris- tians. Male still-births are 40 per cent more numerous than female. The proportion of illegitimate births has declined one-third in Great Britain and some other coun- tries since 1840, but it has risen in France and Sweden. At present it stands thus : — PROGRESS OF THE WORLD. Legitimate. Illegitimate. United Kingdom . 95 per cent 5 per cent European Continent 92 „ 8 „ Jews .... . 98 „ 2 „ Twins are most numerous in Sweden and Bavaria, say 14 per 1000 ; the same countries also ranking highest for illegitimacy (see Appendix). Wagner's census of Europe for 1872 showed the pre- ponderance of females had increased since 1860, which probably arose in some measure from the intermediate wars, and still more from emigration. Scotland and Sweden have 8 per cent excess of females, but in southern Europe the sexes are almost even. The highest rate of marriages is in Germany, Austria, and England, the lowest in Ireland (see Appendix), the general average for Europe being 16 per 1000 inhabit- ants. The number of marriages is materially affected by passing events : the cholera of 1832 in Germany caused a decline of 12 per cent for the following year; the rise of wheat in England in 1855 was succeeded by a sensible diminution in like manner, and the failure of crops in Sweden in 1868 caused a fall of 20 per cent in the mar- riage returns of 1869. The same cause produced a similar result in England last year. The rate of sterility is difficult to determine; we know that in the United Kingdom 9 marriages out of 10 have children, except among the nobility, which show but 8 in 10 ; and this partly explains why so many old peerages are dying out. 1 Undetermined causes make the proportion of children to each marriage vary in a given country at different epochs. For example, 1 In 1877 it was found that the marriages of cousins compared to the total number in the United Kingdom were as follows :— 1J per cent in London,. 2 per cent in the whole kingdom, 3^ per cent among the gentry, and 4£ per cent among the nobility. MARRIAGE RATE. the rate is rising in the United Kingdom, Belgium, and Austria, and falling in all other countries as compared with ten years ago. 1866-67. 1876-77. United Kingdom. . 433 per 100 marriages 460 Belgium . • 450 „ 490 Austria ■ 470 „ 512 Italy ■ 520 „ 500 France • 350 „ ,, 330 Germany . . 505 „ ,, 475 ■• The marrying age is affected by climate, or other causes, in the following degree : — England . France Italy Switzerland Austria . Germany . Scandinavia Men. Women. General Average 27 years. 25 years. 26 years. 30 „ 26 „ 28 ,, 31 „ 25 „ 28 „ 29 „ 27 „ 28 „ 32 „ 26 „ 29 „ 32 „ 28 „ 30 „ 36 „ 28 „ 32 „ The duration of marriage varies from 27 years in Eng- land and France to 22 years in Scandinavia and the Low Countries. The probable duration is expressed as follows in relation to the united ages of husband and wife : — United age. Probable duration 50 years 27 years 70 „ 22 „ 80 „ 18 „ 100 „ 12 „ The proportion of married people is much greater in the south of Europe than in the north, as shown in the whole population thus : — PROGRESS Or THE WORLD. Married. Widowed. Unmarried. France . Spain . Italy . England Austria . 41 per 37 36 , 35 , 35 cent 8 7 6 5 5 Dei cent 51 per 56 , 58 , 60 , 60 , cent Sweden . 33 , 5 j 62 , Holland 33 , 6 » 61 , Prussia . S3 , 6 > 61 , Switzerland . 32 , 7 j 61 , Belgium 32 , 5 > 63 , The excess of widows in France and Spain is partly due to recent wars. The number of widowers marrying again, compared to widows, is as 15 to 10. Early marriages are too frequent in England, 4 per cent of the husbands being under 20 years, as against 2 per cent in the rest of Europe. The greatest number of women marrying under 20 years is in France. Climate has a certain influence on the term of human life, and so have sanitary regulations, and even political institutions. " Among Russian serfs," says Quetelet, " the death-rate is 48 per 1000, and in free England it is only 20." Civilisation is unquestionably tending to pro- long the span of existence, which is now six years longer in England, France, and Germany than it was fifty years ago. Meantime, the death-rate in most European capitals is excessive, Madrid, for instance, having three times the mortality of London : — London . 222 per 10,000 inhabitants Paris • 233 „ Pome • 290 Berlin • 310 Vienna • 330 Madrid • 650 ,, Northern countries have succeeded more notably than southern in reducing the death-rate ; in Italy and Spain AVERAGE OF LIFE. the life average is actually lower than it was in England seventy years ago. The general average for Europe is about thirty-five years, and it is observed that farm- labourers and persons in receipt of Government pensions live the longest. Professor Neison gives the subjoined Table of the expectation of life in England, as compared with Holland and Sweden, as follows :■ — ■ Age. Gentry. Farm-labourers. 20 38 years 48 30 31 „ 41 40 24 „ 33 50 18 ,, 25 60 12 „ 18 It is remarkable that the average age of all persons liv- ing varies greatly between countries, and the following Table shows that the French are the oldest, and the people of the United States the youngest. England. Holland. Sweden 41 39 40 34 32 33 27 26 26 21 20 19 15 13 13 Average Age of all Living. France Sweden and Holland Italy . England Germany United States 1870. 32 years 29 28 271 27 244 Sanitary arrangements have proved of the highest value, their results in England being shown as follows : — 1801 to 1810. 1850 to 1870. Deaths under 20 years 48 per cent 34 per cent „ over 20 years . . 52 „ 66 „ In like manner Dr. Farr's efforts for barrack-reform have been accompanied by a reduction of 40 per cent 1 in the 1 A still greater reduction has heen effected among our garrison in India, the death-rate in recent years averaging only 2 per cent, against 7 per cent previous to 1860. 8 PROGRESS OF THE WORLD. annual death-rate. There is in every country an amount of preventible sickness that causes a heavy burden to the nation ; this was estimated by Chadwick in 1842 to amount in England to £14,000,000 sterling per annum. Prevent- ible mortality is also a large item, M. Block showing that the death-rate of the workmen's quarters in Paris is double that of the Faubourg St. Germain. There are, nevertheless, some rules of mortality almost uniform in all countries. Thus married women live longer than single, in spite of the toll of 26 per 1000 mothers dying in childbed. Women usually live two years longer than men. In the northern hemisphere January is 50 per cent more fatal than July, the reverse occurring in the southern. Longevity depends little on climate ; the unhealthiest parts of Spanish America abound in half-castes over 100 years of age. No complete returns of centenarians can be obtained for Europe, but the latest for England and Austria are as follows : — England. Austria. Male centenarians .... 22 86 Female „ .... 65 100 Total . . .87 ■ 186 In the eighteenth century Lej6ncourt gave a list of 49 per- sons whose ages ranged from 1 30 to 175 years, reminding us that the Countess of Desmond was killed by a fall from a cherry tree in her 146th year, and Thomas Parr died (after a carousal at Lord Arundel's) aged 152. The well-known Cardinal de Salis, who died at the age of 110, said the secret of longevity was, to preserve an even mind, to take exercise in all seasons, and to drink a pint of Valdepenas daily. LOSSES IN WAR. The percentage of men of an age to bear arms is in some countries much higher than in others (1867 1 ) : — Males between 15 and 60. Ratio to population. Austria . . 11,314,000 31^ P er cen t France . . 11,620,000 30* Great Britain . . 7,947,000 26i United States . . 7,776,000 214 Prussia . . 5,080,000 24 Although the United States had 6 million inhabitants more than Great Britain, they had a smaller number of able-bodied men. About three million men have been slain in war since the Treaty of Vienna, the following estimate giving an approximate idea : — Date. War. Killed. 1828 Balkan campaign .... 120,000 1830-40 Spanish and Portuguese succession 160,000 1848 Revolution in Europe . 60,000 1854 Crimea, allies 155,000 )J ,, Russians 630,000 1859 Italy, allies 24,400 >> • „ Austrians 38,700 1863-65 . United States, northern 206,000 7) • „ southern 375,000 1866 Prussia and Austria 51,200 1866 Franco-Mexican 65,000 1867-70 . Brazil and Paraguay . 232,000 1870-71 . Franco-German . 290,000 1876-77 . Russo-Turkish . Total . 200,000 2,607,300 If to the above be added the French war in Algeria, the British campaigns in India, South Africa, etc., the Spanish in Morocco, and other minor affairs, it will be seen that the 1 The war of 1870 has materially altered the condition of things as regards Germany and France; the former is said to grow 166,000 soldiers, the latter 163,000, per annum. 10 PROGRESS OF THE WORLD. civilised nations alone have lost 3,000,000 men in the wars of fifty years. Famines and epidemics have carried off about 4,000,000 victims, of which cholera claimed one-half. The partial returns of six countries show as follows : — Cholera of 1832 . 305,000 victims „ 1848 . 209,000 „ 1854 . 425,000 „ 1866 . 307,000 „ 1,246,000 The most destructive famine was that of Ireland in 1846-47-48, in which 1,000,000 of the inhabitants died, either of hunger or of famine fever. Floods have also been the cause of some loss of life, but comparatively trifling. Emigration from Europe to America and Australia has been attended with most beneficial results during the last sixty years, no fewer than 16 millions of people having left the over-crowded countries of the Old World, to better their fortunes in the New, viz. — British Germans Italians United States. Brit. Colonies. S. America. Total. 4,786,000 3,043,000 75,000 7,904,000 3,612,000 150,000 65,000 3,827,000 62,000 11,000 583,000 656,000 Scandinavians . Swiss Dutch and Belgians Various Span, and Portuguese 31,000 3,000 394,000 428,000 French 271,000 30,000 77,000 378,000 251,000 14,000 17,000 282,000 108,000 13,000 46,000 167,000 62,000 95,000 9,000 166,000 1,187,000 430,000 280,000 1,897,000 10,370,000 3,789,000 1,546,000 15,705,000 Of the total, nearly 1 millions were males ; the ratio of British and German emigrants being as 60 males to FOOD SUPPLY. 1 1 40 females, and of Spanish and Italian, as 70 to 30. American and Australian economists agree in valuing each able-bodied settler as a gain of £180 to the colony. Such has been the prosperity of these settlers, that the New York bankers remitted to Ireland a sum of £19,250,000 sterling in twenty-five years, ending with 1877. The German colonies in Brazil are also very successful ; and still more so, the British emigrants in Australia and La Plata, whose sheep-farms cover territories vaster than the conquests of Alexander. II.— FOOD. In the food supply of the world mankind has made notable progress in less than half a century, not only by reason of the introduction of railways and steamers, but also by the removal of arbitrary laws against grain. Forty years ago the peasants of Castille and Leon saw their wheat rotting in the subterranean " silos " provided by Government, because it was forbidden to export it. Forty years ago Great Britain paid famine prices for bread, sooner than repeal the Corn Laws ; while the Moujiks of the Don had such abundant crops, that wheat was too cheap to pay the cost of freight to the nearest port. Forty years ago, owing to want of roads, the price of grain in Western Prussia was double that which ruled in the eastern part of the kingdom. The following Table (given at full in Ap- pendix) shows the average of prices in thirty years previous to the epoch of railways and free trade, and compares the same with twenty years subsequent to the said epoch : — 12 PROGRESS OF THE WORLD. 1820-1849 1850-1870. England . 86 pence per bushel . 79 pence France . 67 )> • 75 „ Germany- . 50 )) . 68 „ Austria . 41 J) . 80 „ Hungary . 35 )) . 64 „ Russia . 44 >» • 65 „ New York . 69 )» • 73 „ General avera ge . 56 jence . . 72 pence Taking into account that money has lost about 20 per cent of its purchasing power, the price in the second epoch is 4 per cent dearer than before, but it is so equalised as to benefit all. In the first epoch, wheat in England ruled 150 per cent higher than in Hungary; in the second, the difference was only 23 per cent. In the following Table is shown the consumption of the three staple articles of food : in the item of grain an allowance is made for potatoes, at the usual rate — 4 bushels equal to 1 of grain : — Per Inhabitant. Grain. Wine or Beer. Meat. United Kingdoi n . 8 bushels 33 gallons 110 lbs United States . 8 j» 9 >j 120 1 „ France . 7 33 38 ») 66 „ Germany . . 7 »> 22 >> 48 „ Austria . . 6 JJ 17 ;> 39 „ Russia 8 3) 2 ;» 44 „ Low Countries . 6 J> 22 >> 40 „ Spain . 6 33 7 »j 29 „ Italy . 5 J) 27 >> 28 „ Switzerland . 5 >> 33 »» 51 „ Scandinavia . 5 >» 3 »» 45 „ Portugal . . 5 ,, 18 »> 20 „ The English and Americans are the best-fed people of the present age, and therefore able to accomplish the great- 1 This is only an estimate, but Professor Caird says the Americans consume more meat than we do. WHEAT SUPPLY. 13 est amount of work. According to Vauban, Bossuet, and Lagrange — three names illustrious in war, religion, and science, " that country must be considered the most pros- perous in which the inhabitants are able to have the largest ratio of meat for their food." In this respect the United Kingdom is much ahead of other European nations. Wheat. — The world consumes 38,500,000 tons yearly, and at the average English rate of 28 bushels per acre it would suffice to put the island of Great Britain under wheat to supply all nations. The wheat-lands of the world make up 105,000,000 acres, giving an average of 15 bushels. The supply and demand are shown as follows : — Crop, Mill. Bush. Consumption. Surplus. Deficit United States . 400 250 150 France . 230 260 30 Kussia . 160 80 80 Germany 150 170 20 Italy 140 145 ... 5 Turkey . 90 80 10 United Kingdom 90 200 110 Austria . 90 76 14 Spain and Portugal 85 85 Canada . 40 30 10 Australia 30 15 15 Chile . 15 10 5 Other Countries 20 139 119 1540 1540 284 284 The wheat-fields of the world have been extending pro- digiously in the last twenty years. Down to 1859 the United States used at intervals to import wheat from Europe, whereas they produce at present one-fourth of the world's crop. Previous to 1855 Australia was fed with Chilian flour; but since 1874 some of the Australian colonies have annually exported 20 bushels of grain per inhabitant. 14 PROGRESS OF THE WORLD. Facilities for transport have so far improved, that wheat grown on the Mississippi or in New Zealand is sold as cheap in Europe as what is raised on the Don or the Danube. One railway in the United States — the Central Illinois — can convey 80,000 bushels of grain daily for shipment at New Orleans. The farmers of Red Eiver, Minnesota, can send their grain for 12d. a bushel to New York, or 15d. to Liverpool (say 4700 miles); while the citizens of Athens pay 36d. a bushel from Marathon, a distance of only 15 miles. With steam navigation the interchange of commodities between nations has stimulated the demand for wheat, the consumption being now three times as great as in the eighteenth century. Lagrange boasted, in 1780, that France raised half the wheat of the world ; at present she does not produce enough to feed her own population. Less than one-third of mankind subsists on wheat or rye, say 380 millions, but these constitute the civilised nations. Europe pays about £92,000,000 per annum for wheat and other grain from America, India, Algeria, and Australia, of which Great Britain pays £50,000,000. The increased consumption of wheat per inhabitant in the three principal countries of Europe is shown as follows : — 1820-24. 1850-60. Great Britain 258 lbs. 311 lbs. Germany . 306 „ 317 „ France . . 266 „ 392 „ The consumption in Great Britain has since risen to 341 lbs., and probably in equal degree in other countries. Bye. — This grain is in some countries more used than wheat, the crop being as follows : — RICE, MAIZE, POTATOES. 15 Million Bushels. Russia 600 Germany ...... 300 Austria-Hungary ; 120 France 75 Scandinavia and Low Countries . 60 United States 20 1175 The average yield per acre is under 20 bushels. Bice. — In Asia most of the inhabitants live on rice, which therefore supports double as many of the world's population as wheat. The yield is five times as heavy, the two crops yearly giving from 80 to 100 bushels per acre. India not only raises enough for 200 million people, but ex- ports 1,000,000 tons yearly. Java exports half that quantity. The United States grow rice largely, but only for home use. Maize. — In Spanish America this often supplies the place of wheat, being raised with less labour,and giving very heavy crops, usually eight hundred-fold. In the United States it is used among other purposes to fatten 35,000,000 hogs. Mandioca, like its congener the potato, is a native of the slopes of the Andes. It supports millions of the semi-Indian population from Paraguay to Venezuela, and is more used than flour in Brazil, being reduced to Farinha powder. Potatoes. — There are 24,000,000 acres under potatoes, and the average crop is 3 tons, or 120 bushels, which is equal, in farinaceous value, to 30 bushels of wheat. The production is as follows : — Germany . France . Russia Austria . United States Tons. 23,800,000 10,100,000 9,200,000 8,000,000 4,350,000 United Kingdom Low Countries . Scandinavia Italy and Spain . Other Countries . Tons. 4,250,000 4,100,000 2,150,000 1,120,000 4,930,000 72,000,000 16 PROGRESS OF THE WORLD. Chestnuts. — This is a valuable item of food in southern Europe, the consumption averaging 15,000,000 bushels in Italy, and 6,000,000 in France. Meat. — In the last century the average consumption in Europe was only 25 lbs. per head yearly, or less than half what it is at present. As Europe is no longer able to raise enough cattle for her population, an extra supply is drawn from North America, which is consumed chiefly in Great Britain ; the shipments of cattle and meat from the United States in 1878 exceeding a value of £26,000,000 sterling, equal to the ordinary yearly consumption for 24,000,000 inhabitants of Europe. As soon as scientific improvements enable us to utilise the enormous resources of the Biver Plate 1 and Australia, we shall, doubtless, import enough meat to feed 150,000,000 persons. The three great pas- ture farms destined to feed Europe compare as follows : — Cows. Sheep and Hogs. United States . . . 33,400,000 73,200,000 River Plate . . . 18,850,000 77,700,000 Australia. . . . 7,400,000 61,066,000 59,650,000 211,966,000 The above countries could easily export 10,000,000 cows and 60,000,000 sheep annually, without reducing the num- ber of their stock. Fish. — The seas yield a plentiful supply of wholesome food, in pursuit of which are engaged 120,000 vessels, manned by half a million fishermen. The principal fishing fleets are as follows : — 1 For two hundred years the cattle of the Argentine Pampas were slaughtered for their hides, and even in the nineteenth century the Estan- cieros have often burned mares and sheep as fuel for making bricks. FISHEK1ES. Vessels. Men. Great Britain . 32,000 167,000 France . . 44,052 153,100 Italy . . 18,000 61,000 Scandinavia . . 15,000 58,000 Canada . . 1,400 53,000 Germany 8,130 17,200 Austria . . 2,850 7,200 121,432 516,500 17 Most of the fishing in British waters is done by Scotch- men, who take 600,000,000 herrings, worth £1,600,000, averaging £20 per man ; besides which the Yarmouth fishers take 250,000,000 herrings. The French, between deep-sea and coast fishing, take 1,500,000 tons, worth £3,500,000, or £23 per man. Swedish and Norwegian fishers take nearly the same quantity as the French, but the value is barely one-half. Canadian fisheries are worth £2,500,000, including 140,000,000 cod-fish from the Newfoundland banks. Russia derives £3,000,000 yearly from fish, the principal item being 450,000,000 lbs. from the Caspian Sea, valued at 80 per cent of the total. Holland has 108 "busses" in the North Sea fishery, the proceeds of which average £150,000 per annum, while her home fishing in the Zuyder Zee ranges from 16,000,000 to 20,000,000 of herrings. Wine. — This is the third great requirement for the food of mankind, and the area under vineyards is increasing every year. More than 20,000,000 acres in Europe are under grapes, besides 180,000 abroad. Nevertheless, there is nothing in which people seem so little disposed to trade as wine, the exports of all nations not exceeding 1 50,000,000 gallons. PROGRESS OF THE WORLD. Exporters. Million Gallons. France . . . .70 Importers. - Million Gallons. Great Britain ... 20 Spain and Portugal . .60 Italy, etc 20 Germany and Eussia . 45 Other countries . . .85 150 150 France, in the earlier part of the present century, pro- duced 800 million gallons yearly, but in later years the vintage has averaged 1200 millions, representing a value of £48,000,000 sterling, 94 per cent being kept for home consumption, and only 6 per cent exported. Italy could raise wine to supply the half of Europe; but some of her wines cannot stand a sea voyage. The new wine-growing countries are the United States, Australia, and South Africa, viz. — Acres under Vines. Gallons. Per Acre. United States . 130,000 20,800,000 160 gallons Australia . 15,000 1,800,000 120 „ South Africa 18,000 4,500,000 250 ,, Spirits are largely consumed in those countries where the supply of wine is deficient, viz. — Spirits. Per Inhab. United Kingdom 30 million gallons 1 gallon Germany 60 >> j> 14 „ Eussia . 100 J3 '» 11 » Scandinavia . 35 3) >) 4 „ United States 72 >) ;» If „ Low Countries 33 )> 5 > H „ The consumption of spirits is increasing faster than population. Beer. — This valuable substitute for wine seems of Ger- man origin, as Varus mentions that Arminius and his " barbarians " brewed excellent beer. The world consumes 2j milliard gallons, viz. — CONSUMPTION OF LUXURIES. Million Gallons. Per Inhab. United Kingdom . 1090 32 gallons Germany- . 465 11 „ United States . 360 8 ., Austria . 270 8 Low Countries . • 180 19 Trance . . 154 ± Russia and Scandinavia 60 1 „ 2579 Luxuries. — Besides the three great staples of grain, meat, and wine, there are numerous articles of food technically termed luxuries. The principal are tea, coffee, and sugar, the consumption of which varies as follows, per inhabitant : — Sugar. Coffee. Tea. Great Britain . 68 lbs. 15 02. 72 oz France 17 „ 46 „ 1 „ Germany . • 12 „ 78 „ 1 „ Low Countries • 12 „ 138 „ 1 „ Scandinavia 11 „ 156 „ 1 ,. Italy • io ,, 16 „ 1 „ Spain ■ 9 „ 4„ 1 „ Austria . 6 „ 15 „ 1 „ Russia 6 „ 5 „ 6 „ United States • « „ 112 „ 17 „ In this Table we again see that Great Britain and the United States are the largest consumers, an undoubted proof that they are the most prosperous nations in the world. Sugar. — The sugar crop of the world is over 3,000,000 tons ; beet-root, in recent years, coming to rival the sugar- cane. Formerly beet gave only 4 per cent saccharine, but now it is made to yield double ; while the cane gives only 6 (instead of 18) per cent, as two-thirds of the sac- charine are lost in the manipulation. The production of sugar is as follows : — 20 PROGRESS OF THE WORLD. Cuba . Jamaica, etc. Cane Sugar. Beet Sugar, etc. . 630,000 tons France . . . 440,000 tons 320,000 „ Germany . . 300,000 „ na 270,000 „ Russia . . . 150,000 „ 440,000 „ Austria, Holland, etc. 300,000 „ 240,000 „ Palm an* maple . 100,000 „ 1,900,000 „ 1,290,000 „ East Indies Brazil, Peru, etc. The West Indies, with slave labour, used to produce one ton per acre, or two tons per slave. ; with free negroes the average has fallen one-half. Nearly a million acres in India are under canes, the yield being little over a quarter ton per acre ; but the inhabitants have also 1 3,000,000 date- palms, giving 20,000 tons, or 4 lbs. per tree. In Brazil the sugar-fields are supposed to yield 2% tons per acre. Maple trees are tapped in the United States, the sugar being used only for home consumption. Beet-root was first cultivated in Germany in the last century, and intro- duced by Napoleon into France, in which latter country it has thrived, owing to a Government bounty of £3 per ton, which causes a loss of £1,250,000 to the French nation. Tea. — The annual consumption out of China is 140,000 tons, having multiplied six-fold since 1830. Exporters. Importers. Ghina . 240 million lbs. Great Britain . 140 million lbs. India . 35 „ ,, Russia . . . 30 ,, ,, Japan and Java 30 ,, ,, United States, etc. 135 ,, „ J505 „ „ 305 „ Yerba-mate, or Jesuits' tea, would doubtless find much favour in Europe if the Paraguayan Government removed the oppressive export duties. It is a most grateful and salutary article of food, and the first cost in Paraguay is less than Id. per lb. The exportation in the time of Lopez averaged 11,000 tons per annum. COFFEE, OIL, TOBACCO. 21 Coffee. — At the beginning of the present century the coffee trade of the world was only 50,000 tons, but now it is eight times as much, viz. — Exporters. Importers. Brazil . 165,000 tons United States . . . 120,000 tons East Indies 130,000 ,, European Continent . 250,000 ,, West Indies 95,000 „ Great Britain and Colonies 20,000 390,000 „ 390,000 In Brazil the coffee plantations cover 1,400,000 acres, and comprise 560 million trees, say 400 trees per acre; about 2000 trees produce a ton of coffee, the yield being equal to £20 worth per acre. Cocoa. — About 6000 tons are produced annually, three- fourths coming from the Amazon, the rest from Trinidad and Venezuela. 1 The average consumption, per inhabitant, has doubled in England since 1870. Oil. — The production of olive oil varies from 1 6 gallons per acre in Spain or Italy to 75 gallons in France, the crop averaging as follows : — Italy . 33 million gallons Portuga I and Spain 35 „ France ■ 24 „ It takes usually 3 bushels of olives for a gallon of oil. Tobacco. — The total crop of the world is variously esti- mated from £30,000,000 to £36,000,000, the production and consumption being as follows : — Production. Consumption. Per Inhab. United States . 230,000 tons 120,000 tons 6 lbs. Austria . . . 80,000 „ 95,000 „ 54 „ Russia . . 50,000 „ 60,000 „ 2 ,, Carryforward . 360,000 „ 275,000 1 Cocoa must not be confounded with coca ; by chewing the leaves of the latter the Cholos can travel hundreds of miles without food. 22 PROGRESS OF THE WORLD. Production. Consumption. Per Inhab Brought forward 360,000 tons 275,000 tons Brazil 35,000 ,, 20,000 „ 5 lbs. Germany 32,000 ,, 82,000 „ 4 „ Turkey . 31,000 „ 25,000 „ 5 „ Java 25,000 „ 10,000 „ 2 „ Manilla . 20,000 ,, 10,000 ,, 6. „ West Indies . 20,000 „ Other Countries 80,000 „ 181,000 ,, 603,000 „ 603,000 „ The consumption averages 1| lb. per inhabitant in England, 2 lbs. in France, 5 lbs. in the Low Countries, and 1 lb. in Spain and Italy ; it is increasing faster than popu- lation in all countries, especially in Great Britain, having risen 50 per cent per inhabitant in this country since 1850. Dairy Products. — Butter and cheese were formerly pro- duced in Europe in excess of the consumption, England and other countries exporting largely to Australia, Brazil, etc. At present we are dependent on America for these articles to the value of £5,000,000. The principal dairy- farming countries are as follows : — Butter. Cheese. Total. United Kingdom 90,000 tons 126,000 tons 216,000 tons United States 470,000 „ 115,000 ,, 585,000 ,, Holland 30,000 „ 40,000 ,, 70,000 „ Italy 4,000 „ 14,000 „ 18,000 ,, Canada . 12,000 ,, 18,000 „ 30,000 ,, Switzerland . 5,000 „ 42,000 ,, 355,000 „ 47,000 „ 611,000 ,, 966,000 ,, Among dairy products may also be included eggs. The United States produce 26,000,000 daily. England imports 20,000,000 weekly from the Continent. AGRICULTURE. 23 III— AGRICULTURE. The area of land under crops is increasing in Europe, and still more notably in America and Australia ; the mode of agriculture has, moreover, improved more in the last twenty years than in a dozen centuries preceding. At present nearly one-third of Europe is under tillage — Tillage. Woods. Pasture, etc. France 57 per cent 18 )er cent a 25 per cent Belgium . 52 18 , 30 „ Germany . 50 ., 26 i 24 Italy 38 18 , a Austria , 32 33 > 35 United Kingdom 30 3 i . 67 - *— Denmark . 30 5 , 65 Spain 30 5 , 65 Holland . 22 7 » 71 Russia 21 40 , 39 Portugal 19 5 , 76 Switzerland 16 16 , 68 Sweden and Norway 4 63 t 33 The above Table shows that France is the most highly cultivated country, thanks to the system of peasant pro- prietors^ for, "as the Italians say, " The ploughshare may be silver, but the spade is gold." This mode of farming will support the largest population per acre, and get most value out of a given area of land. But_e^onfimically_ it does not payjo_weJl_asJargejarja§, the waste of JaJbour being very great. One farmer, like Dr. Glyn of California, or Mr. "BaLrymple of Dakotah, with a field of wheat covering 100 square miles, can raise as muc h grain with 400 farm- servants as 5000 peasant proprietors in France. The fol- lowing Table "shows the quantity of grain raised in each country, and the ratio per male peasant : — 24 PROGRESS OF THE WORLD. Acres under Million Per Per Male Grain. Bushels. Acre. Peasant. United States . 101 millions 2340 23J 820 bushels Russia 158 ?> 1585 10 156 9) Germany 43 j» 990 23 245 J J France . 40 >: 840 21 220 }} Austria-Hungary 35 j) 520 15 180 > J United Kingdom 124 »> 455 36 540 I> Spain 15 )> 300 20 160 J) Italy 18 >> 270 15 140 3 5 Canada and Australia 14 140 10 350 Land tenure in most countries of Europe has been in recent years placed on a better footing than before. At the beginning of the century serfdom prevailed in Ger- many, Scandinavia, Austria, Eussia, and some other coun- tries. Stein led the way for emancipation in Germany in 1809, but his work was not completed till 1848. Serfdom still exists in some manner in Eussia, as the peasants are condemned to " fixity of tenure," being liable to imprison- ment if they leave their farms before the year 1901. They are, nevertheless, nominally landowners. At foot is a statement of the number and size of estates in the principal countries : — No. of Average Under Estates. Extent. crops. United Kingdom 180,524 430 acres 128 acres France 3,226,600 34 18 ,, Germany . . 2,436,000 56 "„ 25 „ Russia, . 11,336,000 108 >» 15 „ United States . . 2,660,000 253 >> 56 „ Italy 1,865,000 40 ;> 15 „ Spain and Portugal . 910,000 185 )> 46 „ Austria-Hungary 3,432,000 45 )) 11 „ Low Countries . 485,000 45 )> 17 „ Sweden and Norway 324,000 667 3J 31 „ Denmark . 70,830 130 > J 90 .. Greece 163,000 72 J J 12 „ 27,088,954 105 )J 23 „ AGRICULTURAL CAPITAL. 25 The above Table does not include cottiers, — that is, owners of less than five acres, of which class there are in France alone 1,140,000, who are put down as paupers on the official list. Land maybe said to average £15 an acre all over Europe, but it sells for double that price in France or England, and can seldom be obtained at less than £60 in the • Low Countries. The annual yield, between crops and pasture, is about £4 per acre. Cattle constitute a great portion of the wealth of most countries (see Table in Appendix), and if a general value of £10 for each cow, and £1 for each sheep, be supposed, it will be found the average is about £5 worth for each inhabitant of the European Continent. Few countries can rival Great Britain in the value of its farming stock, whether as compared to area or population. At the same time, no country equals the United States in the annual income derived from tillage and pasture, as shown in the following Table : — * Value of Land. Stock. Total Capital. Annual Income. £ £ £ £ United Kingdom . 1,800,000,000 240,000,000 2,500,000,000 265,000,000 France . . 2,660,000,000 210,000,000 3,200,000,000 380,000,000 Germany . . 1,560,000,000 219,000,000 2,060,000,000 340,000,000 United States . 1,544,000,000 355,000,000 2,224,000,000 • 535,000,000 Austria-Hungary 1,124,000,000 200,000,000 1,564,000,000 263,000,000 Russia. . . 1,080,000,000 356,000,000 1,690,000,000 370,000,000 Italy . . 930,000,000 53,000,000 1,030,000,000 142,000,000 Spain and Portugal 890,000,000 48,000,000 990,000,000 130,000,0001 Low Countries . 650,000,000 60,000,000 750,000,000 75,000,000| Scandinavia . 580,000,000 69,000,000 700,000,000 78,000,0001 £12,818,000,000 1,810,000,000 16,708,000,000 2,578,000,000 Great Britain and the Low Countries obtain little over 10 per cent on their capital, while the United States and Eussia show 24 and 22 per cent. The income compre- hends not only the gross receipts from pastoral and tillage- 26 PROGRESS OF THE WORLD. farming, but also the proceeds of timber from the various forests, except in the United States, where wood-cutting is usually included among manufacturing industries. The principal forests of the world are as follows : — Area of Forest. Product. Per acre. Canada . 900 million acres £12,000,000 3 pence United States . 560 >> 77,000,000 33 „ Russia . 510 j) 25,000,000 12 „ Brazil . 500 ,, 2,000,000 1 „ Scandinavia . 113 j) 9,000,000 20 „ Germany and Austria 84 >> 22,000,000 61 „ Gran Chaco . 70 France . 23 2760 >> >> 9,000,000 98 „ £156,000,000 13 „ The influence of timber on climate is evident in many- countries. The rainfall of Spain and the Canary Islands has been lamentably reduced by cutting down the timber. On the other hand, it is excessive in Brazil and other densely-wooded countries. For example, at Sarawak, in Borneo, the rainfall averages 180 inches yearly, or six times the average register at Greenwich. 1 As an instance of the exact value of rainfall, Sir B. Rawson gives the result of 14 years' observations while he was Governor of Bar- badoes, as follows : — Hhds. Sugar. 1864-1873, for each inch of rain ... 800 1874-1877, „ „ ... 900 The increase in the latter years was owing to a larger area under cane. Mortgages. — Great Britain is much more heavily mort- 1 Besides the influence of forests on rainfall, there are other causes apparently proved. Mr. Meldrum of Mauritius shows that a year of maximum sun-spots is followed hy 10 per cent more rain ; and Baron Lesseps asserts that since the opening of the Suez Canal the rainfall in that part of Egypt has doubled. BURDEN OF MORTGAGES. 27 gaged than any other country ; but the interest is the lowest, and hence the burden is by no means so heavy as would at first appear. Ratio of Mortgage. Interest. Annual Burthen. United Kingdom . . 58 per cent 4 per lent £23 per £1000 France • 8 5 4 , Holland ■ 9 a , 4 Denmark • 35 5 17 Sweden ■ 30 54 , 16 Russia • 15 6 9 Austria- Hungary- • 7 7 5 Germany • 21 6 13 Spain and Portugal • 38 8 30 Italy . • 43 9 39 The distressed condition of agriculture in Spain and Italy is fully explained by the appalling weight of mort- IV.— GOLD AND SILVER. These two metals, which have materially aided the cause of progress, have suffered such mutations of fortune in the nineteenth century, that it may be worth while to study their antecedents. Michael Chevalier is of opinion that at the period of the' discovery of America the total amount of gold in Europe was only £12,000,000, and of silver £28,000,000. At that time an ounce of gold was worth,- ten of silver, but as soon as the conquest of Mexico and Peru by the Spaniards poured a flood of silver into Europe this metal lost one-third of its value. In the seventeenth _ and eighteenth centuries gold stood for fifteen times the value of silver. A new epoch occurred with the discovery of goLTIn^tMifornia and Australia, but silver never reco- vered its position as a precious metal. The following Table shows the progress of both metals since the time of Co- lumbus : — 28 PROGRESS OF THE WORLD. Date. Gold. Silver. Total. 1492 . . £20,000,000 £40,000,000 £60,000,000 1700 . . 227,000,000 520,000,000 747,000,000 1800 . . 440,000,000 1,026,000,000 1,466,000,000 1848 . . 560,000,000 1,322,000,000 1,882,000,000 1880 . . 1,220,000,000 1,612,000,000 2,832,000,000 During 300 years of the Spanish dominion in America the mines of Mexico, Peru, and Brazil yielded a little over £1,200,000,000, of which three-fourths were silver. Since Marshall's discovery of gold in California (1848) there has been an increase of £950,000,000 in precious metals, as '.follows : — . Gold. . y £282,000,000 Silver. Total. United States £74,000,000 £356,000,000 Australia . / 252,000,000 . 20,000,000 252,000,000 Spanish America . 160,000,000 180,000,000 Russia 93,000,000 3,000,000 96,000,000 Other countries . 11,000,000 £658,000,000 55,000,000 66,000,000 £292,000,000 £950,000,000 By a strange coincidence the annual yield of California and Australia has averaged the same amount, namely £9,000,000, and in each case the highest year reached £15,000,000, the number of diggers being also about equal, and their gains averaging from £100 to £150 per man per annum. The biggest nugget was found in Aus- tralia, namely the " Welcome " nugget, found at Ballarat, June 11, 1858, weighing 2020 ounces, worth £8376 sterling. Siberia produces at least £3,000,000 per annum, possibly double that amount, as the Eussian Government is little anxious to publish the actual yield. Spanish America, during the last thirty years, has averaged from £5,000,000 to £6,000,000 sterling of silver, but the Nevada mines, in the United States, have recently eclipsed Mexico and Peru. Since the discovery of the Nevada fields, in 1862, the production of silver has rapidly increased, while the GOLD AND SILVER. 29 gold-fields of the world are rapidly declining in equal ratio. The official returns since 1848 may be summed up thus : — Gold. Silver. Annual Production. Annual Production. 1848 to 1851 . . £14,000,000 £9,000,000 1852 to 1861 . . 27,000,000 8,000,000 1862 to 1871 . . 21,000,000 10,000,000 1872 to 1878 . . 16,000,000 12,000,000 Total. £23,000,000 35,000,000 31,000,000 28,000,000 Although the stock of gold in the world is more than double what existed in 1848, and silver shoves an increase of only 25 per cent, the purchasing power of these metals has declined in different ratio. Thus gold seems to have lost but 20, and silver fully 33, per cent. It appears, meantime, from the mint returns of the various countries, that, owing to the increasing demands of trade, the amount of coin issued since 1848 has been three times as much as then existed in the world (based on the estimates of the best authorities of thirty years ago) : — Silver Coin. £240,000,000 12,000,000 155,000,000 Stock in 1848 . English mint Indian „ Australian „ United States „ French „ German „ Austrian „ Russian „ Belgian „ Italian „ Holland, Sweden, etc. Total Gold Coin. £120,000,000 148,000,000 1,500,000 38,000,000 186,000,000 270,000,000 70,000,000 12,000,000 84,000,000 15,000,000 10,000,000 5,000,000 17,000,000 42,000,000 45,000,000 27,000,000 15,000,000 18,000,000 18,000,000 31,000,000 Total. £360,000,000 160,000,000 156,500,000 38,000,000 203,000,000 312,000,000 115,000,000 39,000,000 99,000,000 33,000,000 28,000,000 36,000,000 £959,500,000 £620,000,000 £1,579,500,000 Thus the quantities coined since 1848 sum up £1,220,000,000, which is £270,000,000 more than the world has produced of precious metals in these thirty years. In fact, we had to fall back on the uncoined bullion exist- 30 PROGRESS OF THE WORLD. ing in 1848, to the extent of £180,000,000 gold and £90,000,000 silver, viz. — Gold. Silver. Total. Coined since 1848 . £840,000,000 £380,000,000 £1,220,000,000 Yield of mines . . 660,000,000 290,000,000 950,000,000 Deficit . . £180,000,000 £90,000,000 £270,000,000 How much coin has been melted down 1 or re-minted it is impossible to judge, but we know that India has ab- sorbed since 1840 no less than £105,000,000 of gold and £238,000,000 of silver, together forming a greater value than the gold taken either from California or Australia. It is generally supposed that India is to blame for the fall of silver from 63 to 50 pence per ounce; if this be so, how comes it to pass that in 1877-78, when India absorbed £22,000,000 of silver, the price of this metal was lowest 1 The sale of German silver tended so much to its deprecia- tion that Prince Bismarck, after selling £32,000,000 at a loss of 15 per cent, judged proper to stop the sale in June 1879. Meantime, the United States continue to mint £4,000,000 of silver yearlv^butmost of itJinds its way to- China. The total coinage now in use in the world is ap- "pfoximately as follows : — ■ Gold. Silver. Total. Europe . . . £725,000,000 £375,000,000 £1,100,000,000 America, Asia, etc. 230,000,000 200,000,000 430,000,000 £955,000,000 £575,000,000 £1,530,000,000 About one-sixth of the bullion of the world is locked up in banks, and the actual circulation compares, as follows with population : — 1 The annual wear-and-tear of gold, between jewellers and ship- wreck, is usually estimated at £6,000,000. From 1840 to 1850 the Paris jewellers consumed per annum 5 J tons of gold, worth £720,000 and 69 tons of silver, worth £500,000 sterling. CURRENT OF SPECIE. 31 United Kingdom France Germany- Austria Italy Belgium Spain and Portugal Russia Total Specie. £120,000,000 310,000,000 123,000,000 50,000,000 48,000,000 37,000,000 63,000,000 110,000,000 Holland, Greece, etc. 239,000,000 In Bank. £32,000,000 90,000,000 27,000,000 16,000,000 3,000,000 4,000,000 8,000,000 26,000,000 17,000,000 Circulation. Per InhaU £88,000,000 55 shillings 220,000,000 120 „ 96,000,000 45 ,, 34,000,000 18 „ 45,000,000 33 „ 33,000,000 140 „ 55,000,000 55 „ 84,000,000 22 ,, 222,000,000 ... Europe . . £1,100,000,000 £223,000,000 United States . 70,000,000 41,000,000 Australia, Asia, etc. 360,000,000 20,000,000 £877,000,000 55 29,000,000 14 340,000,000 ... £1,530,000,000 £289,000,000 £1,241,000,000 20 „ The official returns of bullion imports and exports show that in the last ten years Europe has imported a surplus of £327,000,000, viz.— From United States ,, Australia , , South America, etc. £108,000,000 81,000,000 138,000,000 £327,000,000 In the following Table are shown the countries which have absorbed the above amount, Jjussia being the only country in Europe which exports precious metalsj — Russia France Great Britain Austria Italy . Spain . Scandinavia Low Countries and Germany . Imports. £20,000,000 272,000,000 314,000,000 33,000,000 4,000,000 26,000,000 8,000,000 Exports. Surplus Imports. £40,000,000 Surplus Exports. £20,000,000 136,000,000 268,000,000 33,000,000 3,000,000 2,000,000 5,000,000 £136,000,000 46,000,000 1,000,000 24,000,000 3,000,000 239,000,000 102,000,000 137,000,000 £916,000,000 £589,000,000 £347,000,000 £20,000,000 32 PROGRESS OF THE WORLD. While the above Table shows the shipments of bullion between the various countries, there is no way of ascertain- ing, even approximately, how far the passenger traffic tends, to .restore equilibrium, or how much the precious metals may accumulate in Europe in a given period. V.— BANKS AND PAPEE MONEY. The Chinese invented bank-notes in the ninth century, and called them " flying money," but the currency became so inflated, that two centuries later a £20 note would only purchase a pound of rice. When Sir John Mandeville visited China, in the fourteenth century, the Emperor issued leather money ("which His Majesty spends out- rageously "), and some years later the currency was trans- ferred to a joint-stock bank of Chinese merchants, who ultimately failed, and paid only two shillings in the pound. In Europe the first bank was founded by two Jews at Venice, in the thirteenth century, but no regular bank of emission seems to have been established till that of Mr. Palmstruck, in Sweden, a few years before Patterson founded the Bank of England. At the beginning of the nineteenth century paper money was in bad repute, because people remembered in Paris when a pair of boots cost £350 in the currency of the French Republic. Confidence was again shaken in 1836, when the "wild-cat" banks of the United States caused such widespread disaster. At present paper money is of general use throughout the world, summing up a total of almost £900,000,000, which is about equal to the total stock of existing gold coin. It consists of two kinds, convertible for gold and inconvertible, the latter increasing so fast that it doubles in ten years. The actual issues are — PAPER MONEY, 33 Convertible for gold Inconvertible . £385,000,000 505,000,000 £890,000,000 The following Table shows the convertible paper money, and its ratio to population : — Amount of issue. Ratio to population United States £132,000,000 60 shillings France . 90,000,000 50 „ United Kingdom . 47,000,000 28 , Germany 42,000,000 19 , Low Countries 29,000,000 60 , Scandinavia . 9,000,000 20 , Spain and Portugal . 8,000,000 8 , Switzerland . 3,000,000 25 , British Colonies 25,000,000 3 20 , Total £385,000,000 • f As regards the inconvertible currency, it varies so much that its value for gold can only be given approximately. The following Table, moreover, shows how the issue has increased since 1868 : — Amount in 1868. Amount in 1880. Value ii gold. Eussia . £108,000,000 £211,000,000 60 per cent Turkey 100,000,000 50 , Austria-Hungary 40,000,000 64,000,000 99 , Italy . 36,000,000 36,000,000 89 , Brazil . 15,000,000 28,000,000 80 , Japan . 28,000,000 87 , Cuba . 5,000,000 13,000,000 45 , Peru . 5,000,000 10,000,000 50 , Chile . 3,000,000 6,000,000 80 , River Plate . 7,000,000 £219,000,000 9,000,000 72 , £505,000,000 Eussian paper money dates from the time of Catherine II., and its progress has been as follows : — D 34 PROGRESS OF THE WORLD. Issue. Value in gold. 1788 . £6,000,000 97 per cent 1817 . 134,000,000 25 ,, 1864 . 101,000,000 95 „ 1875 . 128,000,000 75 „ 1880 . 211,000,000 60 „ In 1843 the Empire declared bankruptcy by calling in the paper money, and giving thirty new roubles for one hundred old ones. The recent war with Turkey has in- creased the issue by 60 per cent, yet the depreciation has only been 20 per cent, showing the elastic nature of paper money and its temptation to reckless financing. The specie reserve of the Imperial Bank is £26,000,000 sterling. The United States have the next -largest issue after Kussia, one-half emitted by Government, the other half by the banks. Paper money was first used by Gen. Wash- ington to pay his troops, but the present issue dates from the Civil War of 1862, as follows : — Currency. Value in gold, min 1862 . 30,000,000 97 per cent 1864-1865 . 166,000,000 35 „ 1868 . 137,000,000 75 „ 1880 . 132,000,000 100 „ Since the resumption of specie payments in December 1878, the country has entered on a new era of prosperity. Turkey comes next in amount of paper money, but everything regarding Ottoman finances is involved in ob- scurity. In France the monopoly of emission is held by the Bank of France, with limit £128,000,000. Since the foundation of the bank by Buonaparte, in 1803, it has twice been compelled to suspend specie payments, but its notes only declined 5 per cent for a brief interval. The issue has doubled in fifteen years, although the growth of trade has been only 20 per cent. PAPER MONEY. 35 1860-1870. 1875-1879. Average issue . £44,000,000 £101,000,000 Trade 306,000,000 368,000,000 Issue to trade . . 15 per cent. 27 per cent. At present the issue and specie reserve are almost equal —about £90,000,000. Austrian currency consists partly of Government notes, partly of the issue of the Imperial Bank. The first emission was in 1762, since which time the growth of paper money has been thus : — Issue. Value in gold. 1762 . £1,200,000 100 per cent 1811 . 106,000,000 20 „ 1814 . 25,000,000 40 „ 1841 . 45,000,000 30 „ 1879 . 64,000,000 98 „ The Empire twice declared bankruptcy, first in 1811, when new notes were exchanged for the old ones at the rate of one florin for five ; again in 1814, giving two florins for five, so that the holder of £100 in 1810 was holder of £8 in 1814. The Imperial Bank re-modelled the currency in 1841, putting it on a better footing, since which time (ex- cept during the war with Prussia) it has steadily improved, and is now almost at par. Specie reserve £15,000,000. The United Kingdom shows a total issue of £47,000,000, made up as follows : — Bank of England . . £29,000,000 Other banks . . . 18,000,000 £47,000,000 In forty years th& issue has only risen 35 per cent, while the increase of trade has been 400 per cent. Germany has an ordinary issue of £42,000,000, but the Eeichsbank has power to emit £9,500,000 more than at present. The currency stands thus : — 36 PROGRESS OF THE WORLD. Reichsbank . . . £30,500,000 Small banks . . • . 5,500,000 Government notes . . 6,000,000 £42,000,000 The specie reserve of the Reichsbank is 70 per cent or up- wards of its issue. Italy dates her inconvertible currency from April 1866, when war was declared against Austria. The war lasted twenty days, and cost £10,000,000 of paper money, emitted by the National Bank. According to law this bank may emit up to £40,000,000, and other banks an aggregate of £20,000,000 ; but it is believed the total circulation does not exceed £36,000,000. Specie reserve £3,000,000. Brazil has £25,000,000 of Government notes, besides £3,250,000 emitted by banks. Since 1872 specie pay- ments are suspended. Peru, Chile, Buenos Ayres, and Montevideo have also £25,000,000 of inconvertible notes, making a total of £53,250,000 for South America. Japan owes the recent inflation of her currency to the Satsuma rebellion, the notes being now 13 per cent below par, and the specie reserve uncertain. The Low Countries have £29,000,000 convertible notes, the Netherlands Bank having a minimum specie reserve of 40 per cent, and the National Bank of Belgium 33 per cent. Scandinavia emits £9,000,000 in the following man 1 ner : — Danish Riks-bank . . . £4,000,000 , Swedish Riks-bank . . 1,700,000 Enskilda joint-stock banks . 3,300,000 £9,000,000 The Danish Riks-bank has the sole right of emission in BANKING-POWER. 37 Denmark, keeping a minimum specie reserve of 40 per cent. The Bank of Sweden, founded by Mr. Palmstruck in 1656, suspended payments in the last century, com- pounding for 70 per cent, and again, in 1834, it compounded for 40 per cent of its liabilities. Swiss currency comprises the issue of thirty-five banks, the specie reserve ranging from 45 to 50 per cent. The British colonies emit £25,000,000, as follows: — India . £12,300,000 Canada 7,720,000 Australia . . 4,340,000 South Africa 510,000 £24,870,000 Great Britain and her colonies stand for one-third of the banking-power of the world, as shown in the following Table, which expresses, moreover, the ratio for population and for the estimated capital value of each country : — Banking power. Per inhabitant. Ratio to japital Great Britain £780,000,000 £23 9 per cent United States 520,000,000 12 8 France 340,000,000 9 5 Germany 280,000,000 7 7 Austria 170,000,000 5 7 Russia 145,000,000 2 5 Italy 62,000,000 2 34 , Low Countries 55,000,000 6 21 . Scandinavia 40,000,000 4 4 Australia 60,000,000 22 India 40,000,000 South America 50,000,000 2 Canada 28,000,000 7 Spain and Portug al 30,000,000 H 2 £2,600,000,000 £8 Bank rate of interest rules cheaper in England than in 38 PROGRESS OF THE WORLD. other countries, which, as Mr. Mundella observes, is one of the secrets of England's greatness. The following Table shows approximately the value of money in England, France, and Germany, during a term of thirty-three years ending with 1878 : — England. France. Germany. 1846-1853 . 3J per cent 4 per cent 4J per cent 1854-1869 . 4£ „ 4J „ 4£ „ 1870-1878 . 3f „ . 4i „ 4J „ Savings banks (although first instituted at Brunswick in 1765) may be said to belong to the nineteenth century. So rapidly have they increased in the last twenty years, that Europe now counts more than 14,000 of these banks, with nearly 14,000,000 depositors, viz. — Savings banks. Depositors. Amount. Ratio for ' population. United Kingdom . 5,068 1,668,000 £74,640,000 44 shillings Germany . . 1,687 4,033,000 76,580,000 36 „ Austria-Hungary . 557 1,639,000 79,150,000 44 „ France . 2,221 2,853,000 40,430,000 22 „ Italy . 3,627 1,115,000 28,094,000 20 „ Scandinavia . 847 1,099,000 21,305,000 50 „ Switzerland . . 312 542,000 11,581,000 84 „ Belgium and Holland 250 273,000 6,550,000 15 „ Russia . . 120 260,000 3,100,000 1 „ 14,689 13,482,000 £341,430,000 25 In Australia, if the deposits in banks be regarded as savings, we find 64,000 depositors, with £52,617,000, — a sum equal to £20 per head for the population of those colonies. The total deposits in banks of all descriptions in the United States amount to £384,000,000, or about £9 per inhabitant. Summing up all the various banks of the world, includ- ing branches and savings banks, we find as follows : — EXPENDITURE OF NATIONS. 39 Great Britain 8,701 banks European Continent . 15,847 „ United States 6,456 „ British Colonies . 815 „ Other Countries . 298 „ 32,117 „ The banking business of Great Britain has multiplied threefold since 1850. VI— FINANCES AND WEALTH. Sixty years ago, after peace had been restored in Europe, the expenditure of all nations summed up £239,000,000 : at -present it reaches £778,000,000, having more than trebled in the interval. 1820. 1879. National Shillings National Shillings expenditure. per inhat) expenditure, per inhab Great Britain £54,000,000 51 £83,000,000 49 Prance 27,000,000 19 111,000,000 60 Germany . 8,000,000 8 85,000,000 40 Russia 23,000,000 11 73,000,000 18 Austria 15,000,000 11 66,000,000 37 Italy . 8,000,000 8 59,000,000 41 Low Countries . 5,000,000 16 20,000,000 42 Turkey and Egypt 4,000,000 7 29,000,000 14 Spain and Portugal . 9,500,000 13 34,000,000 34 Scandinavia 2,500,000 12 8,500,000 21 Switzerland and Greece 1,000,000 7 16 3,500,000 16 Europe £157,000,000 £572,000,000 34 United States 5,000,000 14 48,000,000 22 South America . 2,000,000 3 33,000,000 25 India .... 20,000,000 2 50,000,000 4 China and Japan 54,500,000 3 49,000,000 3 British Colonies 500,000 10 6 26,000,000 66 Total £239,000,000 £778,000,000 16 40 PROGRESS OF THE WORLD. Europe has quadrupled her taxation, the ratio per in- habitant having doubled or trebled in all countries except Great Britain, which shows a reduction of 4 per cent. The enormous increase of taxation in Europe and America arises from the accumulation of public debt and from war expenditure. If the interest on all existing debts in Europe were duly paid, it would absorb one-third of the total revenue. Compared with 1820, we find the burthen of public debt as follows : — Great Britain . European Continent . 1820. Interest per inhabitant. 25 shillings 3 „ I860. Interest per inhabitant. 14 sniffings 11 „ Thus the relative weight of our debt is reduced nearly one-half, while that of the Continent has quadrupled. The growth of debt from 1820 to 1848 was slow, the total amount in the latter year not exceeding £1,720,000,000, equal to an increase of £9,000,000 per annum. Since 1848 the average increase has been £130,000,000 a year, the principal causes of outlay being shown in the subjoined Table :— National debts in 1848 Crimean "War Italian "War United States War Brazil and Paraguay, etc. , War Austro-German War . Franco-German War . Russo-Turkish War Armaments Railways, Docks, Telegraphs £1,720,000,000 192,000,000 105,000,000 490,000,000 85,000,000 90,000,000 370,000,000 210,000,000 1,607,000,000 575,000,000 £5,444,000,000 The only countries that have' reduced their public debt since 1820 are Great Britain and the Low Countries as appears from the following statement : — NATIONAL DEBTS. 41 United Kingdom France Germany- Low Countries Austria Italy . Russia Spain and Portugal Turkey and Egypt Scandinavia Switzerland and Greece 1820. £835,000,000 180,000,000 22,000,000 145,000,000 95,000,000 33,000,000 47,000,000 46,000,000 10,000,000 1880. £777,000,000 850,000,000 215,000,000 120,000,000 419,000,000 405,000,000 682,000,000 635,000,000 352,000,000 24,000,000 25,000,000 Increase. £670,000,000 193,000,000 324,000,000 372,000,000 635,000,000 589,000,000 342,000,000 24,000,000 25,000,000 Europe United States India . China and Japan British Colonies . South America . £1,413,000,000 £4,504,000,000 £3,174,000,000 20,000,000 29,000,000 395,000,000 144,000,000 77,000,000 118,000,000 206,000,000 375,000,000 115,000,000 77,000,000 118,000,000 206,000,000 £1,462,000,000 £5,444,000,000 £4,065,000,000 Deducting £83,000,000 paid off by Great Britain and the Low Countries, the net increase of debt since 1820 has been £3,982,000,000. The relative burthen of debt in each country can best be appreciated by comparing it with the national capital and income. It is, however, to be observed that the above Tables do not include local debt or taxes, without which it is impossible to institute a fair comparison. The following statement, therefore, includes all public burthens. The income or earnings of each nation are based on the principal industries of agriculture, manu- factures, and commerce, 1 allowing also for extraordinary income from carrying trade, monies invested abroad, sums spent by travellers, etc. — i See Tattle in Appendix. 2 ft-a S CO*T5J>..r-.. CO CO CO CN CO ih M(MH H(N i-H rH rH CO rH r-i »h « ^ ** ^ ipital per habit- int. O (N OO CO O CO ■<* CO CO CN CO QOJ>.ir5 CN COOOWCOCOIONM rH ^H CO CO «-. 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United States South. America India British Colonie United France German Russia Austria- Low Co Italy Spain a: Scandin I ACCUMULATION OP WEALTH. 43 The United Kingdom (without the colonies) stands for one-fifth the capital value of the globe, and its inhabit- ants possess, per head, nearly three times the average wealth of the rest of Europe. It is a remarkable coin- cidence that the average income per inhabitant in the United States is the same as in the United Kingdom. The annual accumulation of wealth, however, appears from the census returns of 1870, as compared with 1850, to be much larger in the United States, namely, £165,000,000. The total accumulations of Europe average £324,000,000 per annum, as shown by the amount of new capital raised in the seven years ending December 31, 1877, viz. — Government loans . Railway and other companies £1,292,000,000 977,000,000 £2,269,000,000 Although Great Britain is the richest nation in Europe, or in the world, our people are not so thrifty as the French, and hence the annual accumulation is greater in France, as shown by the increase of property subject to legacy or to succession duty, viz. — France. Per inhao. Great Britain. Per inhab. 1826 . £53,494,000 35 shillings £49,100,000 45 shillings 1859 . . 87,758,000 48 „ 94,688,000 67 „ 1877 . . 188,070,000 101 ,, 159,200,000 96 „ The accumulation of wealth in all countries may be estimated as follows : United States Prance . Great Britain Germany Other Countries £165,000,000 per annum 75,000,000 65,000,000 40,000,000 145,000,000 £490,000,000 44 PROGRESS OF THE WORLD. As the accumulation of public debt during the last thirty years averaged £130,000,000, it cannot be doubted that the annual savings of mankind are three or four times greater than the growth of debt. The Savings Banks of Europe may be said to belong to the working-classes, and under this head alone we find an annual increase of £12,000,000 (see Table in Appendix), the total deposits for 1878 comparing with those of 1860 as follows : — Deposits in I860 .... £126,213,000 Do. in 1878 .... 341,430,000 Increase in eighteen years . £215,217,000 There are safe grounds for asserting that the net profits of the British nation have averaged £50,000,000 per annum since the battle of Waterloo, and in summing up the accumu- lation of sixty-five years, amounting to £3,440,000,000, we see how erroneous were the predictions of eminent statesmen in the House of Commons, in 1815, "that national bankruptcy was inevitable in view of a public debt of £917,000,000." The accumulation of British wealth in the interval consists as follows : — Reduction of National Debt . . £140,000,000 Railways, Harbours, Shipping . . 930,000,000 Houses and Buildings (Builder) . . 1,220,000,000 Foreign Loans and Investments . . 1,150,000,000 £3,440,000,000 It is not so easy to estimate the savings of other nations in the same interval, except as regards France, already stated. The growing wealth of France is still more emphatically established by the insurance valuation (£7,334,000,000), which shows her to be the only country in Europe approaching Great Britain in value. LIFE INSURANCE. 45 Life insurance returns are more or less important as affording an indirect proof of the average wealth of people, as follows : — Lives insured. Amount. ATe ™^ P er United States . . 1,103,000 £541,000,000 £490 United Kingdom . 810,000 387,000,000 480 France . . . 198,600 78,000,000 390 Germany . . . 560,000 88,000,000 160 In order to arrive at the precise amount of a nation's earnings or profits, it would be necessary to have exact returns of losses from bankruptcy and from repudiated loans. Under the latter head Great Britain has recently lost £200,000,000, and the average of six years' bankruptcy returns has been thus : — Liabilities . . £17,200,000 Assets . . . 6,100,000 36 per cent Loss . . £11,100,000 64 The average of ten years in France shows a much worse result for creditors, the assets being only 21 per cent of the total liabilities (see Bankruptcy Tables for Great Britain, France, and United States, in Appendix). VII.— COMMERCE AND SHIPPING. In the last fifty years commerce has grown twelve times faster than population, - having multiplied eight -fold, as follows : — 1830. 187S. Increase. United Kingdom . . £88,000,000 £601,000,000 7 fold. British Colonies . . 21,000,000 322,000,000 14J „ British Empire (Forward) £109,000,000 £923,000,000 8£ 46 PROGRESS OF THE WORLD. 1830. 1878. Increase. Brought forward £109,000,000 £923,000,000 8J fold France 42,000,000 368,000,000 9 , Germany . 39,000,000 319,000,000 8 , Low Countries . 30,000,000 275,000,000 9 , United States . 35,000,000 225,000,000 81 , Austria . 12,000,000 160,000,000 13 , Russia 24,000,000 128,000,000 51 , South America 14,000,000 101,000,000 7 , Italy 11,000,000 98,000,000 9 , Scandinavia 8,000,000 66,000,000 8 , Spain and Portugal . 11,000,000 39,000,000 81 , Turkey and East 15,000,000 85,000,000 6 , World . £350,000,000 £2,787,000,000 8_ „ The commerce of the world is made up of two unequal items — imports and exports — as follows : — British Empire Other Countries Imports. £517,000,000 948,000,000 Exports. £406,000,000 916,000,000 Total. £923,000,000 1,864,000,000 £1,465,000,000 £1,322,000,000 £2,787,000,000 As the exports of one country are the imports of another, their value should he equal, but for the charges of freight, commission, insurance, etc., which account for the imports appearing to be 11 per cent more than exports. If these charges be deducted, and the total amount of merchandise exchanged be taken as £1,322,000,000, the figures will stand thus : — Imports. Exports. Difference. British Empire . £466,000,000 £406,000,000 £60,000,000 imports. Other Countries . 856,000,000 916,000,000 60,000,000 exports. If we take the United Kingdom without the colonies we find the balance has for four years averaged £130,000,000 per annum against us ; but it is hard to say what value to TRADE OF THE WORLD. 47 attach, to the balance of trade, which would make Russia appear more prosperous than Great Britain. In the sub- joined Table is summed up the trade of the world for the last ten years, that is, the aggregate of imports and exports (1868-1878) :— Imports. United Kingdom . £3,491,000,000 France . . . 1,730,000,000 Germany . . . 1,650,000,000 Low Countries . 1,403,000,000 United States . . 1,040,000,000 Austria . . 708,000,000 Russia . . . 620,000,000 Italy . . 489,000,000 Scandinavia . . 299,000,000 Spain and Portugal . 224,000,000 Greece . . . 35,000,000 The East . British Colonies South America . Exports. Surplus imports. £2,703,000,000 £788,000,000 1,690,000,000 1,180,000,000 1,193,000,000 960,000,000 657,000,000 530,000,000 437,000,000 238,000,000 194,000,000 23,000,000 1,210,000,000 1,310,000,000 517,000,000 40,000,000 470,000,000 210,000,000 80,000,000 51,000,000 90,000,000 52,000,000 61,000,000 30,000,000 12,000,000 Surplus Exports. 1,350,000,000 £140,000,000 1,550,000,000 240,000,000 557,000,000 40,000,000 £14,726,000,000 £13,262,000,000 Thus the balance of trade against mankind was £146,000,000 per annum during the said ten years, viz. — Annual Imports . Do. Exports . Surplus Imports £1,472,000,000 1,326,000,000 £146,000,000 This is precisely the same amount of 1 1 per cent for charges on exports already alluded to. Shipping. — The shipping of the world has by no means increased in the same degree as commerce, since it has only trebled in fifty years; but as steamers make three voyages in the same time as one by sailing vessels, the facilities for the carrying trade are ample. There is, moreover, a notable saving in the number of ships and 48 PROGRESS OF THE WORLD. seamen. But for steam navigation we should require 33,000 more vessels and 550,000 more seamen than at present, which would increase the cost of all merchandise 6 per cent, without any benefit to the producer or con- sumer. The actual tonnage of the world — that is, of sea- going vessels — is as follows : — Flag Steamers. Sailing vessels Total size of Tons. Tons. tonnage. vessels. Tons. British . 3,363,000 5,807,000 9,170,000 390 United States . 1,127,000 3,411,000 4,538,000 402 Scandinavian 206,000 2,003,000 2,209,000 245 Italian 98,000 1,292,000 1,390,000 296 German 227,000 876,000 1,103,000 232 French 334,000 725,000 1,059,000 254 Spanish 175,000 565,000 740,000 235 Dutch 135,000 402,000 537,000 344 Eussian 106,000 392,000 498,000 257 Greek 7,000 427,000 434,000 204 Austrian 81,000 339,000 420,000 395 South Americ m . 59,600 95,000 154,000 435 Portuguese, E gyptian, etc. 83,000 146,000 229,000 22,481,000 318 6,001,000 16,480,000 340 Since the opening of the Suez Canal in 1869, steamers have increased so fast, that sailing vessels are declining in importance ; the ratio of the tonnage of all flags collect- ively being as follows : — 1872. 1S79. Steam tonnage 20 per cent 28 per cent Sailing „ • 80 „ 72 „ It appears that in the same interval the number of vessels afloat has risen 5 per cent, and the gross tonnage 18 per cent, the average size of vessels being notably increased, as shown in the following Table : — GROWTH OF SHIPPING. 49 1868. 1879. Increase. Vessels afloat . . 60,864 63,979 5 per cent Tons „ 18,983,600 22,481,000 18 „ Size of vessels . . 300 tons 351 tons 17 , , As regards ocean steamers, they seem to have increased 25 per cent in size, the average of those passing through the Suez Canal in 1879 being 2066 tons against 1612 tons in the first year that the canal was opened. Com- pared with forty years ago, the tonnage to each vessel on the high seas has more than doubled, which has caused an increased efficiency of seamen, as appears from the returns of British shipping : — 1839. 1879. Tons to vessel . . 110 390 Tons to seamen 16 26 The vessels of the United Kingdom, without colonial, show an average of 32 tons per seaman ; so that it may be said one sailor now does the same work that required two in 1839. , The same is probably true of other flags. In the following Table is shown the growth of the mer- cantile marine of the world in the last ten years, side by side with the increase of commerce in each country : — ai c5 1 p* Pn o h oo w 00 OS i-H CO !>. ws CO cq <© «o "* CO O i-H to CO CO © © o © © © © © © © © © © © © © © © © © © © © © © © © © © © © © © © ©" ©" © © © © OS © © © © © © © © © © H ©^ ©^ © © © ©^ © © © © 3 r-l CO* k£5* to" «f ©" co" CO lO -* *>- T o t£ o tJ?" - xa t^ jH . CO O © © lO ■-* co 00 t-H lO (M C0_ r-^ © ir^ in t* ^ OS -* tin - co cO m © ■* rH CO h . £22 9 Carryforward £99,930 £1,340,000,000 1 Mr. Brassey's men often numbered 80,000. RAILWAY TRAFFIC. 73 Miles. Cost. Cost per < mile. jap. per inhab. Brought forward £99,930 £1,340,000,000 United Kingdom 17,333 698,000,000 40,400 £21 Kussia 13,500 250,000,000 18,500 3 France 13,150 430,000,000 32,800 12 Austria 12,100 255,000,000 21,100 7 India 7,540 114,000,000 15,100 0i Canada 5,850 70,000,000 12,000 18 Italy 5,130 96,000,000 18,700 8} South America . 4,880 72,000,000 14,800 3 Spain and Portugal 5,100 84,000,000 16,400 4 Scandinavia 4,414 29,000,000 6,800 H Low Countries . 3,270 68,000,000 20,900 8 Australia . 3,980 44,000,000 14,000 17 Turkey and Egypt 2,200 33,000,000 15,000 x 2 Switzerland 1,550 24,000,000 15,000 1 9 Algiers, Mexico, etc. 2,094 31,000,000 15,000 x 2 202,021 £3,638,000,000 £18,000 £6 The railways of the United Kingdom carry nearly as many passengers as all the other railways of the world collectively, and about one-third of the goods traffic, 2 as shown thus : — Passengers. Aliquot Goods, tons. Aliquot United Kingdom . 632 million 44 245 million 29 Continent of Europe 575 >) 39 340 )) 42 United States 195 >> 13 201 > J 24 India, Africa, etc. . 56 ) J 4 42 )> 5 1458 100 828 100 Comparing goods and passenger traffic, we find that in the United States each passenger stands for a ton of mer- chandise, whereas in Europe the proportion is less than half a ton. Although the English lines are the most costly in the world, they show a better carrying power as com- pared with capital than any others, viz. — 1 No returns. 2 The cargo carried in one month on English lines would suffice to freight all the shipping in the world. 74 PROGRESS OF THE WORLD. Passengers. Goods. United Kingdom, £100 Capital = 90 + 35 tons European Continent >> = 36 + 22 „ United States >> = 20 + 21 „ India, Africa, etc. jj = 19 + u „ General Average 40 23 „ For the same reason the traffic earnings in Great Britain are much above the average of the world, as appears from the following statement of the traffic and earnings of all nations per mile : — Goods, riui 1 Passengers. tons. Receipts. Expenses. capital. United Kingdom . 36,500 13,850 £3,640 £1,928 H p. c. Low Countries 23,100 12,200 2,330 1,435 8! , Germany 11,100 7,450 2,380 1,490 H , France 10,700 4,750 2,710 1,315 4 , Italy . 5,750 1,480 1,260 840 2i . Spain and Portugal 5,550 1,490 1,325 575 ii , Scandinavia . 3,870 1,420 760 450 H > Austria-Hungary . 2,950 3,940 1,530 910 3 , Russia . 2,610 2,305 2,084 1,380 8| , United States 2,450 2,505 1,250 830 H , Canada 910 912 760 610 n , South America 1,920 510 650 440 li , India . 4,410 , 1,255 605 44 , "World . 7,300 4,140 £1,610 £990 3ip. c. Passenger traffic averages 1 miles to each passenger, at a cost of 15 pence. Goods traffic shows an average of one cent (halfpenny) per ton per mile in the United States, and one penny in Europe. Working expenses average for the world 60 per cent of the gross receipts, but in England only 53 per cent. The gross earnings of all the railways of the world are £6,250,000 weekly, and the net annual proceeds are equal to the earnings of all the vessels afloat (at INCREASE OF TRAFFIC. • 75 the usual estimate of £6 per ton), 1 the railway traffic being summed up thus : — Gross earnings . . . £325,000,000 Working expenses . . . 199,000,000 Net earnings . . £126,000,000 It is, moreover, remarkable that the number of railway employees is about equal to that of the seamen engaged in the merchant shipping of the world, say approximately one million : — Shipping. Railways. Great Britain . . . 353,000 men 274,500 men Other countries . . . 700,000 „ 750,000 ,, Total . . 1,053,000 „ 1,024,000 Railway traffic is growing in all countries much faster than population, the English and French lines, for example, showing the following increase of net earnings per mile since 1850 : — 1850. 1878. Increase. United Kingdom £1020 £1712 69 per cent. France . . 1050 1395 33 „ In such countries as show the greatest traffic the ratio of passengers killed is the lowest. The following returns give the average for the last five years : — Passengers Killed. Spain, one in 920,000 Russia ,, . 1,310,000 Austria ,, . 4,450,000 Italy ,, . 4,580,000 France ,, . 5,224,000 Belgium ,, . 8,150,000 1 Vessels afloat sum up 22,000,000 tons. 76 PROGRESS OF THE WORLD. Sweden, one in . . . 8,940,000 Germany 11,060,000 United Kingdom, 1 one in . 11,688,000 Although our death-rate is lowest, the speed of our trains is greater than in other countries, the average of mail trains being as follows : — Great Britain . 40 miles an hour France • 32 „ Germany . 30 „ Belgium . 25 „ Italy • 25 „ Russia • 21 „ Latest returns of the locomotives of the world were published by Dr. Engel in 1872 : if we add 25 per cent for the increase since then, and compare the goods and passenger traffic per locomotive in each country, we find as follows : — No. of Passengers per Goods per locomotives. locomotive. locomotive. United Kingdom 13,680 44,500 18,500 tons United States 17,770 11,000 11,400 „ Germany . 7,390 28,000 18,100 „ France 6,210 23,000 10,000 „ Austria 3,590 10,100 13,400 „ Russia 3,560 9,100 8,000 „ Italy 1,565 19,800 5,100 „ Other Countries . 7,435 61,200 24,300 13,500 „ The "life" of a locomotive is usually fifteen years, and the number annually turned out from the workshops averages 4000. The "life" of iron rails is ten years ; that of steel twenty ; and the railways in actual traffic have 30|- million tons rails (say 150 tons per mile). The annual 1 In 1873 it was found that the number of persons killed by light- ning in England exceeded the deaths of railway passengers. RAILWAYS IN CONSTRUCTION. 77 consumption, including 1,000,000 tons for new lines, is estimated at 4,000,000 tons ; and as Bessemer rails are now produced at £6 per ton, Mr. Price Williams considers they effect a saving of £170,000,000 sterling in twenty years. Although Europe and North America have already ex- pended nearly £10 per inhabitant in the construction of railways, new lines are every year marked out, and those actually in construction sum up several thousand miles. Among the lines now projected (or actually begun), there are four of such magnitude as to rank among the greatest enterprises of this kind, viz. — Railway. Country. Length. Cost. Per mile. Euphrates Valley . Asia Minor 850 miles £7,300,000 £8,600 Caspian and Bokhara . Tartary 1650 „ 17,450,000 10,600 Canadian Pacific Canada 2005 „ 22,000,000 11,000 Trans-Andine South America 152 „ 1,810,000 12,000 The first-mentioned would bring our Indian Empire seven days nearer to England, and the estimated cost is low, the route traversing a plain devoid of engineering difficulties. The Tashkent and Bokhara is about to be actively pushed forward, under the auspices of the Russian Government. About 400 miles of the Canadian Pacific line are almost ready for traffic, the whole to be completed by 1890. The works are not yet commenced on the line from Mendoza to Chile, across the Andes ; but the surveys show that the maximum incline is only 1 in 25, with a tunnel at the summit, Engineering skill has had the widest field for exercise in making railways, and been attended with signal triumphs since the days of Stephenson. When that eminent engineer made the line from London to Birmingham, it was con- sidered as great a work as the pyramid of Cheops -, 1 yet it 1 The Birmingham line involved 56 per cent more labour than the 78 , PROGRESS OF THE WORLD. was of easy construction compared with the following lines of more recent date : — Railway. Situation. Over Sea-level. St. Gothard Alps 3,786 feet Brenner » 4,475 „ Pedro-Segundo . Brazil 3,550 „ Mont Cenis Alps 4,390 „ Union Pacific Eocky Mountains 8,573 „ Oroya Andes, Peril 15,646 „ The last-named is not only the highest railway in the world, hut the most arduous, having 63 tunnels in the Andes, and leaping from cliff to cliff by bridges that seem to hang in the air. It is, however, by no means so steep as the Righi line, in Switzerland, which resembles a stair- case, having an incline of 1 in 4. This line is only four miles long, and ascends to the summit (4500 feet above Lake Lucerne), being provided with rack-and-pinion, clip- brakes, and cogged axles. The most remarkable under- ground line is the London Metropolitan, which cost £600 per yard. Much less arduous and expensive has been the New York Elevated Eailway, which may be said to run in the air, through the most crowded streets, carrying 2,000,000 passengers monthly. The whole construction took 2200 tons of iron per mile, and cost only £44 per yard — say £78,000 a mile. A similar line, with electricity in place of steam as the motive power, is now about to be started by Professor Siemens, in Berlin. Tunnels. — Telford made a tunnel 500 feet long for a canal in the Dee Valley (Wales), in the early part of the century, which was the forerunner of his Harecastle tunnel, two miles in length, constructed in 1824-1827. Many Great Pyramid, yet Stephenson completed it in five years with 20, 000 men, whereas the Pyramid took 100,000 men for twenty years. — Smiles. TUNNELS. 79 similar works have since been made in connection with railways in various countries, the maximum cost being as follows : — Great Britain . . . £145 per lineal yard France ..... 95 „ „ Switzerland .... 80 „ ,, Meantime the first great work of this kind may be said to have been Brunei's tunnel under the Thames, com- pleted in 1843, after nineteen years of labour. A rival undertaking, some years later, was the Chicago tunnel, under Lake Erie, for supplying that city with water. Next followed the Mont Cenis, carried out by Grattoni and Sommelier at a cost of £2,600,000, having cut out 2,000,000 tons of rock in thirteen years, and completed the tunnel in December 1870. All these have been sur- passed by the St. G-othard, which is nine and a quarter miles long, having cost much less than the Mont Cenis. Finally, a tunnel seven miles in length is being bored through a spur of the Alleghanies to supply Baltimore with water. The cost of works of this description varies ex- ceedingly, as shown in the following List : — Length. Cost per Tunnel. Where. Date. Cost. Yards. yard. Kilsby . . Birmingham RE. 1835 £300,000 2,070 £145 Brunei's . Thames . 1824-43 620,000 560 1,100 Tower . . . Thames . 1869 30,000 600 50 Mont Cenis . 1857-70 2,600,000 13,000 200 St. Gothard . 1872-80 1,998,000 16,295 122 Baltimore Alleghanies . 1879 10,800 Birkenhead . Mersey . 1880 500,000 1,500 300 Bristol . . Severn . . . 1880 500 The Mersey tunnel is not yet completed ; the estimate is to include also a double line of railway from Birkenhead to Liverpool. The Severn tunnel has been unfortunate, the water having broken in, which will magnify the ex- 80 PROGRESS OF THE WORLD. penditure. Preliminary works have been successfully carried out for the proposed submarine tunnel from Calais to Dover; in 1877 a shaft was sunk at Sangatte, 335 feet below the sea-level, the result affording basis for an esti- mate of £4,800,000 as the total cost, the tunnel to be completed in six years after it may be commenced. Bridges. — The nineteenth century has seen more bridges 1 built than mankind erected from the Christian era down to 1800. In order to understand the grandeur of our modern bridges, it is necessary to compare them with the finest works of preceding generations. Before the Nineteenth Century. Bridge of Over the Date. Length. Katisbon Danube 1135 994 feet St. Esprit . Rhone 1285 2690 „ Prague . Moldau 1650 1706 „ Schaffhausen Rhine 1758 364 „ Neuilly Seine 1768 740 „ Suspension bridges, made of iron chains, were used in China for many centuries. Ogilvy saw one over the Junnan, in 1669, which is shown by the records to have been put up by the Emperor Ming, contemporary of Tiberius Csesar. Nevertheless iron bridges were not tried in Europe until the last quarter of the eighteenth century. The first was that of Coalbrookdale, over the Severn, erected by Mr. Darby in 1779. The second was built by Thomas Paine for the Susque- hannah, but sold by him to Mr. Wilson, who placed it over the Wear, at Sunderland. The progress of iron bridges is shown in the following Table : — 1 In twenty years, ending 1820, the authorities in Scotland erected no fewer than 1200 bridges. BRIDGES. 81 CO H a 3 c -*3 « o O oooooooo o o ooo oo oooooooo oo ooo oo • oooooooo . .oo .ooo .oo •i>^o v o'o"''*'co'OlOC10M i^OO^iTSt^OOO NO>i-(N(MWTjHmiow=D!0 • co co *^ t~ r~ r~ oo t^J>.00000000000000000000 -00000000000000 CD O Severn . Wear . Thames Tweed Menai Sarine . Tyne . Menai . Niagara St. Lawrence . Danube Sarine . Thames Ohio . Niagara Mississippi Punjaub Douro Sutlej . East River . 1 15 Coalbrookdale Sunderland . Southwark Berwick Menai .... Freyburg Newcastle Britannia Niagara . Victoria . Pesth-Buda Freyburg Charing Cross Cincinnati Clifton . St. Louis Wuzerabad Oporto . Empress Brooklyn 82 PROGRESS OF THE WORLD. The last-mentioned is not yet finished, and it is surmised the ultimate cost may be nearly two millions sterling : the principal span will far exceed any yet attempted, as shown thus : — Principal span. Height above Freyburg 808 feet 167 feet Menai . 579 „ 102 „ Annecy 636 „ 656 „ Bath . 703 „ 257 „ Niagara . 1,190 „ 190 „ Oporto 525 „ 201 „ Brooklyn . 1,620 „ 210 „ The cheapest suspension bridge on record is that of Gala- shiels, erected by Captain Brown in 1816, with a length of 112 feet, the total cost not exceeding £40 sterling. A similar bridge at Peebles cost £160, with a length of 110 feet, being available only for foot-passengers. The average cost of iron bridges, such as for railways, appears to range from £100 to £200 per foot. Harbours and Docks. — At the beginning of the century this branch of engineering was in its infancy. Jessop built the first London docks in 1802, with an area of 68 acres ; new ones being opened from time to time until the present docks sum up a total of 690 acres. Liverpool comes next to London in this respect, having 425 acres of docks, including those of Birkenhead. The Clyde dock-walls have cost the citizens of Glasgow no less than £7,500,000 sterling ; while the ports of Hull, Bristol, and Southampton have likewise expended large sums for such purposes. Kennie's great work of the Plymouth breakwater is one of the chefs d'ceuvre of marine construction; length 5,300 feet, cost £1,550,000. It was begun in 1812, finished in 1841, and took the same quantity of stone as would have sufficed for the pyramid of Cheops, say 3,750,000 tons. The harbour and docks of Cherbourg, completed by Napoleon CANALS. 83 III. in 1857, took seventy-four years in building, and cost £3,600,000 sterling. Lighthouses have also formed a notable feature in the engineering works of the present century. The number built since 1840 has been 1536, bringing up the total now in the world to 2801 (see page 54), which is more than double the number that existed forty years ago. Canals. — The noblest work of this kind is the Imperial Canal of China, 1250 miles long, completed in the thirteenth century after 600 years of labour. Next in dignity, and surpassing all in commercial importance, is the Suez Canal, before mentioned, which admits vessels of 400 feet keel and 25 feet draught. The traffic averages 8000 tons daily, and the annual profits are £500,000, equal to 3 per cent on the outlay. Two works of similar magnitude are now being undertaken, the surveys being considered highly satisfactory, and the commercial advantages in both cases of the greatest importance. I. The Susa Canal from the Mediterranean, to flood the desert of Sahara, making Timbuctoo a seaport, and opening up the commerce of interior Africa. A rival project pro- posed to make the canal from the Atlantic, below Mogador. II. The Panama Canal, on Captain Wyse's plan, 46 miles across to the Pacific, without any locks, but with a tunnel 4 miles long and 260 feet high. The estimated cost is £25,500,000 sterling, but even supposing the highest estimate, say £34,000,000, the traffic receipts, allowing the same working expenses as at Suez, would give 5 per cent annual profits. This is supposing a traffic of 4,500,000 tons, paying 12s. per ton. Baron Lesseps promises to carry out the work in eight years, the Government of New Grenada engaging to cede him 1,250,000 acres of land to help the undertaking. The canals of the world, as a rule, cannot compete in 84 PROGRESS OF THE WORLD. point of utility with railways, but are nevertheless valuable auxiliaries to internal trade. The following Table of canals and navigable rivers shows the whole ' internal navigation of Europe : — Canals. Navigable rivers. Total. 865 miles 18,935 19,800 miles 1320 „ 15,670 16,990 „ 2300 „ 5,200 7,500 „ 3600 „ 900 4,500 „ 300 „ 1,575 1,875 ,, 900 „ 300 1,200 „ 530 „ 476 1,006 „ 413 „ 2,800 3,213 , „ 270 „ 750 1,020 „ Russia Germany . France United Kingdom Italy Holland . Belgium . Austria . Spain Europe . 10,498 „ 46,606 57,104 In France the average cost of canals was £7200 per mile, or two-thirds that of the English. The most arduous in the United Kingdom was the Caledonian, commonly called " Neptune's Staircase," which has 28 locks, attain- ing an elevation of 90 feet over sea-level : the cost was £19,000 per mile. The United States have made 3200 miles of canals at an average outlay of £6800 sterling. 1 At present the Russian engineer Daniloff has almost completed a canal between the Black Sea and the Caspian, by order of the Czar. The internal navigation of Brazil is stupendous, the Amazon steamers having an itinerary of 22,000 miles, namely 2406 miles on the Amazon, from Para to Yurimanguas, and 19,800 miles on the Tocantins, Araguay, Madeira, Tapajos, Negro, Javary, and other affluents. The River Plate, including its tributaries, Parana, Uruguay, etc., is navigable for 3600 miles. China has an extensive water-system, comprising more than 400 canals. 1 California is constructing 2000 miles of unnavigable canals, to irrigate 10 million acres of land for tillage. ELECTRIC TELEGRAPHS. 85 Telegraphs. — In 1837 Messrs. Cook and Wheatstone took out a patent for electric telegraphic communication, being an improvement on Mr. Ronald's method tried at Hammersmith in 1816. It was first used on the Great Western Railway in 1839, but even in 1848 there were 1700 miles of railway that refused to adopt it. At that time it was considered wonderful that the Queen's speech of 700 words was transmitted in 65 minutes from London to Liverpool. The first cable was laid between Dover and Calais in 1850; and at present there are 330 sub- marine cables, having a length of 97,600 miles. The mileage of land-wires in the world is as follows : — Miles. Messages. Per mile. Per 100 inhabitants. Europe . . 218,450 78 millions 350 messages 75 messages America . 140,550 24 170 a 32 „ Asia 22,400 2 „ 90 jj i Africa . . 14,050 1 „ 70 t> 5 Australia . 25,700 4 160 )> 150 421,150 109 260 !> 9 „ If to the above be added 97,568 miles of submarine cables, we arrive at a total of 518,700 miles, viz. — Miles. Cost. Per mile. Land wires . . 421,150 £34,000,000 £80 Ocean cables . . 97,568 26,000,000 270 518,718 £60,000,000 £115 Last year (1879) there were laid new cables to a length of 11,407 miles, employing twenty-seven large steamships. Some of these cables have to be made of extra thickness to resist the sawfish, which, for example, cut the Brazilian cable on five occasions near the mouth of the Amazon. The weight of a cable varies from one to twelve tons per 86 PROGRESS OF THE WORLD. mile. In the following Table are shown the dates of the most remarkable existing cables : — * Dover and Calais . Holyhead and Dublin . Ireland and Newfoundland . France and West Indies Red Sea, India, and Malacca Singapore, China, and Australia Lisbon and South America . In order to compare the traffic of all nations, one with another, it is necessary to suppose only the land-lines, viz. — Date. Length. 1850 25 miles. 1852 65 „ 1866 1896 „ 1869 2584 „ 1870 5086 „ 1871 4980 „ 1874 6840 „ Per 100 Miles. Messa ?es. Per mile. inhab. United Kingdom 25,000 26 millions. 1040 77 France 35,450 84 , 240 24 Eussia 31,450 44 , 140 5 Austria 29,250 54 , 190 16 Germany . 28,100 12 430 30 Turkey 17,950 1* . 70 10 Italy 14,800 54 , 360 20 Scandinavia 11,700 3 260 37 Spain and Portugal 10,800 2 180 10 Low Countries . 5,450 54 , 1000 62 Switzerland 4,300 3 700 130 Greece and Eoumania 4,200 78 300 350 30 Europe 218,450 75 United States 110,000 21 190 50 Spanish America 24,550 2 80 5 India .... 17,850 1 60 h British Colonies . 35,100 5 150 60 Egypt, Japan, etc. 17,200 2 120 3 421,150 109 , 260 9 If all nations established an uniform shilling tariff the present traffic would produce £5,500,000 per annum, from which, deducting one-half for working-expenses, the result STEAM-PUMPS. 87 would be equal to 4 \ per cent on the cost of all the existing land-lines and cables. Miscellaneous. — Among minor worts of engineering may be noted the removal of the Pelham Hotel, Boston, a stone edifice of ninety-six feet in height, and weighing 10,000 tons, which was conveyed to a distance of fourteen feet in seventy hours. In like manner, Cabot's chimney, Maine, United States, standing seventy-eight feet high and weigh- ing a hundred tons, was carried twenty feet in four hours and a half, the factory resuming its work the same after- noon. The Builder gives an instance of rapidity of con- struction in a house three storeys high, measuring eighteen by forty feet, which was put up and finished in nineteen hours and a half, being tenanted on the third day afterwards. Steam-pumps of great power are now used with great suc- cess on emergencies ;Jthose employed at Zegedin in 1879 pumped out 35 million tons of water in seventy days, say 500,000 tons daily. When the Severn tunnel was flooded, two months ago, three pumps were set to work, which raised 150,000 gallons each per hour. The Dutch Govern- ment propose to drain the Zuyder Zee by means of 10,000 horse-power steam-pumps in twenty-one months, although it is a sea of 600 square miles in- area, and twelve feet in depth. XL— INSTKUCTION. When the Treaty of Vienna restored peace to Europe it left the nations sunk in ignorance. With the exception of Germany and Scotland the masses of the people were un- able to read, for the State taught nothing but the use of firearms. Since then we have made wonderful progress ; first, the Press educated the cabinets and legislators of Europe ; secondly, the legislatures undertook the enlighten- 88 PROGRESS OF THE WORLD. ment of the masses. The result is seen in the following Table of adults able to read and write : — Scotland . Germany England . France . Ireland . Italy Average 1830. 1878. 80 per cent. 85 per cent 79 „ 88 ,, 56 77 36 70 „ 48 „ 66 „ 25 „ 45 „ 53 70 „ France has made the greatest relative progress, but still she has only arrived at the average standard, whereas England is now 10 per cent above the average. The spread of popular instruction has not only raised the level of mankind, but promoted a better equality among nations. If we suppose the intellectual power to consist of the number of millions who can read and write, we find the aliquot parts of the brain of the world to be for 1830 and 1878 as follows (excluding Asia) : — J U>le to write. Aliquot Able to write. Aliquot 1830. parts. 1878. parts. Germany . 12,100,000 24 21,200,000 18 United Kingdom 8,300,000 . 17 16,150,000 14 France 6,450,000 13 15,400,000 13 United States . 5,500,000 11 21,700,000 18 Austria 4,700,000 9 11,800,000 10 Scandinavia 3,120,000 6 4,450,000 4 Italy 3,050,000 6 7,850,000 7 Spain and Portugal 2,350,000 5 4,850,000 4 Low Countries . 2,850,000 5 4,950,000 4 Switzerland 1,080,000 2 1,550,000 1 Russia 770,000 j 2 3,540,000 3 British Colonies 320,000 i 100 4,760,000 118,200,000 4 50,590,000 100 SCHOOL POPULATION. 89 The above Table- shows that there are three nations equal in brain-power — viz. the British Empire, Germany, and United States — each standing for 18 per cent of the total. It is also worth observing that Australia and Canada have now as large a reading population as the United States could boast fifty years ago. Another mode of ascertaining the relative degree of instruction is to compare the number of school-children with population. 1830. 1878. Germany United States 17 per cent. 15 17 per cent 19 Scandinavia . 14 j» 14 Switzerland . 13 >> 15 Low Countries 12- >> 16 United Kingdom . 9 ji 15 France . 7 ii 13 British Colonies . 6 ,, 21 „ Austria . 5 ,, 9 Spain Italy . Spanish America . Turkey . Russia . 4 3 2 2 8 7 „ 4 2 2 The expenditure for schools averages one shilling per inhabitant in Germany, three in the United Kingdom, and between endowments of land and other sources in the United States the school income is in that country almost eight shillings per inhabitant. That the money spent upon schools is saved from what would otherwise be prison ex- penditure, or for the support of paupers, is shown by the results obtained in England, as follows : — School Children to pop. Convicts per million inhab. Paupers per thousand 1850. 1877. Rise or fall. 12 p. C. 17 p. C. Rise of 42 p. c. 1150 „ 488 „ Fall of 56 „ 53 „ 33 „ „ 39 „ 90 PROGRESS OF THE WORLD. So generally is this view now accepted on the Continent, that the votes of money for educational purposes have doubled since 1870. The total school expenditure in Europe, America, and Australia makes up (including local rates) a sum of £37,000,000, or £1 per head for the num- ber of children actually receiving instruction. THE PRESS. Newspapers of the "Waterloo epoch were hardly as well got up as the daily sheets now printed at Wagga-Wagga or the Sandwich Islands. Between stamp-duties in England and censorship in other countries the Press was gagged so effectually as to prevent intellectual development. So late as 1840 our American cousins boasted that the circula- tion of their 830 journals reached two million copies weekly, and surpassed that of all Europe with its 233 million in- habitants. In that year the press of London and Paris stood thus : — Daily papers. Circulation. London ... 9 45,000 Paris ... 27 61,000 The repeal of the paper duties in Great Britain in 1861, in the words of an English writer, " threw open the flood- gates of knowledge to the world." The annual circulation of newspapers in the United Kingdom multiplied fourteen- fold in thirty-three years, viz. — 1831. 1864. England . . .32 millions. 482 millions. Ireland . 4£ „ 36 „ Scotland . . . 2J „ 28 „ United Kingdom . 38J » 546 ','. In the subjoined Table are shown the date of the intro- duction of newspapers into each country, the number exist- NEWSPAPERS. 91 ing in 1840 and at present, and the tons of printing paper consumed per annum : — First paper. No. in 1840. No. in 1880. Tons paper United Kingdom . 1622 493 1,836 168,000 United States . . 1704 830 6,432 525,000 France 1605 776 1,280 134,000 Germany . . 1524 305 2,350 244,000 Austria 1550 132 876 92,000 Russia . 1714 204 318 72,000 Low Countries . 1757 75 376 40,000 Scandinavia . 1644 104 120 30,000 Italy . 1562 210 1,124 38,000 Spain and Portugal 1704 92 150 10,000 Switzerland 54 230 17,000 Spanish America . 1728 98 S50 20,000 Canada . 1765 88 340 20,000 West Indies . 1731 37 50 5,000 Australia . . 1805 43 220 15,000 Turkey . 1797 8 72- Persia . 1838 2 India . 1781 63 644 China . 880 4 f 30,000 Africa . 1824 14 40 Sandwich Islands . 1835 1 6 Japan 3,633 34 J 17,348 1,470,000 The ordinary newspaper circulation is about 4 million copies in the United States, 2 million in the United King- dom, and 6 million in the rest of the world, say 12 million copies daily ; the circulation has doubled since the intro- duction of telegrams. 1 The book trade has not grown in the same manner, but progresses faster than population, doubling in 40 years, viz. — 1 Carrier-pigeons competed for a time with Reuter's telegraphic service ; even so late as 1877 the Nationcde of Paris had 10 pigeons which carried despatches between Versailles and Paris in 15 to 20 minutes. 92 PROGRESS OF THE WORLD. Annual average of new works. 1828 to 1832. 1866 to 1869. Great Britain 1,060 3,220 United States 1,013 2,165 Germany 5,530 9,095 France 4,640 7,350 12,243 21,830 As a consequence of the spread of the English language the exportation of books from Great Britain has increased ten-fold in less than half a century, viz. — Export of books 1832 . £93,000 1875 . 915,000 It is remarkable that while many old languages are dying out, the Press is every year adding new ones to its list of conquests. There is no newspaper published in Irish, 1 and even the Basque journal, Irurac Bat, has been suspended ; meantime the JVananga has appeared in the Maori language of New Zealand, the Osoka-Nippo issues 10,000 copies daily in Japanese, and a paper in the Cherokee tongue circulates widely among the Indians of the North American backwoods. New books are also appearing in strange languages, the Life of Washington (in 42 quarto volumes) having been recently published in Japanese at Jeddo, and Mr. Secretary Ho's translation of Shakspeare and of Blackstone's Commentaries into Chinese being announced by an eminent publisher of Pekin. PUBLIC LIBRARIES AND ASSOCIATIONS. Free libraries were so few at the beginning of the nine- teenth century that they were practically of no value to the 1 The Scottish Gaelic has, nevertheless, found a home in Canada, where a paper is published in that tongue. FREE LIBRARIES. 93 people, but limited to the use of students or men of letters. The first complete record on this subject is dated 1848, and shows as follows : — Libraries. Books. Prance . 107 3,975,000 United States . 81 955,000 Germany 80 6,053,000 Italy 45 2,274,000 Austria . 41 2,193,000 Great Britain . 28 1,542,000 Spain and Portugal 24 963,000 Turkey . 72 150,000 Scandinavia . 13 968,000 Switzerland . 13 465,000 Russia . 12 851,000 Low Countries 19 728,000 536 21,067,000 In the last thirty years these institutions have doubled; we find, for example, that the United Kingdom has now 153 free libraries (not including the British Museum), with an aggregate of 2,500,000 volumes and more than 7 million readers per annum. Italy has 210 libraries with 4,250,000 books, besides her numerous galleries of the fine arts. France has 350 libraries, with 7 million volumes. Switzer- land 1654 libraries, while Austria and Germany also count these institutions by hundreds. In point of magnitude the collections of the British Museum and the Bibliotheque Nationale of Paris are unrivalled, the former boasting 30 miles, the latter 18 miles of book-shelves. The United States, by including the libraries attached to public schools, make up 45,500,000 volumes in 164,815 libraries. In the various British Colonies the institutions of this kind are numerous and well maintained, the library of Melbourne being worthy of any European capital. The Emperor of China possesses a great collection of works, over 400,000 94 PROGRESS OF THE WORLD. volumes, which is, however, rather a private than a public library. It is worthy of remark how much has been done by private munificence both in England and the United States in this way ; the Astor library, of New York, for instance, is the gift of a German settler who landed in America a penniless youth, and the Brown library at Liverpool, in like manner, attests the gratitude of an industrious Irishman who made his fortune in that town. Learned societies, which have the same effect in pro- moting knowledge that joint-stock companies have in the great enterprises of the age, are growing in numbers and influence all over the world. In 1830 there were but 47 such associations in the United Kingdom, while a recent statement gives 118 with a total of 30,000 members and an income of £100,000 per annum. In France they are still more numerous, Paris counting 43, and the Departments 135 societies. If complete statistics could be obtained on this head, it would doubtless appear that the learned societies of all countries make up an army of 100,000 men, who devote at least a portion of their labours to the delight, instruction, or material improvement of the human family. POST OFFICE. The intellectual and commercial activity of a .people is easily measured by the postal returns, which also indicate the advancement in a given term of years. Subjoined is a Table showing the number of letters to each inhabitant, and the progress of ten years : — 1867. 1877. United Kingdom 27 35 Switzerland 24 30 United States . 15 19 Australia . 13 18 POST OFFICE. 1867. 1877 Germany . 9 15 Low Countries . 9 14 France 10 10 Scandinavia 7 9 Austria-Hungary 6 8 Canada 6 8 Spain and Portugal 4 5 Italy . 3 4 Spanish America 14 2 Greece n 2 Russia 4 1 Japan 1 95 Postal development has had two great epochs, the first when Rowland Hill introduced the penny postage in 1840, the second when the Berne Convention established a reduced international tariff. Summing up the postal and telegraph returns of the world, we find the aliquot parts thus : — Postal. Telegraphic. Total. United Kingdom 29 21 25 United States 19 21 20 Germany . 14 12 13 France 8 8 8 Other Countries 30 38 34 100 100 100 If letters and newspapers be taken as a measure of enlightenment, it will be found that Great Britain and the United States stand for half the world, the daily circulation being as follows : — Letters. Newspapers. Total. United Kingdom . . 3,000,000 2,000,000 5,000,000 United States . . . . 2,000,000 4,000,000 6,000,000 Other Countries . . . . 5,000,000 6,000,000 11,000,000 10,000,000 12,000,000 22,000,000 96 PROGRESS OF THE WORLD. XII— CHAEITIES, PAUPERISM, CRIME. It is not surprising that with so great an increase of public wealth and instruction the charities of mankind have multi- plied during the present century in an unprecedented degree. If England can be taken as a guide, we have evidence that hospitals, asylums, and charitable bequests have grown not only much faster than population, but far beyond even the ratio of public wealth. It may therefore be inferred that the wants and sufferings of the poor are better attended to than before. The returns of pauperism in the various countries of Europe are as follows : — No. of persons Ratio to Poor-rates relieved. population. per inhabitant United Kingdom . . 1,037,000 33 per 1000 72 pence Italy .... . 1,365,000 48 24 „ Prussia . . 1,310,000 50 42 „ Austria . . . 1,220,000 35 24 „ France . . . . 1,151,000 32 18 „ Low Countries . . 1,010,000 105 31 „ Spain and Portugal 596,000 30 13 „ Scandinavia . . . 301,000 38 29 „ Switzerland . . 140,000 54 41 88 „ 8,130,000 31 „ The number of persons relieved indicates the attention paid to the wants of the poor, not the degree of actual pauperism. Spain, for example, swarms with mendicants, yet the number in the above Table would almost make it appear to have fewer paupers than France or Sweden, where mendicancy is unknown. The efficiency of relief has also for effect to heighten the poor-rate, which falls 3 times as HOSPITALS. 97 heavy in England as in Italy, because we expend £7 per head annually on our poor, while the relief in Italy seldom amounts to one-fourth that sum. Convents and charitable societies, no doubt, contribute in a great measure in Southern Europe to aid the houseless and hungry poor, but not so effectually as our English workhouse system. "We still meet " mendicants " who solicit alms with a blunderbuss in the Sierra Morena, or in Calabria, just as in the days of Gil Bias ; for brigandage prevails where the State does not suitably legislate for the poor. The large cities of the United States have homes for the destitute, but chronic misery can hardly be said to exist. Spanish America is equally free from such a burthen, except that a few licensed beggars go round for alms every Saturday, usually on horseback. In the English Colonies poverty is practically unknown. Charitable institutions, especially hospitals, render an incalculable amount of good to society, and flourish in all countries. The largest hospital in the world is the Misericordia at Eio Janeiro, which admitted last year 15,200 patients. The second appears to be the Hotel Dieu at Paris, with 10,000 patients, the largest of our London hospitals, St. Bartholomew's or Guy's, having only 5500 yearly. The rate of mortality in small hospitals is much lower than in large ones (see page 170), which partly explains why only 7^ per cent of persons admitted die in British hospitals, and 1 3 per cent on the Continent. The statistics of Great Britain and France i compare as follows : — 1 France has altogether 1481 hospitals and asylums, with 162,000 beds, the average cost being £26 per bed per annum. 98 PROGRESS OF THE WORLD. Great Britain. France. No. of Hospitals 483 376 No. ofbeds . . 14,300 40,200 Admissions . 131,000 410,000 Physicians 715 1,820 Death-rate 74 P. c 8 8J p. c. Hygienic science has succeeded in reducing the death- rate to a minimum ; it was 8 J per cent in Great Britain from 1800 to 1834, or 1 per cent more than in the years 1870-1876. It is at present only 6£ per cent in hospitals with less than 100 beds, but 8 per cent in those over 200. The ordinary stay of each patient in this country is thirty days, and costs 55s. ; the stay in France averages thirty-five days. The number of poor being less in France than in England, owing chiefly to the provident habits of the French people, the demands on public and private generosity are much less than in Great Britain : — Great Britain. France. Poor-rates £9,425,000 £1,550,000 Donations, bequests, etc. . 9,630,000 2,680,000 £19,055,000 £4,230,000 The greater generosity of the wealthy classes in Great Britain and France than forty years ago is shown by the charitable bequests compared with the value of property subject to legacy and to succession duties, viz. — 1830 to 1S40. 1872 to 1876. Bequests. Ratio to Property. Bequests. Ratio to Property. United Kingdom £165,000 45s. p. £1000 £630,000 84s. p. £1000 France . . 152,000 42s. „ 1,120,000 121s. „ Charity has grown twice as fast as public wealth in England, and three times in France. Apart from the enormous sums annually contributed during life by the PUBLIC CHARITY. 99 affluent, there is a self-imposed death-bed contribution which amounts to one penny in the £ in England, and to 1^ pence in France ; not that the French are more generous than we are, since our annual subscriptions to charity are double the amount that they are in France. The charitable bequests of Great Britain, France, and Italy, with reference to national wealth and population, compare as follows : — Great Britain. France. Italy. Annual bequests Ratio per inhabitant Do. to wealth . £630,000 5 pence £72 per million £ £1,120,000 8 pence £153 £124,000 1% pence £77 Thus it appears that the sentiment of charity is pretty equal among nations, and limited only by the means of each people, or the proportion of poor and afflicted. Defects. — In the crowded cities of Europe, or among ill- fed populations, there is a much greater number of blind, deaf, and dumb, insane, etc., than in the United States, British Colonies, or other new countries. In the following Table the country most afflicted seems Ireland, the reason of which appears to be that emigration took away only the strong and healthy, the number of afflicted being therefore the ratio for double the actual population : — 100 PROGRESS OF THE WORLD. .9 a "3 o CM -4* n(» h|oo ©*-) raw nHf mM 1 "-"i* CD CO OO CD CO i-Hj-IiHCDCOOCOOOOO co^^cocoi-hoousoo© •a ' s "S p t *<* Oi o CM .3 oo(m"*ooooc0o00 oq-uhcdoioow^nhn COCOcMcOOOOCOOOliniCO r-f rH rH rH i— ICMi-HtH r-i ■i a © CM **- (M .9 ITS O r-H 3*tr>o«oomoo'*cMws ffl©H«)NHiWNCOO>* OOOcMt-HiraO(MCMi-ICMO j-HrHrH 1 1 Ireland Scotland France Germany Norway Low Countries Italy . Sweden Austria Spain . Switzerland . INSANITY. 101 The above shows that blindness is very prevalent in Spain, Norway, and Ireland, insanity in Scandinavia and the United Kingdom, and that the deaf and dumb are most numerous in Switzerland and Austria. Insanity is in most countries on the increase, especially in France and Great Britain. Political excitement may be the cause in the former country, but in England the increase seems to arise from two sources ; firstly, the better care taken of the insane, by which the death-rate of asylums has been reduced 70 per cent, and secondly, the anxiety of business, attendant on the development of trade in the last twenty years. The average returns for Great Britain and Scandinavia show insanity to be produced thus : — Hereditary causes . . .14 per cent Intemperate habits . .33 „ Various causes . . .53 „ 100 Among the various causes are (1) hunger and poverty; (2) celibacy ; (3) intermarriage of cousins ; (4) sunstroke and other accidents. The first cause explains the heavy rate in Ireland ; the second is established by the smaller ratio of married people ; the third is proved in Wales and among the Society of Quakers ; and the fourth accounts for the large ratio in the military profession. In Europe the sexes of lunatics are even; that is, 106 women to 100 men, the same as in the population ; except in Ireland, where male lunatics are more numerous, and the United States, where women barely form one-third of the total. Cases of recovery average 40 per cent, being commoner among women than men, and generally in the first three months of detention. The Quaker Asylum of York shows 50 per cent cases of recovery. 102 PROGRESS OF THE WOBLD. Suicide. — It is ascertained that one-third of suicides are the effect of insanity, and two-thirds are committed by sane persons. Suicide is most frequent in the male sex — viz. 78 males to 22 females. 1 It is in all countries almost twice as common in summer as in winter, the ratio of the seasons being as follows : — Summer . . 31 per cent Spring . 28 „ Autumn 22 „ Winter . . 19 „ Climate seems to have a certain influence, as the ratio of suicide rises as we go north, or declines as we go south. The annexed Table shows the rate of increase as follows : — Suicides in 1820-40. Suicides in 1856-75. Spain 14 per million inhabitants Russia 26 >) )j Italy 35 t t> 44 Belgium 55 , j) 38 Austria 64 , j> 61 England 67 , J> 72 Sweden and Norway- 82 j )t 69 France 140 ) Jl United States 142 JJ 79 Germany 123 , »I 136 Denmark 288 , l» The modes of committing suicide differ in most coun- tries, and vary some years, like fashions in dress (see Appendix). Crime. — That public morality has risen in every country in the same degree as instruction, is fully proved by the statistics of crime. In Great Britain, for example, the annual convictions compared to population have fallen 60 per cent in the last forty years. Similar results are true in a greater or less degree of other countries ; but no exact comparison can be made, owing to the alterations of 1 In England, however, the ratio is 72 males to 28 females. CRIME. 103 criminal procedure in the classification of crimes. There is, moreover, a difference in the nature of offences in various countries. In the north, fraud, theft, and infanti- cide ; in the south, stabbing and highway robbery are most frequent. M. Block gives the following comparative Table of murder and stabbing in the various countries : — United Kingdom 7 jfper mi Sweden and Norway 8 France Si Germany 8 Belgium 11 Austria 16 Russia 32 Italy . 57 Spain 88 There is professedly a close relationship between poverty and crime, as shown by the inspectors of prisons in Great- Britain in their Beport : — " The Commissioners note a remarkable correspondence between pauperism and crime, as follows : — " Crime and pauperism. " Fell from . . . 1851 to 1853 Rose „ 1854 „ 1857 Fell „ 1858 „ 1860 Rose , , 1861 „ 1863 Fell „ 1864 „ 1866 Rose „ 1867 „ 1870 Fell „ 1870 ,, 1872." Dr. Mayr shows that in Germany, when the price of flour rises, there is an increase of emigration and of rob- beries, but no connection with the ratio of murders and assaults. The administration of justice, compared with population, is twice as costly in some countries as in others. For example, in Italy twenty pence, and in France only nine pence per inhabitant. The total expenditure for law- courts and prisons in the United Kingdom is forty pence per inhabitant, or a little more than we spend on schools. 104 PROGRESS OF THE WORLD. PAET II. THE BRITISH EMPIRE. The British Empire is growing in population faster than any other country except the United States, and has made greater advancement in the present century than in any previous period of its history. Without taking into account our possessions in the East and West Indies, where the inhabitants are not of our race, it will be found that the United Kingdom and the Colonies comprise a population of 42£ millions, which is equal to that of Germany or the United States. The increase since 1801 has been as follows : — United Kingdom. Colonies. Total. 1801 . . 15,896,000 400,000 16,296,000 1840 . . 26,487,000 1,560,000 28,047,000 1879 . . 34,160,000 8,348,000 42,508,000 Forty years ago the Colonies formed but 5 per cent of the empire ; at present they constitute one-fifth, and their population increases so rapidly, that by the close of the nineteenth century they will probably count from 15 to 20 million Englishmen — a number equal to the total strength of our empire during the wars against Buonaparte. United Kingdom. The Napoleon wars caused no perceptible drain on the manhood of Britain. We had, during twenty years, no less than480,000 soldiers and sailors in the field, but the expendi- ture of life was small compared with that of treasure. " This 1 The direct outlay was £630,000,000, but the total cost of the war £831,500,000. POPULATION OF UNITED KINGDOM. 105 is shown by two facts — First, the rate of increase of popula- tion from 1801 to 1821 was 36 per cent greater than it has been since that date. Secondly, the proportion of males to females in our population was higher in 1821 than at any subsequent census. In the interval from 1801 to 1821 the increase was 34 per cent, that is 17 per 1000 annually; whereas between 1821 and 1879 it has been 60 per cent, say 12-J- per 1000 per annum. The diminished increase during the second period was due to emigration, the number of emigrants reaching 8,003,000 ; of which we lost 64 per cent, who preferred the United States to our own Colonies. The proportion of females has increased as follows : — 1821 . . 1024 to 100 males 1851 . . 1034 1879 . . 1054 This may be also an effect of emigration, and it is likely the census of 1881 will show a reaction, as the number of returning emigrants has been since 1877 almost as great as of those leaving the country. It is very remarkable that, in spite of emigration, the sexes are more evenly balanced in Ireland than in the sister-kingdoms, viz. — Ireland . . 952 males to 1000 females England . . 949 ,, ,, „ Scotland . . 912 „ „ „ United Kingdom .945 ,, ,, „ The surplus of females in Scotland is enormous, and equalled only by Norway. The average births and deaths for the last ten years show as follows, per annum : — Births. Deaths. Increase. England . . 358 per 10,000 inhabitants. 220 138 Scotland . . 351 „ „ ,, 222 129 Ireland . . 268 ,, „ „ 172 96 United Kingdom 342 „ ,, ,, 212 130 106 PROGRESS OF THE WORLD. Notwithstanding the low rate of increase in Ireland, the average for the United Kingdom is far ahead of Germany, or any other country in Europe. The death-rate gives an average of forty-two years for the span of life, which is longer than in any other country except Scandinavia. There is, of course, a notable difference between the death-rate of cities and that of country districts, especially in Ireland, the returns showing as follows : — Cities. Country. General. England . . 227 per 10,000 inhabitants. 213 220 Scotland . . 223 „ „ „ 221 222 Ireland . . 262 ,, ,, „ 155 172 United Kingdom 230 „ ,, „ 200 212 The official returns show that some cities had 30 or 40 per cent heavier death-rate than others, the order being as follows : — Dublin . 281 per 10,000 inhabitants Belfast • 280 „ „ Manchester . . 275 , ) Liverpool . 266 , J Cork . . 261 , I Glasgow . 252 , ) Birmingham . 243 , J London 220 , t Edinburgh . . 211 , » Brighton . 184 , » The last two cities are below the average mortality of the United Kingdom. Sanitary improvements during the last thirty years have reduced the death-rate so much as to add five years to the average span of life. 1847 to 1850 deaths 23J per 1000 ; average life 37 years 1851 „ 1870 „ 22J 39 „ 1871 „ 1878 „ 21* „ „ „ 41J „ There is still room for much improvement, for if we POPULATION OF UNITED KINGDOM. 107 could reduce the death-rate of seven cities above cited to a level with London, it would save 10,400 lives per annum. Accidental deaths might easily be reduced in our large cities j for example, the number of persons killed by cabs is excessive in London, but still more so in Leeds and Dublin, the returns for 1872 showing as follows : — Per million inhat) Per million inhab. Birmingham . 24 Liverpool . 46 Sheffield . . 36 Manchester . 53 Glasgow . 42 Dublin . . 72 London . 45 Leeds . 178 Subjoined is a Table of the births, marriages, and deaths for ten years (1868-77). England and Wales. Scotland. Ireland. Total. Medium pop. 23,200,000 3,420,000 5,405,000 32,025,000 Births . . 830,000 p. ar . 120,000 p. an. 145,000 1,095,000 Deaths . . 510,000 „ 76,000 93,000 679,000 Increase . . 320,000 ,, 44,000 52,000 416,000 Emigration . 54,000 ,, 15,300 64,200 133,500 Net increase . 266,000 ,, 28,700 , deer. 12,200 282,500 Marriages . 192,000 „ 25,000 26,500 243,500 If deduction be made for emigration, it will be seen that 93 per cent of the annual increase corresponds to England and Wales. The marriage-rate and proportion of children to each marriage in the last ten years were as follows : — Marriages. Births England . 165 per 10,000 inhabitants 430 Scotland . 146 ,, „ 480 Ireland 98 „ „ 548 United Kingdom 152 „ „ 450 The marriage-rate of the United Kingdom is lower than the European average j 1 which perhaps arises from the fact 1 The census of 1871 showed 1,246,000 unmarried women between the ages of 15 and 21 years. 108 PROGRESS OF THE WORLD. that in Ireland emigration has drained off the bulk of young people of the marrying age. Meantime the marriages in Ireland are more prolific than in any other country of the world, being in this respect 25 per cent ahead of England. The proportion of 105 male births to 100 female is the same in the United Kingdom as the general average of Europe. The rate of infant mortality (i.e. under five years) is low in comparison with many other countries, but varies according to circumstances. Mortality. Families of fortune . 10 per cent of births Country districts 18 ,, ,1 !, Cities 36 »j ,) >j England .... 26 ,, ,, ,, Ireland .... 17 „ „ Scotland .... 20 Illegitimacy has declined very notably in the last forty years, and is now little more than half the average that prevails in Europe. The three kingdoms are by no means equal, the ratio in every 1000 births being thus : — Legitimate. Illegitimate. England 955 45 1000 Scotland 910 90 1000 Ireland 977 23 1000 United Kingdom 950 50 1000 The highest rate of illegitimacy in England falls to the county of Norfolk, namely 85 per 1000; the highest in Scotland to Wigtownshire, 182 per 1000. Deaths in childbed averaged for 30 years 1 in 200, but in 1875 they rose to 1 in 170 births. Notwith- standing this toll of mortality paid by the female sex, we find that last year there were sixty-five women and only twenty-two men who had attained the age of 100 years. The following Table shows the ratio of population in the three kingdoms in 1801 and at present: — POPULATION OF UNITED KINGDOM. 109 1801. 1879 56 74 34 16 10 10 100 100 England and "Wales Ireland . Scotland The preponderance of England is every day increasing, not only in population, but also in wealth and all the other elements of national importance. The census of 1871 shows a surplus of full-grown inhabitants in England, and a deficit in Ireland, taking 100 as the par that corresponds to each age and class, the principal features being as follows : — England. Scotland. Ireland. U. Kingdom. Infants under 5 years 101J 103 88 100 Boys and girls . 99 102 102 100 Men under 40 . 103 954 92 100 Women do. 102 101 93 100 Men 40 to 60 . 101 92 99 100 Women do. 100 100 100 100 Men over 60 89 89 136 100 Women do. 93 110 130 100 As soon as the inhabitants of Scotland and Ireland reach twenty years of age England attracts a large num- ber, and hence the old people in the sister-kingdoms form a greater proportion than if the population were allowed to follow its natural course. There is no country in Europe where so few of the population are idle as in the United Kingdom ; although our possessions and our commercial interests in every part of the globe call for numerous garrisons and naval stations we have the smallest proportion of men engaged in our military forces, of all European nations. The total army and navy strength does not exceed 233,000 men, or seven per 1000 of our population. 110 PROGRESS OF THE WORLD. WEALTH OF THE UNITED KINGDOM. The income-tax returns for 1875 show that the earn- ings of the British nation have doubled in twenty years, and quadrupled since the battle of Waterloo. Income. Per inhabr 1815 . £137,000,000 £7 1855 308,000,000 11 1875 571,000,000 17 This is, however, only the income subject to taxation, the total earnings of the United Kingdom being nearly double. As the estimates of Leroy Beaulieu and others coincide in this regard, and are confirmed by every test that can be adopted, it may be safely laid down that the annual income is £l,120,000,000j3terling, which total seems to be composed of the following items : — Agricultural .... £265,000,000 Manufactures and trade . . 680,000,000 Minerals 66,000,000 Interest on foreign investments 68,000,000 Carrying trade (54,000,000 tons) 40,000,000 £1,120,000,000 This income far exceeds that of any other country in Europe, and the estimates of public wealth by the most experienced economists show that the capital of the United Kingdom has doubled in forty years, the average accumu- lation since 1840 being £100,000,000 sterling per annum. 1 Estimate. Wealth of United Kingdom. 1800 . . Beck and Pulteney £1,800,000,000 1840 . . Porter 4,000,000,000 1860 . . Levi 6,000,000,000 1877 . . Giffen 8,840,000,000 1 Since 1875 the accumulation may be put down as low as £60,000,000 per annum. The average of new companies formed in WEALTH OF UNITED KINGDOM. Ill This prodigious increase is confirmed by official returns of various departments. Take, for example, the statement of property subject to legacy-duty in the United Kingdom since 1811 : — 1811 to 1820 . . . £25,490,000 per annum 1841 to 1850 . . 43,800,000 „ 1861 to 1870 . . . 73,600,000 „ 1876 . . 116,100,000 „ Although the development of commerce is but an in- direct proof of wealth, it may be lawful to quote it in further confirmation of the estimates of Mr. Giffen and his predecessors. The trade of the United Kingdom showed — 1811 to 1820 . . average £61,000,000 per annum 1841 to 1860 . . „ 252,000,000 „ 1871 to 1879 . . ,, 640,000,000 ,, „ There is still another gauge of prosperity which bears out the Tables already given, viz. the Insurance returns. 1815 to 1825 . . . average £410,000,000 1835 to 1845 . . „ 606,000,000 1865 to 1875 . . . ,, 1,778,000,000 Finally, the deposits in the various banks have multi- plied still faster than the other signs of wealth above mentioned. The estimates of Newmarch, Dun, and other authorities, show as follows : — Deposits. 1844 £70,000,000 1866 . . 350,000,000 1876 800,000,000 The above five Tables taken together would seem to in- dicate that the earnings and expenditure of the British nation averaged as follows : — the United Kingdom in the last three years showed £35,000,000 per annum capital paid up, which probably represented at least half the national increase of wealth. 112 PROGRESS Or THE WORLD. Earnings. Expenditure. Accumulation. 1820 to 1840 £475,000,000 £435,000,000 £40,000,000 per annum 1841 to 1860 620,000,000 540,000,000 80,000,000 „ „ 1861 to 1880 1,030,000,000 910,000,000 120,000,000 „ „ Taking for bases the income-tax returns and Professor Caird's agricultural estimates, we find the earnings of the three kingdoms are as follows : — Income. Per Inhab. EnglandandWal.es . . £918,000,000 £37 Ireland 94,000,000 18 Scotland .... 108,000,000 30 £1,120,000,000 £33 The ratio for England is higher than that of any other country in the world. Scotland is second only to the United States. Ireland is on a par with Germany. In the last ten years wealth has grown three times faster than population. 1 In 1868 Mr. Dudley Baxter esti- mated the national earnings at £819,000,000, and if that estimate be deemed correct, the income of the British people will now be £1,065,000,000, or 5 per cent less than Leroy Beaulieu's and the above calculations. The fact that the public wealth has grown 30 per cent in ten years is proved by the income-tax returns, and confirmed by the statement of property subject to legacy and succession duties, viz. — 1868. 1877. Subject to legacy duty . . £88,000,000 £116,000,000 „ succession duty . 35,000,000 43,000,000 £123,000,000 £159,000,000 On the basis, therefore, of Dudley Baxter's estimates, the wealth of the nation has increased in each class as follows : — 1 Since 1868 the increase of the United Kingdom has been — In population .... 10 per cent ,, commerce . . . . 20 ,, „ income assessments . . 30 ,, WEALTH OF UNITED KINGDOM. 113 1868. 1879. Annual Income. Persons. Sum. Persons. Sum. Over £5000 8,500 £126,000,000 9,350 £164,000,000 £1000 to £5000 48,800 83,500,000 53,650 109,000,000 £300 to £1000 178,300 88,000,000 197,000 114,000,000 £100 to £300 1,026,400 111,000,000 1,128,000 144,000,000 Under £100 1,497,000 81,500,000 1,647,000 106,000,000 W orking Ulass 10,961,000 329,000,000 12,057,000 £819,000,000 15,092,000 j 428,000,000 13,720,000 £1,065,000,000 The relative increase of wealth since 1860 has been greatest in Scotland, as shown by the income-tax returns, viz. — I860. 1876. England and Perinhab. Perinhab. "Wales. .£282,000,000 £14perann. £490,000,000 £20perann. Scotland . 30,000,000 10 „ 54,000,000 15 „ Ireland . 23,000,000 4 ,, 35,000,000 7 „ £335,000,000 £12perann. £579,000,000 £18 per ann. The above shows that the wealth of England increased 75, that of Scotland 80, and that of Ireland 52, per cent. BANES AND COMPANIES. Banking has perhaps been as efficient an agent as steam- power in advancing the trade and prosperity of Britain. The greatest development has been in the last quarter of a century. The returns of capital and deposits for 1874, compared with those of 1850, showed as follows : — 1S50. 1874. Increase. Bank of England £36,000,000 £70,000,000 95 per cent. London Banks 74,000,000 302,000,000 308 „ „ Provincial England 97,000,000 256,000,000 159 ,, ,, Scotland . . 36,000,000 106,000,000 195 „ „ Ireland . . . 17,000,000 48,000,000 183 ,, „ £260,000.000 £782,000,000 208 per cent. 114 PROGRESS OF THE WORLD. Since 1874 there has been a decline in the joint-stock banks, and an increase in the Bank of England. The figures published in October 1879, as compared with 1874, show as follows: for aggregate of capital, reserve, and deposits, including also the Post-Office Savings Banks. 1874. 1879. Bank of England £70,000,000 £80,000,000 Other Banks 712,000,000 632,000,000 £782,000,000 £712,000,000 This shows a decline of 11 per cent since 1874 in the joint-stock banks, which is partly accounted for by the bank failures in 1878, partly by fresh loans to the amount of £86,000,000 (1874-78) to foreign countries, and partly by the increased deposits in the Bank of England. The two latter items together make up £98,000,000, against a decline of £80,000,000 in joint-stock banks. The ratio between deposits in the joint-stock banks and capital is shown as follows : — In England as 5 to 1. In Scotland as 5$ to 1. In Ireland as 3 to 1. The profits on resources, that is, on capital and deposits, has been lowest in London. English Provincial Banks . 2 per cent per annum. Irish Banks . . . . If „ ,, Scotch Banks . . -14 ,, », London Banks . . . 1J ,, ,, As a rule the joint-stock banks with largest capital give the smallest dividends : the returns for 1877 (omitting the Bank of England) show as follows : — BANKS OF UNITED KINGDOM. 115 Dividend. No. of Banks. Capital. Average capital. 20 per cent or upwards . 18 £5,828,000 £320,000 15 to 20 per cent . 28 12,684,000 453,000 10 to 15 per cent 44 21,916,000 500,000 5 to 10 per cent . 15 6,620,000 440,000 Under 5 per cent 4 109 564,000 140,000 Average 14 per cent £47,612,000 £440,000 The banks of the United Kingdom are owned by 88,000 shareholders, the average capital being £1000 to each shareholder of Scotch banks, £780 for English, and £720 for Irish banks. This does not include Anglo-foreign or Colonial banks. A complete idea of the banking business of Great Britain may be obtained from the following Table, in millions sterling :— Capital Class. No. (Market value). Deposits. Discounts. English . . 119 £112 £266 £206 Scotch . . 10 20 68 63 Irish 9 18 40 38 Colonial . 27 32 89 123 Anglo-foreign . . 22 18 18 47 187 £200 £481 £477 The Bank of England, as compared with the whole banking power of the United Kingdom, showed as follows : — Bank of England. Other tanks. Total. 1850 . . 14 per cent. 86 per cent. 100 1874 . • 9 „ 91 „ 100 1879 . . n*. „ 884 » 100 In the last thirty years the progress of the Bank of England has been as follows : — Emission. Deposits. Bullion. 1851 . £21,000,000 £17,000,000 £16,000,000 1861 . 21,000,000 18,000,000 14,500,000 1871 . 25,500,000 28,000,000 23,000,000 1879 . 29,000,000 37,500,000 35,000,000 116 PROGRESS OP THE WORLD. The rate of interest has fluctuated more in the last quarter of a century than in the previous 156 years since the foundation of the Bank : — Highest. Lowest. Average. 1694 to 1800 . . 6 3 4\ per cent, 1801 to 1850 . . 8 24 *h „ 1851 to 1870 . . 10 2 H „ 1871 to 1876 . . 9 2 H „ It is computed that the bills in circulation in the United Kingdom average £350,000,000,of whichabout £3,000,000 mature daily. The business passes through the following hands : — Bank of England .... £18,000,000 5 per cent. London Banks 140,000,000 40 „ London Discounters . . . . 140,000,000 40 „ Provincial, Irish, and Scotch Banks . 52,000,000 15 „ £350,000,000 100 The increase of banking business in forty years is shown by the returns of the London Clearing-house : — 1839. Average £3,100,000 daily. 1877. Average £17,000,000 daily. The transactions, therefore, are at present twice the magnitude of the commerce of the whole world. So much is the system of bills and banking identified with the credit of the country, that we are able to do with much less coin than Continental nations. The actual coin in circulation is supposed not to exceed £73,000,000 gold, and £7,000,000 silver ; or, including the coin and bullion of the banks, a total of £1 14,000,000. The actual amount coined at the mint from 1840 to 1877 was as follows : — Gold . . £180,295,000 Silver . . 14,603,000 £194,898,000 SAVINGS BANKS OF UNITED KINGDOM. 117 Nearly half of this coin has, however, found its way to India, Brazil, and other remote ends of the earth. The total paper money of the United Kingdom is less than 40 per cent of the amount of precious metals in cir- culation or in bank vaults. If the paper money increased in proportion to commerce, since 1840, it would now be £150,000,000 sterling, or more than three times the actual amount. m,. 1840. 1878. Bank of England Notes . £16,000,000 £29,000,000 English Banks . . 10,000,000 4,500,000 Scotch Banks . 3,500,000 6,500,000 Irish Banks . 5,500,000 7,500,000 £35,000,000 £47,500,000 Taking the aggregate of coin and paper money as 100, to show the growth of commerce and bank deposits at various periods, we find the increase has been thus : — Money. Bank deposits.! Commerce. 1840 . . 100 100 190 1860 . . 160 390 520 1877 . . 250 1100 850 This shows that the progress of banking has outstripped all other branches of commercial development. Savings banks are not of English origin as for some time supposed (see page 38). The first in England was founded by Mrs. Priscilla Wakefield, at Tottenham, in 1803. The growth of these institutions in thirty years is shown in the amount of deposits, as follows : — 1848. 1877. Increase. England . £25,592,000 £62,910,000 152 per cent. Scotland . 1,080,000 6,530,000 502 „ Ireland . 1,356,000 3,528,000 160 „ £28,028,000 £72,968,000 The average sum to each depositor is about £30 sterling. 1 Including all manner of bank liabilities to public. 118 PROGRESS OF THE WORLD. The proportion of savings in these banks, compared with population, is as follows : — In England .... 50s. per inhabitant. „ Scotland .... 37s. „ „ Ireland 13s. 4d. „ Average for United Kingdom 42s. ,, Besides the banking companies already mentioned, various joint-stock companies have come into existence in the last thirty years for the promotion of all branches of industry. Between 1856 and 1868 the number of new companies, and their capital, astonished mankind ; the re- sult was as follows : — New Companies. Capital. 1856-68 .... 7056 £893,000,000 1868 (Survivors) . . 122 389,000,000 Collapsed . . 6934 £504,000,000 Several of the above were known as Wild-Cat enter- prises, and some hundreds went down in the crisis of 1866. Co-operative and friendly societies have sprung up in a few years to a magnitude that affords another proof of the great wealth of the nation. The first co-operative society was started at Rochdale, in 1844, by twenty-eight work- men, who subscribed £1 each; the same society now numbers 9000 members, and its annual profits average £550,000. Its success pointed the way for others, which have proved no less prosperous ; the shares, for example, of the Civil Service Co-operative Company, which cost £2, are now worth £90 each. The growth of these societies in the last fifteen years has been as follows : — 1S64. 1878. No. of societies . . . 395 1,489 „ members . . . 130,000 641,000 Capital £685,000 £6,200,000 There are, moreover, 26,924 friendly societies with an FINANCES OF UNITED KINGDOM. 119 aggregate of 5,588,000 members, whose annual subscrip- tions reach £17,580,000, their actual capital being £41,500,000 sterling. FINANCES. When Mr. Mundella recited the eight secrets of the greatness of Britain, he might have added a ninth, or rather put it in the first place, namely good finances. It is very remarkable that while other nations have enor- mously increased their public debts, and trebled their taxa- tion, we have lived within our income, and paid off £140,000,000 of our National Debt. In fact, our taxes are lighter than they were seventy years ago. 1811. 1879. Taxes per Inhabitant . . , 83s. 49s. Commerce ... . £2 : 10s. £19 Moreover, the wealth and resources of the United Kingdom, are now four times greater than in the time of our grandfathers, and hence Leroy Beaulieu points out that the burden of the British National Debt is trifling compared to that of other countries, and is every year growing lighter. The following Table of this eminent French statist deserves notice : — Income of British Burden of people. debt. 1815 £350,000,000 9 per cent. 1843 500,000,000 5* „ 1877 1,120,000,000 2t >> The debt of Great Britain is simply a war-debt, whereas in other countries it often arises from reckless waste and bad finances. We have spent in 190 years the sum of £1,234,000,000 sterling on wars (see Appendix), the campaigns against Napoleon standing for £831,500,000. 120 PROGRESS OP THE WORLD. The progress of the debt and the rise of our national credit may be seen as follows : — National Debt. Consols. 1801-10 £599,000,000 3 per cents at 63 average 1811-20 916,000,000 „ 66 „ 1821-30 812,000,000 84 1831-40 785,000,000 89 „ 1841-50 789,000,000 92 „ 1851-60 790,000,000 95 „ 1879 . 777,000,000 >j 99 jj The lowest year was 1804, when Consols averaged 56f ; the highest was 1853, showing an average of 100£ on the year. The maximum reached was 101 £ in December 1852. The holders of Consols are not, as in France, the peasants and operatives, but persons of the moneyed class. Hence, instead of five or six million holders, there is little over a quarter of a million, and the number has declined in the last fifty years, as follows : — Holders of Consols. 1831 281,145 1865 263,931 1874 228,700 As the debt of Great Britain is held at home it is no drain upon the country. In 1817 it averaged £45 for each inhabitant; at present it is barely £23 ; and if we include the municipal and other local debts, 1 the average will not exceed £27 per head. The Budgets for ten years, 1869 to 1878, made up the following total : — Revenue Expenditure Surplus £757,000,000 743,500,000 £13,500,000 1 The amount of local debt in 1877, in England and Wales, was £106,500,000 sterling. TAXATION OF UNITED KINGDOM. 121 Local taxation has, meantime, increased remarkably in the last ten years, the expenditure growing in England as follows : — 1867-68. 1874-76. Public works . £6,218,000 £9,595,000 Poor relief . 7,419,000 7,681,000 Interest on debts . 4,575,000 8,539,000 Eoads, markets, docks . 5,934,000 6,672,000 Police . 3,219,000 3,749,000 Schools 42,000 2,200,000 Charities, asylums . 2,830,000 £30,237,000 4,441,000 £42,877,000 The local taxation has risen 133 per cent since 1860 (when it was £17,800,000), and seems destined to rise to a level with the Imperial budget. The principal cities are more heavily taxed for local than for national purposes, and this is chiefly owing to the cost of those sanitary im- provements and schools that have so notably reduced mor- tality and crime. The valuation, expenditure, and debt of the principal cities are as follow : — Valuation. London . . £21,088,000 Liverpool . 2,940,000 Manchester . 1,972,000 Birmingham 1,284,000 Leeds . 919,000 Expenditure. 56s. per inhab. 66s. 6d. „ 104s. 34s. 6d. £ „ 75s. Debt. £7 per inhab. 9 13 „ 3 13 The local expenditure is lighter in than in England. 1876-78.1 England . . £48,406,000 per annum. Scotland . . 3,203,000 „ Ireland . . 4,615,000 the i sister kingdoms Per inhabitant. 39 shillings. 18 „ 17 „ United Kingdom £56,224,000 „ 30 1 The returns for England and Wales correspond to 1878, those for Scotland and Ireland to 1876. 122 PROGRESS OF THE WORLD. This total of £56,000,000 is obtained partly by poor- rates, partly by tolls and municipal taxes. Poor-relief is, strange to say, the heaviest burden on the richest nation of the age. It is, moreover, exactly 100 per cent heavier in England than in Ireland, the average for the last ten years showing thus : — Poor-rate in England . . 7s. 2d. per inhabitant. „ Scotland . . 5s. 4d. „ „ Ireland . . 3s. 7d. „ It is likely the poor-rate in Ireland would have been heavier, but for the money sent home by Irishmen in America. 1 The average returns of pauperism in the United Kingdom for the last ten years have been : — No. of Paupers. Poor Belief. England 895,000 £7,640,000 Scotland . ... 64,000 880,000 Ireland 78,000 905,000 1,037,000 £9,425,000 The expenditure for schools is much more satisfactory, for whereas three million children are educated at 35s. per head, the maintenance of paupers costs nearly £10 per head. Sanitary committees spend £1 8,000,000 per annum, or 30 per cent of the total municipal and county expendi- ture. The incidence of taxation, general and local, com- pared with income, is 13 per cent in England, 12 per cent in Ireland, and 10 per cent in Scotland : — England. Ireland. Scotland. United Kingdom. Income .... £37 p. inh. £18 : 5s. p. inh. £30 p. inh. £33 p. inh. National taxes 55s. „ 26s. „ 42s. „ 49s. „ Local taxes . . 39s. „ 17s. „ 18s. „ 30s. „ Net income £32 : 5s. p. inh. £16 p. inh. £27 p. inh. £29 p. inh. 1 Between 1848 and 1868 those in the United States sent home £14,968,600 to their friends. AGRICULTURE OF UNITED KINGDOM. 123 These figures will bear comparison very favourably with those of any other country (see page 42). AGRICULTURE. In no country has the science of agriculture been brought to greater perfection than in the United Kingdom. The heaviest crops and finest cattle in the world are raised in England ; but there is still such a vast portion of Scotland and of Ireland unreclaimed, that only 64 per cent of the United Kingdom is arable land, and the area under crops is barely 1 8 million acres, or one-fourth of the total extent. As farming is conducted in so costly a manner, involving more capital than in other countries, the number of pro- prietors is much smaller than might be expected from the population and extent of the British Islands. The area of the United Kingdom is 77,829,000 acres, of which 7 millions are occupied by towns, rivers, and lakes. The remainder is owned as follows : — Estates. No. Area. Average. 1st class 874 9,367,000 10,700 acres 2d „ . . 41,650 19,473,000 4,700 „ 3d „ . . . 138,600 41,439,000 300 „ 180,524 70,279,000 390 „ There are also 973,292 persons who own an acre each, for suburban residences. The division of property is greater in England than in the rest of the kingdom. Area. Proprietors. Average. England and Wales . 37 million acres. 154,774 240 acres. Ireland ... 20 „ „ 17,510 1140 „ Scotland ... 19 „ „ 8,240 2300 „ 124 PROGRESS OF THE WORLD. Besides 180,000 owners of estates there are 838,000 tenant farmers, 1 making a total of 1,018,000 farms in the United Kingdom, an average of seventy acres each. The proportion, however, of cultivated land is much less. Farmers. Average Farms. Great Britain . . , 555,000 57 acres. Ireland .... 463,000 34 „ 1,018,000 47 „ The returns for 1878-79 show as follows : — Cultivated. Uncultivated. Area. England, Wales, etc. . 27,687,000 9,826,000 37,513,000 Scotland . . . 4,690,000 14,806,000 19,496,000 Ireland. . . . 15,345,000 5,475,000 20,820,000 47,722,000 30,107,000 77,829,000 The reclamation of waste land has been more active in recent than in former years. Acres. Per Annum. 1800 to 1829 . . . 3,380,000 112,000 acres. 1830 to 1869 . . . 2,217,000 53,000 „ 1870 to 1879 . . . 1,687,000 169,000 „ In 79 years . . 7,284,000 70,000 per annum Thus we have reclaimed in the present century an area nearly double that of all the arable land in Scotland. But while the extent of cultivated land increases, the produc- tion does not keep pace, since the farmers are turning away from agriculture to devote themselves to pastoral industry ; this is particularly the case in Ireland, as the following Table shows : — 1 Not counting 111,000 cottiers in Ireland holding less than five acres. AGRICULTURE OF UNITED KINGDOM. 125 Arable. Great Britain Ireland Total Arable Pasture. Great Britain Ireland Total Pasture Grand Total 1870. 1879. 18,335,000 17,943,000 1£ p. *. less. 5,740,000 5,304,000 14 „ „ 24,075,000 23,247,000 12,073,000 14,432,000 20 p. u. increase. 10,152,000 10,043,000 22,225,000 24,475,000 46,300,000 47,722,000 This change of farming is easily explained by the fall in grain and no less remarkable rise in butcher's meat and dairy produce. 1 Meantime it must be borne in mind that a much larger area is now under tillage than fifty years ago, as appears from comparing Porter's Tables for 1827 with those of the current year : — 1827. 1879. Arable 19,136,000 acres. 23,247,000 acres. 21 p. c. increase. Pasture 27,387,000 „ 24,475,000 „ 11 „ decrease. If we take, however, the arable extent in reference to population, we find there were as follows : — 1827 . . 83 acres for 100 inhabitants. 1879 ... 68 „ 100 „ The average returns for the last ten years (1869-78) may be summed up thus : — Crop. Value. 91 million bushels. £28,000,000 320 „ „ 55,000,000 42,000,000 140,000,000 £265,000,000 1 "We find, for example : — 1S45-55. 1S74-79. Beef and mutton . 4s. 4d. per stone. 6s. 6d. "Wheat ... 7s. 3d. per bushel. 5s. lOd. In a word, meat has risen 50 per cent, and wheat has fallen 20 per cent. Acres. Wheat 3,510,000 Barley, oats, etc. 7,750,000 Green crops 5,140,000 Pasture 29,450,000 Fallow 1,000,000 46,900,000 126 PROGRESS OF THE WORLD. Improved machinery effects a saving of one-third of the labour. In 1821, says Professor Caird, there were 20 per cent of the population of England engaged in agriculture ; in 1876 the ratio had fallen to 9 per cent, while the area under cultivation was 20 per cent larger. The number of farm-labourers in 1871 was 17 per cent less than ten years before. Moreover, the yield of wheat per acre is much greater than in the last century. Arthur Young's Table, for a number of years, showed 23 bushels per acre in England, whereas Professor Caird shows 28 bushels for a period of twenty years. 1 The wheat crop averages twelve- . fold. The returns for barley show 37 bushels, and for oats, 46 bushels per acre. As wheat can be profitably raised on the banks of the Danube or Mississippi at three shillings per bushel, and its conveyance is now so facilitated by railways and steamers, it is not surprising to find that in the past ten years the wheat area of the United Kingdom has diminished one- fourth, say a million acres. The increased consumption of imported grain is shown in the following Table : — Native grown. Imported. Total consumption. 1811 to 1830 . . 97 million bushels. 4 101 million bushels. 1831 to 1850 . . 113 „ „ 14 127 „ -~, „ 1851 to 1870 . . 109 „ „ 58 167 „ „ 1871 to 1879 . . 91 „ „ 111 202 „ Nevertheless, if England by any contingency were com- pelled to raise wheat, it would be sufficient to sow an area of five counties the size of Devonshire to supply all our needs for the three kingdoms, at seven bushels per head. An acre of wheat in England feeds four persons, in France two, in Russia and United States one and a half ; but the cost of production in this country is out of all ratio. In 1 The minimum was 11 bushels in 1853, the maximum 40 in 1864. AGRICULTURE OF UNITED KINGDOM. 127 the close of the eighteenth century the best lands in Essex and Staffordshire rented for 8s. per acre ; the price of wheat (1780-1800) averaged 52s., or 15 per cent higher than at present, and wages were less than half what they are now. 1 In these three items are explained the difficulties that now surround agriculture in this country. The estimates of annual rental of the lands of the United Kingdom have risen as follows : — 1801 .... £23,500,000 1834 . . 34,300,000 1865 .... 62,100,000 1878 .... 67,200,000 At present the average rental seems to be 14s. per acre for Ireland, 2 and 1 8s. for Great Britain, which would give, at thirty years' purchase, the following value for the United Kingdom :- Per Acre. Sum. Great Britain . . £27 £1,590,000,000 Ireland 21 420,000,000 £2,010,000,000 The average income of the proprietors on the above scale would be thus : — No. Rental. Average. Great Britain . 163,014 £53,000,000 £325 per annum. Ireland . . 17,510 14,000,000 800 „ This does not, however, take into account the mortgages which absorb more than half the landed revenue of the kingdom; the amount of mortgages in 1876 was found to be 58 per cent of the total value. 1 Professor Caird shows the adverse condition of farmers, as com- pared with thirty years ago, thus : — 1847. 1877. Observation. Wheat . . 53s. per qr. 48s. per qr. Fall of 10 per cent. Wages . . 19 pence a day. 30 pence. Rise of 55 „ s That is for the whole area, including mountain and bog. 128 PROGRESS OF THE WORLD. Although the United Kingdom is one of the richest countries in the world in cattle, the supply of dairy produce and meat is short ■ of our requirements. There are at present 3,700,000 milch cows, producing annually 1600 million gallons of milk, of which one-fourth is used for making butter and cheese ; the importation of foreign cheese and butter is now equal to the production in the United Kingdom. The farm stock in 1879 was as follows : — Number. Homed cattle .... 9,912,000 Sheep ... . 32,174,000 Horses 2,866,000 Pigs 3,390,000 The amount of capital invested by tenant farmers is variously estimated from £8 to £10 per acre, say £420,000,000 sterling, viz. — Capital. Leaseholders . . . £340,000,000 Tenants at will . . . 80,000,000 As the agricultural conditions of Great Britain and Ireland are very different, it may be well to consider them separately. Great Britain. Notwithstanding the bad crops and the depression in agricultural interests during the last few years, the actual decline in tillage is by no means so great as supposed. Comparing the returns for 1878 and 1879 with those of ten years ago, we find as follows : — 1868-1869. 187S-1879. Wheat . . 3,690,000 acres 3,025,000 acres Barley . . 2,203,000 „ 2,530,000 „ Oats . . 2,750,000 „ 2,680,000 „ Potatoes 528,000 „ 534,000 „ Turnips . 2,185,000 „ 2,020,000 „ Sundries . 1,794,000 „ 13,150,000 1,981,000 „ 12,770,000 AGRICULTURE OF UNITED KINGDOM. 129 Neither do we find reason for alarm in the returns of farming-stock, which have increased in value more than 3 per cent in ten years, the numbers being thus : — 1869. 1879. Number. Number. Horses . 2,080,000 2,291,000 Cows . . 5,436,000 5,857,000 Sheep . 30,700,000 28,152,000 Pigs . . 2,320,000 2,090,000 No country surpasses ours in the various breeds of cattle, the improvement of which is attended to at enormous out- lay. For example, in 1874, Mr. Loder paid £2000 for a calf only eight months old. The average weight of our sheep is 100 lbs. of meat, against 40 lbs. in France. The number of farmers in Great Britain being 555,000, it appears they cultivate 23 acres each under tillage, and 34 under pasture, the product being equal to £335 per annum for each farmer, or £6 per acre. The farms are divided into three classes as follows : — Number. Probable Area. Average. Under 50 acres . . 387,000 7,740,000 acres 20 acres From 50 to 100 acres . 67,000 4,700,000 „ 70 „ Over 100 acres . . 101,000 19,935,000 „ 197 J) 555,000 32,375,000 57 The above comprehends only the cultivated area of the island of Great Britain. Besides agricultural and pastoral farming, there has been recently great progress in forest-planting. The fourth Duke of Atholl, who died in 1830, boasted of having planted 28 million trees on an area of 16,500 acres. An increase is also observable in the yield of the Crown forests, from £280,000 in 1859, to £410,000 in 1879. The area underwoods in the United Kingdom is 2,516,000 acres E 130 PROGRESS OP THE "WORLD. (including orchards), equal to 3 per cent of the total super- ficies. Ireland. The Improvement since 1841 surpasses the progress made in any other country in Europe. This has arisen in great measure from the emigration of peasant farmers, whose labour was so ill-directed that in 1840 it took 67 Irishmen to raise food for 100 inhabitants. The farms are now larger, labour is more productive, and the value of farm-stock compared with population is £10 per inhabit- ant, or double the ratio of Europe. Comparing the farm- holdings of 1841 with the present, we find — 1841. 1879. No. Ratio of Total. No. Ratio of Total. From 1 to 15 acres 563,000 84 per cent 232,000 43 per cent Over 15 acres . 127,600 16 „ 298,818 57 „ No. of farms . 690,600 530,818 The holdings under 15 acres have diminished 60 per cent, while the farmers over that area have grown almost threefold. So beneficial a change has been in great measure the result of the Encumbered Estates Law, which brought to the hammer several thousand estates of insol- vent proprietors. The first sale took place on February 19, 1850, and the official report of 1860 showed for ten years, sales amounting to £25,000,000 sterling, of which the creditors took no less than £24,000,000. The estates were sold in lots averaging 400 acres, and for the first three years the prices obtained showed a medium of only £7 per acre. In recent years the average price has doubled in all parts of Ireland. Rural interests, nevertheless, suffer from the want of an "entente cordiale" between landlords and tenants. The owners of one-sixth of the country live in IMPROVEMENT OF IRELAND. 131 England or abroad, as appears from the following Table, published in 1871 : — Landlords. No. Average Estate. Area. Ratio of Ireland. Resident . 5589 1600 acres 8,950,000 acres 45 per cent Resident . 5982 60 „ 3,590,000 „ 18 ., Living in Dublin . 4496 888 „ 4,075,000 „ 21 „ Absentees . 1443 2220 „ 3,205,000 „ 16 „ 17,510 1140 „ 19,820,000 „ o o I— 1 The returns for 1878 show that there are 463,000 farmers (not counting those under five acres), which gives a ratio of thirty-four acres arable land to each, viz. — 155,000 leaseholders. 308,000 owners and tenants-at-will. 463,000 farms. They may be divided into five classes, according to extent, as follows : — rom 5 to 15 acres . 165,000 farms „ 15 „ 30 „ . 138,000 „ „ 30 ,, 100 „ 129,000 ,, „ 100 „ 500 „ . 30,300 „ Over 500 „ 1,518 „ 463,818 The result of the improved mode of farming is shown as follows : — 1841. 1876. Acres cultivated . . 13,464,000 15,345,000 Average to agricultural population 2J acres 4 acres Value of crops . . . £23,758,000 £36,470,000 Do. of farm stock . . £22,370,000 £52,430,000 Since 1841 Ireland has reclaimed 1,900,000 acres, and thus increased the capital wealth of the country by £30,000,000 sterling. Since 1841 she has taught her 132 PROGRESS OF THE WORLD. people to cultivate 60 per cent more land per head than before, and made each acre produce 40 per cent extra. Since 1841 the uncultivated area has been reduced (from 36 per cent) to 25 per cent of the total. According to Sir Robert Kane there are still 2,600,000 acres that might be reclaimed. It is stated that even at present 6 per cent of arable land is lost under hedges and fences, say 918,000 acres, which ought to produce £2,500,000 sterling per annum. The increase of farm-stock has been as follows : — 1841. 1879. Increase. Cows 1,840,000 4,067,000 120 per cent Horses 552,000 575,000 4 „ Sheep 2,091,000 4,017,000 96 „ Pigs 1,353,000 1,469,000 9 „ Value . . £22,370,000 £52,430,000 134 „ Such a development of pastoral industry has caused tillage to become of secondary importance, being less pro- fitable. Forty years ago it was computed that 3 per cent of the agricultural population of Ireland raised wheat for exportation to England. 1 At present Ireland hardly raises enough wheat for the consumption of Dublin, and has to import 33,000,000 bushels yearly. The chief decline of agriculture has been, in the last ten years, as follows : — Average, 1868-69. Average, 1878-79. Wheat . 283,000 icres 130,000 acres Oats and Barley 1,892,000 )> 1,703,000 „ Potatoes . 1,037,000 )j 876,000 „ Turnips . 321,000 ii 339,000 „ Flax 218,000 j) 128,000 „ Sundries . 1,797,000 2,128,000 „ 5,548,000 5,304,000 „ 1 Wheat shipments to England during twenty years showed an average of 20, 000, 000 bushels, enough to feed England and Scotland for three months in each year. WEALTH OF IRELAND. 133 The decline in the crops has been in similar ratio. 1868-69. 1878-79. Decrease. Wheat . . 7,150,000 bushels 3,540,000 bushels 50 per cent Oats and Barley 65,210,000 „ 64,060,000 „ If „ Potatoes . . 148,000,000 „ 116,000,000 „ 22 Flax . . 27,000 tons 24,500 tons 9 ,, Although the disastrous season of 1879 has caused severe losses in farming interests, the political economist may entertain well-grounded hopes for the future of Ireland. 1 FOOD-SUPPLY. The United Kingdom raises sufficient food for only half of its population, as shown in the following Table : — Home Grown. Imported. Total. Wheat . 45 per cent 55 per cent 100 Butter and Cheese . 53 „ 47 „ 100 Potatoes . 94 „ 6 „ 100 Meat 70 „ 30 „ 100 Only forty years ago the best economist in England, Mr. Porter, said : — " Great Britain can never obtain the bulk of her food-supply from abroad, as all the shipping in the world, say 6,000,000 tons, would be insufficient to carry food for her population." In 1878 the quantity of food im- 1 Professor Hancock's Tables for 1878 show an unprecedented ac- cumulation of wealth, viz. — Irish Banks .... £35,053,000 Government Consols . . 31,908,000 Irish Eailway Stocks, etc. . 43,639,000 £110,600,000 The bank accumulations have doubled in eighteen years, the amount in 1860 having been only £15, 609,000. The other accumulations being in like ratio point to an aggregate increase of £60,000,000 since 1860, which shows that for eighteen years Ireland has steadily accumulated £3,000,000 per annum, or almost £10,000 a day. 134 PROGRESS OF THE WORLD. ported was in excess of the tonnage of the world's shipping when Mr. Porter wrote. It is most fortunate that we ohtain supplies in such abundance from the United States and other countries. The less wheat we grow in the United Kingdom, the cheaper becomes this great element of food, and the larger the consumption. Native Market Grown. Imported. Price. Consumption. 1811-1830 . . 97 p. u. 3 p. c. 74s. 258 lbs. per inhab. 1831-1850 . • 87 „ 13 „ 55s. 270 „ „ 1851-1860 . • 70 „ 30 „ 54s. 8d. 311 „ „ 1861-1870 . • 60 „ 40 „ 52s. 335 „ „ 1871-1879 . • 45 „ 55 „ 48s. 341 „ „ Thus, in half a century the price has fallen 35 per cent, and the consumption risen 32 per cent per inhabitant. How closely the welfare of the poorer classes is identified with the price of grain has been shown by Dr. Fair, as follows : — Wheat. Death-rate. 1824-1828 . . 60s. per quarter 222 per 10,000 inhabitants 1834-1836 . . 45s. 216 This would go to prove that a rise of 2s. per bushel causes an increase of 3 per cent in the bills of mortality. 1 The relation between the price of grain and the number of paupers as taken from the tables of thirty years (see Appendix) may be summed up thus : — 1 Dr. Farr farther shows that by comparing the three years (be- tween 1830 and 1845) in which wheat was highest, with three years in which it was lowest, the death-rate of England and Wales appeared as follows : — 3 highest yeara, 227 deaths per 10,000 inhabitants. 3 lowest years, 211 deaths per 10,000 inhabitants, being a difference of 7 per cent in the mortality. FOOD SUPPLY OF UNITED KINGDOM. 135 Wheat. No. of paupers in England. Ratio to pop. 1850 to 1860 . 54s. 8d. 872,000 4^ per cent. 1861 to 1870 . 52s. 953,000 44 „ 1871 to 1878 . 48s. 880,000 3i „ At present we import nearly 6,000,000 tons grain annually, of which 2,500,000 are wheat, and 1,500,000 tons maize. The imports of 1877 and 1878 give the following average per annum : — Wheat. Tons. Value. Per ton. Russian 497,000 £5,475,000 £11 United States , 1,257,000 17,210,000 13 : 10s. Germany . 264,000 4,360,000 17 India 198,000 2,288,000 11 : : 10s. Canada 138,000 1,881,000 14 Australia . 47,000 685,000 15 Turkey 199,000 2,317,000 11 : 10s. 2,600,000 £34,216,000 £13 Other Grain , 2,850,000 17,771,000 6 Total Imports of Grain 5,450,000 £51,987,000 Besides 6^- bushels of grain per inhabitant, we consume 4 bushels of potatoes, which contain the same amount of nitrogenous stuff as 1 bushel of wheat. Adding to these the maize, oat-meal, etc., we shall have an equivalent of 10 bushels of wheat per annum for each inhabitant. The acreage under potatoes has declined one-fifth since 1871, and hence the importation of this article has sep- tupled ; at present we import 20 lbs. potatoes per inhabitant. The importation of butter, cheese, and eggs in the years 1825 to 1830 seldom exceeded £500,000 ; at present these items make up £20,000,000. The consumption has grown much more rapidly than population, showing that the people are better fed than in the last generation. The imports of butter and cheese, compared with the consumption, are as follows : — 136 PROGRESS OF THE WORLD. Native. Imported. Total. Butter . . 90,000 tons 90,000 180,000 tons Cheese . . 126,000 „ 98,000 224,000 „ 216, 000 ,, 188,000 _404,000 ,, Hence it appears that we consume annually 12 lbs. butter and 15 lbs. cheese per inhabitant. The meat consumption of the kingdom amounts to a value of £106,000,000, one-third of the total quantity being imported. Weight. Value. Native . . 1,150,000 tons £80,000,000 Imported . . 520,000 ,, 26,000,000 1,670,000 ,, £106,000,000 This is equivalent to 1 cwt. per inhabitant, which is three times the ratio of consumption on the Continent. Since 1852 the importation of bacon has increased forty- fold, being now 1 70,000 tons, or one-third of the meat-sup- ply from abroad : this bacon represents 3,000,000 hogs, or rather the maize crop of 3,000,000 acres, packed close in barrels under the form of American hams, to feed one- tenth of our inhabitants. We also receive from the United States and Canada 170,000 tons of beef, including live cattle, and meat packed in ice-chambers. Furthermore, we draw supplies from Holland, Denmark, and other countries. But for this import of meat we should see beef and mutton at famine prices, for even with this aid from abroad the market rates are 50 per cent higher than 25 years ago. 1845-55 ... 4s. 4d. per stone 1875-79 ... 6s. 6d. „ „ As soon as electricity or some other motive power, cheaper than coal, be devised, the great cattle farms of Australia and South America will be brought nearer to FOOD SUPPLY OF UNITED KINGDOM. 137 Great Britain, for food, after all, is a question of freight. In the eighteenth century London often paid famine prices for beef, while the highest price north of the Tweed was only 1 Jd. per lb. Besides the above chief articles of food, we are indebted to foreign nations for what are unjustly termed luxuries, and the consumption whereof is also rapidly increasing. I860. 1877. Sugar . . . 33 lbs. per inhab. 63 lbs. per inhab. Tea ... 2-^ ,, ,, 4^ ,, ,, Coffee and cocoa . 1^ ,, ,, 1£ ,, ,, Tobacco . . 1£ „ „ H „ ,, "Wine. . . jgaL „ i gal. „ Coffee has declined 22 per cent, but the consumption of cocoa is now three times as much per inhabitant as in 1860. The consumption of liquor has increased very notably in the last twenty years, and shows that some efforts must be made to check it. Per 100 inliab. 1S40. 1860. 1S77 Spirits 97 gallons 93 96 Beer 2400 „ 2200 3300 Wine 25 „ 22 53 In fact the consumption of alcohol, per head, is almost 38 per cent more than it was in 1860, as will be seen by reducing all the above to spirit level. 1 Alcohol. 1S40 . 325 gallons per 100 inhabitants 1860 . . 301 1877 . - 402 The relative consumption in each of the three kingdoms has increased as follows in the last ten years (reducing all to alcohol, as above) : — 1 At the rate of 11 gallons beer to 1 gallon spirits, and 33 gallons wine to 10 gallons spirit (Professor Levi). 138 PROGRESS OF THE WORLD. Per 100 inhabitants. 186S. 1877. Increase. England and "Wales . 401 gallons 440 gallons 10 per cent Scotland . 275 „ 361 „ 32 „ Ireland 170 „ 243 „ 40 „ United Kingdom 353 „ 402 „ 14 „ If the above returns for 1877 be dissected, they will be found made up as follows : — England. Scotland. Ireland. Total. Spirits 16,415,000 gals. 7,006,000 gals. 6,381,000 gals. 29,802,000 Beer 1 982,000,000 „ 54,000,000 „ 59,000,000 „ 1,095,000,000 Wine ... ... ... 17,565,000 The value of liquor consumed has risen as follows : — Gallons alcohol. Value. Per inhabitant. 1868 . 106 million £118,000,000 78 shillings 1877 . 136 „ 152,000,000 96 This is nearly £5 per head ; and it seems the working- classes spend relatively ten times as much on liquor as the educated classes. For example, the London clubs, in 1877- 78, showed a consumption equal to Is. 6d. daily for each member, which is less than the cost of a pint of wine. In Paris the average is said to be 10 francs, or 8s. per head, in the hotels and clubs. Since the reduction of the wine duties in England (from 6s. to Is.) by the Cobden treaty, the importation of wine has risen from 6 J to 17 million gallons — ten millions from Spain and Portugal, and six millions from France. Drunkenness meantime has increased notably among the lower classes, especially at Glasgow and Liverpool. Sheriff Alison says, "In Glasgow 30,000 people get drunk every Saturday night, and crime has increased six times faster than population, while the death-rate is (after Dublin) the highest in the United Kingdom." In Scot- 1 Bushels of malt 54,162,000 for England. „ „ 3,022,000 for Scotland. „ „ 3,343,000 for Ireland. EVILS OF INTEMPERANCE. 139 land this vice is greatest on Sundays, as appears from the police-records : — Average during the week . . . 450 cases daily „ on Saturday and Sunday . 840 „ „ making 200,000 cases per annum, or 1 in 27 of the population. The number of drunkards in Liverpool is also very great, comparing with two other English towns as follows : — ' Drunk in pop. Liverpool . . . 1 in 24 Nottingham . . 1 „ 112 Norwich . . . 1 „ 367 The convictions for drunkenness in England and Wales have risen as follows: — x Per annum. Ratio of pop. 1857-1860 . 52,100 2\ per 1000 1867-1870 . 90,600 i 1875-1878 . . 204,000 8 „ It appears that 85 per cent are men, and 15 per cent women, the same proportion of sexes as is found also on the criminal calendar. Dr. Gilbert asserts that 54 per cent of the cases of insanity in the United Kingdom arise from drink, but the director of Colney Hatch Asylum re- ports only 38 per cent. Mr. Neison's Tables show that habits of intemperance produce death as follows : — "Women die in 14 years Gentlemen ! 15 „ Tradesmen ) , 17 , Mechanics ) , 18 , Beer kills in 22 , Spirits , 17 , Both mixed ) , 16 , The expectancy of life for a drunkard, as compared with a sober person, is as follows : — 1 Pres. Shaw Lefevre's address in 1877. 140 PROGRESS OF THE WORLD. Age. Drunk. Sober. 20 15 years 44 years 30 • H „ 36 „ 40 • 11 „ 29 „ Deaths from drunkenness averaged 29 per million in- habitants in 1870, rising to 34 in 1873, and to 45 per million in 1874. The ratio of sexes was as 77 males to 23 females. CONDITION OF THE PEOPLE. So great is the change in this respect during the present century, that we should find it intolerable to return to the modus vivendi of our grandfathers. No railways or steamboats, no gas or water-supply, no telegraph or penny post, no cheap newspapers or books, no civil rights for dissenters, no schools or libraries for the poor, no police, no lifeboat associations, — in a word, few of the appliances of modern civilisation. On the other hand, many of the institutions of that time were barbarous. There are persons still living in London who may have assisted at the execution of the Eev. Thomas Scott Smyth, for performing divine service at St. Martins-in-Fields with a false license ; as there are also many who can remember seeing people hanged for sheep-stealing or fraudulent bankruptcy. Until 1824 it was a punishable offence for any one to shear a sheep within 5 miles of the sea-coast, the law also forbidding the exportation of wool. It is within a still later period that the Navigation laws, the restrictions on aliens, the impressment of seamen, and a host of other prejudicial codes and practices have been swept away, to allow the proper development of trade and progress. But it is not so much with the laws or manners of the past generation that we should compare present English society, as with the condition of surrounding CONDITION OF THE PEOPLE. 141 nations. Our people are better fed, can do more work, and possess a greater amount of national wealth, than any other nation. Our banks, shipping, railways, docks, and other elements of national industry, have doubled during the last twenty -five years, and all the comforts of life are more within the reach of the million than before. Schools and libraries have multiplied, as also charitable institutions, and the statistics of crime for the United Kingdom in 1877 show a decline of 64 per cent since 1840. The condition of women has notably improved : as the Edinburgh Review says, " Instead of 6,000,000 adult English women depending on the men for support, 3,000,000 now earn their living, of whom 2,000,000 are independent, including 1,071,000 housemaids, 362,000 milliners, 232,000 laundresses, 85,000 teachers, and 86,000 who keep lodging-houses." Taxation is lighter, the National Debt has been reduced, our habitations are improved, the value of houses built in the last seventy years being estimated by the Builder at £1,220,000,000 sterling. The rate of mortality has been so lowered by sanitary improvements that the span of life is now six years longer than half a century ago. The middle classes enjoy more comforts than noblemen could command in the last century. Their habits are so ameliorated that drunkenness is no longer regarded as a fashionable vice, but a degradation. They possess civil rights on the amplest basis, and the masterpieces of learning that were formerly reserved for the owners of palaces and libraries are now found in the dwellings of merchants, shopkeepers, and artisans. The rights of citizenship have been extended in recent years in the following manner : — 142 PROGRESS OF THE WORLD. 1834-35. 1878-79. Ratio to pop. Ratio to pop. Voters in England . . 668,000 4J per cent 2,416,000 10 per cent Do. „ Scotland . . 73,000 3 „ 304,000 8J „ Do. „ Ireland . . . 98,000 1J „ 231,000 4* „ Do. „ UnitedKingdom839,000 3% „ 2,951,000 8| „ The amount of national wealth, as taken from the income- tax returns, represented by each voter in the three kingdoms is as follows :— In England . £200 per head „ Scotland 177 „ „ Ireland . 153 „ „ United Kingdom . 190 „ If we compare the wages of the working-classes fifty years ago, and the price of grain, with those of the present day, we see how much improvement has taken place in the condition of those classes : — Wheat Masons' wages . Farm-servants' wages Blacksmiths' „ 1821-1840. 58s. per bushel 6d. per hour 10s. per week 25s „ 1865-1875. 50s. per bushel 9d. per hour 16s. per week 32s. Cotton-spinners' „ 16s. 24s. In fine, wages have risen 50 per cent, while none of the necessaries (except meat), and few of the comforts of life, are 10 per cent dearer. Mr. Brassey further shows us that wages in England are higher than on the Continent. The superior skill and strength of English workmen are admitted. " A Frenchman," says M. Taine, " works best the first two hours and less well every hour afterwards ; an Englishman as efficiently the last hour as at the commencement, and does as much work in ten hours as a Frenchman in twelve." The late Mr. Brassey ascribed his success in carrying out many great works on the Continent to a body of 5000 English navvies who accompanied him everywhere. No less CONDITION OF THE PEOPLE. 143 conclusive is Mr. Redgrave's factory report that "an English operative does as much in 60 hours as a German in 90 ; and that the average of spindles to each workman is 50 per cent more than on the Continent." Nevertheless, the British Consul in New York states that he believes Americans get more work out of their operatives, because they are more sober than the same class in England. ; No more conclusive proof can be adduced of the im- proved condition of our people than the decline in the criminal calendar, and in the number of paupers : — 1840-50. 1870-77. Convictions •in England 1 in 830 inhab. 1 in 1890 inhab. >> „ Scotland 1 in 875 „ 1 in 1440 „ >> „ Ireland 1 in 571 „ 1 in 2048 „ JI „ United Kingdom 1 in 725 „ 1 in 1880 „ Paupers jj u )> 1 in 21 „ 1 in 33 „ There are many problems which still occupy the minds of statesmen, especially the relations between lab6ur and capital. The experience, however, of recent years shows that capital has no more than its fair share of profit, and that the wages of artisans have risen far more than the earnings of the educated classes. * MANUFACTURES. " But for our skill in manufactures we should never have been able to carry on successfully the great war against Buonaparte." — Porter. No country in ancient or modern times has surpassed 1 Mr. Howell, in his examination before the House of Commons, said, "Architects and contractors have to work cheaper now than forty years ago, although the wages of masons and bricklayers have risen 50 per cent. Each block in the fluted columns of the British Museum cost £5, but I should be glad now to get the contract for 70s. apiece. " 144 PROGRESS OF THE WORLD. England in manufactures. The actual importance of her mineral and manufacturing industry may be summed up as follows : — Textile Factories . Mines .... Metals, Machinery, etc. Liquor .... Sundries " What are all the treasures of Potosi or Mexico," says Michel Chevalier, " compared with the magnitude or the beneficent effects of British manufactures 1 The New Worldsent to Europein three centuries about £1,240, 000,000 sterling of gold and silver, say £4,000,000 per annum. The cotton-factories of England produce twenty times as much yearly ! " The following Table shows the growth of motive power in the mills of the United Kingdom : — Operatives. Product. 1,006,000 £190,000,000 475,000 66,000,000 530,000 100,000,000 100,000 148,000,000 819,000 161,000,000 2,930,000 £665,000,000 Steam. Water. Total. 1838 . 75,083 horse-power 27,900 102,983 horse-power 1861 . 375,200 27,300 402,500 1876 . . 2,000,000 It would require 50 millions of workmen to supply the place of the above 200,000 steam-boilers. Cottons. — As Spain ruined her industries by expelling the Moors and Jews, our country, on the other hand, owes some of its greatest manufactures to the generous asylum offered to foreigners. The first cotton-printer was a French- man who settled at Twickenham in 1676. The industry, however, attained no importance till the nineteenth century. The first shipment of cotton from the United States was in 1791, consisting of 91 tons. The marvellous growth of the cotton-trade is fully described elsewhere (page 495), for cotton now holds the foremost place in the manufactures of BRITISH MANUFACTURES. 145 the world. During the last fifty years other countries have begun to rival the United States as cotton-growers, as appears from the following Table of our imports of raw cotton : — 18S5-37. 1875-78. From United States 300,000,000 lbs. per an. 850,000,000 lbs. per an. I „ India . . 50,000,000 „ 350,000,000 „ „ Brazil . . 25,000,000 „ 100,000,000 „ „ Egypt, Turkey, etc. . . 10,000,000 „ 200,000,000 385,000,000 „ 1,500,000,000 The actual consumption does not exceed 1300 million lbs., worth £34,000,000 sterling; and the value of manu- factured goods averaged for many years £100,000,000, but is now nearly 10 per cent less. Cartwright's and Ark- wright's 1 inventions were of the highest importance in the cotton and woollen manufactures at the beginning of the century. A mule-frame (says Yeats) that used to work twenty spindles now works 3000, and each spindle pro- duces fifty times as much as in 1820. The quantity of fabric turned out daily from the mills exceeds 8000 miles of cotton cloth. The mills contain 39^- million spindles, and employ 480,000 operatives. Other countries vainly compete with us in this industry, our operatives being much more skilful. The average number of spindles to each workman is eighty-three in England, and from forty- six downwards on the Continent. Woollens. — Until the nineteenth century this was the principal industry of our mills. In 1801 the total manu- factures of Great Britain were valued at £60,000,000, of 1 Both were ultimately rewarded for their inventions. Mr. Ark- wright was knighted ; the Bev. Mr. Cartwright received a grant of £10,000. L 1 46 PROGRESS OF THE WORLD. which woollens represented more than one-fourth. Since then the production has quadrupled : — 1801 .... £17,400,000 1850 .... 31,200,000 1876 .... 67,000,000 The mills count more than 5 million spindles, and 279,000 operatives. The consumption of wool is about 380 million lbs., including 220 million imported from Australia and South Africa, the imports of wool having trebled in the last twenty years. The absurd law of the Commonwealth ' against exporting English wool was not repealed till 1825. So far from the ruin of the trade en- suing, as predicted, the export of English woollen goods rose 50 per cent in nine years (1834), owing to the improvements borrowed from the French. The clip in England is now 20 per cent more than fifty years ago. We consume in our mills one-fourth the clip of the world. Linens. — Down to 1830 the British Government paid a subsidy of about £300,000 annually to the linen manu- facturers of Ireland, being equivalent to 15 per cent of the value of linen produced, by which means Irish manu- facturers were enabled to sell their linen to people of various countries for less than the cost of production. So absurd a system was invented by William III. to compensate Ire- land for the laws that he was compelled to pass to shut up the woollen factories in that country at the request of English manufacturers. Upon the suppression of the pro- tective "bounties" or subsidy in 1830 the linen trade by no means collapsed, but assumed greater dimensions, the manufacturers being compelled to introduce many improve- ments, before disregarded, and to produce the linen with a due consideration for economy. 1 Passed a year after Cromwell's death. BRITISH MANUFACTURES. 147 Annual Exports. 1820 to 1823 . . 46 million yards. 1830 to 1833 61 At the beginning of the century the Irish mills turned out linen to the value of £2,500,000 or £3,000,000 ster- ling per annum, including 40,000,000 yards for exporta- tion, chiefly to England. Subsequently mills were erected in England and Scotland, with such success that in 1832 Dundee exported more linen than the whole of Ireland. The trade returns of Dundee for that year showed a con- sumption of 15,000 tons of flax, and a production of 50,000,000 yards of linen. The growth of the linen trade since 1830-32 is shown as follows: — 1830-32. 1875-78. Average. Average. Exports . . . 61,000,000 yards. 300,000,000 yards. Value of manufactures £7,000,000 £22,000,000 „ exports . 2,500,000 11,000,000 Operatives employed 172,000 144,000 Thus we are able with improved machinery to produce three times as much linen fabrics as fifty years ago, em- ploying a smaller number of operatives. The mills contain 1,500,000 spindles. As the flax grown in Ireland is barely one-fifth of the required quantity, Great Britain pays £6,000,000 yearly for imported fibre, two-thirds being obtained from Russia ; the annual imports from all coun- tries averaging 110,000 tons. The mills consume 136,000 tons per annum, worth £7,000,000 sterling. Silk. — In 1824 was repealed the law of Henry VII. against importing French silks. The manufacture rose steadily in value until 1860, from which date it has de- clined, but the quantity of goods manufactured has not fallen off in like manner. 148 PROGRESS OF THE WORLD. Imports Value of of raw silk. manufactures. 1840 . 5,000,000 lbs. £9,000,000 1860 . 9,500,000 ,, 10,500,000 1870 . 10,000,000 „ 9,500,000 More than half the raw silk imported is afterwards exported to the Continent. The mills have 12,400 steam- looms and 1,130,000 spindles, worked hy 48,000 operatives. In 1835 Porter found that the consumption of silk manu- factures was 8s. per inhabitant in England, and 8d. per head in France. At present it averages 1 2s. in the United Kingdom, between home-made and imported fabrics. This industry came into England, as is supposed, with some French prisoners after the battle of Crecy. An effort was made in the last century to turn Chelsea Hospital into an establishment for growing silkworms, which failed : the climate proved fatal to a similar attempt at Cork, in 1835, when the surviving worms were removed to Malta. Hardware. — There are 530,000 operatives engaged in hardware, cutlery, and the manufacture of machinery. The raw material is valued at £20,000,000, and the manu- factured goods reach £100,000,000, of which one-third is exported, the rest being kept for home consumption. Until recently the hardware industry of Great Britain was equal to that of all the rest of the world put together. Although no longer without a rival, she is still far ahead of all com- petitors. It was supposed that the invention of Bessemer steel would be almost fatal to our trade, but the returns for 1877 show that out of 94 Bessemer factories in the world, there are 21 in Great Britain. 1 Such has been the progress of steel, cutlery, and all 1 Before Bessemer's invention the annual production of steel in Great Britain was only 51,000 tons : in 1873 it rose to 480,000 tons. BRITISH MANUFACTURES. 149 species of hardware 1 manufactures, that Sheffield and Birmingham have quadrupled their population in a life- time — 1811. 1880. Sheffield 53,000 284,000 Birmingham . . 86,000 380,000 The export of hardware and machinery has risen as follows : — 1820 . . £1,920,000 1840 3,793,000 1878 . . 37,200,000 The iron consumed in our manufactures is about 2,500,000 tons, or less than half the quantity we produce, the rest being exported. We also use about 30,000 tons of superior Swedish iron, and an equal quantity from Biscay, especially suited for steel. Our copper manufac- tures consume £4,500,000 sterling of this metal, which is imported from Chile and United States. Our tin factories require 15,000 tons, worth £3,000,000 sterling, two-thirds of which is imported from Australia, East Indies, or Prussia. The total value of hardware manufactures in 1801 was £16,500,000 ; it follows, therefore, that the industry has multiplied six-fold. It appears that the total manufactures of the kingdom amount to £665,000,000, the work of 2,930,000 opera- tives, say £224 per head. Deducting the exports, the balance for home consumption is about £460,000,000, or £14 per inhabitant. The above, of course, includes minerals, which may nevertheless be considered at greater length in a distinct chapter. 1 The manufacture of pins averages 50,000,000 daily, or nearly three times the quantity produced in 1840. 150 progress of the world. Minerals of Great Britain. The value of coal and iron extracted from the mines of Great Britain in twenty-five years (1854-1879) has been £1,076,000,000, or nearly equivalent to the yield of the gold and silver mines of Spanish America in three centu- ries. The development of our mineral resources has been as follows : — 1800-1S05. 1835 to 1840. 1875 to 1879. Coal . . £3,000,000 £10,000,000 £47,000,000 per ann. Iron . . . 2,000,000 7,000,000 16,000,000 ,, Copper, tin, salt, etc. 1,000,000 3,000,000 3,000,000 „ Total . £6,000,000 £20,000,000 £66,000,000 Coal. — The production has increased thirteen-fold, more than keeping pace with our manufactures, which have grown eleven-fold since the beginning of the century. The output in 1801 to 1805 averaged 10,000,000 tons, of which one-fourth was shipped at Newcastle and Sunderland, the rest conveyed inland. The duty of 75 per cent imposed by William III. on coal, even for consumption in England, was such an obstacle to the manufacturing and general industry of the kingdom, that it was abolished in 1830. This caused the price in London to fall from 50s. to 17s. per ton, whereupon the consumption rose rapidly. At the same time the invention of steamboats and railways in- creased the demand, and in 1853 the output reached 54,000,000 tons. As foreign countries constructed rail- ways, the exportation of English coal increased year by year, while the onward march of British manufactures gave equal impetus to the home consumption. At present the annual demand reaches 135,000,000 tons, viz. — BRITISH COAL AND IRON. 151 British factories Railways and steamers Gas and water companies Domestic use Exportation 46,000,000 tons. 25,000,000 „ 14,000,000 ,, 30,000,000 ,, 20,000,000 „ 135,000,000 Great Britain raises one - half the coal consumed in the whole world. It has been supposed that our coal-fields will hardly last more than 200 years longer, but the result of the Parliamentary inquiry rather indicated a sufficient supply for six centuries to come. A new coal-field of Durham is now worked some miles under the sea. More- over, electricity has begun to supplant coal-gas, and also to take the place of steam ' as a motive power, which will reduce the demand upon our coal-fields. Iron. — In the earlier part of the century (1801-1805) we imported 20 per cent more iron than we exported. The invention of Neilson's hot-blast, in 1828, gave an ex- traordinary impulse to the industry, by cheapening the production of pig-iron from ore. Previous to that time it required four tons coal for a ton of pig-iron ; but this was reduced by Neilson almost one-half, and subsequent im- provements have caused a still greater economy of fuel. The iron ore of England gives about 40 per cent metal — that is, 2 \ tons ore equal to 1 ton pig-iron. The relation which Great Britain bears to the world is as follows : — Ore. Pig-iron. Great Britain . 16 million tons 64 million tons Best of world 22 „ 84 „ 38 15 The production of pig-iron in Great Britain has grown as follows : — 1 See page 78. 152 PROGRESS OF THE WORLD. 1802 . . . 227,000 tons. 1848 . . . 1,998,000 „ 1877 . . . 6,608,000 „ This enormous increase was chiefly due to the construc- tion of 150,000 miles of railway, in all parts of the world. It was also, in some measure, caused by the building of steamers and sailing vessels of iron instead of wood. The annual consumption of iron in the United Kingdom is much greater per inhabitant than in any other country (see page 69). The weight of coal and iron annually exported by Great Britain is over twenty million tons — enough to freight all the vessels in the world. Copper, Lead, Tin. — These minerals are of secondary im- portance, and their annual production may be briefly noticed as follows : — 1801-1806. 1877-1878. Annual average. Annual average. Copper . £600,000 £340,000 Tin 300,000 700,000 Salt 100,000 1,500,000 Lead, silver, etc. 500,000 2,460,000 £1,500,000 £5,000,000 Previous to 1823 salt was subject to a duty thirty times its own value. Since the repeal of the duty the production has increased tenfold, being now close on three million tons. The average output of miners is increasing, as shown thus : — Mineral extracted. Miners. Per head. 1876 . . 149 million tons 515,000 290 tons. 1878 . . 146 „ „ 475,000 307 „ The above includes not only coal and iron, but all other minerals. Railways and Canals. The first Eailway Bill passed by Parliament was for a BRITISH RAILWAYS AND CANALS. 153 line from Wandsworth to Croydon, in 1801 ; but a quarter of a century elapsed before the first line was actually con- structed for carrying passengers between Stockton and Darlington. People still living can remember the mail- coaches that plied once a month between Edinburgh and London, making the journey in twelve or fourteen days. The Annual Register of 1820 boasts that "English mail- coaches run 7 miles an hour; French only 4 \ miles; the former travelling, in the year, forty times the length of miles that the French accomplish." These coaches were a great improvement on the previous method of send- ing the mails, and were even preferable to " the canal fly- boats." Canals were very popular at the beginning of the century. We read of six times the required capital having been subscribed for two or three enterprises of this kind. Freight was so dear by the old system of waggons, that canals came to be regarded as boons to commerce. Thus, a ton of merchandise from Liverpool to Manchester used to cost forty shillings by waggon ; but when the Duke of Bridgewater built his canal, 2 he charged only six shillings a ton for freight between those places. So rapidly were canals introduced, that at the time when Huskisson inau- gurated the railway from Liverpool to Manchester, there were 4000 miles of canals and canalised rivers, representing an outlay of £30,000,000. The ordinary freight was 4d. a mile per ton ; from London to Birmingham, 113 miles, 40s. ; from London to Manchester, 200 miles, 70s. The annual traffic on all the canals reached 20 million tons, or 1 In 1783 a petition to Parliament stated that "the mails are gener- ally entrusted to some idle boy, without character, mounted on a worn-out hack." 2 Previous to the opening of the Bridgewater Canal, the Manchester merchants lived on oatmeal. — (Smiles.) 154 PROGRESS OF THE WORLD. as much as our railways now carry in a month. When railways were proposed, the advantages over the mail- coaches and canals were not at first perceived ; but at present it is easy to compare them. Passengers (1st class) Merchandise, per ton Speed of travel Before railways. 8d. a mile. 4d. „ 100 miles per day. Since railways. 3d. a mile. Id. „ 100 miles in two hours. Railways have almost trebled their length of miles since 1850, and the principal features of traffic may be com- pared as follows : — 1850. 1878. 6,620 17,333 £240,000,000 £698,500,000 72,000,000 565,000,000 1 £13,500,000 £62,863,000 £1020 per mile. £1712 per mile. 3 per cent. 4J per cent. Miles open Cost of construction No. of passengers Receipts . Net earnings . Profit on capital The number of passengers killed per million declined steadily during thirty years until 1873, from which time it has risen rapidly ; the ratio for six years, ending De- cember 1879, was exactly double that of three years pre- ceding, namely 1871-72-73. Nevertheless our ratio is lower than that of all other countries except Germany, and shows as follows for the last thirty-three years : — Ratio of deaths. Passengers, per annum 1847-49 . 1 in 4,782,000 58 millions. 1856-59 1 in 8,708,000 139 )> 1866-69 1 in 12,941,000 295 n 1871-73 1 in 20,083,000 418 „ 1874-78 . 1 in 11,688,000 525 » 1879 . lin 5,350,000 621 „ The various railways in the United Kingdom employ an army of 276,000 men, and no fewer than 176 railway directors have seats in Parliament. Besides the railways 1 Not including holders of season tickets. PERIOD OF MAIL COACHES. 155 there are 127,000 miles of excellent highroads, the main- tenance of which costs £1,500,000 sterling per annum. Yet it is barely one hundred years since Arthur Young described the turnpike road between Preston and Wigan as follows : — " This infernal road is to be avoided as the devil. I have measured ruts four feet deep. In some places loose stones are thrown in as if for repairs, and in eighteen miles I counted three carts broken down." And even so recently as 1837 the total number of mail-coaches was as follows : — England and Wales ... 103 Ireland 30 Scotland. . ... 10 143 Of this number 27 left London every night at 8 o'clock to travel a total of 5500 miles to their destination. In 1834 Mr. Porter ascertained that 82,000 persons travelled daily in Great Britain, an average of 12 miles, at a cost of 5 shillings. In 1873 there were 1,500,000 passengers daily, averaging 8 J miles, at a cost of 13 pence. So tedi- ous and expensive was travelling at the close of the eighteenth century, that a post-chaise for a family of four persons usually took four days from London to Holyhead, and the cost of the journey was £75 sterling. In Scotland there were few roads or bridges till Mr. Telford took them in hand, constructing 1200 bridges and 900 miles of high- way, between the years 1800 and 1820. Commerce. At the period when our grandfathers spent £831,000,000 to overthrow Buonaparte the commerce of the British Empire did not exceed £60,000,000. At present it reaches 156 PROGRESS OF THE WORLD. £966,000,000, showing that it doubles every twenty years. This includes the trade of the Colonies, being made up thus : — Imports. Exports. Total. United Kingdom . £367,000,000 £234,000,000 £601,000,000 Colonies . . . 150,000,000 170,000,000 320,000,000 £517,000,000 £404,000,000 £921,000,000 The above sums are equal to 35 per cent of the imports, and 30 per cent of the exports of the world. If we set aside the Colonies and consider only the United Kingdom, it will be seen that our imports are 50 per cent over our exports. The growth of trade in the last sixty-three years has been as follows : — 1816-1820 . 1821-1830 . 1831-1840 . 1841-1850 . 1851-1860 . 1861-1870 , 1871-1878 , Imports. Exports. Total. £32,000,000 p. ann. £51,000,000 p. ann. £84,000,000 40,000,000 54,000,000 83,000,000 153,000,000 270,000,000 367,000,000 Average 63 years £144,000,000 46,000,000 57,000,000 75,000,000 121,000,000 213,000,000 279,000,000 £121,000,000 86,000,000 111,000,000 158,000,000 274,000,000 483,000,000 646,000,000 £265,000,000 The balance against the United Kingdom has been £1,449,000,000, say £23,000,000 per annum. It must, however, be noted that down to 1 840 the exports exceeded imports, so that the balance against us is not quite forty years' growth, and has therefore averaged nearly £40,000,000 per annum, increasing in the following manner : — Surplus imports. Ratio over exports 1841-1850 . £8,000,000 11 per cent 1851-1860 . 32,000,000 26 „ 1861-1870 . 57,000,000 27 „ 1871-1878 . 88,000,000 31J „ CURRENT OF SPECIE. 157 The balance of trade for the last three years has been still more unfavourable than shown above, since we find (1876-77-78) that imports averaged £378,000,000, and exports only £248,000,000, the former being, therefore, 53 per cent over the latter. The current of specie for the last sixteen years has been as follows : — Ratio of Imported. Exported. Surplus. imported and exported. 1863-66 . £28,377,000 per an. £21,605,000 £6,772,000 100 to 75 1867-70 . 24,658,000 „ 17,460,000 7,198,000 100 to 70 1871-74 . 32,981,000 „ 28,962,000 4,019,000 100 to 87 1875-78 . 34,973,000 „ 30,894,000 4,079,000 100 to 88 Averagi 3 30,251,000 „ 24,750,000 5,501,000 100 to 82 This shows an influx of £88,000,000 in the last six- teen years, although the balance of trade was so heavily against us. 1863-1878. Imports of merchandise (16 years) . . £5,144,000,000 Exports of do. „ . . 4,036,000,000 Balance against Great Britain £1,108,000,000 There are but three countries that send us more specie than we send them in return, the average for sixteen years showing as follows : — Imports from. Exports to. Difference. United States . £8,096,000 £710,000 £7,386,000 imports Spanish America 6,690,000 1,340,000 5,350,000 Australia . 6,185,000 35,000 6,150,000 France 2,494,000 6,434,000 3,940,000 exports Germany . 2,320,000 3,650,000 1,330,000 Egypt and India 1,436,000 7,050,000 5,614,000 Belgium and Holland 850,000 2,060,000 1,210,000 Spain and Portugal . 240,000 1,790,000 1,550,000 Other Countries 1,939,000 1,731,000 £24,800,000 208,000 imports £30,250,000 £5,450,000 158 PROGRESS OP THE WORLD. Taking the various countries as they stand upon our trade-list, we find that the British Colonies hold the first place, and our commerce with them is increasing more rapidly than with the rest of the world in general : — 1868. 1878. Increase. Trade with Colonies . £114,000,000 £163,000,000 43 per cent With foreign countries 408,000,000 484,000,000 19 „ £522,000,000 £647,000,000 24 Whether owing to the amount of British capital invested in the Colonies, or from whatever cause, it is remarkable that we receive from them 50 per cent over the value of our exports thither. Our second customer is the United States, with which country our relations have grown, during the last ten years, even in greater ratio than with our Colonies, and four times more than with other foreign countries, viz. — 1868. 1878. Increase. United States . . £64,000,000 £93,000,000 45 per cent Other Countries . 344,000,000 391,000,000 13| „ £408,000,000 £484,000,000 23 „ The balance of trade for ten years shows a sum of £394,000,000 against Great Britain and in favour of the United States, which is by some supposed to be met by shipment of United States bonds heretofore held in England. Meantime the imports of precious metals from the United States, as we have seen, average annually £7,000,000 ster- ling more than we send thither. The United States blue- books indicate how much the Americans prefer trading with Great Britain rather than with other countries : — 1821. 1869. 1877. Trade with England . . 34 per cent 40 per cent 42 per cent „ „ Other Countries 66 „ 60 „ 58 „ 100 ,, 100 „ 100 BRITISH COMMERCE. 159 In fact, American commerce is gradually leaving other channels to flow in increased volume towards the mother- country. France occupies . the third place, our trade with that country taking prodigious development after the Cobden treaty of 1864; imports have increased 400, and exports 150 per cent in twenty- two years. The balance of trade averages £30,000,000 a year against us, yet the outflow of bullion is under four millions per annum. As an instance of the increasing relations with Great Britain, the French blue-books give the following : — 1868. 1877. Trade with Great Britain . . 14 per cent 21 per cent „ „ Other Countries . .86 „ 79 „ 100 „ 100 „ The inference in this case is the same as in the United States, namely that the French people find it better to deal with the English than with other nations. Fourth on our list stand the Low Countries (Holland and Belgium) whose trade with Great Britain has increased 42 per cent in the last ten years. Our imports from the Low Countries are double our exports thither, but we only send them £1,250,000 in precious metal to pay the difference. Germany is our fifth customer, and her dealings with us have grown 28 per cent in the last seven years. Al- though the balance of trade during that period averaged £10,000,000 yearly against us, the current of bullion from England to Germany is under £1,500,000. Spanish America comes next, including the sixteen Republics from Mexico to Cape Horn, and the Empire of Brazil. Ten years ago our trade with that part of the world was 24 per cent more than it is at present. The decline is readily accounted for by the fact that ten of the Republics 160 PROGRESS OF THE WORLD. suspended payment, four compounded with their creditors, and only two 1 honourably met their engagements. Russia holds seventh place, and our relations with her are also on the decline, having fallen 10 per cent in seven years. Our imports from Russia average three times the annual value of our exports thither, yet we send back only £1,000,000 per annum in bullion to cover the deficit. Our trade with China is almost equal to that with Russia, and is remarkable for absorbing much silver. Spain and Portugal occupy the ninth place among our customers, and our trade with the Peninsula has grown 50 per cent since 1868. The balance of trade is against us as five to two, and those countries take from us in specie £1,500,000 per annum. The Scandinavian kingdoms of Denmark, Sweden, and Norway have trebled their trade with us since 1861, imports from those countries being double the amount of our ex- ports to them. Turkey and Egypt used to hold the seventh rank, but have now descended to the eleventh, the trade with them having fallen 35 per cent in twelve years. Italy is our twelfth customer, and stands for 2 per cent of our trade. It is the only country with which we deal that shows a balance of trade in favour of Great Britain. The above twelve countries make up 9 1 per cent of our trade, the remaining 9 per cent being shared among a number of insignificant States. The average trade in 1876-77-78 is summed up thus : — Imports. Exports. Articles of food £153,000,000 Textile fabrics . . .£121,000,000 Cotton and wool 58,000,000 Hardware and machinery 33,000,000 Sundries . . . 167,000,000 Sundries 94,000,000 £378,000,000 £248,000,000 1 Chile and the Argentine Eepublic. COMMERCE OF GREAT BRITAIN. 161 We import 540,000 tons of cotton, at a cost of £34,000,000 sterling, two-thirds from the United States, the rest from India, Egypt, and Brazil (see page 145) ; also 160,000 tons wool, worth £24,000,000 sterling, chiefly from the Cape and Australian colonies. The increase in the principal items of our import trade has been as fol- lows : — 1829-1831. 1877-1878. Grain, meat, butter £3,000,000 per annum £101,000,000 per annum Cotton and wool . 9,000,000 » 58,000,000 Sugar, tea, coffee . 13,000,000 19 44,000,000 Silks and raw silk _ . 2,000,000 >! 17,000,000 "Wine . 2,000,000 )J 9,000,000 Timber and metals . 1,500,000 >) 28,000,000 Hides and tallow . 2,000,000 I> 8,000,000 Sundries 13,500,000 >I 113,000,000 £46,000,000 £378,000,000 The exports have been alluded to in the chapter on Manufactures. Shipping. The number of vessels carrying the British flag is greater than that of any other nation in ancient or modern times, and the tonnage of our merchant navy has grown as follows : — United Kingdom. Colonies. TotaL 1810 . 2,211,000 tons 215,000 tons 2,426,000 tons 1830 . 2,201,000 „ 330,000 „ 2,532,000 „ 1850 . 3,565,000 „ 668,000 „ 4,332,000 „ 1870 . 5,691,000 „ 1,458,000 „ 7,149,000 „ 1877 . 6,399,000 „ 1,735,000 „ 8,134,000 „ During forty years of the Navigation Laws our shipping increased 49,000 tons per annum ; in twenty-nine years since the repeal of those laws the increase has been 131,000 tons .yearly. The shipping of our Colonies is growing faster than that of the United Kingdom, the ratio showing thus : — M 162 PROGRESS OF THE WORLD. United Kingdom. Colonial. Total. 1820 . . 91 per cent 9 per cent 100 per cent 1840 . ■ 82 „ 18 „ 100 „ 1870 . • 80 „ 20 „ 100 „ 1877 . • 78 „ 22 „ 100 „ The proportion of steamers is growing so rapidly that before long sailing-vessels will fall into an insignificant minority : — Tonnage of steamers. Ratio to total shipping. 1849 . . 177,300 4 per cent 1864 . . . 770,000 11 1877 . . . 2,293,000 28 „ The Colonies show a greater increase of sailing-vessels than steamers. In 1860 they owned 10 per cent of all Mae British steamers afloat, in 1870 only 8 per cent, and at present barely 7 per cent. Forty years ago our merchant vessels 1 were much smaller than at present, and the tendency is every year to increase their size. Steamers. Sailing vessels. General. 1840 . 118 tons each 172 tons. 170 tons 1861 . . 442 „ 202 „ 218 „ 1878 . . 1,020 „ 287 „ 390 „ By increasing the size of our vessels we have effected a saving of 123,000 seamen, as compared with the former number of hands to tonnage. Shipping. Sailors. Tons per man. 1849 . 3,096,000 153,000 20 1861 . . 4,360,000 172,000 25 1877 . . 6,399,000 197,000 32 According to the scale of 1849 we should require 320,000 seamen to man our present amount of shipping. The saving is therefore equivalent to 38 per cent, which allows a consequent reduction of freight charges, enabling 1 This applies to the United Kingdom, the Colonies not being in- cluded in the computation. COMMERCE OF GREAT BRITAIN. 163 us to import our food and raw materials more profitably, and to export our manufactures to greater advantage. The Colonies employ a larger number of bands per ton than we do. Tonnage Seamen British. Colonial. Total. 6,399,000 1,735,000 8,134,000 197,000 156,000 353,000 32 tons per man. 11^ tons. 23 tons. The proportion of trade done all over the world in British vessels is shown as follows : — Tons. Ratio of total United Kingdom 55,120,000 88 per cent United States . 7,434,000 59 Canada 5,673,000 80 Australia . 4,492,000 93 France 5,254,000 36 Germany . 2,298,000 36 Low Countries . 3,790,000 51 Italy 1,887,000 23 Russia 1,006,000 34 West Indies 1,180,000 60 South Africa 1,004,000 86 South America 1,200,000 50 This makes up a total of 90,000,000 tons, equal to eleven voyages of all the British merchant navy. The total may be dissected thus : — British coasting trade „ foreign Trading in foreign waters Total carrying trade 37,000,000 tons 26,000,000 „ 27,000,000 „ 90,000,000 At 10s. per ton this represents an income of £45,000,000 per annum, that is £34,000,000 for the United Kingdom, and £11,000,000 for the Colonies. During the last ten years no fewer than 4176 steamers have been built in the United Kingdom, chiefly on the Clyde, at prices ranging 164 PROGRESS OF THE WORLD. from £16 to £30 per ton. There is also a number of iron sailing-vessels built for British or foreign owners. The total of vessels and steamers launched sometimes reaches 600,000 tons per annum, but in 1878 it did not exceed 428,000 tons. 1 The cost of building iron vessels may now be taken at £13 per ton register, or £16 for steamers, with machinery and all complete. Not only is the cost of build- ing less than before, but new methods have led to great economy of fuel: in 1850 the ocean steamers consumed usually 130 tons coal in twenty-four hours ; at present the average is but 90 tons. The arrivals in British ports have multiplied ten-fold since 1820, but it is remarkable that in these returns we find an increase twenty-fold for foreign vessels, and only eight-fold for British. British. Foreign. Total. Ratio of British. 1820 2,270,000 tons 408,000 tons 2,678,000 85 per cent 1840 3,197,000 „ 1,460,000 „ 4,657,000 70 „ 1860 6,889,000 „ 5,284,000 „ 12,173,000 58 „ 1877 17,383,000 „ 8,382,000 „ 25,765,000 68 „ Since 1820 it appears that our shipbuilders have not kept pace with the growth of our commerce, as the pro- portion done on British bottom is one-fifth less than sixty years ago. The above returns, of course, do not include the coasting trade, which exceeds that of the high seas by 40 per cent, viz. — Arrivals from abroad . 26, 000, 000 tons „ coasting . . 36,500,000 ,, Total . 62,500,000 „ The increase of tonnage (high seas and coasting) has been as follows : — 1 Built in United Kingdom 1089 vessels of 428,000 tons, average 400 tons. COMMERCE OF GREAT BRITAIN. 165 Arrivals. 1816 . . 2,000,000 tons 1840 . . 9,500,000 „ 1878 . . 62,500,000 „ The entries for 1877 were made up thus : — London . Liverpool Tyne ports Clyde ports Dublin . Belfast Southampton Other ports Tons. Average size, 47,688 9,601,000 202 tons 14,885 6,624,000 440 15,858 4,911,000 303 13,017 3,332,000 260 8,739 2,331,000 255 9,560 1,824,000 188 8,136 1,313,000 165 222,435 32,574,000 145 340,318 62,510,000 185 The total of entries tonnage showed 85 per cent British and 15 per cent foreign. The ratio for population was as 2 tons per inhabitant in England, 2| in Scotland, and 1£ ton in Ireland. One thousand vessels with 180,000 tons enter, and as many leave, the ports of the United Kingdom daily. A small fleet of 32,000 boats is employed in British fisheries, manned by 167,000 fishermen, of whom one-half are Scotch. The Lifeboat Association, founded in 1824, has now 269 boats at the most exposed points of our coasts, forming a belt of 5000 miles ; they are manned by 12,000 seamen, all volunteers except the coxswain, who receives £8 a year for keeping the boat. They save about 900 lives annually, having rescued no fewer than 26,906 persons between 1824 and 1879. The income of the Society was £300 in 1848, and is now £40,000 per annum: its boats, etc., represent a value of £300,000, the Society being entirely supported by private donations. The utility of such a society is shown by having saved so many 166 PROGRESS OF THE WORLD. lives, and thus diminished by one-half the disasters of the last fifty years. x The sum paid by underwriters in Great Britain averages £1,500,000 per annum, being about £6 per ton on vessels, and £8 per ton on cargoes. The amount of marine insur- ance is seldom below £450,000,000 sterling. Instruction. At the beginning of the century Great Britain was much behind Germany and the United States in popular education. Scotland led the way for enlightenment, and at present the United Kingdom is amongst the foremost countries in the ratio of school children to population. The upward march of the public schools is shown as follows : — School children. Expenditure. 1835-40 . 462,000 £169,000 per annum 1860-65 . . 1,058,000 1,340,000 1878 . 3,468,300 5,290,000 „ The above does not include the children attending private schools, or the youths at colleges and universities : these are supposed to number close on 1,500,000, making a grand total of 5,000,000 school population, or 15 per cent of the total number of inhabitants. The system of National Schools was introduced by Bell and Lancaster about sixty years ago, and when Dr. Bell died, in 1832, he left £120,000 to further the great purpose of his life. The necessity for educating the masses was, however, not only unfelt but stoutly denied by many. At last people began to see the close connection between ignorance and crime. In 1838 Judge Coleridge called attention to the fact, and this was soon afterwards confirmed by the Com- 1 In the interval between 1854 and 1878 there were 46,000 vessels wrecked in British waters, and 17,000 lives lost. INSTRUCTION OP GREAT BRITAIN. 167 mittee of the House of Commons in its report, " We find that the neglect of education causes much crime and expen- diture that might be avoided." Between 1833 and 1861 the number of school children rose 147 per cent, while the population had only increased 40 per cent. The subjoined Table shows the direct influence of public schools in reducing the ratio of crime. 1830-40. 1870-77. School children . 1 in 57 1 in 9 inhabitants Convictions . . 1 in 780 1 in 1880 ,, The degree of instruction varies greatly in the three kingdoms, Scotland being much in advance : — Ratio of school children. Adults who can write. England . 11 per cent 77 per cent Scotland • 11 85 „ Ireland ■ • 7 „ 66 „ As the attendance at private schools (not included above) is probably larger in Ireland than it is in England and Scotland, the ratio of school children is doubtless more equal than the above Table would indicate. The ratio of adults who can write is taken from the marriage registers, the males being about 1 per cent higher than the females. The improvement in the returns of the marriage-register (England and Wales) is shown as follows : — Can write. Cannot write. 1800 . . 53 per cent 47 per cent 1840 . • 58 „ 42 „ 1870 . • 77 „ 23 „ Public libraries have greatly diffused the benefits of in- struction among all classes, the number of these institutions increasing as follows : — Libraries. Volumes. Readers. 1848 . . 28 1,542,000 360,000 1876 . . 153 3,613,000 7,650,000 168 PROGRESS OF THE WORLD. In this matter of public libraries we cannot yet show as high a ratio for population as in France, Italy, or Ger- many, much less the United States ; but we are making rapid progress. Besides, it must be remembered that the libraries of the principal clubs are not included above, and the number of private libraries is larger in England than in most countries. The number of learned societies has grown in half a cen- tury as follows : — 1803. 1830. 1850. English 6 28 74 Scotch 8 14 26 Irish . 2 5 18 16 47 118 The total number of members cannot fall short of 60,000; 'it appeared in 1850 that nine of the principal associations counted between them 16,300 fellows, and had an income of £44,000 per annum. The press has been even more active than the schools in promoting education, especially since the abolition of the paper-duties. So enormous were these duties that Mr. George Knight stated they amounted to £20,000 on his Penny Encyclopaedia. At present the circulation of the penny daily papers amounts, in London alone, to about a million copies. The weekly papers have increased so wonderfully, that one of them prints over half a million, or about 30 millions per annum, whereas in 1821 the presses of the United Kingdom only produced 24 million papers in the year. The monthly reviews issue about 200,000 copies, say 2,500,000 yearly. The average of new books issued in 1876-78 was 2970, and the public taste was expressed in the following manner : — LITERATURE OF GREAT BRITAIN. 169 Rising. Declining. Political Economy. Poetry and Drama. Law and Medicine. Novels and Romances. Juvenile and Educational. Travels and Adventures. On the whole there seemed a lull of talents, as book- sellers dealt mostly in reprints of old authors. ' */«. Charities. The amount annually expended for the poor and sick is over £19,000,000 sterling, of which about 50 per cent is obtained by local taxation, and 50 per cent by voluntary donations. The figures may be summed up thus : — No. relieved. Cost. Per head. Poor-houses . . . 1,037,000 £9,425,000 £9 Hospitals, etc. . . 1,088,000 9,630,000 9 2,125,000 £19,055,000 £9 The income is derived in the following manner : — Local rates . . . £9,425,000 Endowments . . . 2,760,000 Bequests .... 600,000 Subscriptions and donations 6,400,000 £19,185,000 The amount of subscriptions and donations varies, but it is ascertained that London charities alone receive £2,600,000 per annum 1 in this manner. The statement of charitable bequests since 1856, for England and Wales, makes up a sum of £7,793,000, or an average of £1000 per day for the last twenty-two years, and compares with the amount of property subject to legacy duty as follows : — Subject to legacy duty. Charitable bequests. Ratio per £100. 1856 to 1860 . £49,840,000 £156,020 6 shillings 1861 to 1870 . 61,300,000 387,770 13 1871 to 1878 . 74,800,000 448,000 12 1 Or £4,700, 000 if charity schools he included. 170 PROGRESS OF THE WORLD. If the bequests in the last eight years 1 show a lower ratio to wealth than, in the previous decade, it must be observed that charitable donations and subscriptions have enormously increased, as shown by an increase of 90 per cent since 1861 in the hospitals and asylums supported by voluntary contributions. In 1877 there were 483 hospitals in the United Kingdom, which treated 131,000 patients : in 1800 there were but 51 hospitals in the three kingdoms. In the last twenty years the multiplication of public charities has far exceeded the growth of population : — 1861. 1874. Increase. Hospitals and asylums . . 593 1132 90 per cent No. of inmates . . . 69,550 110,800 60 „ Population of United Kingdom 28,974,000 32,426,000 12 „ Our hospitals are much better managed than they were in former times. Howard led the way to improvement by showing that the allowance for country infirmaries was only twopence per head daily, while rogues and vagabonds in jail were allowed threepence daily. The mortality returns, compared with the earlier parts of the century, or with those of the Continent, speak most favourably : — Died. Discharged cured. English hospitals 1790 to 1834 . 8J per cent 914 per cent „ 1870 to 1875 . 74 „ 92| » European „ 1820 to 1850 . 13 „ 87 There is a growing preference for small hospitals, as the death-rate is found to be the lowest, and to rise more than in proportion to the number of beds : — Patients relieved. Death-rate. Under 100 teds . . . 20,000 64 per cent From 100 to 200 . . . 47,000 7 Over 200 .... 64,000 8 131,000 74 1 The Charitable Commissioners in Ireland have an income of £260,000 per annum, not included above. HOSPITALS OP GREAT BRITAIN. 171 There is one physician for every twenty beds, and each, bed receives usually nine patients annually : about one- fourth of the beds are always vacant. Some hospitals have double the death-rate of others, probably from the nature of illness, 1 for example : — Annual admission. Death-rate. London Fever Hospital . . 3000 15 per cent St. Bartholomew's . . 5500 5 St. Thomas's . . 3200 12 Leicester Hospital . . 2000 ii „ Edinburgh Infirmary . 4500 10 Misericordia, Dublin . 2100 64 „ The general returns show that the death-rate in Scotland is 50 per cent more than in Ireland, which may be the effect of climate or local conditions :— Death-rate. English hospitals ... 8 per cent Scotch ii . . . . 9J „ Irish „ . . . . 6J „ The cost of each patient varies greatly ; for example, it is £12 in St. Thomas's, and only £5 in Guy's. The average for the United Kingdom is 55s., each patient staying an average of thirty days, and costing 22 pence per day. Besides the hospitals we have dispensaries giving ad- vice and medicine gratis to 972,000 persons yearly in Eng- land and Wales (and probably 1,500,000 for the whole United Kingdom). 2 This class of relief -is chiefly in the large cities, viz. — ■UlVCipUUJ. Manchester 94,000 „ Birmingham 81,000 „ Edinburgh 60,000 „ Glasgow 48,000 „ 1 The lying-in hospitals average 1 per cent mortality, and it is observed the rate among unmarried mothers is double that of the married. 2 In Ireland there are 751 dispensaries supported at a cost of £150,000 per annum. 172 PROGRESS OF THE WORLD. Lunatic asylums only forty years ago were conducted on such cruel methods that the death-rate was on a par with that of Sierra Leone, namely 24 per cent annually. As the insane now live much longer, the death-rate being only 13 per cent, the proportion to population has risen so notably as to cause some alarm. It must, however, be admitted that the increase arises also in part from the spread of drunkenness, as 1 5 per cent of the patients under treatment were, according to the Commissioners' Report for 1877, driven mad by habits of intoxication : — 12 per cent among educated lunatics 14 „ „ artisan „ 17 „ „ farm labourer „ The returns of insane for 1876 compared with 1859 show as follows : — 1859. 1876. Ratio in England . 1 in 536 inhabitants 1 in 368 inhabitants „ Scotland . 1 in 640 „ 1 in 416 „ „ Ireland . 1 in 433 „ 1 in 315 „ Insanity is supposed to arise in a great measure from drink in England, from intermarriage in Wales and Scot- land, and from insufficient nitrogenous food in Ireland ; but, of course, all these and other causes will be found in each of the three kingdoms. Women are usually 3 per cent more numerous than men, in the register of insanity, which is just the proportion of the sexes in our population, but in Ireland male lunatics are more numerous. It is stated that 40 per cent of the insane die of consumption, which would partly support the theory of insufficient nourish- ment being a predisposing cause. The number of recov- eries averages 40 per cent of those admitted, the rate among females being higher. Deaf and dumb persons, and blind, are less numerous in England than on the Continent, but Ireland and Scot- CITY OF LONDON. 173 land are not so favourably circumstanced, the returns showing : — Deaf and Dumb. Blind. England . . 1 in 1754 inhabitants 1 in 1055 inhabitants "Wales . . . 1 „ 1542 Ireland . . 1 „ 1380 „ 1 in 894 „ Scotland . . 1 „ 1340 „ 1 „ 1096 Overcrowding in large cities is supposed to have much influence in the number of these infirmities. One of the noblest purposes of charity, therefore, has been to improve the household dwellings of the working-classes, and rescue the families of artisans from damp cellars and pestilential " slums." The American philanthropist, George Peabody, gave £500,000, in 1868, to the City of London for the erection of suitable buildings, where 2200 workmen's families are comfortably lodged at four shillings per week. The annual death-rate in Peabody's buildings is only 19 per 1000, or 15 per cent below the London average. City of London. In the progress of the British Empire and of mankind London has played a prominent part. She is as great an actor in the drama of the nineteenth century as Eome was in the time of the Caesars. Her legions of engineers, mer- chants, and explorers, have opened up so many new fields for enterprise, that there is scarcely a habitable part of the globe that is not connected with London as the centre of the world's commerce. Even at the beginning of the century there were indi- cations of a rapidly increasing importance, but the growth of trade and population in recent years surpasses anything in history, and leaves the rest of the United Kingdom far behind. 1 74 PROGRESS OF THE WORLD. The increase of population lias been as follows : — „ , . . Katio of United Population. a Kingdom . 1801 . . . 864,845 5 percent 1829 . . . 1,468,400 6 „ 1840 . . . 2,030,000 1\ „ 1879 . . . 4,714,000 14 It is a remarkable fact that Sir William Petty pre- dicted two centuries ago that the population of London would reach 5,000,000 about the year 1842. At present it contains more or less the same population as any of the following countries : — Portugal, Ireland, Sweden, Bavaria, Belgium, Canada ; or twice that of Switzerland, Saxony, Peru, Chile, or Australia. Its inhabitants consume 580,000 cattle, 3,500,000 sheep, 28,000 tons butter, 34,000 tons cheese, 42,000,000 bushels grain, 180,000 pipes wine, 5,000,000 gallons spirits, 6,000,000 barrels beer, and 6,500,000 tons coal, per an- num. The Customs returns for 1801 showed the tonnage of the port as follows : — Arrivals, British . . 418,000 tons „ Foreign . . 453,000 ,, Total . 871,000 At present the docks have an area of 695 acres, and admit 7000 vessels per annum. Between foreign and coasting trade London receives yearly 9,000,000 tons of shipping. Sanitary improvements have reduced the death-rate in the following degree : — Annual Death-rate. 1840 to 1845 . . 245 per 10,000 1874 to 1878 . . 228 WATER-SUPPLY OF CITIES. 175 The difference amounts to a saving of 12,200 lives per annum. The gas and water companies represent an aggregate capital of £20,000,000, on which they make the citizens pay a net return of £1,630,000 per annum, or 8 per cent. 1 The first water-supply was devised by a Dutchman, who put up a wheel on London Bridge and pumped the water into the houses in 1594. Twenty years later Sir Hugh Myddelton drew a supply from the New River, at a cost of £17,000, and one of the New River shares was sold only six years ago for £50,000. The water-supply compares with that of other cities as follows : — Gallons daily. Per inhab. Cost of works. Per inhab London . 121,000,000 28 gall ons £8,888,000 44s. New York . . 48,000,000 48 , 2,500,000 50s. Paris . 34,000,000 16 , , 2,100,000 40s. Glasgow . 26,000,000 48 . 1,550,000 60s. Manchester 11,000,000 25 , 1,320,000 60s. Liverpool 11,000,000 24 , 1,650,000 72s. Boston 10,000,000 50 , , 600,000 60s. Dublin 7,000,000 24 , , 610,000 37s. Hamburg . 5,000,000 22 , 170,000 15s. Edinburgh 5,000,000 22 , 510,000 40s. London is much behind the great American cities in the quality 2 and quantity of water. The purest water-supply in Great Britain is that drawn from Loch Katrine for Glasgow, which has less than two grains of decomposed matter per gallon ; nevertheless the Boston supply is 35 1 London could borrow the money at 4 per cent, and relieve the citizens to the amount of £800, 000 per annum. 2 London water supply in 1877 reached 121,000,000 gallons, viz. — Unexceptionably pure . . 7, 000, 000 gallons. Sometimes pure . . . - 53,000,000 „ Polluted with sewage . . 61,000,000 Total . 121,000,000 176 PEOGRESS OF THE WORLD. per cent, and the Charles Eiver, United States, 15 per cent, purer. No city in modern times can compare with ancient Borne, which had nine aqueducts, 255 miles total length, giving 377,000,000 gallons daily, or three times the actual supply for London. It is proposed by J. F. Bate- man to draw a supply of 100,000,000 gallons daily from Wales, 183 miles distant, at a cost of one halfpenny per ton daily, or 40 per cent of the present charge ; the con- struction of the works to cost £8,000,000 sterling, and the working expenses, when completed, £150,000 per annum. The first gasometer was put up at Westminster in 181 4. * Of thirteen gas companies since formed, some have amalga- mated, there being now only six, with a capital of £11,000,000; the annual consumption of coal being 1,500,000 tons, to produce 350,000,000 cubic feet of gas weekly. It was not till 1821 that Oxford Street was lit with gas, the invention being received with the utmost hostility by Sir Humphrey Davy, Sir Joseph Banks, and other eminent men, as it appeared the projectors proposed also to heat the houses and do the cooking by means of stoves and pipes, and asked Parliament to punish any per- sons using candles or coals. The price of gas has been reduced as follows : — 1830 . . 12s. per 1000 feet 1850 . 5s. „ 1875 . . "3s. 9d. „ London is lit at less cost than other large cities, but the gas is of a low power, as shown thus : — 1 Watt's factory at Birmingham used gas in 1804, but it was already- used in Holland. In January 1807 Sir Walter Scott wrote from Lon- don, ' ' There is a madman here who proposes to light the city with smoke." GAS-LIGHTING OF CITIES. 177 Gas-light. Cost per 1000 feet London . 12 candles. 3s. 9d. Paris 1 . • 124 . 6s., 8d. Berlin . . 16 j , 4s. 3d. Vienna • 9 5s. 8d. New York . . 16 10s. Od. Glasgow . 28 4s. Od. Liverpool . 22 3s. 6d. Edinburgh . . 28 4s. Od. Aberdeen . 35 4s. Od. Manchester . . 22 3s. Od. The cost of street-lighting will be reduced as soon as the electric light is introduced. The British Museum uses four of these lights, equal to 20,000 candles or 1500 gas-lights, at a cost of only 4s. per hour. London uses 17 milliards of cubic feet per annum, 1 or 50,000,000 cubic feet of gas daily, at a yearly cost of £3,000,000 sterling. The London Fire Brigade is justly praised for its efficiency, for there is no large city with so small a force. Engines. Men. Annual cost. Per inhabitant London 141 420 £79,000 4 pence Paris . 203 1500 98,000 11 „ New York 38 629 249,000 48 „ St. Petersburg 37 1149 Philadelphia 24 253 81,000 28 „ Boston 21 459 97,000 HI „ Hamburg . 53 789 Berlin 50 1090 Chicago 16 201 76,000 43 „ Cincinnati 19 154 56,400 64 „ The United States spend £5,000,000 sterling, per annum on this service, say 28d. per inhabitant ; France only £1,000,000, or 6d. per head. Most fires in Lon- don occur on Saturdays, that is, 5 per cent over other 1 The Gas Company of Paris has to share its profits with the Muni- cipality, but its annual dividend nevertheless averages 22 per cent. Receipts, £2,750,000; net profit, £1,150,000. K 178 PROGRESS OF THE WORLD. days ; whereas in Paris there are 28 per cent extra fires on Fridays. From whatever cause, it is very clear that fires in London are increasing faster than the population or the number of houses, viz. — 1840-42 . One fire for 2690 inhabitants or 360 houses. 1850-52 . One fire for 2608 inhabitants or 338 houses. 1862-64 . One fire for 2080 inhabitants or 267 houses. The number of victims averages thirty-five persons yearly, including firemen who die at their post. The fire- men save eighty lives yearly. The cost of the fire brigade is equal to 8d. per annum on every £1000 insured, or £35 per million. In 1739 the value of London house property was assessed at £28,500,000 ; at present it is little short of £500,000,000, the insurance offices showing that it in- creases £20,000,000 every year. In 1878 there were 17,000 new houses built, capable of accommodating 120,000 persons, the ordinary increase being 150,000 souls per annum. There are fifteen parks, including five suburban, with a total area of 6120 acres, free to the public. The police force of London compares with the principal cities of America, as follows : — Police per Policemen. Annual cost. 100,000 inhab. Cost per inhab. London .10,477 £1,120,000 230 5 shillings New York 2,560 666,000 220 10 „ Philadelphia 1,292 320,000 155 8 „ Boston 700 171,000 225 11 ,. Nothing is more admirable in London than the number and variety of charitable institutions, supported at a cost of £5,215,000 per annum. No. Annual cost. Hospitals and dispensaries . . . 186 £576,000 Homes for old persons . . . . 172 400,000 Carry forward . . . £976,000 LONDON CHARITIES. 179 No. Annual cost. Brought forward £976,000 Homes for blind, deaf, dumb 46 171,000 „ sick poor . 124 293,000 Orphanages and schools 3,775,000 £5,215,000 The revenue for supporting these institutions is ob- tained as follows : — Endowments . Subscriptions and donations £500,000 per annum 4,700,000 £5,200,000 This, of course, does not include a sum of £1,700,000 sterling for relief of paupers, making a grand total of £7,000,000, a sum exceeding the revenue of some second- class kingdoms in Europe. The wealth of London is unequalled by any other city of ancient or modern times ; its citizens are said to pay one-third of the income-tax of England, and the insurance companies suppose the value of insured and uninsured property to reach £1,600,000,000, say one-fifth of the capital value of the United Kingdom. 180 PROGRESS OF THE WORLD. COLONIES AND POSSESSIONS. In measuring the progress of the British Empire, it is necessary to distinguish between the colonies chiefly in- habited by our own race and the possessions which are merely ours by right of conquest. Colonies. Canada Australia . South Africa Square miles. Population. 3,412,000 4,228,000 3,173,000 2,616,000 243,000 1,270,000 6,828.000 8,114,000 Possessions. Square miles. Population. India . . . 935,000 193,715,000 "West Indies and Gniana 88,000 1,394,000 Sundry . . . 27,000 1,042,000 1,050,000 196,151,000 The gross revenue of our colonies and possessions is £87,000,000, and therefore exceeds that of the United Kingdom. The gross trade is £322,000,000,! or three times that of the United Kingdom in the year of Queen Victoria's coronation. The shipping owned by the colonies is half what the merchant navy of Great Britain amounted to when Prince Albert opened the Hyde Park Exhibition. Finally, the population is six times greater than that of the mother country, and the area much larger than Europe. 1 This is more than the actual commerce of Germany or the United States. BRITISH COLONIES. 181 COLONIES. The history of the world offers no example that sur- passes the growth of our colonies, which were technically- known as the "Plantations," when our grandfathers an- nually voted in Parliament a sum of £35,000 for their maintenance. If we take the three principal colonies, Canada, the Cape, and Australia, we shall find their advance- ment was after this manner : — 1840. I860. 1878. Population Trade . Eevenue 1,558,000 £7,430,000 £784,000 4,969,000 £63,720,000 £10,175,000 8,040,000 £147,610,000 £25,781,000 The increase of commerce and revenue has far exceeded that of population, the ratio having risen as follows : — Commerce. Eevenue. 1840 . £5 per inhabitant 10s. 1860 . 13 „ ,, 40s. 1878 . 18 „ „ 62s. 6d. Comparing the colonies with one another, we find as follows : — Canada. Cape. Australia. General. Population . . 4,228,000 1,270,000 2,616,000 8,114,000 Commerce per inhabitant £10 £9 £37 £18 Eevenue . . . 25s. 52s. 140s. 64s. Debt ... £8 £5 £30 £15 Taking the average of the three colonies, it appears that the colonists have the same ratio of trade as we have in the United Kingdom, and their taxation is also on a par with ours (including local taxes), but their debt is relatively only half the weight of ours. The features and progress of each colony are so distinct from the others that we can better study them apart. Meantime the following statistics apply collectively to Canada, Cape, and Australia. 182 PROGRESS OF THE WORLD. Annual trade. Average 1868-1877. Imports from Great Britain .£31,100,000 48 per cent „ „ other countries . 34,100,000 52 „ £65,200,000 100 „ Exports to Great Britain . £31,420,000 52 per cent „ other countries . 28,050,000 48 ,, £59,470,000 100 „ The colonies import 10 per cent more than they export. Some are increasing their consumption of British mer- chandise, others diminishing ; the ratio of imports from Great Britain compared to total imports being as follows : — Imports into 1868. 1877. Canada . . 50 p. c. from G. Britain 39 p. c. from G. Britain Australia . . 43 „ „ 49 „ ,, Cape of Good Hope 55 „ „ 65 „ „ The Colonial export trade varied no less remarkably : — Exported from 1868. 1877. Canada . . 33 p. c. to G. Britain 54 p. c. to G. Britain Australia . . 57 „ „ 50 „ „ Cape of Good Hope 70 „ „ 75 „ „ Summing up the various items (see Appendix), we find as follows for the gross trade of the three colonies : — 1868. 1878. With Great Britain . . 49 per cent 50 per cent „ other countries . 51 „ 50 „ 100 „ 100 „ This shows that the relations with the mother country are 2 per cent stronger than they were ten years ago, in spite of the illiberal customs tariffs adopted by the colonists against our manufactures. The number of emigrants from Great Britain in the interval between 1815 and 1878 was as follows: — BRITISH COLONIES. 183 To Canada 1,558,299 „ Australia 1,226,499 „ South Africa and West Indies . 258,813 3,043,611 Besides taking our surplus population the colonies afford profitable outlet for our manufactures. The average of twenty years showed that the colonies (not including India, etc.) consumed £23,000,000 per annum of British manufactures, while the total cost to the mother country was under £2,300,000. At present Canada and Australia are self-supporting. AUSTRALIA. Less than a century has elapsed since Captain Philip first planted the British flag (in 1788) upon the shores of New Holland, near the site of the present city of Sydney. The settlers had brought a few cows, sheep, goats, pigs, and horses, from which are descended the 70,000,000 ani- mals that now constitute the great wealth of Australia. So slow was the progress of the colony that twelve years later the population barely reached 6000 souls. In 1813 the Blue Mountains behind Sydney were first crossed by Messrs. Wentworth and Lawson, following whose steps a number of squatters soon established themselves on the Government lands. Some obtained free grants, others merely a squatter's right, the latter paying £10 a year for a run of ten square miles of land. As settlers began to arrive, the Government, in 1831, stopped the free grants, and fixed the price at 5 s. per acre, this being increased to 12s. in 1838, and to £1 in 1842. The flocks multiplied so rapidly that in 1850 Mr. Palmer wrote : — " There are men possessing farms worth £30,000 or £40,000, who 184 PROGRESS OF THE WORLD. landed here without a guinea. It is not uncommon for one of these men to have 20,000 acres of land, stocked with 40,000 sheep or 4000 horned cattle." Between 1832 and 1840 the Government sold more than 2,000,000 acres, at prices ranging from 5s. to 33s., the half of the proceeds being given as a bonus to shipowners to bring out settlers from England. "The export of wool had reached a value of £1,000,000 sterling. In 1850, when the colony of Victoria was separated from New South Wales, the popula- tion of Australia showed as follows : — Colony. Population. Capital. Population New South "Wales . 190,000 Sydney- 60,000 Victoria . 77,000 Melbourne . 10,000 South Australia . . 75,000 Adelaide 10,000 "Western Australia 6,000 Perth . 2,000 Tasmania . 70,000 Hobart Town 22,000 New Zealand . 26,700 444,700 Dunedin 5,000 In the last thirty years the population has multiplied five-fold, chiefly owing to the discovery of gold in 1851, from which date, down to 1878, Australia produced £247,000,000 of the precious metal, viz. — Production. Per annum. 1852-1862 . £110,760,000 £10,070,000 1863-1873 101,310,000 9,210,000 1874-1878 34,930,000 6,980,000 £247,000,000 £9,200,000 During the last five years the gold-fields 1 employed 48,500 miners and 1100 steam-engines, representing 24,000 horse-power : the average product per miner was £144 per annum. Gold-digging is now superseded by 1 Some of the mines are very deep — the Magdala, for example, 1990 feet. AUSTKALIA. 185 sheep-farming, as shown by the exports of wool and those of gold in 1877. Value of wool exported . . £19,460,000 Do: of gold „ . . 7,499,900 Surplus for wool . £11,860,100 The population has more than doubled since 1860, as follows : — Population of 1860. 1879. Increase. New South Wales 358,000 690,000 92 per cent Victoria 540,000 894,000 66 „ South Australia . 127,000 247,000 97 „ Western Australia 15,700 29,000 84 „ Tasmania 90,000 111,000 23 „ New Zealand 99,000 434,000 335 Queensland . 35,000 211,000 500 Total . 1,264,000 2,616,000 108 Since 1876 the population has increased over 100,000 per annum, viz. — Immigrants . . . 51,400 Natural increase 50,800 102,200 The highest birth-rate and the lowest death-rate are found in New Zealand, where the natural increase (1871- 1877) averages 3 per cent; while the other colonies, in the aggregate, give only 2 per cent per annum. New Zealand Births per 1000 inhab 41 Queensland New South Wales 40 38 South Australia 38 Victoria 34 Western Australia . 32 Tasmania 30 General average . 36 Deaths. Increase. 11 30 16 24 14 24 14 24 14 20 15 17 16 14 14 22 186 PROGRESS OF THE WORLD. At this rate, the present increase is about 57,500 per annum. The number of births to marriages is higher than any other country, except Ireland : the exact ratio for 1871-77 showed 520 births to 100 marriages. The death- rate is the lowest in the world. The marriage-rate is below the European average, and ranges from 12 per 1000 in Western Australia to 16 in New South Wales and Queensland. Agriculture and pastoral industry may be said to pro- gress 50 per cent in ten years, as shown by the following Table :— 1867. 1877. Increase. Acres under grain 1,520,000 2,794,000 90 per cent Crop . . . 16,200,000 bushels 41,300,000 bushels 150 „ Horned cattle . 3,887,000 7,125,000 80 „ Sheep. . . 47,285,000 57,768,000 22 „ The wheat crops vary from 9 bushels per acre in South Australia to 31 in New Zealand, and the total grain product, as compared with population for a term of ten years, shows as follows : — Bushels Crops Tillage in per inh. per acre. 1879. Per inn South Australia . 37 9 bushels 2,011,000 acres 8 New Zealand . 31 31 » 2,054,000 „ 5 Tasmania . 17 20 )! 144,000 „ li Western Australia . 15 12 M 51,000 „ 1J New South Wales . 13 21 1) 614,000 „ 1 Victoria . 10 16 I) 1,609,000 „ If Queensland . . 8 . 16 30 16 J) 112,000 „ 1 General average 6,595,000 „ ja The exportation of grain averages 15 million bushels, worth nearly £2,000,000 sterling. The vintage averages 1,800,000 gallons wine, the yield being 120 gallons per acre. Sheep-farming, however, is of greater importance than AUSTRALIA. 187 agriculture, as wool constitutes almost 50 per cent of the total exports. The subjoined Table shows the number of sheep in the various colonies, and the average of clip according to the export returns (for a medium of three years) : — Sheep. Average fleece New South Wales . . 23,968,000 74 lbs. New Zealand . . 13,069,000 ih .. Victoria . . 9,379,000 54 „ South Australia . 6,378,000 61 „ Queensland . 5,564,000 i „ Tasmania 1,839,000 i „ Western Australia . 869,000 44 „ 61,066,000 6_ „ The wool trade of Australia is hardly fifty years old, as shown in the returns of exports, viz. — Quantity. Value. 1830 . 2,000,000 lbs. £100,000 1850 . . 39,000,000 „ 2,100,000 1877 . . 354,000,000 „ 19,460,000 If we suppose a uniform value of £5 each for cattle, 1 and 10 s. for sheep, the wealth represented by farming stock will appear as follows :- Value of stock. Ratio per inhabitant. New South Wales . . £28,400,000 £41 New Zealand . 9,700,000 23 Queensland 15,270,000 74 South Australia 5,160,000 22 Tasmania 1,840,000 18 Victoria . 12,430,000 15 Western Australia . 910,000 33 £73,710,000 £28 p. inhab. The returns for 1879 show the various kinds of farm- stock, which at the above valuation will stand thus : — 1 Actual prices are much less. 188 PROGRESS OF THE WORLD. Cows . Number. 7,403,000 61,066,000 1,010,000 815,000 Value. £36,500,000 30,500,000 6,100,000 610,000 £73,710,000 Horses Pigs . So much attention is paid to the refinement of breeds, that Mr. Gibson of Tasmania made £5000 out of a merino ram, and some of the New Zealand farmers have imported horses and horned cattle from England, -worth £1000 per head. The annual value of the farming products may be summed up thus : — 46 million bushels grain . . . £7,280,000 1J „ gallons wine . . . 75,000 360 „ lbs. wool .... 19,700,000 Meat, hides, butter, potatoes, etc. . . 26,200,000 £53,255,000 This is equal to £20 per inhabitant, against £12 in the United States, and £8 in Great Britain. The sale of Crown lands is progressing in the following manner : — Sold. Sum. Per acre. Sales per ann. 1832-1873 48,000,000 acres £45,000,000 18s. 9d. 1,300,000 acres 1874-1877 20,250,000 „ 24,000,000 23s. 6d. 5,050,000 „ The area as yet unsold is twenty-five times as large as the United Kingdom, much of it being valueless from want of water. The average land sales in 1874-77 showed thus per annum : — Acres. Sum. Per acre. New South "Wales . 3,060,000 per an. £3,060,000 20s. New Zealand . . 605,000 „ 907,000 30s. South Australia . . 525,000 „ 850,000 35s. Carryforward . 4,190,000 „ £4,817,000 AUSTRALIA. 189 Acres. Sum. Per acre. Brought forward 4,190,000 ' per an. £4,817,000 Victoria 440,000 ji 550,000 25s. Queensland . 350,000 225,000 12s. 6d. Tasmania and Western • Australia . 90,000 110,000 25s. 5,070,000 £5,702,000 23s. Revenue and public debt have kept pace ratter with industry than with population, and therefore appear large compared to the number of inhabitants. Trade per Revenue. Perinhab. Debt. Perinhab. inhab. 1850. . £930,000 £2 ... ... £22 1863. . 7,766,000 6 £16,720,000 £12 45 1879. . 17,611,000 7 78,453,000 30 36 The debts of the various colonies have arisen from two causes, immigration and public works, both of which are so reproductive that the trade is 23 per cent more than the debts, viz.- Debt. Per head. Trade. Per head. Revenue. Per head. N. Zealand £26,691,000 £60 £14,772,000 £34 £3,552,000 £8 N. S. Wales 12,540,000 18 27,733,000 40 4,984,000 7 Victoria . . 20,011,000 22 31,520,000 36 5,374,000 6 Queensland . 8,953,000 43 6,818,000 33 1,559,000 7 S. Australia . 8,337,000 34 11,075,000 44 1,593,000 6 Tasmania 1,740,000 16 2,726,000 25 386,000 3i W. Australia 181,000 6 £30 807,000 27 £36 163,000 6 £78,453,000 £95,451,000 £17,611,000 £7 The total amount of British capital invested in Australia exceeds £150,000,000, viz.— Loans .... £78,450,000 Banks .... 16,200,000 Companies . . . 56,000,000 £150,650,000 1877. Increase. £4,339,000 11 per cent 48,187,000 50 „ 59,419,000 60 „ 8,484,000 8 „ 190 PROGRESS OF THE WORLD. The banking statistics of 1877 compared with 1873 show an increasing activity that speaks eloquently for the progress of Australia. 1873. Emission of Botes . £3,913,000 Deposits . . . 32,385,000 Discounts . . . 37,675,000 Specie reserve . . 7,904,000 The specie reserve is double the amount of notes, and stands as 16 per cent of the total liabilities, which are £53,250,000. As a proof of the prosperity of the colonists, it is shown that deposits increase at the rate of £4,000,000 sterling per annum, or 30s. per head. This is about the annual increase of wealth, as may be seen by comparing the agricultural, commercial, and general statistics of 1877 with those of 1867. 1867 to 1877, Average increase. Increase of tank deposits . . . £4,050,000 per annum „ farm-stock 1 .... 2,610,000 ,, wheat crop (2J million bushels) 500,000 ,, £7,160,000 Increase of public debt .... 3,600,000 ,, Net increase of wealth . £3,560,000 The balance of trade is pretty even, the summary for ten years being as follows : — 1868-77. Per annum. Imports . . £383,200,000 £38,320,000 Exports . . 373,500,000 37,350,000 The returns for 1878 show very much higher than the above average for ten years, viz. — Imports. Exports. Total trade. Victoria . . . £16,162,000 £14,926,000 £31,088,000 New South "Wales . 14,769,000 12,966,000 27,735,000 Carryforward . £30,931,000 £27,892,000 £58,823,000 1 See page 186. AUSTRALIA 191 Brought forward £30,931,000 £27,892,000 £58,823,000 New Zealand 8,756,000 6,016,000 14,772,000 South Australia . 5,720,000 5,355,000 11,075,000 Queensland . 3,436,000 3,190,000 6,626,000 Tasmania 1,325,000 1,316,000 2,641,000 Western Australia 379,000 428,000 807,000 £50,547,000 £44,197,000 £94,744,000 Imports have increased 65, exports 50, per cent since 1867, and tonnage arrivals 75 per cent, the entries now averaging 3,500,000 tons. In 1874 these colonies owned 2000 vessels, of 223,000 tons in the aggregate, i The banking returns compare with those of Canada thus : — Canada. Australia. Emission . . 39s. p. inn. 38s. p. inh. Deposits . . 82s. „ 350s. „ Specie reserve . 9s. „ 78s. „ Discounts . . £6 „ £24 „ Paper money to trade 19 to 100,, 5 to 100,, This shows that the savings of the colonists are four times greater than in Canada, and the activity of banking is also quadruple, as compared with population. The de- posits in 1877 for each of the colonies, and the increase since 1873, were as follows : — 1877. Amount. Per inh. Increase since 1873. Remarks. Australia 2^ p. cent less „ 327 „ more „ 770 „ » 300 ., „ 70 „ less New South Wales . £16,325,000 £30 £12 per head Victoria 16,504,000 21 6 „ South Australia . 3,481,000 18 6 .. Tasmania . 1,727,000 17 8 „ New Zealand 6,238,000 22 5 „ Queensland 3,912,000 30 £24 15 „ £48,187,000 £8 „ Judged by this standard, the most prosperous of the colonies is the youngest, Queensland, which is now in its twentieth year, and shows a higher rate of bank deposits than any country of Europe or America. 192 PROGRESS OF THE WORLD. The first steamboat built in Australia was at Sydney in 1831. The first railway was begun at Melbourne in 1853. At present there are 3977 miles of railway, and 25,400 miles of telegraph. Kailways. Telegraphs. New Zealand 1090 miles 3434 miles Victoria 1052 2970 New South "Wales 733 7078 South Australia . 454 4217 Queensland 428 6410 Tasmania . 172 693 "Western Australia 48 3977 1568 25,370 The dearest railways were those of Victoria, the lines made by the Government of Melbourne averaging £32,860 per mile, and costing a sum of £13,000,000. Public instruction is at a high standard. In 1 875 there were 4826 State schools maintained at a cost of £820,000, and attended by 355,600 children, being 16 per cent of the population ; this did not include private schools. The Press is also highly respectable, and there are over 200 newspapers, one of which is in the Maori tongue. The public libraries and scientific associations are numerous and flourishing. New South Wales. This was the parent colony, founded at Sydney in 1788. The population at the beginning of the present century amounted to 6000 souls, the farming-stock to 8850 head of all descriptions. In 1803 Captain M'Arthur arrived with 24 merino sheep, and in 1807 the quantity of 245 lbs. wool was exported to England. This may be considered the origin of the great staple industry which now exports from Australia 365 million lbs. wool yearly. The Sydney Gazette was founded in 1803, and the Bank of New South Wales NEW SOUTH WALES. 193 in 1817. The latter commenced operations with a capital of £20,000, the issue of its notes superseding the shop- keepers' tickets that passed in place of money. At this time the colony was supposed to possess 5000 cows, 250,000 sheep, and 500 horses, and so actively did the Government prosecute public works, that in 1821 more than £10,000,000 sterling had been spent on roads and bridges. In 1829 trial by jury was established, and in the following year Captain M'Arthur planted the first vines on his estate. 1 In 1831 Sydney College was opened, and the same ,year saw a steamboat launched on Australian waters. Gas was introduced in 1841, and ten years later, before the influx of gold-diggers, the colony numbered 190,000 inhabit- ants, with a revenue of £317,000, and an import and export trade amounting in the aggregate to £4,500,000. It had already been stripped of 1,000,000 square miles of territory by the formation of the new settlement of South Australia (1836), and Victoria (1850), which took from it also 120,000 population. New South Wales has produced more than £50,000,000 of gold, or one-fifth of the total exported. Wool has been, however, in the last ten years, a more valuable staple than gold : — Ten years. 1868-77 exported gold . . . £18,200,000 „ „ „ wool . . . 30,410,000 . The growth of population, trade, and revenue in the last ten years is shown as follows : — 1867. 1877. Increase. ' Population 432,000 662,000 54 per cent Imports . £6,600,000 £14,607,000 120 „ Exports . . £6,881,000 £13,126,000 92 „ Gross trade . £13,481,000 £27,733,000 105 „ 1 The wines were exhibited in 1851 at London. O 194 PROGRESS OF THE WORLD. 1867. i87r. Increase. Revenue . 2.569,000 5,748,000 125 per cent Debt 6,918,000 H.724,000 1 ' 70 „ Arrivals, tonnage 682,000 1,119,000 65 „ This colony exports wool, grain, etc., to a value of £20 per head of the population. Wine is grown for home con- sumption, the vintage averaging 700,000 gallons. There are forty coal-mines, producing 1,500,000 tons. Sydney, the capital, is a flourishing city of 134,000 souls, with colleges, libraries, theatres, printing-houses, clubs, and public offices, on the scale of a second-class European capital. This colony has 130 vessels, of 16,000 tons in the aggregate. Sydney dry-dock, 450 X 60 feet, can admit the largest steamers and war-vessels. Tasmania. This colony, formerly known as Van Diemen's Land, comprises an island about the size of Ireland ; and although over seventy years old, its population is little over 100,000 souls. It was founded by Lieutenant Bower in 1803, and when visited by Count Strzelacki, in 1835, presented a more advanced style of agriculture than any other of the new settlements — " No country reminds the traveller so much of England." Nevertheless, its progress has been slow. From 1803 till 1873 the Government sold 3,900,000 acres for £1,505,000, say 8s. 6d. per acre; and since 1873 the sales have averaged 46,000 acres per annum, at 25s. per acre. This high price apparently deters settlers, as the number of persons who left the colony between 1868 and 1876 was greater than that of new-comers. The natural increase is, moreover, the smallest in Australia, the death- 1 The debt has since been increased by a loan of £3,000,000. TASMANIA. 195 rate being the highest, and the birth-rate the lowest, of these colonies. The growth of ten years in population, trade, etc., is as follows : — 1867. 1877. Increase. Population 96,000 107,000 11 per cent Imports £856,000 £1,309,000 53 „ Exports £790,000 £1,417,000 75 „ Gross trade £1,646,000 £2,726,000 66 „ Revenue . £252,000 £362,000 a „ Debt £1,019,000 £1,590,000 57 „ Arrivals, tonnage 100,000 160,000 60 „ The value of exports is equal to £13 per head of the population. This is the lightest taxed of the Australian colonies, say 70s. per head, against an average of £7 in the other colonies. There is a line of railway across the island, from Hobart Town to Launceston, 173 miles. Hobart Town is a well-built city of 30,000 souls, with several in- stitutions and printing-offices. This colony possesses a fleet of 180 sailing vessels and ten steamers, trading to Aus- tralian (mainland) and New Zealand ports, with an aggre- gate burden of 18,000 tons. Western Australia. This colony was founded by Thomas Peel in 1829, with a batch of 400 settlers, the British Government having bestowed on him a grant of 250,000 acres. Fresh settlers arrived in 1830, at which time the population numbered 1290 souls, and the stock comprised 57 horses, 204 cows, and 1100 sheep; the area under tillage covered 1000 acres, and the amount of capital invested was £42,000. Nothing more was heard of the colony for nearly twenty years, until a traveller visited it in 1848, and described it as follows : — " There are nearly 6000 inhabitants, who 196 PROGRESS OF THE WORLD. have under tillage 7100 acres, and their stock comprises 2000 horses, 11,000 cows, 140,000 sheep, 1400 goats, and 2300 pigs. The village of Perth, the capital, has two newspapers, a bank (paying 12£ per cent annual dividend), a harbour with 16,000 tons of annual shipping entries, and exports 300,000 lbs. of wool, worth £10,000 per annum. The revenue is £10,500, the imports £45,000, and exports £30,000 a year." It is the largest of the Australian colonies in extent, and the most insignificant in every other respect. Never- theless, it has made considerable progress in the last ten years. 1867. 1877. Increase. Population 20,500 27,900 37 per cent Imports £205,000 £363,000 80 ,, Exports £174,000 £373,000 120 ,, Gross trade £379,000 £736,000 95 „ Revenue . £90,400 £165,400 83 „ Debt . £161,000 Arrivals, tonnage 51,000 76,000 50 „ The enormous increase of exports shows the colony to be progressing very favourably. There are 35,000 farms, of about 700 acres each, being mostly used for pasture. The colonists own 17 vessels, of 894 tons in the aggre- gate. The pearl-fishery produces £70,000 per annum. South Australia. In 1836 this territory was taken from New South Wales and made a separate colony, with an area of 904,000 square miles. It was founded by Mr. Gibbon Wakefield and a joint-stock company, who sold land to settlers at 12s. per acre. Adelaide, the nucleus of the colony, was, in 1837, a group of mud huts covered with canvas, but SOUTH AUSTRALIA. 197 some of the colonists preferred to live in hollow gum-trees. For some years the colonists suffered great privations : in 1840 bread was sold at a shilling per lb. Subsequently affairs became more prosperous, and when Mr. Lancelot visited the settlement in 1848, he found wheat growing 7 feet high, and producing 57 bushels to the acre! The village of mud huts had expanded into a fine city of 10,000 souls, with 3 newspapers, and the colony numbered 38,700 inhabitants, of whom 7000 were Germans. Their stock comprised 6000 horses, 100,000 cows, and 1,000,000 sheep, the area under tillage covering 65,000 acres. Of late years there has been a prodigious development of agriculture, this colony having now 2,000,000 acres under plough. In 1877 the colonists raised 9,000,000 bushels, or one ton of wheat per inhabitant. Pastoral interests have doubled in ten years, and wool exports trebled in fifteen years. The value of exports is equal to £20 per inhabitant, and the increase of the colony in ten years was as follows : — 1867. 1877. Increase. Population 157,000 237,000 50 per cent Imports £2,506,000 £4,626,000 84 „ Exports £3,165,000 £4,627,000 47 „ Gross trade £5,671,000 £9,253,000 64 „ Revenue £1,126,000 £1,441,000 28 „ Debt . £1,078,000 £4,737,000 360 ,, Arrivals, tonnage 172,000 336,000 48 ,, The sale of Crown lands has been for the last three years greater than in any other colony except New South Wales. In 37 years down to 1874 the Government dis- posed of 5,500,000 acres for £6,000,000 sterling, say 22s. per acre. Since 1874 the sales have averaged 530,000 acres yearly, at 40s. per acre. The farm stock is worth £5,000,000 sterling, or £22 per inhabitant. This colony 198 PROGRESS OF THE WORLD. owns 193 vessels, with 23,000 tons. Adelaide is a flourish- ing city, and has a railway to the copper-fields of the interior. New Zealand. This colony consists of two principal islands and many small ones, covering an area of 105,000 square miles, about equal to that of the United Kingdom. It is aptly termed the Britain of the South Pacific, possessing most. of the natural gifts of England, and a milder climate. The first settlers arrived on the northern island in 1837, and built three wooden houses, each forty feet long. Nevertheless, it was not till January 1840 that the first batch of colonists landed, at the place where Wellington now stands, and in the following year another at Port Nelson. In 1843 the little colony counted 10,000 in- habitants, of whom 6000 belonged to the New Zealand Farming Company ; the farms under cultivation covered 1400 acres, and the cattle consisted .of 183 horses, 2200 cows, 6500 sheep, 340 goats, and 1100 pigs. Numerous Scotch and other settlers now began to arrive, so that in 1852 the colony was highly flourishing. Its commerce reached £500,000 sterling; its area of agriculture com- prised 17,000 acres ; and numerous rising towns at various places had already established eight newspapers. The discovery of gold at a later period further stimulated pro- gress ; and in the last ten years the rise of the colony, especially in population, has been so rapid as to bid fair to leave all the rest of Australia behind. 1 This Company was formed in London in 1839, to buy up a tract of country, near Wellington, from an English adventurer, and thus prevent the scheme of Baron Thierry, a. Frenchman, who styled him- self King of New Zealand. NEW ZEALAND. 1 1867. 1877. Increase. Population ' 177,000 418,000 137 per cent Imports . £5,345,000 £6,973,000 30 „ Exports . £4,645,000 £6,327,000 37 „ Gross trade £9,990,000 £13,300,000 33 Revenue . £1,864,000 £3,916,000 115 Debt £5,781,000 £20,691,000 257 Tonnage arrivals 309,000 395,000 30 199 Immigrants keep pouring in at the rate of 26,000 per annum, while the natural increase is greater than in the other colonies — say 3 per cent yearly — New Zealand having the highest birth-rate and the lowest death-rate. The aboriginal race of Maoris is rapidly dying out, as shown in the following Table : — Maoris. 1842 .... 114,000 1858 .... 55,700 1872 .... 39,000 At this rate there will be hardly any left by the close of the present century. From 1840 down to 1874 the Government disposed of 12 million acres — say 400,000 acres per annum — at an average price of 10s. per acre. In the last three years (1875-77) the sales averaged 600,000 acres, at 30s. per acre — the Government having still 53 million acres for sale, about the same area as the island of Great Britain. New Zealand is the only country that grows heavier wheat crops per acre than England ; the average for the last ten years was 31 bushels. The total extent under tillage is 2,054,000 acres, of which one-fourth is under wheat. The crop of 1877 produced 13 million bushels, being as 28 to the acre, or 32 per inhabitant. No other colony, except South Australia, raises so much grain com- pared with population. Pastoral industry is no less flourishing. The stock 200 PROGRESS OF THE WORLD. comprises 13 million sheep, half a million cows, 100,000 horses, and 250,000 pigs, worth close on £10,000,000, or £23 per inhabitant. The exports average £15 on the population, wool being the principal item. The colonists possess 74 steamers and 428 sailing-vessels, making up 42,000 tons, to trade chiefly with Australian ports, the distance to the mainland being 1200 miles. There are clubs, libraries, printing-offices, newspapers, etc., at Dunedin, Auckland, Wellington, Canterbury, and other towns. Dunedin has 20,000 inhabitants, Auckland 14,000, the latter being the seat of Government. Victoria. A wandering party of sheep-farmers from Tasmania, attracted by the beauty of the Yarra-Yarra river, settled on its banks in 1835, on the spot where the superb city of Melbourne now stands. Two years later a tourist visited the settlement, and described it thus :— " Embowered in forest, on the river bank, the place looks like an Indian village, but the settlers are wealthy : they possess 150 horses, 2500 cows, and 140,000 sheep; the population counts about 500 souls. The village consists of a wooden church, two wooden inns, a group of wooden huts, three wooden shops, and a market supplied with kangaroo meat. There is a newspaper published in manu- script by Mr. Faulkner." In less than ten years afterwards Melbourne was a rising town, with two banks, clearing 100,000 tons of shipping for England, with exports over £1,000,000 sterling in value. Only a year before gold was discovered the settlers obtained permission to constitute themselves into a separate colony, for they now numbered 77,000 souls, and thus the VICTORIA. 201 colony of Victoria was established in 1850, with, a territory of 88,000 square miles, or twice the area of the kingdom of Portugal ; this being the smallest of all the Australian colonies except Tasmania. Victoria is at present in many respects the foremost colony of the entire group. It stands first in commerce, has the greatest length of railways, and its capital, Melbourne, is termed the Paris of the southern hemisphere. The gold-fields in 1851 gave an extraordinary impulse to everything, the quantity of gold-dust extracted in twenty- five years exceeding £170,000,000 sterling. In the last ten years the progress has been solid and uninterrupted. Population Imports Exports Gross trade Kevenue Debt . Tonnage arrivals Although the gold-fields produced last year over £3,000,000 sterling, the wealth of Victoria consists chiefly in its pastoral and agricultural industries. From 1850 down to 1874 the Government sold 9,250,000 acres, say 400,000 acres a year, at 35s. an acre. In the last four years the sales have averaged 430,000 acres at 16s. per acre. The Government has still 45 million acres unsold, but half this extent is leased to squatters. The returns for 1877 show as follows : — 1867. 1877. Increase. 635,000 861,000 35 per cent £11,674,000 £16,362,000 40 „ £12,724,000 £15,158,000 20 „ £24,398,000 £31,520,000 30 „ £3,449,000 £4,724,000 , 38 £9,481,000 £17,019,000 76 „ 605,000 937,000 55 „ Number. Area. Average. 45,450 15,000,000 acres 330 acres 865 23,000,000 „ 27,000 „ Farms Squatters' runs The area under crops is only 1,420,000 acres, the rest being used for pasture. 1877 show thus: — The returns of agriculture for 202 PROGRESS OF THE WORLD. Acres. Product. Per acre. Grain . . 690,000 9,600,000 bushels 14 bushels Potatoes . 37,000 115,000 tons 3 tons Wine . 4,400 460,000 gallons 105 gallons Sundries . 688,600 1,420,000 The value of rural property has increased since 1867 three times as fast as city property, viz. — 1867. 1877. Increase. Eural property . . £21,500,000 £48,300,000 125 per cent City property . . 20,600,000 29,280,000 45 „ £42,100,000 £77,580,000 85 „ The assessment of property is equal to £90 per inhabitant. Comparing the value of gold-dust and of wool exported in the last ten years, we find as follows : — 186S-77. Gold-dust .... £49,000,000 'Wool 51,000,000 At present the latter item stands for three times as much as the former. Exports compared with population are as £18 per head. The farm-stock is worth over £12,000,000, or £15 per inhabitant. This colony possesses a fleet of 61 steamers and 397 sailing vessels, together 61,000 tons, trading to New Zealand and other colonies. Melbourne is the seat of Government, with a popula- tion of 150,000 souls. The public buildings are of magnificent proportions and elaborate architecture ; the newspapers are worthy of England ; and the clubs, theatres, parks, libraries, museums, etc., give the city an aspect superior in taste and affluence to Sydney, Rio QUEENSLAND. 203 Janeiro, Lima, or any other capital in the southern hemisphere. Queensland. This is the newest of Australian settlements, having been taken from New South Wales in 1859, with an area of 670,000 square miles. Having begun with 25,000 inhabitants, it progressed so rapidly that its population now reaches a quarter of a million. 1 The growth of the last ten years has been as follows : — 186T. 1877. Increase. Population 77,000 195,000 160 per cent Imports £1,748,000 £4,069,000 133 „ Exports . £2,199,000 £4,361,000 100 ,, Gross trade £3,947,000 £9,051,000 125 ,, Revenue £669,000 £1,437,000 104 „ Debt . £3,344,000 £7,685,000 130 „ Tonnage arriv als 148,000 478,000 220 „ From 1859 till 1874 the Government sold 1,300,000 acres at 25s. per acre. Since 1874 the sales have aver- aged 350,000 acres, at 12s. 6d. per acre, the lands unsold amounting to no less than 426,000,000 acres, or five times the area of the United Kingdom. Pastoral industry shows farm - stock worth about £15,000,000, or £75 per inhabitant, this being the highest ratio in all the Australian colonies. The value of exports is as £21 per head of the popula- tion. This little colony has spent £6,000,000 on railways, being £30 for each inhabitant. CANADA The population of British North America in 1806 was 476,000 souls. Since that time it has multiplied nine- 1 In 1878 estimated at 211,000 souls. 204 PROGRESS OF THE WORLD. fold, being relatively a greater increase than in the United States. Inhabitants. Increase. 1806 476,000 1831 1,069,000 24, 000 per annum 1851 2,482,000 70,000 1871 3,833,000 70,000 „ At the rate of increase which prevailed from 1861 to 1871 the population would now reach 4,250,000, distri- buted in the following manner, and showing increase from 1861, as expressed below: — 1861. 1879. Increase. Canada Proper . 2,508,000 3,094,000 24 per cent Nova Scotia . . 331,000 446,000 34 „ New Brunswick , 252,000 310,000 24 „ Newfoundland . 123,000 167,000 36 „ Prince Edward Island 81,000 105,000 30 „ British Columbia . 60,000 106,000 75 „ 3,355,000 4,228,000 27 „ All the above formed distinct colonies down to 1867, when the Dominion of Canada was constituted. Although Newfoundland has not yet joined the Federation, it is more convenient to consider it as an integral part of the same. Since 1851 the number of immigrants has been 1,500,000, but more than half proceeded onward to the United States, as appears from the following Table : — 1851-71. 1872-76. Total. Landed in Canada 1,051,000 351,000 1,402,000 Proceeded to United States . 595,000 179,000 774,000 Settled in Canada 456,000 172,000 628,000 In the absence of vital statistics we can arrive at the rate of natural increase by deducting immigration : — CANADA. 205 1851-71. Per annum. Immigration .... 456,000 22,800 Increase of population . . . 1,351,000 67,550 Natural increase . . . 895,000 44,750 This was equivalent, on a medium population (1861) of 3,296,000, to an increase of 12 per 1000 inhabitants per annum, being slightly lower than England, and hardly more than half the Australian rate. This slowness of in- crease may be partly an effect of climate, partly because one-third of the inhabitants are French, the least repro- ductive race in Europe. The chief towns have increased more rapidly than the rest of the colony : — 1852. 1872. Increase. Montreal 58,000 107,000 85 per cent Quebec . 40,000 60,000 60 „ Toronto . 31,000 56,000 80 „ Halifax . 30,000 St. John, N\B. 27,000 Hamilton 26,000 St. John's N.F. 23,000 Ottawa . 22,000 The last named is the seat of the Legislature. . The total Indian population is now 102,360. The Government treats them with the utmost kindness, support- ing fifty schools in their settlements, and giving them seeds and farming implements. Many of them possess large and valuable properties, as shown by the following returns : — Domesticated Indians. Property. Average per head. Ontario . . 16,000 £1,968,000 £123 Quebec . . 11,000 363,000 33 27,000 £2.331,000 £86 AGRICULTURE. Sixty years ago agriculture was confined to the old 206 PROGRESS OF THE WORLD. French " habitans," who had a chain of farms 400 miles long on the banks of the St. Lawrence. The quantity of grain produced was much in excess of the home consump- tion, for it appears by a statement in 1830 that the average exports of wheat to England during a period of twenty- five years were worth £256,000 per annum, or about 1,000,000 bushels. In the first quarter of the present century free grants of 200-acre farms were given by Government to military and other settlers, on condition of building a hut and getting four acres under plough. The cost of a log hut was £12, that of a barn for grain £60 — the colonists suffering great inconvenience for want of roads. In 1826 land-grants were abolished, and farm lots were put up for auction, the buyer paying the price in four annual instalments, without interest. Thousands of settlers took farms in Upper Canada, the rapid growth of which province is shown as follows : — Population. Lands tilled. 1842 . . . 486,000 1,928,000 1852 . . . 952,000 3,698,000 It was no longer a mere wood-cutting colony, but a large producer of grain, the agricultural returns for 1852 showing as follows (for Canada proper) : — Grain . . 45 million bushels Potatoes H » ». Hay 1J „ tons Butter and cheese . 29 „ lbs. At this time farms were extending into the remote western backwoods, the Government price for land being 5s. per acre. Gradually and steadily the white settlers penetrated the primeval forests, some of them only raising enough grain for their own support, while they felled timber on CANADA. 207 the banks of the rivers and floated it on rafts five or six hundred miles down stream till reaching Quebec, a toil- some journey of fifty or sixty days. Meantime the open country of Manitoba attracted numerous farmers, and within the last seven years some colonies of Eussian Mennonites have raised up in this out-lying territory such thriving settlements as have merited the warmest praise of the late Viceroy, Earl Dufferin. We learn also from Mr. Brassey that "in Manitoba you may drive a gig for 1000 miles straight over open prairie, suitable for wheat grow- ing ; " and here the Government gives free grants of 200- acre lots, on the same terms as the United States Home- stead Law. 1 In the rest of Canada the settler will have to pay about 4s. an acre for the purchase of land. The statistics for 1874 showed a total of 368,000 farms, viz. — Number. Approx. area. Farms under 10 acres . 40,280 250,000 acres ,, from 10 to 100 acres . 220,700 12,000,000 „ „ over 100 acres . 107,400 22,000,000 „ 368,380 34,250,000 About one-half of this area was cultivated, the annual increase of tillage being about 260,000 acres. 1861. 18M. Increase. Lands cultivated 13,062,000 acres 16,240,000 acres 3,000,000 acres Yalue of farms . £102,000,000 £131,000,000 £29,000,000 „ cattle . 24,000,000 33,000,000 9,000,000 Farm products . 6,000,000 10,000,000 4,000,000 The farming area in 1874 covered only 17 per cent of the provinces of Ontario and Quebec, and as Canada proper has an area of 201 million acres, it appears that the 1 The conditions are, to build a log-hut, and bring 15 acres under cultivation. The land involves in some places a cost of £3 per acre for clearing timber. Wheat averages 20 bushels to the acre. 208 PEOGEESS OF THE WOELD. Government has still 167 millions for sale, less the lands granted to railways. All the above farms are held by their proprietors, except 44,000, which are in the hands of tenants. The grain crops in 1860 were found to reach 85 million bushels, while the green-crops comprised 60 million bushels of potatoes, peas, and turnips. In the last twenty years the production of wheat has increased so much that it is not uncommon for Canada to export 10 million bushels in a year. The home consumption prob- ably reaches 30 million bushels, and the difference between imports and exports in the last six years has been as follows : — 1872-77. Per annum. Imported breadstuff's . . £16,050,000 £2,675,000 Exported „ . . 19,210,000 3,202,000 Surplus Exports . . £3,160,000 £527,000 This shows an average of 4,000,000 bushels per annum, so that Canada may be supposed at present to produce about 40 million bushels of wheat and 1 30 million of other grain; in all 170 x million bushels from an area of 10 million acres. Ontario, formerly known as Upper Canada, stands for three-fourths of the agriculture of the Dominion. Canada is not so well suited as Australia for pastoral industry. Nevertheless, the increase of flocks and herds has been very satisfactory. 1861. 1874. Increase. Horses 727,300 866,100 20 per cent Cows 2,323,000 2,702,000 18 „ Sheep 2,550,000 3,331,000 32 „ Pigs 1,245,000 1,425,000 15 „ Value of stock . . £24,000,000 £33,000,000. 36 „ In the last three years pastoral industry has acquired 1 An official report states that Canada raises 49 bushels grain per inhabitant. CANADA. 209 additional interest from the shipments of beef and cattle to England, amounting to £50,000 worth weekly. The increase of dairy farming has been no less remarkable, the value of cheese and butter exceeding £3,000,000 per annum : in 1878 the production of cheese amounted to 40 million lbs., having doubled since 1874. COMMERCE. In 1809 the first steamer ploughed the waters of the St. Lawrence, but commerce made little progress for twenty years. A move was felt about 1830, and since that time trade has multiplied fifteen-fold, being four times greater than the increase in population. The returns stand thus : — Imports. Exports. Gross Trade. Per inhab. 1832-34 . £1,430,000 p. an. £980,000 p. an. £2,410,000 p. an. £2 : 10s. 1845-47. 2,380,000 „ 2,090,000 „ 4,470,000 „ 2 1865-67. 17,490,000 „ 14,170,000 „ 31,660,000 „ 9 1875-77. 23,370,000 „ 17,810,000 „ 41,180,000 „ 10 Thus Canada, with only 4,000,000 inhabitants, carries on almost as great a trade as that of Great Britain at the beginning of the century. The commercial relations with the United Kingdom have fallen off in the last thirty 1850-51. 1877; ith Great Britain 55 per cent 47 per cent „ Other Countries . . 45 „ 53 „ JtOO „ 100 „ There has been no perceptible decline in the current of exports, of which 55 per cent still go to Great Britain, but Canada now takes only 39 per cent of her imports from us — a fall of one-third as compared with 1850-51. The sum of exports has diminished in the last five years, although the chief staples show an increase : — P 210 PROGRESS OF THE WORLD. 1872: 1877. Timber £4,360,000 £4,340,000 Grain 2,390,000 2,860,000 20 per cent Meat and Cattle . . 1,720,000 2,140,000 25 „ Fish 1,650,000 1,850,000 12 „ Sundries .... 8,287,000 6,040,000 £18,407,000 £17,230,000 The balance of trade is against Canada, averaging £5,000,000 per annum : — 1868-1877. Imports of ten years . . £221,000,000 Exports „ „ . . 172,000,000 Surplus imports . . £ 49,000,000 The tonnage of arrivals in Canadian ports has risen from 430,000 tons in 1829 to 3,500,000 tons in 1877. The increase of the last ten years shows as follows : — 1867. 1877. Increase. Arrivals . . 2,685,000 tons 3,608,000 tons 30 per cent Meantime the colonial fleet of Canada is increasing at the rate of 60,000 tons yearly, and the size of the vessels is also greater than ten years ago : — Vessels. Tonnage. Average. 1868 5820 776,000 134 tons 1877 7360 1,310,000 178 „ The shipping, compared with population, was, in 1868, as 22 tons per 100 inhabitants, and in 1877 as 33 tons — a relative increase of 50 per cent. Canada possesses the fourth great mercantile navy of the world, coming next after Scandinavia, and before Germany. This fine fleet has sprung up in less than thirty years ; as the total of Canadian vessels in 1850 was only' 61,000 tons. The proportion of steamers is small. CANADA. 211 Tons. Proportion. Sailing vessels . . 1,233,000 94 per cent Steamers . . . 77,000 6 „ 1,310,000 If the above be valued at £7 per ton, it will amount to £9,000,000 sterling, or £2 per head of the population, a ratio 33 per cent higher than in the United Kingdom. Canada maintains 450 lighthouses, at a cost of £100,000 per annum, having built 96 new ones in six years. MANUFACTURES. The earliest record of manufacturing industry goes back no farther than 1830, when the returns showed thus : "There are 1300 domestic looms, which turn out yearly 4,000,000 yards of woollen and linen manufactures. "There are 7 foundries, 1086 mills of various kinds, not including 1580 saw-mills. The capital invested by wood-cutters is estimated at £1,250,000, and the export of timber averages £1,000,000 sterling per annum." The official returns for 1878 sum up the manufactures as follows : — Operatives . . 188,000 Annual wages . . £8,100,000 Production . . . £46,000,000 Felling and sawing timber seem to be included among the manufactures, the exportation reaching 900 million cubic feet, worth £6,000,000 sterling. FINANCES. The growth of revenue and debt has been by no means so rapid as in Australia ; and it may be said that Canada is, in this respect, one of the countries lightest burthened. The following Table explains itself : — 212 PROGRESS OF THE WORLD. Revenue. Per inhabitant. Debt. Per inhabitant 1840-51 . £540,000 7s. £1,226,000 £1 1867 . . 3,420,000 19s. 16,460,000 £5 1877 . . 4,784,000 23s. 28,027,000 £7 For half a century the colony cost Great Britain about £450,000 per annum, as the ordinary garrison was over 4000 men. Since 1867 it has been entirely self-support- ing, and at present the total debt (including municipal) is £43,000,000. Canada has 305 banks, the increase of banking business in ten years being as follows : — 1867. 1877. Increase. Capital paid up . £6,000,000 £14,760,000 145 per cent Deposits . . 6,100,000 12,520,000 107 „ Discounts . . 10,200,000 24,700,000 145 „ Savings banks . 285,000 2,800,000 900 „ The issue of paper money amounts to £7,700,000, which is equal to 39s. per inhabitant, against 38s. in Australia. The deposits and discounts are much larger in the latter colony than in Canada (see page 191). The wealth of the colony in 1866 was summed up thus : — Agricultural capital . Houses, etc., in towns Commercial capital Shipping . Personal property £138,000,000 40,000,000 28,000,000 6,000,000 15,000,000 £227,000,000 This was equal to £70 per inhabitant. There are thirty-seven life assurance companies, which have insured 48,500 lives for a total of £17,000,000, being an average of £348 each; the death-rate averaging 8 per 1000 annually. The fire assurances show a total of £81,000,000 of property insured. CANADA. 213 RAILWAYS AND CANALS. Canada boasts some of the noblest works of engineer- ing. Before railways were known she constructed several fine canals. 1. Eideau, from Kingston to Ottawa, 132 miles, with forty-seven locks, cost £800,000, paid by Great Britain. 2. Welland, from Erie to Ontario, 41 miles, having 56 feet width and 8 depth, cost £1,400,000, say £34,000 per mile. 3. Grenville, from Bideau to Montreal, whereby a com- plete system of 460 miles of navigation is obtained to Niagara. Also four canals of minor note. The traffic on all seven canals during the years 1872-1876 averaged as follows yearly : — Vessels 27,400 Tonnage .... 3,510,000 Passengers .... 91,700 Tolls £83,800 The traffic returns show a marked decline in consequence of the superior facilities offered by railways. The existing canals represent an outlay of £6,500,000, and a further sum of £6,000,000 is being laid out in canalising the St. Lawrence from Lake Erie to Montreal, with facility for vessels of 1500 tons, drawing up to 14 feet. The lower part of the St. Lawrence has been made navigable for vessels of 4000 tons up to Montreal, 1000 miles from the sea, having been formerly practicable only for vessels of 400 tons. The Grand Trunk Railway, built in 1847-60, is 1388 miles in length, and represents a total cost of £31,000,000 ; the average earnings are £2,000,000, but as working ex- 214 PROGRESS OF THE WORLD. penses absorb 80 per cent, the net profit is barely 1J per cent on the capital. The goods traffic on this line has doubled in five years, viz. — 1872 .... 2,220,000 tons 1877 . . . . 4,354,000 „ The Great Western is of more recent construction, as well as others of less note ; the total of lines in actual traffic being 5850 miles, 'which represent an outlay of £70,000,000, including £18,000,000 subscribed by the Canadian Government. Surveys for the Canadian Pacific railway occupied no less than seven years, including 11,500 miles of country actually measured, at a cost of £645,000 and thirty-four lives. The line starts from the west bank of Lake Superior, will cross the Koeky Mountains at Yellow Head Pass, 3646 feet over sea-level, and terminate at Port Moody; length 2010 miles, estimated cost £22,000,000. Already 400 miles are ready for traffic, and the line is to be finished by 1890. Besides the railways there are 5500 miles of good post roads, the want of which so much retarded the growth of the colony in its early years, that Major Strickland (1826) describes a journey of fifty miles in Western Canada, taking three days to accomplish. INSTRUCTION. Canada ranks foremost among the countries of the world for the proportion of children attending school. Even so far back as thirty years ago it counted 1700 parish schools. At present the schools are attended by 700,000 children, and maintained at an annual expenditure of £1,000,000 sterling, say 30s. per pupil, or 5s. for each inhabitant, against 3s. in the United Kingdom. CAPE OF GOOD HOPE. 215 The Press has made wonderful progress in sixty years. In 1816 Canada had 16 weekly newspapers, and no daily. In 1857 there were 243 between dailies and weeklies, and at present there are 447 papers, issuing 30 million copies yearly, a greater number than the United Kingdom printed fifty years ago. SOUTH AFRICA. Cape Colony was taken from the Dutch in 1806, since which time its progress has not been commensurate with that of either Canada or Australia, although it constitutes at present a very flourishing colony of Britain. By way of conquest we have extended our possessions in South Africa to an actual area of 367,000 square miles, and in this manner the population has risen from a handful of settlers to a nation of 2,000,000 souls : — 1806 74,000 inhabitants 1840 143,000 1861 420,000 „ 1877 . . 1,744,000 The colony consists of three distinct settlements, in two of which the British element predominates, and in the third the Dutch : — Area. Population. Cape . . . 234,000 square miles 1,120,000 Natal . . . 19,000 „ 322,000 Transvaal . . 114,000 „ 300,000 367,000 „ 1,742,000 The Transvaal was a republic of 50,000 Dutch farmers till its recent annexation in 1877 ; the bulk of the popula- tion consisted of 200,000 negroes. The principal features of the Cape and Natal are as follows : — 216 PROGRESS OF THE WORLD. Gape. Natal. Total. White settlers 237,000 22,500 259,500 Imports . £5,457,000 £1,167,000 £6,624,000 Exports . £3,663,000 £690,000 £4,353,000 Gross trade . . £9,120,000 £1,857,000 £10,977,000 Revenue t . £2,932,000 £272,000 £3,204,000 Debt . . £5,029,000 £1,232,000 £6,261,000 Tonnage arrivals . 462,000 95,000 557,000 Comparing the white population with trade, there appears twice as much activity at Natal as at the Cape, the former averaging £80, the latter £40, per inhabitant. The balance of trade is against the colony : — Imports of ten years . . £51,500,000 Exports „ „ . . 41,000,000 Surplus imports . £10,500,000 The annual average against the colony is therefore about £1,000,000 sterling. Cape Colony. This territory comprises, besides the original Dutch settlement, the lands taken in the last twenty years from Kaffirs, Basutos, and Fingoes, the whole forming an area equal to France. The population, according to the census of 1875, is made up thus : — Whites . . . 237,000 Coloured . . . 883,000 1,120,000 In less than thirty years the white population has trebled, since in 1848 it numbered only 87,100 souls. The vital statistics show as follows : — Birth-rate 43 per 1000 inhabitants Death-rate 21 „ Increase 22 „ CAPE OF GOOD HOPE. 217 This is almost as high a rate of increase as in the Australian colonies, and double that of Canada. The marriage-rate is 13 per 1000, which is below the European average. Emigration to Cape Colony during the last seventy years has barely averaged 1000 per annum, although an extraordinary influx occurred in 1867-68, due to the discovery of diamonds 1 at Orange Eiver, and since then every year has seen a fair number of settlers. About fifty years ago Cape wines became so favourably known in England that the cultivation of the vine advanced with rapidity. In 1835-38 the vintage averaged 1,000,000 gallons, and ten years later the annual shipments exceeded 500,000 gallons ; the wine best in repute being the Con- stantia, grown near Cape Town. While the area under vines extended, the wine lost favour in England, the ship- ments in 1863 having fallen to 300,000 gallons; the cheap French wine gradually supplanting that of the Cape to such a degree, that between 1867 and 1877 the average shipments hardly reached 80,000 gallons, worth £15,000 sterling. Nevertheless, the wine crop of the Cape has steadily risen to 4,500,000 gallons, of which 98 per cent is kept for home consumption. The average yield is 250 gallons per acre, worth about £25. Grain crops cover nearly half a million acres, but the yield is so poor (from 5 to 10 bushels per acre) that the quantity raised is only sufficient for home consumption. It is, however, manifest that agriculture is progressing, as appears from comparing the returns for 1875 with those of ten years previous : — 1 The highest price obtained for one of these diamonds was £11,000, for the "Stewart" diamond, weighing 288 carats, which was found in November 1872. It is the fourth largest in the world. The total value of diamonds exported was £12,000,000 sterling. 218 PROGRESS OF THE WORLD. 1865. 1875. Increase Grain, acres 387,000 465,000 20 p. c , , crops 2,440,000 bushels 4,180,000 bushels 72 „ Vineyards, acres 16,200 18,200 12 „ ,, crop 3,240,000 gallons 4,485,000 gallons 36 „ The value of the grain and wine crops is £1,290,000, or £5 per head of the white population. Public lands may he either bought at a shilling an acre, or rented from Government, the State deriving in this manner a revenue of £185,000 per annum, according to the average since 1874, and the annual appropriations to squatters or purchasers exceeding 1,000,000 acres. The Government has still 50,000,000 acres to dispose of, the lands already taken up being as follows : — Agriculture . Pasture Timber Unoccupied . Acres. 600,000 17,500,000 10,000,000 40,938,000 Area of farms . 69,038,000 Squatters' runs for cattle vary from 3000 to 10,000 acres, being much smaller than in Australia or the Eiver Plate. The increase of cattle in thirty-five years has been prodigious, the numbers having multiplied five-fold. 1840. 1875. Cows 307,000 1,329,000 Horses 56,700 241,000 Sheep 2,339,000 11,280,000 Goats 394,000 2,790,000 Ostriches 22,200 The above stock represents a value of £14,000,000, equal to £60 per head of the white population. Sheep- farming has sensibly declined in recent years, while ostrich- CAPE OF GOOD HOPE. 219 farming and the care of Angora goats have increased, as shown by the Table of exports :— Average of Average of 1871-72. 1876-77. Wool . 47,500,000 lbs. 35,500,000 lbs. 25 per cent less Ostrich feathers 26,200 „ 62,700 „ 140 „ more Angora hair 606,000 „ 1,378,000 ., 130 „ „ The wool-clip varies from 3 to 4 lbs. per fleece, the average value being as 4s. from each sheep ; whereas, in Australia, each sheep gives 6 lbs. wool, and produces in this manner 7s. to its owner. The sheep of the Eiver Plate give less than 2s. per head, of wool. Ostriches are now found a very lucrative business, as they are kept within fences, and no longer killed for their feathers, but plucked once a year. The feathers are worth from £6 to £50 sterling per lb., and the birds give about 3 lbs. each per annum. During the last three years the exportation of ostrich feathers has averaged £380,000 per annum ; yet the business of ostrich-farming is only of recent adoption. The number of ostriches annually plucked is 32,000, yielding £12 each. Angora goats already num- ber 800,000 ; the breed having been imported from Asia Minor about twenty years ago, and crossed with the Cape goats, of which there are 2,000,000. The Angoras thrive admirably, 1 and the clip averages 2 lbs. per head, the han- selling at 2s. per lb. In a short time this industry will rival that of sheep-farming. Commerce and revenue have grown in ten years as follows : — 1 These animals would probably do equally well in Tasmania and the Kepublic of Uruguay. A few have been introduced into the hilly country of Tucuman. 220 PROGRESS OF THE WORLD. 1867. 1877. Increase. Imports £2,415,000 £5,457,000 120 per cent Exports 2,531,000 3,663,000 46 „ Gross trade . 4,946,000 9,120,000 84 „ Revenue 899,000 2,932,000 225 „ Debt . 1,102,000 5,029,000 350 „ The debt has been chiefly contracted for making four lines of railway, of which more than 500 miles 1 are already open to traffic. Taking only the white population, the debt averages £22 per head, or one-third of the value of their cattle. The revenue, in like manner, seems at first heavy — say £13 per white settler — but it must be borne in mind that the exports are nearly equal to it, being £11 per head. Our commercial relations with the Cape are on the increase. In 1868 the trade with Great Britain formed 70 per cent of the total ; in 1877 it rose to 75 per cent, being a much higher ratio than our dealings with Canada and Australia (see p. 182). This colony possesses 56 vessels, of 6600 tons aggre- gate burthen — say 120 tons each. The tonnage of arrivals has doubled since 1848, being now 384,000 tons sea- going vessels, besides 525,000 tons coasting. The telegraph system centres at Cape Town, and ex- tends for 3800 miles. The cable laid down from Aden to the Cape of Good Hope now connects the colony with the rest of the world. Cape Town is a rising city of 33,000 inhabitants, with a fine pier, constructed in 1860, and a State library of 40,000 volumes. Natal. This out-lying settlement was separated from the Cape in 1856, and comprises a limited area of 12,000,000 acres, 1 The principal line is from Cape Town to Beaufort, 200 miles. NATAL. 221 of which only two-thirds are occupied for tillage and pasture. Acres. Crops. Per acre. Grain . 163,000 1,450,000 bushels 9 busnels Sugar . 8,600 10,600 tons ljton Coffee . 3,800 1,500,000 lbs. 400 lbs. Most of the agriculture consists of Kaffir farms, the area of white farms covering only 31,000 acres. The population is also chiefly black, the whites forming only 6 per cent, say 22,500 souls. There are 93 schools, attended by 3400 children. The colony has made the following progress in the last ten years : — 1867. 1877. Increase. Imports £270,000 £1,167,000 350 per cent Exports £226,000 £690,000 210 „ Gross trade £496,000 £1,857,000 270 ,, Revenue £266,000 £272,000 24 „ Debt . £213,000 £1,232,000 480 „ Tonnage arri rals 26,500 95,000 270 „ Natal has an important transit trade with the interior, both for imports and exports. The shipments of wool reach 10,000,000 lbs., the product of some 3,000,000 sheep, although the colony counts less than half a million. The exports are as £30 per head of the white popu- lation. This colony has still room for settlers. The Govern- ment has already disposed of 8,000,000 acres, and has 4,000,000 yet available for tenants or purchasers. The income from sale and renting of land in 1875 and 1876 averaged £17,700 sterling. 222 PROGRESS OF THE WORLD. BEITISH POSSESSIONS. These are so numerous that it will suffice to review the principal of commercial interest, viz. — Population. Commerce. Revenue. India 194,384,000 £151,200,000 £61,000,000 West Indies 1,098,000 12,100,000 1,290,000 Guiana . 193,000 5,280,000 390,000 Mauritius 348,000 6,560,000 748,000 Hong Kong 124,000 9,200,000 £184,340,000 184,000 196,147,000 £63,612,000 The above figures for India comprise not only Hindo- stan, but also British Burmah, Ceylon, and the Straits Settlement. The West Indies, in like manner, comprehend Honduras and Bermudas. It will be observed that the commerce of the above possessions is greater than that of our three colonial empires in Canada, Australia, and South Africa (see page 181), while the number of British settlers is infinitesimal. Each of the above possessions differs greatly from the rest, requiring us to consider them apart. INDIA. This vast empire was the property of the East India Company down to 1814, in which year the monopoly enjoyed by that Company was abolished. It was finally annexed to Great Britain in 1858, this epoch being marked by an improved system of government. The advance of British conquest in the last fifty years is shown as follows : — INDIA. 223 Area. Population. 1830 . 512, 000 square miles 91,000,000 1861 . 886,000 „ 134,000,000 1878 . 934,000 „ 194,000,000 This does not include 450 tributary States, whose Rajahs pay fealty to the Empress of India, their dominions covering 590,000 square miles, with 50,500,000 inhabit- ants. Thus British India really comprehends 1,500,000 square miles, with 245,000,000 of people, for the govern- ment of which we keep up a garrison of 65,000 men. The census of 1871 shows that 67 per cent of the population live by agriculture : the average income of the peasants is 22 rupees, or £2 per annum, out of which they pay one rupee for their land. Bice, being their staple food, is universally cultivated, besides which they raise 200,000,000 bushels of wheat. The total number of adult males in British India is 67,000,000, distributed as follows : — -Male adults. Farm-labourers . 8,200,000 Merchants . 3,600,000 Artisans 9,300,000 Servants 4,150,000 Gentlemen 5,100,000 67,400,000 In the last forty years the face of the country has been completely changed by the construction of roads, irrigation works, and railways, involving an outlay of more than £100,000,000 sterling by London capitalists. This has naturally produced an extraordinary development of trade and products, 1 besides facilitating the peaceable admini- stration of all the provinces. 1 In 1835 the ordinary price of an elephant was £45 ; at present it ranges from £150 up to £800. 224 PROGRESS OF THE WORLD. In 1830 there were no roads, no river steamers, and the only mode of travelling was on camels or elephants across country, or in boats on the great rivers. In 1836 the Calcutta and Delhi main highroad was begun ; it was eventually carried out to Peshawur, a total length of 1420 miles, having cost £1,500,000 sterling. In 1842 was commenced the road from Bombay to Calcutta, 1170 miles, which cost £600,000 ; and another to Agra, 734 miles, which cost £250,000. In fine, the construction of roads from 1839-1849 cost £3,460,000. The irrigation works are of more modern date, and have absorbed no less than £17,000,000. Some of the table-lands so irrigated are at a level of 3000 feet above the sea. The canals also lend facilities for internal navi- gation. The Bengal canal, 900 miles long and 10 feet deep, was opened in 1854 ; a few years later saw the com- pletion of the Jumna, 580, and the Punjaub, 450 miles in length. In the last twenty years a complete network of rail- ways, over 7500 miles, has been constructed at a cost of £114,000,000 sterling, the progress being about a mile per day, viz. — 1861 .... 1610 miles open 1865 .... 3186 „ 1878 . . . 7553 These lines carried in 1876 about 31 million passengers, and gave net profit of 4| per cent on cost of construction. The grand trunk line from Calcutta to Delhi is 1000 miles in length. Previous to the making of railways and canals the products and trade of India were stagnant, but the pro- gress of the last twenty years is marvellous. The aggregate trade returns for India, Ceylon, and Sin- gapore, since 1815 show an increase of fifteen-fold, viz. — INDIA. 225 Imports. Exports. Total. 1815 £8,136,000 2,566,000 £10,702,000 1830 5,679,000 4,087,000 9,766,000 1863 57,200,000 60,900,000 118,100,000 1877 67,900,000 82,975,000 150,875,000 Exports are usually £1.0,000,000 a year over imports, and all the chief products are increasing in the following 1868. 1878. In urease. Opium £12,330,000 £12,374,000 Eice and Grain 3,780,000 9,790,000 150 >er cent Coffee 3,310,000 6,050,000 80 jj Tea . 730,000 3,062,000 320 >» Hides 988,000 3,757,000 275 ,, Jute . 1,601,000 3,518,000 120 ,, Sundries . 20,461,000 37,365,000 66 76 » £43,200,000 £75,916,000 11 Cotton 20,100,000 9,384,000 deol. 53 incr. 35 •> Total . £63,300,000 £85,300,000 »J Trade has, moreover, been facilitated by the introduc- tion of paper money in 1861, the emission rising to £5,000,000 in 1864, and at present exceeding £12,000,000. The coin mostly in use is silver, the Government having coined £40,000,000 of this metal in the last ten years, say £4,000,000 per annum. Previous to 1870 India used to absorb £20,000,000 of bullion, chiefly silver, every year, but since that date the influx of precious metals has fallen : — 1864-1870 1871-1876 1877-1878 Amount. . £138,000,000 . 53,000,000 . 22,200,000 Per annum. £19,700,000 8,770,000 11,100,000 This is by some ascribed to poverty, partly resulting from famine, partly from the taxation having been increased 1 8 per cent in the last ten years. Q 226 PROGRESS OP THE WORLD. The rise of public debt has been as follows : — Amount. Per inhabitant. 1814 . £18,000,000 5s. 1857 60,000,000 10s. 1862 . 100,000,000 15s. 1879 . 139,000,000 14s. The service of the debt costs £5,500,000 per annum, or 9 per cent of the revenue ; the latter averages 6s. per inhabitant. The number of Europeans is very small, the returns of population for 1877 showing as follows: — Hindoos .... 140,000,000 Mahometans Buddhists, etc. British troops „ civilians 41,000,000 10,000,000 65,000 64,000 191,129,000 The British are therefore less than 1 in 1000 of the population. The annual mortality among British troops in India was 69 per 1000 (say 7 per cent) previous to 1850 ; the improvements introduced by order of Parliament have reduced the rate since 1870 to 20 per 1000, which saves 3500 soldiers' lives yearly. In 1877 the rate was only 13 per 1000. The annual expenditure for the garrison of white troops is £15,000,000, or £250 per soldier. In India there are at present 644 newspapers, of which 600 are published in the various vernacular languages — chiefly in Bengali, Urdu, Marathi, Gujarati, Tamil, and Telugu. There are 40 journals published in English. The universities of Cal- cutta, Madras, and Bombay educate 6000 youths, and there are also State schools in the various provinces. India has 17,900 miles of telegraph, constructed at a cost of £3,000,000 sterling. CEYLON. 227 The island of Ceylon has made wonderful progress during the last forty years as a field for coffee-planting. Numerous Englishmen have settled down there, whose estates cover an area of 255,000 acres, representing a value of £9,000,000 sterling, and producing over 100 million lbs. coffee. The production has multiplied thirty-fold since 1837, as shown by the export : — Export. Value. 1837 . . 3 million lbs. £98,000 1877 . . 104 „ „ 4,371,000 The average crop is about equal to £18 per acre, whereas in Brazil it does not exceed £16. The Govern- ment has already sold or granted 1\ million acres, and has still 12 million acres of Crown lands for settlers, the ordi- nary price being apparently £4 an acre. Large plantations of Cinchona, said to reach 50 million young plants, have been recently made ; this will soon prove a valuable item for exportation, as the world consumes 10 million lbs. Jesuits' bark per annum. Cinchona was first introduced into India in 1861, and the Neilgherry plantations already count 3,000,000 trees over thirty feet in height. HONG KONG. This important island, which is hardly the size of the Isle of Man, is the entrepot of commerce to the amount of £9,000,000 sterling, of which the trade with Great Britain forms two-thirds. No community in the world carries on so large a business compared with population, the census of 1876 showing as follows : — British ... 869 Other whites . . 1,867 Chinese . . . 136,408 139,144 228 PROGRESS OF THE WORLD. The shipping returns show that trade has more than doubled in ten years : — 1866. 1876: Increase- Tonnage arrivals . 945,000 tons 2,180,000 tons 130 per cent The revenue averages £180,000, or 25s. per head of the population. Hong Kong, with a handful of people, carries on a greater commerce than some of the minor nations of Europe. MAURITIUS. Few parts of the world are more thickly populated than this island, 1 which is only one-fifth of the size of Corsica, and yet has a greater number of inhabitants. It was taken by Great Britain in 1810, the next event in its history being the emancipation of the slaves in 1838. These numbered 66,600, the average price of indemnity paid to their masters being about £25 each. In order to prevent an interruption of labour on the sugar estates, Coolies were already imported in 1834, and since that time the influx of these industrious settlers has been con- tinuous. The increase of population in fifty years has been as follows : — 1827. 1877. Whites . 8,000 11,000 Blacks . 86,600 92,000 Coolies . ... 246,000 94,600 349,000 1 The same proportion to the square mile would give us 62,000,000 inhabitants in the United Kingdom. MAURITIUS. 229 The growth of the sugar industry is shown as follows : — Acres under sugar. Export of sugar. 1814 . 2,000 500 tons 1836 . 57,000 30,000 „ 1877 . 160,000 136,000 „ The area of the island is 700 square miles, or 450,000 acres, most of which is under tillage. Forest timber is of the most valuable description, this island producing the best ebony in the world. Mineral resources are not fully developed, the iron-mines being known to yield superior ores. A railway, 66 miles long, has been made across the island, to facilitate shipment of products. There is a heavy balance of trade in favour of the island, the summary of imports and exports for ten years being as follows : — Imports of ten years . £22,800,000 Exports „ . . 29,850,000 Surplus of exports . £7,050,000 The increase of revenue has been greater than that of population, but less than that of trade. Eevenue. Per head. 1827 196,000 40s. 1877 748,000 43s. The public debt amounts to £1,000,000 sterling. Mauritius exports products worth £7 per acre of her extent, supports eighty inhabitants on every 100 acres, and has a balance of trade equal to £2 per inhabitant per annum. CYPRUS. This once famous island, annexed to the British Empire in 1878, promises to become of great importance as soon 230 PROGRESS OF THE WORLD. as the Euphrates Valley railway be constructed, to open a direct route to India ; the point of departure is to be Alex- andretta, abreast of Cyprus, on the Asiatic shore. The population is barely 200,000, of whom two-thirds are Christians, the rest Turks. Most of the island is held in farms of 70 acres, except the Tchifliks or big estates, which are eighty in number. The agricultural products are as follow : — Quantity. Value. Grain . . . 3,000,000 bushels £525,000 Cotton Silk cocoons Wine Olive oil . Tobacco . Wool 1,250,000 lbs. 20,000 45,000 „ 22,000 450,000 gallons 40,000 50,000 „ 18,000 15,000 lbs. 1,000 330,000 „ 15,000 £641,000 About three-fourths of the above products are kept for home consumption, the total exports (including sponges and salt) not exceeding £175,000 per annum, or 17s. per inhabitant. In former times the island was much more productive, but industry has withered under the Turkish pashas. The production of salt is about 50,000 tons, or one-fourth of what it might be. There are 40 boats and 400 men engaged in sponge fishing : they take annually 7000 lbs. of sponges, worth £2600 sterling. The total trade, between imports and exports, is barely £300,000, and the arrivals of shipping at Larnaca average 46,000 tons per annum. There is but one road in the whole island, from Larnaca to Nicosia, which was in a very bad condition when the British took possession. The climate in the high grounds is healthy. Some of the farmers have flocks of sheep, the number of these animals reaching 750,000. WEST INDIES. 231 WEST INDIES. Under this heading we may include not only the Antilles, but also Honduras and Bermudas : — Area. Population. Jamaica .... 4,190 506,000 Trinidad . . 1,750 110,000 Other islands . . 6,880 457,000 Honduras . . . 7,560 25,000 20,380 1,098,000 The abolition of slavery in 1834 inflicted such a blow upon the industry of the West Indies that it is only since the introduction of Coolies that the islands have begun to revive. The sums paid for the slaves to their masters varied in the different islands, but were supposed to be 45 per cent of their market value : — Slaves. Sum paid. Per head. Jamaica . 311,000 £6,150,000 £20 Trinidad . 21,00,0 1,034,000 50 Barbadoes . . 83,000 1,720,000 21 Other islands . 166,400 3,368,000 20 • 581,400 £12,272,000 £21 In ten years following the emancipation, as compared with ten years previous to 1834, it was found that sugar had declined 70 per cent, rum 60, and coffee 75 per cent. The importation of Coolies between 1850 and 1860 averaged 6000 per annum, which soon effected a revival of industry ; but this was followed by another period of depression, the exports and imports being now much less than fourteen, years ago : — 1863-64. 1876-77. Decline. Imports . . £9,100,000 per annum £5,430,000 41 per cent Exports . . 7,810,000 5,840,000 25 „ Gross trade . 16,910,000 11,270,000 33 „ 232 PROGRESS OF THE WORLD. The balance of trade during the past ten years has been in favour of the islands, viz. — 1868-1877. Imports of ten years . . . £54,900,000 Exports „ „ . . . 55,500,000 Surplus exports . . . £600,000 Sugar is the chief product, and has fluctuated as follows : — 1830 .... 220,000 tons 1863 .... 140,000 „ 1877 .... 159,000 „ Although these colonies are the most backward in some respects, they have many favourable features. Their ex- ports compared to population fall little short of the ratio in Great Britain ; their taxation is light ; their debt less than £1 per head ; and public instruction is gradually improv- ing the moral tone of the inhabitants. The total population exceeds 1,000,000 souls, but the number of whites barely reaches 30,000, or 3 per cent. Eailways have been introduced ; one line of 25 miles in Jamaica, another of 16 miles in Trinidad. Jamaica. Although the largest of our West Indian possessions, this island is not quite one-tenth the size of Cuba. Previous to the emancipation it exported annually 100,000 hogsheads of sugar, 40,000 pipes of rum, and 10,000 tons of coffee, but at present the production is hardly one-third. Mean : time the population has increased : — 1824. 1871. Whites. . . 37,000 13,800 65 p. c. less Coloured . . 322,000 492,400 53 „ more 359,000 506,200 40 „ more JAMAICA. 233 There has been a great improvement in the last ten years as regards trade, revenue, etc. ; the more remarkable, as Barbadoes, Bahamas, and the Leeward Islands, have notably declined. If we compare the statistics of Jamaica in 1877 with those of 1867, we find as follows : — 1867. 1877. Increase. Imports £859,000 £1,552,000 60 per cent Exports £1,045,000 £1,459,000 42 „ Gross trade £1,904,000 £3,011,000 56 „ Revenue . £329,000 £533,000 60 „ Debt. £788,000 £633,000 Tonnage arrivals . 164,000 tons 351,000 tons 120 „ There has been, in the last ten years, a slight balance of trade against Jamaica. 1868-1877. Imports . £1,495,000 per annum Exports . Surplus imports 1,331,000 £164,000 „ Notwithstanding the extreme fertility of the island, its exported products are very trifling compared with those of Mauritius. Jamaica. Mauritius. Exports for population . . £3 per inhab. £8 per inhab. „ area .... 10s. per acre £7 per acre Sugar-planting does not progress, but is rather on the decline, as shown by the exportation. 1866 30,040 tons 1877 25,980 „ Taxation is low, say 21s., and the public debt 25s. per inhabitant. The Crown holds 360,000 acres for sale, but the island is hardly propitious for immigration. 234 progress of the world. Trinidad. This island is just the size of Norfolkshire, or little over 1,000,000 acres in extent. Its volcanoes of mud and lake of pitch remind us that it was detached from South America by some eruption in prehistoric times. Since its annexa- tion to the British Empire in 1797 it has made consider- able progress, especially in population. 1805 . . . 25,240 inhabitants 1834 . . . 43,678 „ 1877 . . . 110,000 "„ Sugar was first planted in 1787, and has long been the principal product. Some of the plantations were, however, abandoned after the emancipation of slaves. It was only upon the introduction of Coolies that agriculture revived, rising steadily every year, until the exports now average £20 per inhabitant, or seven times the ratio of Jamaica. The shipments in 1877, compared with ten years before, show thus : — 1867. 1877. Increase. Sugar and molasses . . £668,000 £973,000 45 per cent Cocoa . . . 189,000 281,000 50 „ Sundries .... 230,000 840,000 260 „ £1,087,000 £2,094,000 96 „ The soil is luxuriant, about one-third of the island being cultivated. The principal crops are : — Sugar .... 90,000 acres Cocoa .... 120,000 ,, Even the sides of the mountains can be cultivated to the very summits, and fine timber abounds. None of our other West Indian possessions is progress- ing so favourably as Trinidad. TRINIDAD. 1867. 1877. Increase. Imports . £859,000 £1,708,000 100 per cent Exports . £1,087,000 £2,094,000 96 „ Gross trade . £1,946,000 £3,802,000 98 „ Revenue . £216,000 £310,000 44 „ Debt . . £157,000 £178,000 14 „ Tonnage arrivals 140,000 306,000 120 ,, 235 The revenue is nearly £3 per head, but is only 3s. in the £ compared with exports, whereas in Jamaica the taxes are 7s. per £ of exports. The balance of trade for Trinidad in the ten years shows as follows : — 1868-1877. Imports of ten years . . . £12,810,000 Exports „ 15,130,000 Surplus exports . . £2,320,000 Thus the annual balance of trade in favour of the island is equal to £2 per inhabitant, the same ratio as in Mauritius. The capital, Port of Spain, is one of the finest towns in the West Indies, with 20,000 inhabitants, and has a rail- way to the Pitch Lake. Whites form about 1 per cent of the population, being a higher ratio than in the other islands. Barbadoes. This little island is the thickest populated and most productive spot in the whole world. Its area is only 106,000 acres, yet it supports 162,000 inhabitants, and exports products worth more than £1,000,000 sterling. It has double the population per square mile of Mauritius, and four times that of Belgium or China. The exports, compared with area, are as £10 per acre, for, although much smaller than the Isle of Man, its exports exceed £1,000,000 sterling. The returns for 1877 show thus : — 236 PROGRESS OF THE WORLD. Imports . ±01 1. £1,144,000 Exports . .-. 1,098,000 Gross trade 2,242,000 Revenue . 121,000 Debt 25,100 Tonnage arrivals 191,000 The people are lightly taxed, say 15s. per head, and their exports average £7 per inhabitant, or more than double the ratio of Jamaica. The balance of trade for ten years shows as follows: — 1868-1877. Imports of ten years . . . £10,985,000 Exports „ ... 11,190,000 Surplus exports . . £205,000 This shows an average balance for Barbadoes of £20,000 a year. The island is healthy, but subject to the most awful hurricanes. In one of these, some years ago, the Govern- ment House was blown down, the Governor saving his life in the cellar. The blacks no longer " incommode " the white settlers, but the number of the latter is now small. Education is making great advances, there being no fewer than twenty-three schools. Honduras. This insignificant possession in Central America has an area of 7500 square miles, inhabited by 24,700 Mexican cross-breeds. The trade is very trifling, and hastens to decay. 1863. 1877. Decline. Imports. . £266,000 £166,000 36 per cent Exports . . 391,000 125,000 65 „ Gross trade . 657,000 291,000 54 „ GUIANA. 237 The climate is bad, and the place seems no longer to export mahogany. For all practical purposes the British Empire gains nothing by a possession like this, where even the natives are deterred by the snakes and mosquitoes. GUIANA. This territory, on the South American continent, is larger than England, but has only 200,000 inhabitants. It is simply a large sugar-plantation, producing 100,000 tons yearly, or almost as much as the whole of the West India Islands. It has made great strides since the intro- duction of Coolies in 1853, the number of these settlers being now 40,000. x The progress of the last ten years has been as follows : — . 1867. i87r. Increase. Imports . 1,499,000 2,230,000 50 per cent Exports . 2,366,000 3,049,000 30 „ Gross trade 3,865,000 5,279,000 35 „ Revenue . 275,000 390,000 40 „ Debt 661,000 324,000 Tonnage arrivs Is 160,000 260,000 62 „ The white population is about 6000, or 3 per cent of the total. A railway of 21 miles has been constructed, and the sugar-planters seem prosperous. But for the climate Guiana might serve for a colony, the low grounds being most unhealthy, while the soil is highly fertile. When the British Parliament, in 1834, voted £21,000,000 to emancipate the slaves, the planters in Guiana were more fortunate than those of Jamaica, for the former obtained £52 per head for their slaves, or more than double the rate paid in the West India Islands. The 1 These Coolies return to India or China, after a few years, with their earnings. Some time since a vessel arrived at Calcutta with 460 of them, bringing back a collective sum of £11,300 sterling. 238 PROGRESS OP THE WORLD. slaves in Guiana numbered 82,000, and the sum paid for them was £4,295,000 sterling. At present the Coolies work so well that the exports are equal to £15 per head of the population. The balance of trade since 1868 shows as follows : — 1868-1877. Imports of ten years . £18,700,000 Exports „ . . 25,300,000 Surplus exports . £6,600,000 This is an average of £660,000 per annum in favour of Guiana, which may be taken as the annual increase of wealth. PAET III. FKANCE. Among the nations of the European continent there is none that equals France in commerce, manufactures, agri- culture, or public wealth. The progress which she has made since the fall of Charles X., barely fifty years ago, is very remarkable, and may be seen at a glance, thus : — 1830. 1878. Agricultural products . £186,000,000 £377,000,000 Manufactures. . . 78,000,000 416,000,000 Commerce . . . 47,000,000 368,000,000 In spite, however, of her industrial advancement, there are certain signs of physical and moral decline, which have not escaped the notice of French statesmen. The popula- tion does not increase, although emigration has been on a very small scale ; no fewer than 26 Departments showing an excess of deaths over births. Married people have diminished 11 per cent since 1821, and illegitimate children increased 15 per cent. 1817-1821. 1872-1874. Married persons . 55 per cent of pop. 49 per cent of pop. Illegitimate births 66 per 1000 76 per 1000 The birth-rate has fallen by one-fifth, infanticide has doubled, and the rate of insanity has quadrupled ; this last being, doubtless, the cause of the increase of suicide. 1817-21. 1872-75. Birth-rate , 32 per 1000 26 per 1000 Infanticide. 98 per 1,000,000 204 per 1,000,000 Insane . 580 „ ,, 2420 „ „ Suicide . 69 ,, ,, 141 ,, ,, 240 PROGRESS OF THE WORLD. On the other hand, the school-population has doubled, as well as the number of adults able to read and write ; and the annual criminal records of fifteen years (1851-1865) showed a decline of 26 per cent in the number of con- victions, as compared with thirty years before. Moreover, it must be noted, that although the ratio of married people is declining, it is still much higher than in any other country in Europe (see page 6) ; and however the rate of insanity has risen, it is considerably lower than in Ire- land or Scotland. It is true that 20 per cent of the con- scripts are rejected by the army- surgeons, but the ratio in Italy is about the same. It is also true that the agri- cultural population is falling with wonderful rapidity, but the products of the soil are increasing in quantity and value. It is true that the public debt and taxation have multiplied enormously since the fall of Charles X., but the wealth of France has grown far more, and the accumulations (see page 43) per annum have in recent years exceeded even those of Great Britain, according to the official returns of legacy-duty in both countries. FRENCH AGRICULTURE. France is one of the best cultivated countries in Europe, and yet she does not raise enough of food for her own population. Although " property in land is the most active instigator to incessant labour," the result of peasant pro- prietors in France is nowise comparable with what is ob- tained under the landlord system in England. In 1793 the estates of the nobles and clergy were confiscated, to the value of £140,000,000 sterling, and divided among the peasants. The spoliation had some good effects, the special committee appointed by Louis Philippe in 1840 reporting that the people were better fed, better clad, and FRANCE. 241 better housed than before. In process of time, however, the subdivision of property has gone on to such a degree that there are 1,134,000 land-owners exempted from tax on the plea of " paupers." The distribution of lands is as follows : — Estates. Number. Average extent. Area. First class 154,000 320 acres 48 million acres Second „ .636,000 50 „ 32 u Third „ 620,000 20 „ 12i »> Fourth „ 1,816,000 6 „ 32 „ 104 103 j j 3,226,000 )> The first class own a large portion of forest and waste lands, some of them also letting portions of their estates to tenant-farmers, who number 853,000, holding an average of 30 acres each. The second class of proprietors are as flourishing as any body of farmers in Europe, and the third class are no less remarkable for thrift and industry. The fourth class are just able to make a living, but con- stantly tending downwards by subdivision to the cottier class already alluded to, who are not included in the above categories. These cottiers are about 1,500,000, owning barely an acre each, and supporting their families by the wages they earn as day-labourers. Meantime the subdivision of land has already begun to bring about its own remedy, the agriculturist population having diminished 3,500,000 since 1851. Rural population. Proportion of population. 1851 . 21,922,000 62 per cent 1861 . 19,873,000 53 „ 1872 . 18,513,000 52 ,, This decline is also in a measure due to the introduction of machinery, in which respect wonderful progress has been made in our own time. Forty years ago it was not un- common to see horses treading out grain, as we used to do E 242 PROGRESS OF THE WORLD. in England in the days of King John. In 1872 France had 101,000 threshing-machines, of which 2850 were worked by steam-power. It is therefore by no means sur- prising to find that agriculture has improved in the follow- ing manner : — 1820-1830. 1865-1875. Increase. Wheat . 13 bushels per acre 16 bushels per acre 23 p. c. Maize . 11 „ 18£ „ 68 „ Barley . 14 „ 21£ „ 53 „ 16J „ 27 „ 63 „ The average yield of wheat was five-fold and a half in the first period, and seven and a third in the second. The introduction of machinery has also led to an extended acreage under cultivation ; thus, in the twelve years from 1863-1875, there was an increase of 16 per cent in the area under wheat, and of 23 per cent under other cereals. The progress made in the last three-quarters of a century has been as follows, in millions of bushels : — Annual average. Wheat. Oats, rye, etc. All grain. inhab. 1800-1820 . 120 270 390 14 * 1825-1835 . 150 310 460 14 1860-1876 . 265 450 715 20 The increase, however, has no more than kept pace with the consumption, as the people are now better fed than forty years ago. In spite of the fertility of the soil and the industry of the people, France has never raised sufficient grain for her population (unless in exceptional years), as appears from the following returns : — 1801 to 1849. Value. Grain imports of 24 bad years . . . £35,000,000 sterling „ exports of 24 good years . . . 9,000,000 „ Balance against France £26,000,000 FRANCE. 243 1866 to 1877. Imported . . . 9,725,000 tons £108,000,000. Exported . . . 1,592,000 „ 17,000,000 Balance against France . . . £91,000,000 This shows that in the first half of the century France paid on an average £550,000 per annum for foreign grain, and in the last twelve years no less than £7,500,000 per annum. Meantime, if the yield of wheat per acre were up to the English average of 28 bushels, the crop would be 484 million bushels, or 224 million over the require- ment for home consumption. Nor is it merely grain that France needs from abroad ; the importation of meat was small a few years ago, only 2500 tons in 1861, but France now imports over 12,000 tons yearly. In the last three years the value of food imports has averaged £34,000,000 per annum, and every year it is higher. The wine crop increased 50 per cent in half a century, as shown in the following Table : — Gallons. Value. 1820-1840 . 790,000,000 £32,000,000 1848-1868 . . 990,000,000 40,000,000 1869-1878 . 1,234,000,000 50,000,000 In 1874 the maximum of cultivation was reached, the area under vines being 6,150,000 acres, but since then the ravages of the Phylloxera have caused 450,000 acres to be pulled up, and planted with beet-root or potatoes. The wine crop averages 213 gallons per acre. About 200 million gallons are used for making brandy, vinegar, etc. and 100 millions are exported, leaving for home consump- tion 25 gallons per inhabitant. Beet-root was introduced by Buonaparte, and this industry has thrived on the premium of £1,200,000 sterling yearly, which the country pays to the beet-manufacturers. 244 PROGRESS OF THE WORLD. In 1842 it was proposed in the Legislature to pull up the beet-plantations and pay the owners £1,500,000 indemnity, but the bill was unfortunately thrown out. It is, however, admitted that the cattle in the beet districts give 800 lbs. of meat, or 20 per cent more than in the rest of France. The cultivation has quadrupled since 1860 : — I860. 1877. Beet crop . . . 1,250,000 tons 6,000,000 tons Area under beet . . 490,000 acres 982,000 acres The production per acre has doubled, and the value of the crop is now about £11,000,000 sterling. Flax occupies 440,000 acres, the crop averaging 50,000 tons. Tobacco is no longer cultivated on a large scale, but yields about 8000 tons. The hop crop averages 2000 tons, the yield being equal to £60 an acre. The returns of olive oil show 12,000 tons, worth £5,000,000 sterling, and an equal sum is represented by the cider crop, say 220 million gallons. The produce of the silk-worms is estimated at £2,500,000 per annum, and that of the bees is close on £1,000,000, comprising 10,000 tons honey and 2500 tons wax. Meadow and fallow together occupy one-third of France, the same as thirty years ago, but there is more meadow and less fallow now than in 1848. Moreover, in that interval 9,000,000 acres of waste land have been reclaimed, chiefly for plantation ; forests now cover 4,000,000 acres more than in 1866, owing to the demand for firewood. Paris alone burns the timber of 50,000 acres yearly, and hence requires 1,000,000 acres to keep up a constant supply. The forest area exceeds 22 million acres, and the product averages 6 s. per acre. The improvement in tillage has been accompanied by a decline in farm-stock, viz. — FRANCE. 24 1866. 1876. Decline. Horses . 3,312,000 3,033,000 9 percent Cows . 12,733,000 11,315,000 ii „ Sheep . 30,386,000 23,674,000 22 „ Pigs and goats 5,790,000 7,692,000 Nevertheless the increased value of dairy products compensates in some degree for the above loss; in 1842 each cow earned 33s. per annum with milk and butter ; in 1874 the proportion had risen to 135s. The medium price of land for purchase or renting is as follows : — Purchase. Rent per annum. Interest on cap. Tillage .... £88 per acre 56s. per acre 3| per cent Meadow ... 135 „ 88s. „ 3£ „ Vineyards ... 106 „ 82s. „ 4 „ It would appear that the price of land is much above its v fair value, if we are to judge by the fact that the Government valuation on 77 million acres under cultiva- tion is only £1,860,000,000, or £24 per acre. The agricultural capital of France has risen over 50 per cent since 1824, viz. — 1824. 1876. Lands . . . £1,386,000,000 £1,860,000,000 Cattle, crops, etc. . 322,000,000 730,000,000 £1,708,000,000 £2,590,000,000 The total mortgages on rural property do not exceed £150,000,000, of which one-half has been advanced since 1866 by the Credit Foncier and Credit Agricole. FRENCH MANUFACTURES. At the beginning of the century the manufacturing industry amounted to £6,000,000 sterling, of which silk stood for one-half. In 1874 the total was £416,000,000, as follows : — 246 PROGRESS OF THE WORLD. Textile factories Flour mills Clothing . Shoes and leather Soap, candles, etc. Sugar and liquors Furniture, jewellery, etc. Metals and minerals Operatives: 770,000 120,000 156,000 300,000 100,000 70,000 90,000 330,000 Product. £137,000,000 80,000,000 52,000,000 36,000,000 30,000,000 26,000,000 19,000,000 36,000,000 1,936,000 £416,000,000 Textile fabrics, which now employ 2800 steam-engines and 9,500,000 spindles, have almost trebled in thirty- years. 1842. 1874. Increase. ■Woollens . £13,000,000 £48,000,000 270 per cent Silts . . . 12,000,000 36,000,000 200 „ Cottons . . 11,000,000 20,000,000 80 „ Linens . . 10,000,000 12,000,000 20 „ Lace, etc. 9,000,000 21,000,000 130 „ £55,000,000 £137,000,000 150 „ Woollens. — The first machinery for spinning wool was put up at Eheims in 1809, that city now containing 330 factories. Down to 1830 France consumed only her own clip, say 80 million lbs., but since then the importation of wool has increased steadily, this being now the foremost of her manufactures. The actual consumption is close on 400 million lbs., two-thirds being imported, but as it is mostly River Plate wool, of which 70 per cent is grease, the product of the mills is only four-fifths of the manufacture of Great Britain, with the same nominal quantity of wool. France has 2424 mills, of which 740 are worked by steam, with a total of 3,000,000 spindles. The increase in half a century is shown thus : — FRANCE. 247 Wool consumed. Manufactures. Exports. 1830 96,000,000 lbs. £10,000,000 £1,100,000 1877 390,000,000 „ 48,000,000 13,200,000 The industry shows healthy symptoms of unabated increase. Silks. — Previous to the French Revolution, Lyons had 15,000 silk factories, but in 1800 there were only 3500 left. The industry, however, revived so rapidly that Lyons now consumes one-sixth of the silk crop of the world, say 20,000 tons of cocoons, or 1500 tons of silk, of which more than one-half is imported from Lombardy and the East. The native production of silk cocoons rose from 11,100 tons in 1830-1832 to 25,200 in 1850-1852, but an epidemic in 1854 carried off three-fourths of the worms, and the actual production is barely 10,000 tons. The statistics since 1830 show as follows : — Manufactured. Exported. 1830 to 1832 £5,230,000 £1,310,000 1842 to 1846 12,700,000 5,260,000 1870 to 1873 37,000,000 19,050,000 1876 to 1877 29,000,000 11,020,000 The decline since 1873 is because of the competition in Russia, Germany, and other countries formerly supplied from France. Cottons. — This industry has shown the greatest develop- ment in recent years, the number of spindles having doubled since 1854, and the consumption of raw cotton being now one jo urth that of Great Britain. The progress since 1820 has been as follows : — 1820 to 1830 70 million lbs. per annum 1865 to 1866 220 ,, ,, 1876 to 1877 328 „ The value of imported and exported cotton manufac- tures is equal, so that France makes just enough for her 248 PROGRESS OF THE WORLD. own needs. There are 2394 factories, of which 1220 are moved by steam, the number of spindles being 5,000,000. Linens. — The manufacture is one-third more than the home consumption, and has increased thus : — 1830. 1875. Raw material £2,400,000 £3,800,000 Manufactures 7,610,000 12,000,000 The factories have nearly 1,000,000 spindles, and con- sume 70,000 tons of flax annually. Lace. — There are 390,000 women engaged in this manu- facture, which amounts to £3,500,000 per annum, say £90 a head for the workers. Hosiery is another minor industry, the value of which is estimated at £8,000,000 sterling. Gloves are made to the value of £3,000,000, and hats and bonnets £2,000,000 per annum, occupying over 24,000 operatives, and 6300 establishments. Distilleries. — The increased production of brandy in recent years has given such impetus to this industry that in 1876 there were 3500 distilleries which produced annually From wine . . 9 million gallons spirit „ corn and potatoes 2 „ ,, ,, beet-root 7 „ „ „ molasses, etc. .16 „ ,, To this must be added 9,000,000 gallons distilled by the peasantry, making in all 43,000,000 gallons. The average exportation of brandy from 1871 to 1877 has been 10,000,000 gallons, worth £3,500,000 sterling per annum. There are also 3200 breweries, which make 160,000,000 gallons of beer, worth £8,000,000 ; and the annual pro- duction of cider is 220,000,000 gallons. FRANCE. 249 Sugar. — This industry, as already mentioned, causes a loss of £1,200,000 sterling per annum for bounties to the refiners. There are 510 factories, producing annually 450,000 tons of beet and 180,000 tons of refined cane sugar, the production of beet sugar having increased six- fold in thirty years. 1840-1850 . . . 66,000 tons per annum 1860-1870 . . . 188,000 „ „ 1872-1877 . . . 395,000 „ France produces one-third of the beet sugar of Europe. Leather. — The business of tanning has taken such extra- ordinary development in the last few years, that it now reaches £16,000,000 per annum. There are 203,000 bootmakers and 112,000 manufacturers of wooden shoes, whose labour yields £21,000,000 per annum. Soap and Candles. — Over 200,000 tons of soap are made yearly, and this item, along with candles, makes up £30,000,000 sterling. Watches and Jewellery. — There are 15,000 clock makers in Besancon, who turn out 400,000 clocks and watches yearly, worth £1,300,000 sterling. There are 3200 jew- ellers in Paris, who give employment to 18,000 operatives, and consume annually £2,000,000 sterling of gold and silver. These industries make up about £6,000,000 ster- ling. Export of Manufactures. — The total value of manufac- tured goods exported has averaged in the last eight years £73,500,000, so that the home consumption has been over £300,000,000 per annum, or £8 per inhabitant. Steam Power. — The increase under this head affords a key to the growth of the manufacturing industries : — 250 PROGRESS OF THE WORLD. Engines. Horse-power. 1840 . 2,803 56,400 1850 . 6,164 186,300 1860 . . 17,571 523,800 1870 . . 32,827 871,200 The latest estimates give a total of 1,600,000 horse power, or second to England among European nations. MINERALS AND METALS. These industries, which were insignificant in the time of Buonaparte, now amount to £36,000,000 per annum. The greatest development, strange to say, has taken place since the removal of the oppressive tariff against English coal and iron. Coal. — In 1836 there were 170 coal-fields, employing 24,000 miners, who raised annually 3,000,000 tons, worth £1,200,000. At that time the supply of coal from Eng- land averaged 1,000,000 tons. But, with the introduction of railways, an increased consumption imparted vigour to the home production, as also to the imports, which have grown as follows : — Native coal. Imported. Consumption. 1830-1840 2,700,000 tons 900,000 tons 3, 600, 000 tons per an. 1860-1865 10,200,000 „ 7,300,000 „ 17,500,000 „ ,, 1875-1877 17,100,000 „ 7,600,000 „ 24,700,000 „ „ The number of coal-fields now working is 623, which employ over 100,000 men. The value of coal raised is little short of £10,000,000 per annum. Iron. — Prohibitory duties upon foreign iron ohliged people to extract it from the mines at double the cost for which English iron might have been imported. During many years the average price of iron in France was £26 a ton, or three times the price then ruling in England (£9 : 10s.) In this manner the farmers and others lost £1,500,000 sterling per annum for about thirty years, say FRANCE. 251 £45,000,000. In fact, iron was so dear that the peasants used wooden ploughs until 1840. The production of iron rose to its highest in 1860-64, but it has since fallen away one-fourth. 1820-25 .... 80,000 tons per annum 1840-45 .... 150,000 1860-64 .... 1,530,000 1871-75 .... 1,170,000 There are over 2000 iron mines and 1100 furnaces (including 600 blast-furnaces), employing 120,000 work- men. The production of steel averages 260,000 tons per annum. The various branches of this industry, from the extraction of the ore from the mines to the finer classes of cutlery, represent more than £20,000,000 sterling per annum. France produces one-fourth of the quantity of iron that England does. Lead. — This metal was imported, although known to exist in France, until about fifty years ago, when some quantities were extracted. In 1839 there were forty mines, producing in the aggregate a value of £22,000 sterling, and employing 900 workmen. In late years the industry rose, until 1860-64, when the average yield was 86,000 tons lead, but the production since 1871 has been under 70,000 tons yearly. Copper. — Another metal that was utterly neglected for half a century. In 1839 there were two mines, employing 130 men, who produced 90 tons copper. The returns since 1860 may be summed up thus : — 1860-64 . . . 54,000 tons copper ore per ann. 1871-75 . . . 108,000 „ The ore is of inferior kind, say 5 per cent copper, since it takes 20 tons ore to produce one ton of copper. France produces 6 per cent of the copper of the world. 252 PROGRESS OF THE WORLD. Quarries. — There are 24,000 in the various Depart- ments, employing altogether 88,000 workmen, and yielding about £2,000,000 per annum. Salt. — For an interval the duties were removed, and the consumption rose to 1,000,000 tons yearly, but when they were re-imposed the consumption fell to 100,000 tons, on which the State levied the enormous tax of £18 per ton. This industry, under modified duties, has so far recovered, that it now employs 24,000 workmen, who produce 350,000 tons per annum, valued at £400,000. COMMERCE. As in many other countries, trade was almost stagnant for the first forty years of this century. The introduction _of_raUw§vs, between 1840 and 1850, gave a wonderful impulse, which was, however, greatly^ surpassed by -the effects of free, trade, initiated by Cobden and Napoleon III. in I860.- The official Tables show the average trade to have risen as follows : — Average. Imports. Exports. Total. 1826-1830 £23,000,000 £24,000,000 £47,000,000 1837-1841 39,000,000 38,000,000 77,000,000 1853-1857 89,000,000 92,000,000 181,000,000 1865-1868 145,000,000 161,000,000 306,000,000 1874-1877 184,000,000 184,000,000 368,000,000 The railway period — say from 1837 to 1857 — saw an average increase of £6,000,000 sterling. The epoch that has elapsed since Cobden's treaty has seen the trade of France double in sixteen years. The balance of trade for the last ten years shows only £40,000,000 against France, or £4,000,000 per annum, say 1 per cent on the gross trade. The importation of specie (see page 31) in the same FRANCE. 253 period has been exactly double the exportation, leaving a surplus of £136,000,000. The growth of the mercantile fleet has been nowise in keeping with that of the commerce, and, as a consequence, French trade is passing into the hands of foreign ship- owners. It is possible that the severe law of maritime conscription acts prejudicially on the merchant marine. Entries in French ports show as follows : — French: Foreign.- Proportion of French. 1832 . 451,000 tons 680,000 tons 40 per cent 1866 . 2,070,000 „ 3,410,000 „ 38 „ 1876-77 2,850,000 „ 6,130,000 „ 31 „ Meantime, the tonnage of vessels bearing the French flag has fluctuated as follows : — Tons. 1827 . . . 710,000 1841 . . . 590,000 1862 . . . 983,000 1877 . . . 1,011,000 In fact, France has made little or no advance in the last fifteen years, while the merchant navies of England, Norway, Italy, and Germany have grown 30 or 40 per cent. There is, however, one sign of improvement — the proportion of steamers to the total marine of France has risen from 8 per cent in 1862 to 33 per cent in 1878. Fisheries constitute an important branch of industry. In 1816 the Government decreed a bounty of £2 per man annually for all engaged in deep-sea fishery. This was increased in 1829 to 72s. per ton for each vessel en- gaged in whale-fishing, a bounty being also given for cod- fishing. The fish was often used for manure, and the Minister of Commerce declared that the bounty cost the State £72 per head for the fishermen. The average result of 1874-75-76, as compared with 254 PROGRESS OF THE WORLD. the Report just published (Sept. 1879) for the past year shows as follows : — 1874-76. 1878. Observation. Fishing vessels . 20,810 21,992 6 per cent increase Tonnage of do. . 153,500 164,000 ' »» jj Hands on board . 79,530 82,431 4 „ „ Sale of fish . .£3,190,000 £3,480,000 9 „ ), The home-fishery has doubled since 1850, viz. — 1850. 1878. Tonnage 59,320 109,000 Men 48,492 70,650 The cod-fishery in 1878 produced 29,000 tons fish, the herring and mackerel also 29,000 tons. In the home fishery there are but 1^- tons shipping for each man, but in the deep-sea the average is 4|- tons per man. The result averaged in the last five years has been : — Value: Per man. Home fishery . . . £2,590,000 £37 Deep-sea do. . . . 650,000 50 Total .... £3,240,000 £40 RAILWAYS AND CANALS. The first railway worked by steam in France was (1828) the St. Etienne line, which had been worked by horses for half a century previous. The construction of railways was not at first so rapid as in some other countries, until the accession of Louis Napoleon, in whose reign 8500 miles were opened to traffic. The growth of railways in the last twenty-five years has been thus : — 1853 1863 1878 Miles in traffic. Net earnings per mile. 2,450 £1050 7,400 1090 13,150 1400 FRANCE. 255 These lines have cost £430,000,000 sterling — say £32,800 per mile — the highest average of any country except England. They carry monthly 12 million pas- sengers, or one-fourth the number in England, and 5,000,000 tons merchandise. The yearly receipts are £35,000,000, and working expenses 48 per cent, leaving a net profit of £17,000,000, or 4 per cent on the cost of construction. Comparing French and English railways, the account stands thus : — English. French. Miles open . . . 17,333 13,150 Cost per mile . . . £40,200 £32,800 Passengers per annum 630,000,000 140,000,000 Merchandise ■ . . 240,000,000 tons 62,000,000 tons Receipts per mile . . £3,640 £2,700 Expenses . . . £1,920 £1,300 Profits . . . £1,720 £1,400 Dividend on capital 4£ 4 per cent per annum Some of the most valuable French lines will soon become State property, on the expiration of the term of their concession. Internal traffic, even before the con- struction of railways, was better attended to in France than in most Continental nations. The returns for 1836 show as follows : — Highroads 44,000 miles Bridges, No. 1,663 Navigable rivers . 5,200 miles Canals 2,300 „ " The highroads are usually 46 feet wide, bordered on each side by rows of trees. The bridges are of stone, except 93 of wood and 85 of iron." The Government spends £1,500,000 sterling per annum on roads and bridges, which are all free of toll. The principal canals are as follow : — 256 PROGRESS OF THE WORLD. Miles. Cost. Nantes and Brest . . 240 £1,760,000 Khone and Rhine 220 1,120,000 Berry 180 1,050,000 Languedoc . 160 680,000 Burgundy 158 2,220,000 Loire and Briare 124 1,280,000 Nivernais 110 1,290,000 Somme 100 520,000 66 smaller canals '988 6,750,000 2300 £16,670,000 The Languedoc, constructed by Biquet, under Louis XIV., is said to be the finest canal in Europe as an engin- eering work. It was completed in 1668, being carried up to a height of 600 feet by means of 114 locks. It is 60 feet wide and 6| deep, affording transit for small vessels between the Mediterranean and the Bay of Biscay. The Briare opens communication between the Loire and Seine, and was thirty-seven years in construction (1605-1642). The Central Canal connects the Loire and Saone, 72 miles, completed in 1791, at a cost of £6300 per mile, being carried to a height of 240 feet by means of 81 locks, and navigable for vessels of five feet draught. The Canal de Besancon connects the Rhine and Rhone. The latest work of this description is the Burgundy Canal, connecting the Rhone and Seine, finished in 1832. Internal navigation has increased in spite of the rail- ways, the canals now carrying 19£ million tons yearly, or one-fourth more than in 1845-50. INSTRUCTION. Fifty years ago France was one of the most backward countries in popular education : to-day she is one of the most advanced.; FRANCE. 257 The progress made in' fifty years is shown as follows : — 1830. 1878. School-children . 7 per cent of pop. 13 per cent of pop. Adults who can read 36 , „ 70 „ „ The ratio of adults of various classes who can read, shows that less attention is paid to the education of women than of men : — Can read. Cannot read. , Of men . . 73 per cent 27 per cent „ women . 67 „ 33 „ „ soldiers . 77 „ 23 „ „ sailors . 86 „ 14 „ The progress of the schools may be marked by the number of conscripts who could read : — Relative annual increase. 1827 38 per cent 1836 49 „ 3 per cent per annum 1864 65 „ 1 „ „ 1875 79 „ 2 „ France is not yet on a level with England either as regards the number of children attending school, or the proportion of adults who can read. England. France. School-children . 15 per cent of pop. 13 per cent of pop. Adults who can read 74 „ ,, 70 ,, „ The official statistics of the French schools in 1840, compared with 1878, show as follows : — 1840. 1878. Increase. No. of schools 55,930 73,110 31 per cent Children . 2,882,000 4,980,000 73 „ The annual vote for schools is only £800,000 sterling, say fivepence per head of the population, or 4 francs for each child attending school ; this is less than one-ninth of the average cost in England. 258 PROGRESS OF THE WORLD. In 1848 there were 107 public libraries, containing 4,000,000 volumes, France occupying in this respect the second rank, and possessing one-fifth of all the books in the public libraries of Europe. At present there are 350 free libraries, or more than three times the number she possessed thirty years ago ; and they contain an aggregate of 6,800,000 volumes. The number of literary and scientific associations is one-third more than in the United Kingdom. [n Paris 43 „ Lyons 9 „ Marseilles . 5 „ Bordeaux . 5 , , small towns 116 178 The aggregate of members may be estimated from 50,000 to 70,000 persons. Forty years ago the Press of Paris was the first in Europe, owing to the paper-duties in England acting so prejudicially on journalism in this country. The statistics for 1840 showed : — Papers. Daily issue. Paris . . 27 90,000 copies London . 9 46,000 „ Since the repeal of the paper-duty the Press of Eng- land has left that of France far behind, although some of the Parisian journals 1 have a larger daily issue than those of London or New York. The average of new books annually published in France is over 7000, or three times as many as in England, and inferior only to Germany. 1 The Petit Journal circulates 565, 000 copies daily. TRANCE. 259 BANKS. The Bank of France has the sole right of emission, the limit since 1872 being £128,000,000 sterling, and the specie reserve averaging £85,000,000. The business has expanded prodigiously in the last twenty years. From 1860 it may be summed up thus (average per annum) : — 1860-1870. 1871-74. 1875-79. Discounts . . £239,000,000 £488,000,000 £340,000,000 Rate . . . 4 p. o. 5 p. c. 3J p. c. Specie reserve . £30,000,000 £36,000,000 £82,000,000 Notes in circulation 44,000,000 91,000,000 106,000,000 The following shows the maximum and minimum of th< above items : — Date. Amount. Discounts, maximum 1873 £584,000,000 ,, minimum 1860 203,000,000 Bate, maximum 1864 6i p. u. ,, minimum 1868-69 24 p. c. Specie reserve . 1876 £87,000,000 ,, minimum 1864 6,000,000 Notes, maximum 1873 123,000,000 ,, minimum 1861 28,000,000 This bank was founded by Napoleon in 1803, since which time it has been twice obliged to suspend specie payments. In the war of 1870-71 it lent £60,000,000 to the Government. It has eighty-nine branches in the principal cities of France. The dividend has declined in recent years from 32 to 12 per cent. Such was the infla- 1 tion of business in 1873 that the bank discounts were 57 per cent over the aggregate import and export trade, but since 1876 they seldom reach £300,000,000, or three- fourths of the gross trade of France. There are twenty- one joint-stock banks, with a capital of £16,250,000, be- sides twenty-six private banks in Paris, and others in the Departments. The Credit Foncier, established in 1852, 260 PROGRESS OF THE WORLD. has a capital of £3,600,000, with power to emit debentures up to £72,000,000; the returns in 1873 showed an issue of nearly £35,000,000, and a reserve fund of £840,000. Issue. Mortgages. Average mortgage. 1856 . . . £3,050,000 1,390 2100 1866 . . . 31,170,000 12,180 2500 1873 . . . 46,480,000 20,116 2300 The amount redeemed was £11,760,000, leaving an actual issue of £34,720,000. The Credit Agricole was established on a similar basis in 1860, with a capital of £400,000, which was soon afterwards doubled ; the issue of debentures in 1873 was a little over £50,000,000 sterling. Savings banks were introduced into France in 1818, or fifteen years later than in England. The increase has not been so remarkable as in England, Germany, or Austria, because the French working - classes, to the number of 4,000,000 persons, invest for the most part in Rentes or Government stock. The progress of these banks has, nevertheless, been satisfactory, viz. — 1841. 1860. 187S. Depositors . . 500,000 1,510,000 3,050,000 Amount . £10,070,000 £22,120,000 £40,410,000 The deposits compared with population were as 12s. per inhabitant in 1860, and are now over 22s. ; the number of depositors has in like manner risen from 4 per cent of the population to 8 per cent, against 1\ per cent in the United Kingdom. WEALTH OF FRANCE. At the fall of Charles X., in 1830, the taxation and debt were comparatively small ; since then the former has trebled, the latter quadrupled, but such has been the in- crease of industry that the nation is four times richer. FRANCE. 261 In 1830 the burthen of national taxation was 13 per cent on the national industry, and now it is only 9£ per cent. 1830. 1878. Trade .... £47,000,000 £368,000,000 Agriculture. . . 186,000,000 380,000,000 Manufactures and Minerals 78,000,000 416,000,000 Annual industry . £311,000,000 £1,164,000,000 Expenditure . . £41,000,000, or 13 p.c. £110,000,000, or 9£p.c. The above does not include local taxation, the relative burthen of all debt and taxes as compared with Great Britain being as follows : — France. p . . Great Britain. p „ . . Amount. ^ erm 1- Amount. Per mh - National Debt 1 . Local „ . £937,000,000 134,000,000 £1,071,000,000 £25 3 : 10s. £777,000,000 125,000,000 £902,000,000 £23 4 £28 :10s. £27 National taxes . Local , , . £110,000,000 42,000,000 60s. 22s. 82s. £83,000,000 50,000,000 50s. 30s. £152,000,000 £133,000,000 80s. The ratio of all debt on capital, and of all taxes as compared with income, may be seen as follows : — France. Great Britain. Debt to capital . . 14£ to 100 10J to 100 Taxes to income . • 16 „ m „ The French debt owes much of its increase to the recent war with Germany, which cost France £349,500,000, including £200,000,000 paid to Germany. The local debt includes a sum of £85,000,000 spent by Baron Haussman in rebuilding Paris, during seventeen years, from 1853 to 1869. 1 The funded debt is only £800,000,000. 262 PROGRESS OF THE WORLD. The average income of the French people is £25 per head, which is 50 per cent higher than the average of Europe (see page 42), the prosperity of the nation being the result of thrift and individual economy. We find the holders of rentes or Government stock and the depositors in savings banks have increased as follows : — No. of persons. Average of savings and rentes. 1850 . . 1,766,000 £133 each 1860 . . 2,583,000 148 „ 1870 . . 3,384,000 112 „ 1877 . . 7,454,000 109 „ Thus one-fifth of the entire population is enrolled in the books of rentes-holders or savings-banks depositors, the rapid increase of numbers showing how the wealth of the country is disseminated. France enjoys a high degree of credit among nations. Of this there was a striking proof in 1872, when M. Thiers called for a second loan, to pay off the German war- indemnity. The sum required was £140,000,000 sterling, that and the subscriptions handed in were 12 \ times figure : — 935,000 French offered 108,000 foreigners offered . . £710,000,000 . 1,042,000,000 Per head. £760 9650 The proportion offered by the various countries was — Germany 33, Belgium 28, Great Britain 23, Holland 6, Denmark 3, Italy 3, and other countries the remaining 4 per cent. The gross capital of France is £7,334,000,000 or £202 per inhabitant, the income £930,000,000 or £25 per inhabitant. The capital is made up thus : — Value of land . . . £2,624,000,000 Property insured . . 3,140,000,000 „ not insured . 1,570,000,000 £7,334,000,000 ALGERIA. 263 The two latter items are from the insurance returns, the insured property showing an annual premium of almost 1 per cent. The land stands for 35 per cent of the total, whereas in Great Britain it is only 21 per cent. Colony of Algeria. The French have such a dislike for emigration that, although Algeria is but 36 hours from Marseilles, the total French population is less than a quarter of a million, or about the same number of settlers as in our little colony of Queensland, which is not yet twenty years old. Since 1871 great efforts have been made to encourage emigrants, the Government having distributed 740,000 acres among 6900 families. Free land grants are given only to Frenchmen, which checks the influx of settlers from Italy and the Balearic Islands. Nevertheless, the farming population has increased 42 per cent since 1871, and counts at present 143,000 persons, who cultivate 470,000 acres. The Arabs and Kabyles have also 7,250,000 acres under tillage, and their flocks and herds number 1 4 million head. The wheat crop, unless when locusts appear, is double the quantity required for consumption, leaving 10 million bushels for exportation. About one -half of the Crown lands are suitable for settlers, the returns showing as follows : — Province of Algiers . 230,000 acres „ Oran . 32,000 „ „ Constantine . 444,000 „ Arab country . 674,000 „ 1,380,000 Irrigation works of some magnitude exist in the Tell Valley. An excellent network of macadamised roads con- nects the city of Algiers with Oran and Tlemcen on the 264 PROGRESS OF THE WORLD. Moorish frontier, and Guelma and Biskra on the limits of Tunis and Zahara. These roads traverse the Atlas and other ranges by means of terraces cut in the rock, and have numerous noble bridges to span the mountain torrents. The first railway was constructed in 1863 from Algiers to Blidah, and as soon as the Guelma line is complete there will be an almost continuous system from Tunis on the east to Oran on the borders of Morocco. Exports have trebled since 1860, at present averaging £3 per inhabitant, the balance of trade being still largely against the country, say £3,000,000 per annum. There is, however, some prospect of vine-growing on a large scale, which would soon swell the exports. About 50,000 acres are now under vines, the crop last year producing 9,000,000 gallons. Some of the malarious districts, such as Lake Fetzara, have been rendered tolerably healthy by the planting of 12,500,000 Australian gum-trees. GERMANY. 265 GEKMANY. At the close of the last century the German Empire con- sisted of 300 independent States, and was described as a " chaos upheld by Providence." The treaty of Vienna reduced the number of States to thirty-nine, with twenty- seven sets of custom-houses. So inconvenient was such a system that the publisher of Goethe had to obtain twenty-two copyrights to secure his edition ; and the first railways that were constructed had to pass through a dozen legislatures. The Franco- German war welded the Fatherland into a compact nation, the component parts being as follows : — • Area. Pop. in 18T6. Prussia . . . 134,100 sq. miles 25,742,000 Bavaria . . . 29,200 j j 5,022,000 Saxony . . . 5,765 9 I 2,761,000 Wurtemburg . . 7,503 >! 1,882,000 Twenty- two small States 33,262 " 7,320,000 209,830 42,727,000 Although Germany has lost 2,247,000 persons by emi- gration since 1840, her population increases faster than that of any other country except England or the United States. The birth-rate and death-rate for the last five years aver- aged thus : — Births .... 42J per 1000 inhabitants Deaths . . . . 29J „ ,, Increase . . . 13 „ „ Since the Franco-German war the birth-rate has risen 266 PROGRESS OF THE WORLD. so sensibly, that it is now 5 per cent higher than it was twenty years ago. 1S60-61. 1875-76. Prussia ... 41 per 1000 inhabit. 43 per 1000 inhabit. Bavaria. . .35 „ ,, 44 „ ,, Saxony . . . 43 ,, ,, 46 ,, ,, Nevertheless, the proportion of births to marriages has declined, from 490 in 1860-61, to 481 in 1875-76 for every 100 marriages. The effects of the Franco-German war are visible in the increased mortality of 1871-73, which showed as follows : — Over the average. In Prussia 184,000 deaths „ Saxony 28,000 „ „ Bavaria 13,000 „ 225,000 There was also a deficit of 124,000 in the births, as com- pared with 1870, being as 8 per cent of the total. The ratio of illegitimate births ranges from 8 per cent in Prussia to 13 in Bavaria, but the rate was 25 per cent in the latter country previous to 1868, in which year the laws against marriage were repealed. The marriage rate is higher than in England, having risen very notably since 1860, viz. — 1860-61. 1875-76. Prussia . . . 16£ per 1000 inhabit. 18 per 1000 inhabit. Bavaria . . .14 „ ,, 16 ,, ,, Saxony . .18 „ ,, 20 „ ,, All the vital statistics offer more favourable aspects than in France, except as regards the average span of life, which is three years shorter. It is also remarkable that the number of deaf and dumb, and of insane, is much less than in France (see page 100). Germany has been tolerably free from epidemics in the present century, although 420,000 persons fell victims to cholera between 1831 and 1875. GERMANY. 267 The actual population of the Empire is supposed to reach 44,000,000, of whom 40,000,000 are Germans, the rest being made up of Poles, Wends, and Jews. GERMAN AGRICULTURE. Before the great reforms introduced by Stein and Har- denberg, in 1809, the agricultural condition of Germany- was deplorable. The serfs held their lands on the same feudal terms as in Hungary, subject to so many days of labour for their masters. Frederick the Great had desired to emancipate them, and more than once said, " I am tired of ruling a nation of slaves." But the wars of that period prevented his attempting so grave a task. It was not till after the peace of Tilsit that a stroke of the pen effected as wholesale a change in Prussia as had been carried out in France through a sea of bloodshed. The other German States followed the example, although the system of servi- tude 1 was not abolished till 1848. At present the tenure of land in the various parts of the empire is as follows : — • Productive area. Farmers. Average farms. Prussia 48,800,000 acres 1,033,000 48 acres Bavaria 11,280,000 „ 456,000 25 „ Saxony 2,620,000 „ 54,000 50 „ Wurtemberg 2,540,000 „ 152,000 17 „ Baden 1,830,000 „ 111,000 15 „ Hesse Darmstadt 1,350,000 „ 140,000 10 „ Saxe-Coburg 510,000 „ 15,000 33 „ Other States 19,010,000 „ 475,000 40 „ 87,940,000 „ 2,436,000 J57 „ 1 The emancipation in all parts of Germany was effected more or less in this way : — First, the serfs duties were assessed at £10 a year. Second, the master was awarded eighteen years' indemnity, say £180 payable in consols. Third, the serf bound himself to pay the State £10 a year for forty-seven years, that is 4 per cent on the price of his redemption, and £3 taxes, formerly paid by his master. 268 PROGRESS OF THE WORLD. Germany raises 750 million bushels grain, and nearly 1000 million bushels of potatoes, yet this is not enough for her population of 44 millions. She has to import yearly about 60 million bushels of grain, the average consumption being 19 bushels of grain and 23 bushels of potatoes per head. The relative importance of Prussia in the agriculture of Germany is shown as follows : — Prussia. Other States. All Germany. Grain . 465 million bushels 285 million bushels 750 million bushels Potatoes . 650 „ „ 325 „ „ 975 „ „ 1115 „ ,, 610 „ „ 1725 „ Agriculture is most advanced in those States where the average size of the farms is not below forty acres. There is, unhappily, a large number of cottier-farms, as in France, so small and confused that " it sometimes happens a man ploughs his neighbour's patch by mistake for his own." Germany raises one-third of the potato-crop of the world, say 24,000,000 tons, or six times as much as the United Kingdom. There is a surplus of 330,000 tons for export- ation, most of which goes to England. The area under beet-root is increasing very rapidly ; the average crop is 16 tons per acre, which produces \\ ton of sugar. The hay-crop averages 25 million tons, of which Prussia pro- duces exactly one-half, the yield being 3f- tons per acre. The following Table shows the agricultural capital and annual product, as also the land mortgages in each of the chief divisions of the empire : — State. Agricultural capital. Product. Mortgages. Prussia . £1,240,000,000 £230,000,000 £190,000,000 Bavaria 290,000,000 50,000,000 25,000,000 Wurtemberg 105,000,000 20,000,000 10,000,000 Saxony . 90,000,000 15,000,000 26,000,000 Small States 335,000,000 25,000,000 22,000,000 £2,060,000,000 £340,000,000 £273,000,000 GERMANY. 269 The mortgages are about 18, or at most 21, per cent of the value of the land, against 58 per cent in Great Britain, but they were much higher until the Emancipation Law, which brought so many of the encumbered estates to the hammer, that it is stated not fifty families in Prussia hold the estates owned by them a hundred years ago. In 1837 it was found many nobles had mortgaged their lands up to 114 per cent, that is one-seventh more than the market value of the property. In 1858 there were several hundred estates that owed more than 75 per cent. No fewer than 34,000 landed estates were sold off in ten years ending 1867, and still the nobles owed the Mortgage banks £25,000,000 sterling in Prussia alone. The crops in Germany for 1878 were as follow : — Acres. Bushels. Per acre. Wheat . 5,500,000 128,000 000 23 bushels . Eye 15,000,000 295,000,000 20 „ Oats 9,500,000 217,000,000 23 „ Barley 4,000,000 97,000,000 24 „ Garden-crops 2,000,000 Potatoes . 7,000,000 975,000,000 140 „ Pasture (hay) 15,000,000 25,500,000 tons 34 cwt. 58,000,000 Grain average 3 up in this mam 22 bushels The garden- c rops are mad ier : — Area. Product. Per acre. Vineyards . 3 04,000 acres 90,000,000 gallons 300 gallons Flax . . 5 00,000 „ 300,000 cwt. |- cwt. Beet-root . 2 00,000 „ 3,200,000 tons 16 tons Tobacco 51,000 „ 45,000 „ 18 cwt. Hops 62,000 „ 19,000 „ 6 „ Beans, etc. . 3 00,000 „ 6,000,000 bushels 20 bushels 1,4 17,000 „ The production of wine varies ; for example, Baden gives double the average per acre. 270 PROGRESS OF THE WORLD. Acres- Wine. Per acre: Baden 50,000 .27,000,000 gallons 540 gallons Alsace 80,000 27,000,000 >» 340 „ Bavaria 55,000 13,000,000 j> 240 „ Wurtembu] ■g 44,0.00 9,000,000 >> 220 „ Prussia 50,000 8,000,000 jj 160 „ Hesse 23,000 7,000,000 » 300 „ 302,000 91,000,000 300 „ Wander-Lehrer, or pedestrian teachers of husbandry, are paid in each district to go round yearly, and give the peasants practical hints about their crops and lands. There are still many large estates ; for example : — Prussia Bavaria . Nobles' estates. . 22,470 . 1,120 Average area. 910 acres 370 ,, "Wurtemberg 718 840 „ Saxony . Baden, Hesse, 440 etc. 1,100 1130 ,, 420 „ 25,848 920 „ These large properties, however, consist chiefly of forest or waste lands. The whole kingdom of Prussia has only 2670 estates producing a rent-roll of more than £400 per annum, of which number only 108 reach £1500 a year or upwards. The census returns show that nine-tenths of the arable lands of Germany are team farms, cultivated with the plough, and barely one-tenth spade tillage. The area under fallow is one-fifth in Prussia, and probably less in the other States. Steam-ploughs are unknown, as the farms are too small for them, but steam-threshers, as well as reaping and mowing machines, are in common use among the large proprietors, who hire them to the neighbours, or are maintained by clubs of peasant-farmers for the district. Although Prussia stands for two-thirds of the agri- cultural and pastoral industry of Germany its soil is by no means comparable with that of some of the smaller GERMANY. 271 kingdoms. Wurtemberg is emphatically " the garden of Germany," presenting a charming picture of cultivation. Bavaria is the greatest hop-garden in the world, raising not only enough hops for her 5000 breweries, but an annual surplus of 1000 tons for exportation. The kingdom of Saxony, which is exactly the size of Yorkshire, is re- markable for the finest breed of sheep in Europe or elsewhere, the flocks being descended from a lot of 300 merinoes presented to the Elector in 1765 by the King of Spain. The farm-stock of the empire is the largest in Europe after Russia, and shows precisely the same ratio to popula- tion as in Great Britain and France (see Appendix) ; it is distributed as follows : — Horses. Cattle. Sheep. Pigs. Goats. Prussia 2,279,000 8,612,000 19,625,000 4,279,000 1,477,000 Bavaria 297,000 3,186,000 2,059,000 927,000 151,000 "Wurtemberg 104,000 974,000 703,000 263,000 42,000 Saxony 95,000 611,000 485,000 124,000 75,000 Small States 585,000 2,417,000 2,328,000 1,707,000 585,000 3,360,000 15,800,000 25,200,000 7,300,000 2,330,000 The increase of sheep and cattle in Prussia since 1840 has been 18 per cent, and probably the same in the other States. Most of the small farmers have numbers of poultry and bees. In Prussia there are 19 million fowls, said to lay 800 million eggs, worth £1,500,000 per annum, 1 and the bee-hives exceed 1,500,000 in number. The Pome- ranian farmers pay their taxes with the proceeds of wild geese, smoked for exportation. Forestry gives occupation to 160,000 persons, the area under forests being 33 million acres. The yield of timber varies from 24 cubic feet per acre in Prussia to 60 feet in Southern Germany, and the total annual product is esti- 1 This return seems too low, since hens lay from 90 to 160 eggs per annum, according to the breed. 272 PROGRESS OP THE WORLD. mated at £9,000,000 sterling, or 6s. per acre. These forests abound with game ; the number of licenses issued annually averages 145,000, and the slaughter comprises 30,000 deer, 20,000 foxes, 3,000,000 partridges, and 2,000,000 hares. The condition of the rural population is, on the whole, very prosperous, but the Germans can neither raise so much grain per acre, nor show the same result for the labour of the individual, as in the United Kingdom. United Kingdom. Germany. Bushels per peasant . 540 245 , , per acre 36 22 But, although economically inferior to our system, that of Germany has the great merit of placing the bulk of the nation above the danger of want. It is, nevertheless, true that in some States the farmers only eat meat once a week, and subsist chiefly on porridge and rye-bread. Wages also are low, averaging £5 in-door per annum, or 15d. a day out-door, which explains the fact that 55,000 Germans migrate annually to the United States. The advance of agriculture is sufficiently shown by pointing out that in 1840 the grain crop averaged 6£ bushels per inhabitant, and at present the ratio is over 1 7 bushels. GERMAN MANUFACTURES. Manufactures in Germany owe much of their develop- ment to William Cockerill of Manchester (1780), who first introduced improved machinery from England, and estab- lished a cloth-mill and a paper-mill. The first steam-engine was put up at Tarnowitz in Silesia, in 1788 ; but the use of steam-power did not be- come common until very recently (see page 63). The various manufactures and handicrafts occupy almost 3,000,000 operatives, or one-ninth of the adult population. GERMANY. Factories. Operatives. Artisans. Total. Prussia 79,529 680,000 630,000 1,310,000 Hanover 6,949 46,000 75,000 121,000 Bavaria 37,967 184,000 169,000 353,000 Wurtemberg 19,231 86,000 100,000 186,000 Saxony . 11,357 214,000 82,000 296,000 Small States . 35,567 231,000 254,000 485,000 273 190,600 1,441,000 1,310,000 2,751,000 The principal branches of manufacture stand in the fol- lowing order : — Woollens, cottons, etc. Flour mills Breweries and distilleries Metals and machinery Glass and pottery Sugar and tobacco . Brick and lime Paper, oil, timber, etc. 190,600 2,511,000 270,000,000 Miners ... 210,000 16,000,000 Factories. Operatives. Product, 2,320 625,000 £63,000,000 65,000 135,000 35,000,000 43,840 110,000 24,000,000 2,255 728,000 42,000,000 1,060 105,000 10,000,000 3,936 125,000 15,000,000 18,000 102,000 8,000,000 54,189 581,000 73,000,000 2 ,721,000 £286,000,000 Cotton mills have multiplied eight-fold in forty years ; they sum up 6,000,000 spindles, including 2,000,000 in the recently annexed territory of Alsace. The consump- tion of raw cotton and yarn has risen from 20 million lbs. in 1836 to 350 million lbs. in 1877. Germany manufactures cottons to the annual value of £22,000,000, which is more than enough for home con- sumption, as shown by the excess of exports : — 1872-75. 1876-77. Cotton goods imported £820,000 per annum £690,000 per annum exported 2,740,000 „ 3,540,000 „ £1,920,000 „ £2,850,000 274 PROGRESS OF THE WORLD. This shows a good increase in the last few years, not- withstanding the general depression of trade in Europe. Germany now ranks third in the cotton manufacture, possessing one-twelfth of all the spindles in the world. Woollen factories sum up nearly 2,000,000 spindles, and consume 165 million lbs. of wool, of which one-half is imported ; the annual clip in Germany gives barely 3 lbs. per sheep. The value of woollen exports is double that of imported manufactures. 1872-75. 1876-77. "Woollen goods imported . £3,950,000 £3,250,000 „ „ exported . 7,170,000 6,290,000 Excess of exports . £3,220,000 £3,040,000 This industry is one of the most important in the empire, and employs 120,000 operatives. The total value of the goods produced is £26,000,000, or about half of the amount in France. Linen factories employ 280,000 spindles and 450,000 looms, consuming annually 35,000 tons of flax, of which 15,000 tons are grown in Germany, the rest imported. Prussia stands for two-thirds of this industry, which has trebled in twenty years. 1858. 1878. Number of spindles . 74,000 280,000 Consumption of flax . 8,300 35,000 As a natural consequence, the cultivation of flax has risen prodigiously. The crop, twenty years ago, averaged 2200 tons, or one-seventh of what it is at present. In 1830 the total value of linen manufactures was only £1,550,000 — say one-fourth of the actual amount. Silk is largely manufactured, especially at Crefeld, where there are 32,000 looms, besides other centres of less note. The importation of cocoons averaged 2950 GERMANY. 275 tons from 1872 to 1874; but since the latter year, it has been 3490 tons per annum. The value of silk manufac- tures is nearly £11,000,000 a year. Flour mills number 65,000, one-half belonging to Prussia, and are classified as follows : — Moved by steam 2,440 , , by cattle . 3,500 „ by wind or water . 59,100 65,040 As already observed, the production of cereals is not sufficient for home requirements. The imports and ex- ports of the last six years show : — Tons. Value. Import . . . 14,500,000 £146,000,000 Export . . . 8,000,000 80,000,000 Surplus imports . 6,500,000 £66,000,000 Being an average deficit of 1,000,000 tons yearly, worth about £10,000,000 sterling. Sugar mills consume 3,200,000 tons beet-root annually, producing about 300,000 tons beet sugar. This industry has grown with surprising rapidity in the last five years. 1872. 1876-77. Sugar imported . . . 44,000 tons per ann. 10,200 tons per ann. ,, exported . . . 13,200 „ „ 60,300 „ „ Here we see that five years ago Germany had to import 31,000 tons of foreign sugar, while now she exports a sur- plus of 50,000 tons per annum. More than three-fourths of the sugar mills are in Prussia. The value of the an- nual production is over £6,000,000 sterling, this industry having grown nearly twenty-fold in thirty years. 1846 16,000 tons 1878 305,000 „ 276 PROGRESS OF THE WORLD. Compared with the area under beet-root, it is equivalent to one and a half ton per acre. Tobacco factories are 3600 in number, and employ 70,000 operatives. Bremen is one of the principal seats. The importation is 50,000 tons tobacco yearly, of which 10,000 tons are afterwards exported as quasi - Havana cigars, being a mixture of Cuban, American, and Brazilian tobacco. This trade stands for about £9,000,000 per annum. Breweries are another flourishing branch of business. Breweries. Production. Prussia .... 10,220 85,000,000 gallons South Germany . . . 8,620 380,000,000 „ 18,840 465,000,000 „ Prussia brews only enough for her own people, who consume 3J gallons per head. Bavaria has 5500 breweries, which produce 240,000,000 gallons. The con- sumption of hops in Germany is about 12,000 tons per annum. Distilleries number 25,000, and consume annually 9,000,000 tons barley, 60,000,000 bushels potatoes, 50,000 tons of molasses, and 700,000 bushels of fruit. This industry has exactly doubled in forty years, which shows the same increase as population. Clock-making occupies 40,000 persons in the Black Forest, and 100,000 in other parts of Germany. The former make 600,000 wooden clocks and musical boxes yearly. Many other manufactures employ a large num- ber of persons. There are 10,000 saw-mills, 600 porcelain and pottery works, 300 glass factories, 7000 oil mills, and 950 paper mills. Machinery is a manufacture of such very recent growth GERMANY. 277 that down to 1850 all the railway engines were imported, chiefly from England. At present there are 750 factories turning out locomotives and machinery, not only for Ger- many but foreign countries. One factory at Berlin has made 3600 railway engines, having done a recent order for Eussia at £2250 per locomotive, or 10 per cent less than any manufacturer in the United States could do it for. This factory was established by Mr. Boesig in 1837, with £1500 lent him by a friend, and at his death his estate was valued at £3,000,000 sterling, his staff of work- men numbering 10,000. • Ironworks and foundries are 1200 in number, and employ 120,000 workmen, who produce merchandise worth £28,000,000 per annum. The quantity of iron and steel of all descriptions manufactured is over 2,400,000 tons yearly. Krupp's factory at Essen covers 1000 acres, and employs 10,000 men, 286 steam-engines (9230 horse- power), and 71 steam-hammers of 220 tons weight. Ger- many imports 500,000 tons pig-iron yearly, besides 2,000,000 tons produced from native ore. This iron is used for the manufacture of 400,000 tons steel rails, plates, and wire, and 2,000,000 tons of castings, rolled iron, etc. After supplying her own requirements, Germany has still a surplus of steel and iron merchandise for export- ation, especially railroad bars, viz. — 1872-75. 1876-77. Exported . . 90,000 tons per annum 185,000 tons per annum The exportation in 1877 was 225,000 tons, at a period when the iron trade in Great Britain and United States was under great depression. 278 PROGRESS OF THE WORLD. MINERALS. Coal— The production is over 42,000,000 tons yearly, including 9,000,000 tons brown coal or lignite. The following Table shows how rapidly this industry has advanced : — 1805 .... 300,000 tons 1822 .... 1,270,000 „ <• , *i v 1864 .... 16,200,000 „ 1873 .... 42,300,000 „ More than two-thirds are raised in Prussia, the rest in Alsace and Saxony. There are 920 pits, which employ 160,000 miners, the output being valued at £10,000,000, including £1,500,000 for brown coal. The home consump- tion is 40,000,000 tons, leaving a surplus of 2,000,000 tons for exportation. Iron. — The production has multiplied fifteen-fold in half a century. In 1830 the ores extracted gave but 120,000 tons pig-iron. At present there are 1071 mines, yielding over 4,500,000 tons ore, from which are obtained 2,000,000 tons iron. The miners number 20,000 hands, nine-tenths of the iron mines being in Prussia. Copper. — In 1830 the production barely reached 2000 tons, or one-fourth of what it is at present. The mines are in Prussia and Saxony. The ore is not very rich, 260,000 tons giving about 8000 tons pure copper, say 3 per cent. The 69 mines employ 8000 men, and the annual output is valued at £300,000. Zinc is produced by Prussia on a larger scale than in any other part of the world, the production having multi- plied fifteen-fold since 1830. There are 77 mines, worked by 11,000 miners, who raise 350,000 tons ore per annum, worth £1 per ton. The ore gives 17 per cent zinc, that is, 58,000 tons. GERMANY. 279 Lead and Silver are produced by Prussia and Saxony, the former country standing for three-fourths. There are 168 mines, employing 11,000 miners, who raise 125,000 tons ore, or six times the quantity rai sed in 1 83Q. Almost half the ore is lead, say 46 per ceja Salt. — Actual production l,0y00,000 tons, orseia^jmes what it was in 1830. Summt The mineral industries have years : — 1846 . 1866 . 1876 . The value of the minerals at the pit's mouth is about £15,500,000, or £75 for each miner. Prussia represents 80 per cent of the mineral product of Germany, employing 160,000 miners. COMMERCE. Under the old Hanseatic League the commercial relations of Germany became so extensive that one hundred foreign seaports (one of which was London) became affiliated to the great system of which Hamburg, Bremen, and Lubeck were the heads. Notwithstanding his frequent wars, Frederic the Great did not lose sight of commercial interests, for he was the founder of the Seehandlung Associa- tion. The multiplicity of German States and customs- tariffs, however, formed such an obstacle to progress that it was found necessary to create a Zollverein in 1848, and from this epoch may be dated the " renaissance " of German trade. Let us compare, for example, the shipping returns of entries at Hamburg and Bremen before the Zollverein with those of the present time : — 280 PROGRESS OF THE WORLD. Entries. 1840-41. 1876. Hamburg 542,000 tons 2,227,000 tons Bremen 144,000 „ 948,000 „ 686,000 „ 3,175,000 At present Hamburg represents 40 per cent, and Bremen 1 8 per cent, of the trade of Germany. The mercantile navy- has risen 14 per cent since 1870, being now ahead of the French ; but the shipbuilders are unable to build vessels fast enough, seeing that the proportion of foreign entries has increased very notably since 1870. 1870. Hatio. 1876. Ratio; Increase. German bottom . 765,000 tons 43 p. c. 2,063,000 tons 36 p. c. 170 p. o. Foreign „ . 991,000 „ 57 „ 3,519,000 „ 64 „ 253 „ 1,756,000 ,, 5,582,000 „ 219 The German shipping now numbers 4750 vessels of 1,103,000 tons in the aggregate, manned by 42,300 seamen. Nearly 21 per cent of the tonnage consists of steamers. Entries of British vessels exceed by 12 per cent those of vessels bearing the German flag, the former reaching 2,298,000 tons. The trade returns are very confused, but the nearest estimate seems to be as follows : — Imports. Exports. Total. Special trade . . £190,000,000 £128,000,000 £318,000,000 Transit . . . 55,000,000 52,000,000 107,000,000 £245,000,000 £180,000,000 £425,000,000 RAILWAYS AND CANALS. Germany has doubled her mileage of railways in ten years, viz. — GERMANY. 2 1867. 1876. Miles open 9,045 18,080 Cost of construction £154,000,000 £374,000,000 Gross receipts 20,631,000 42,862,000 Expenses . 10,224,000 26,559,000 Profits 10,407,000 16,303,000 Earnings per mile 2,290 per inn. 2,380 per ann Expenses „ 1,130 1,470 „ Profits „ 1,160 910 „ Dividend on capital 6| per cent i\ per cent 281 There has been no decline of traffic, hat the expenses per mile have risen 30 per cent. The cost of construction down to 1867 was only £17,000 per mile, but the lines made since that date averaged £24,000, so that the existing average for all lines open is £20,500 sterling. Germany is now second only to the United States in the length of its railways. The various States of the empire appear as follows : — Miles of railroad. Prussia . Bavaria . Wurtemburg Baden Small States No. of passengers. Goods. 10,672 118,000,000 per annum 90,000,000 tons 2,434 1,252 810 733 2,179 19,000,000 20,000,000 9,000,000 12,000,000 24,000,000 18,080 202,000,000 10,000,000 11,000,000 3,000,000 3,000,000 15,000,000 132,000,000 Thus the yearly traffic shows 11,000 passengers and 7500 tons merchandise carried for every mile of railway, the highest degree being attained by Saxony in the goods traffic, and by Baden in the number of passengers. The lines appear to be well managed, the loss of life averaging 20 persons yearly, say one in 10,100,000 passengers. The Dresden and Leipzig line is the oldest, having been built in 1839. Canals and navigable rivers afford great facilities for cheap inland traffic. The principal canals are : — 1. The 282 PROGRESS OF THE WORLD. Altmuhl, connecting the Rhine and Danube, 107 miles in length, and 54 feet wide. By this means vessels drawing less than five feet can ascend from the Black Sea to the German Ocean. 2. The Elbe and Oder canal, besides numerous smaller ones. The inland navigation of Germany, between canals and rivers, shows : — Prussia 8,140 miles Bavaria 1,160 „ Other States 7,690 „ Total . . 16,990 The traffic on these water-ways occupies 20,900 canal- boats and 463 river-steamers, whose gross tonnage amounts to 1,550,000 tons. The turnpike roads of the empire are as follows : — Prussia 25,300 miles Bavaria . 6,200 „ Other States 33,700 „ 65,200 INSTRUCTION. Germany has always been noted for the diffusion of enlightenment among all classes of her people. This, quite as much as the needle-gun, has led to her wonderful pro- gress in recent years. Fifty years ago she stood among European nations almost without a rival in popular instruc- tion, but at present there are various competitors for the foremost rank. The muster-roll of German education shows as fol- lows : — Universities Gymnasia . Primary GERMANY Schools. 22 505 . 60,000 Teachers. 1,675 3,500 75,000 Pupils. 17,700 108,000 6,100,000 60,527 80,175 6,225,700 283 The oldest of the Universities is Heidelberg, which dates from 1386; the youngest is Strasburg, founded in 1872. The average of school-children to population is 15 per cent, but Germans usually claim 17 per cent, a ratio only surpassed by Canada or United States. In 1875 there were but 2 per cent of the sailors, and 4 per cent of the soldiers, unable to read and write. In 1840 there were 66 public libraries, with the fol- lowing number of volumes : — Libraries. Volumes. Prussia 17 865,000 Bavaria 10 1,308,000 Saxony 6 460,000 "Wurtemberg 4 250,000 Hanover 3 342,000 Small States 26 66 1,647,000 4,872,000 In 1872 there were 153 public libraries, the aggregate number of volumes probably reaching 10,000,000. The first steam printing-press in Germany was put up so late as 1848. The number at present must be enormous, as Germany exports 5,000,000 volumes per annum. The number of new works published yearly is about 11,000, and supposing an average edition of 1000 copies, this would be equal to 11,000,000 volumes printed every year, or nearly 1,000,000 per month. The importation of foreign books is 2,500,000 volumes per annum. The Allgemeine Zeitung of Augsburg is the oldest news- 284 PROGRESS OF THE WORLD. paper in Germany, dating from 1794. The total number of newspapers in 1841 was 240, of which two-thirds were in Prussia. This did not include 132 magazines and scientific periodicals. In 1878 there were said to be 2350 newspapers and periodicals published in Germany. Numerous, and of high standing, are the various associa- tions of science and letters, of which there is unhappily no exact return. The principal are the following : — Prussian Academy of Arts (1699). Royal Scientific Association of Berlin. Society of Natural History. Geographical Society of Berlin. Antiquarian Society of Stettin. Historical Society of Breslau, etc. There are also 820 agricultural associations, with 110,000 members and £40,000 income, for supporting libraries and reading-rooms in the rural districts. BANKS. The Imperial Bank, established in 1875, is merely a new form of the Bank of Prussia, founded in 1765. In 1856 the capital was doubled, the Government subscribing for £1,000,000, or one-fourth of the stock, when it was authorised to emit paper for three times its stock of bullion. In 1875 the Government drew out its capital, the bank engaging to pay a royalty of £100,000 per annum. The capital being raised to £6,000,000, the bank bought up the other banks of emission, except some minor ones with an aggregate of £5,500,000. The Bank of Munich emits notes for £1,000,000 : its capital is £1,700,000, of which it must always keep two-thirds lent out to farmers at 4 per cent per annum on their estates, the mortgage never exceeding 50 per cent of the value. In 1864 it was GERMANY. 285 empowered to extend its operations by emitting mortgage debentures on such estates, the borrowers paying 5 per cent for fifty-two years, to include redemption, and the debenture-holders getting i\ per cent interest. As the market value is only 90 per cent, the borrower pays in reality 5 \ per cent. The amount in circulation in 1871 was over £5,000,000 sterling. Another Bavarian bank, that of Nuremberg, also gives loans on mortgage. The Military Widows' and the Church funds are likewise lent to peasant landowners in small sums, at 4 per cent per annum. Saxony has six banks. The Bank of Dresden emits £800,000 in paper money. There are four Land banks, which emit mortgage debentures on the same plan as the Munich bank, except that the borrower pays only 5 per cent for forty-one years, until redemption. The Bitter's bank of Leipzig is a mutual accommodation bank among the great land-owners, charging 4 per cent per annum, and lending to none but its own members. Wurtemberg has two banks : that of Stuttgart emits £600,000 in paper money. The Sparkassen Bank lends to the small land-owners at 5 or 6 per cent per annum, the latter rate covering redemption in twenty-five years. The Prussian Mortgage and Bent-charge banks were established in 1810, to facilitate the emancipation of serfs and provide capital for the needy nobles, wherewith to purchase machinery for improved agriculture. The mort- gage banks issued debentures, for which the borrower paid 4 per cent, and during the last thirty years the fresh issue yearly has ranged from £500,000 to £1,000,000 sterling per annum, the redemption to 28 per cent of the sums emitted. The following Table shows how the excessive emission has caused the stock to fall in value: — 286 PROGRESS OP THE WORLD. Amount of debentures. Market price. Average. 1815 £9,450,000 £64 to 103 £84 1835 14,100,000 101 „ 107 104 1845 16,550,000 94 „ 105 100 1868 28,760,000 78 „ 84 81 More than £27,000,000 are due by the nobles, some of whose estates are heavily encumbered. The peasants owed nearly £1,000,000 in 1865. The latter have bor- rowed principally from the Rent-charge banks, namely, £13,250,000 in debentures at 4 per cent, which sell in the market for 87 per cent of their nominal value : they have already redeemed one-eighth of the above amount. Hamburg claims the honour of having invented savings banks in 1778, but it seems there was one at Brunswick thirteen years earlier. The returns for 1878 show the savings banks of the empire as follows :■ — No. of banks. Depositors. Amount. Dep. to pop. Prussia 979 2,059,000 £49,315,000 39s. p. inhab. Saxony 156 942,000 11,455,000 83s. „ „ Bavaria 260 279,000 2,490,000 10s. „ ,, Wurtemberg 121 301,000 2,766,000 30s. „ „ Small States 171 1687 452,000 10,554,000 28s. „ „ 4,033,000 £76,580,000 36s. „ „ As the increase of these banks is an index of prosperity, the returns for all Germany may be compared thus : — Amount of deposits. Deposits to population. 1848 £5,260,000 3s. 4d. per inhabitant 1861 14,510,000 8s. „ 1878 76,580,000 36s. These banks usually lend out one-third of their funds on mortgage, mostly to small land-owners. Germany has 195 joint-stock banks, whose capital in the aggregate reaches £85,000,000. The banking power of Germany is £270,000,000, or GERMANY. 287 £7 per head of the population, being less than one-third of the ratio in Great Britain. It is, moreover, smaller in comparison with the capital of the nation than in Great Britain, viz. — Great Britain. Germany. Capital . £8,580,000,000 £4,442,000,000 Banking power 760,000,000 270,000,000 Eatio . 9 per cent 6 per cent WEALTH AND FINANCES. The capital of Germany and the income stand thus : — Capital. Income. Ratio. Agricultural . £2,060,000,000 £340,000,000 17 p. c. General . . 2,382,000,000 356,000,000 26 „ £4,442,000,000 £696,000,000 16 „ This is equal to £16 per inhabitant, or 16 per cent on the capital of the empire. The income-tax returns for Prussia show a gross income of £130,000,000, which is equivalent to £210,000,000 for the whole of Germany, or nearly one-third of the actual earnings of the people. If we take the Government assessment as representing 30 per cent of the real income, the account will stand thus : — Incomes of £500 or upwards . £50 to £500 . Under £50 . Prussia. 218,200 2,108,000 4,666,000 Other States. 135,000 1,316,000 2,915,000 Total of Germany. 353,200 3,424,000 7,581,000 Gross income. £212,000,000 274,000,000 210,000,000 6,992,200 4,366,000 11,358,200 £696,000,000 As the number of tax-payers may be taken for so many families, it follows that each family has an average income of £60 per annum, or one-half the average of England. It is satisfactory to note that the fortunes of the work- 288 PROGRESS OF THE WORLD. ing-classes are growing more rapidly than population, and even more so than the fortunes of the rich. Increase from 1852 to 1867. In population. In wealth. "Working-classes . . 18 per cent 87 per cent Educated „ . . 68 „ 82 „ Wages are much lower than in England (page 65), and so are the relative earnings of the working-classes, being 30 per cent of the national income in Germany, and 38 per cent in Great Britain. As an instance of the pro- vident habits of the German people, we have not only the fact that the savings banks contain £76,500,000 sterling, mostly the deposits of the working-classes, but also the steady development of the co-operative societies begun by Mr. Schultz-Delitsch in 1864. These societies have now 4800 branches, with 1,400,000 members, whose deposits reach £18,500,000, and their annual transactions average £140,000,000. There is, moreover, the Journeymen's Union, with 127 branches and 268,000 members, whose annual subscriptions amount to £1,100,000, the society providing for the support of 96,400 widows, orphans, or infirm members. The accumulation of wealth in Germany averages £32,000,000 per annum, which is less than half of the accumulation in France or Great Britain. The ratio of the working and the educated classes is shown as follows : — Working-classes . . £7, 400, 000 per annum Educated „ . . 25,300,000 ,, £32,700,000 National Debt is only as 4^- per cent of the capital of the German people, and is therefore comparatively half the GERMANY. 289 burthen that it is in Great Britain. At the death 1 of Frederic the Great there was not only no national debt, but an enormous amount of treasure (£10,500,000) in the Government vaults at Berlin, which money was afterwards used in the wars against Napoleon. The total public debt is at present £215,000,000, but the various State properties would suffice to redeem it. The debt and taxation do not fall equally in every part of the Fatherland, as shown by the following Table : — Expenditure. Debt. Expenditure per inhab. Debt per inhab. Prussia £34,000,000 £65,000,000 27s. 50s. Bavaria 13,000,000 55,000,000 52s. 220s. "Wurtemburg 2,500,000 20,000,000 27s. 200s. Saxony 2,750,000 17,000,000 20s. 124s. Small States 10,000,000 41,000,000 27s. 112s. Imperial "budget 22,750,000 17,000,000 10s. 6d. 40s. 8s. £85,000,000 £215,000,000 98s. The war indemnity of £200,000,000 paid by France was distributed in the following manner : — To Prussia „ the other States , , invalid soldiers . „ new fortresses . ,, purchase of railways £79,000,000 66,000,000 30,000,000 17,000,000 8,000,000 £200,000,000 Taxes, including local, are equal to 1 5 per cent of the national income, a greater burthen than we have to sup- port in Great Britain, which is partly due to the heavy military expenditure, partly to the Federal system, whereby 1 Frederic was not only a great soldier, but a most careful economist ; he was said to know exactly what every acre of land, every pair of hands, every yoke of oxen, in his dominions was capable of producing. U 290 PROGRESS OF THE WORLD. each State has to support its own monarch, cabinet, and legislature, besides the imperial administration. Prussia. The treaty of Tilsit in 1809 reduced this kingdom to an area of 59,000 square miles, with i\ million inhabitants. In little more than half a century it has risen to a foremost rank in European councils, exercising the same preponder- ance in the German Empire that England does in the affairs of the British Empire. The area of Prussia has been extended partly by purchase of mediatised princi- palities, partly by the conquest of Sleswig, Hanover, and other territories. The growth of area and population is shown as follows : — Square miles. 1809 . . . 59,100 1836 . . . 110,000 1876 . . . 134,100 In 1858 the population of Prussia formed 50 per cent of that of Germany; in 1876 the proportion was 62 per cent. In agriculture and manufactures Prussia represents 60 to 65 per cent of the industry of the Empire. In public instruction the ratio is still higher. It may, therefore, be laid down that this kingdom constitutes materially and economically two-thirds of Germany. The industry of the country suffers by reason of the kingdom forming, as it were, a great barrack. But the system is not wholly a curse, because it gives the peasant habits of discipline, and the term of service is just sufficient to make him a soldier without unfitting him for the arts of peace. Out of 100 adult males in the kingdom it will be found as follows : — 1 The treaty of Vienna in 1815 restored to Prussia most of the terri- tory taken from her by Napoleon. Population. Inh. per sq- mile. 4,600,000 78 14,460,000 129 25,742,000 192 PRUSSIA. 291 5 per cent are in the army. 22 „ form the Landwehr or reserve. 23 „ are below the height of 5 feet 4 inches. 34 „ are rejected for ill-health or defect. 16 „ are exempted by law. 100 Thus the total military strength is 1,670,000 men, out of 6,100,000 adult males, say 27 per cent. Although the rural classes constitute but 45 per cent of the population, they supply 65 per cent of the army. There are 87 per cent of the population who speak German, and 1 3 per cent Polish. Manufactures have made great progress during the present century : — 1805. 1875. Operatives .... 350,000 1,310,000 Value of manufactures . £13,000,000 £170,000,000 In 1876 the principal industries showed as follows : — Factories. Operatives. Product. Cottons, woollens, etc. . 1,400 375,000 £38,000,000 Metals and minerals . 3,100 360,000 42,000,000 Flour-mills . . . 32,000 70,000 15,000,000 Breweries and distilleries 15,000 50,000 10,000,000 Sugar and tobacco . . 1,660 65,000 10,000,000 Various . . . 11,340 490,000 55,000,000 64,400 1,310,000 £170,000,000 The produce of the mines is valued at £13,000,000, and that of the smelting-works and foundries at £29,000,000 per annum, say 80 per cent of the mineral and metal in- dustries of the Empire (see page 278). The railways cost for construction as follows : — Miles. Cost. Per mile. Government lines . 2,822 £60,000,000 £21,300 Private do. . 7,850 166,000,000 . 21,150 10,672 £226,000,000 £21,200 292 PEOGEESS OF THE WOELD. All these lines carry 120 million passengers and 90 million tons merchandise per annum. They kill only one passenger in 11 millions. The average returns for 1876-77 show : — Eeceipts .... £27,605,000 Expenses .... 16,470,000 Net profits £11,135,000 This is almost 5 per cent on the cost of construction. Public expenditure averaged for the last three years £34,000,000 sterling, or 27s. per head. About 44 per cent of the revenue proceeds from Government railways, forests, mines, and crown-lands, although some of these items are very precarious ; for example : — Government mines 1872-74. £2,200,000 per annum 1876-78. £770,000 per annum It appears that 21 per cent of the population are on the register as voters, but two-thirds of them never exercise the right of franchise, the number of actual voters being only 6 per cent. PETTSSIAN AGEICULTUEE. The area of Prussia is 85,820,000 acres, of which two- thirds are under cultivation, the rest being forest and mountain : — Under grain crops „ potatoes „ flax, beet, etc. Meadow and fallow Forest and mountain Cities, mines, rivers, etc, 23,000,000 acres 5,000,000 1,000,000 28,000,000 23,000,000 6,000,000 86,000,000 Stein's law of 1809 liberated the serfs from the annual burden of 5| million days of hand labour, and 21^ million Prussia. 293 of team labour, together 27 million days' labour. The value of this service to the nobles was estimated at £2,200,000, which was capitalised at thirteen years, the peasants being thereby-compelled to pay their masters a sum of £28,600,000 sterling. The rent-charge banks, created in 1810 for the purpose, advanced to the peasants sums at 4 per cent interest, in all £13,250,000 ; and in this manner about half a million peasants became free land-owners. The progress of peasant proprietorship was accelerated by the new laws in 1848, since which time we find as follows : — Peasant estates. Area, acres. Average'. 1848 . . 986,000 26,600,000 27 acres 1868 . . 1,683,000 43,500,000 25 „ The balance due by the peasants to the rent-charge banks in 1870 was £11,500,000, since they had paid oif by annual sinking fund £1,750,000, or one-eighth of the moneys advanced to them. They also owed the mortgage banks £1,000,000 sterling. Taking the whole of the kingdom, we find it is owned as follows : — Acres. Crown-lands . . 11,200,000 Cities, mines, etc. . . 5,600,000 Private properties . . 69,020,000 85,820,000 The division of the properties is in this manner : — Estates. Area, acres. Average. Kobles . 22,470 21,200,000 900 acres Farmers . 1,503,000 44,800,000 30 „ Cottiers . 1,087,000 3,100,000 3 „ 2,612,470 69,100,000 27 The best feature is the progress of the middle class farmers, who form the strength of Prussia, their number having increased as follows : — 294 PROGRESS OF THE WORLD. Farmers. Acres. Average. 1816 . . . 382,000 23,000,000 65 acres 1870 . . . 1,503,000 45,000,000 30 „ The rural population is made up as follows : — Farm-proprietors . . 1,503,000 Tenant-farmers Cottiers . Farm-labourers Foresters Women and children 70,000 1,087,000 1,309,000 99,000 7,542,000 11,610,000 The farm-proprietors include 165,000 women holding lands in their own right. There are also 890,000 women actively engaged in farm-work, earning about £4 per annum as in-door servants. Taking the adult male popula- tion (rural) at 4 millions, they cultivate 1\ acres tillage per head, besides 7 acres under grass or fallow. Tenant-farmers are few in number, say 5 per cent as compared with the above class. They often take large tracts of land, especially 'crown-lands, and invest much capital in improvements. In 1870 the lease of one of these estates fell in, and the tenant, who was paying £2000 per annum, made the highest bid for the new lease, at £10,000 per annum. Some farms are let on twelve years' lease, others for the lives of the tenant and his wife. Cottiers are unable to subsist on their patches of ground, and work as labourers on adjacent farms. The expenses of a cottier's family of 5 persons average £16 to £20 per annum ; food, £10 ; clothing, £3 ; sundries, £3 ; including 12s. 6d. taxes. The food consists of porridge, potatoes, herrings, and rye-bread ; even the better class of farmers eat meat only on Sundays. In some parts, however, the farmers and their servants have meat twice a week. The progress of agriculture in the last forty years is shown by the crops and farming-stock : — Prussia. 295 1841. 1879. Increase. Grain crops . . 102,000,000 bushels 465,000,000 bushels 363 p. c. Value of all crops £24,000,000 £171,000,000 612 „ Horned cattle . 7,430,000 head 8,612,000 head 16 „ Sheep .... 16,220,000 „ 19,625,000 „ 21 „ Forty years ago the grain crops averaged 6 J bushels per head of the population ; at present the average is 18 bushels grain and 26 bushels potatoes per head. This enormous increase of tillage has necessarily thrown pastoral industry into the background; thus, in 1841, every 100 inhabitants of Prussia had 49 head of cattle and 105 sheep, but at present they have only 33 cattle and 78 sheep. Wheat gives a yield of eight-fold, the farmers sowing three bushels per acre, and the medium crop being almost twenty-four bushels, the same as in Ireland. The following is the latest return of acreage and crops of cereals : — Acres. Crops. Per acre. Eye . . 11,300,000 220,000,000 bushels 20 bushels Oats 7,100,000 148,000,000 „ 21 „ Wheat . 3,100,000 69,000,000 „ 23 „ Barley, etc. . 1,350,000 22,850,000 28,000,000 „ 21 „ 465,000,000 „ 21 „ In those districts where there are tenant-farmers the ordinary rent is £1 per acre, but the fat pastures of Lower Ehine command as high as £5 per acre. The estimate of the product of an acre of land under crops is as follows : — per acre Value of crop . 75s. ] Cost of production . 60s. Taxes . . . . 8d. Net profit . 14s. 4d. The hay crop averages nearly 2 tons per acre, and produces in the aggregate £31,000,000 sterling per annum. The increase of steam-power, compared with that of cattle, in farming operations, is shown as follows : — 296 PROGRESS OF THE WORLD. Steam-engines. Horse-power. Draft horses. Do. oxen. 1846 . 48 504 1,235,000 742,000 1861 . 242 4170 1,487,000 696,000 The Germans say that whatever labour costs one penny by steam will cost twopence by horse or ox, and thirty- six pence by man. There are, however, no steam-ploughs, owing to the smallness of the farms ; but each district has steam threshers, and sometimes reaping and mowing machines, which are hired out by the rich proprietors, or kept by a club of peasant farmers. Eoad - locomotives from the Berlin factory are also sometimes found. Al- though the soil is not equal to that of other parts of Ger- many, the condition of the rural classes is better. The people are laborious and thrifty, and mendicancy is un- known. Railways have been productive of incalculable benefit to the farming classes, not only by stimulating agri- culture, but also by equalising the price of grain. The following Table shows the quotations of rye, the chief food of the people, before and since the introduction of rail- ways : — Prussia Proper. Rhenish Prussia. 1817 . . 5s. 8d. per bushel. 12s. 6d. per bushel 1856 . . 8s. 3d. 10s. Sixty years ago the price in one part of the kingdom was more than double what it was in another. 1 Prussia possesses about two-thirds of the farm-stock of Germany (see page 271), representing a value of £136,000,000, or more than £5 for each inhabitant. The horses are remarkably fine, and their number has in- creased 22 per cent since 1864. The refining of sheep reached a climax a few years ago, and the farmers now find it more profitable to raise sheep for food than for wool. Forests cover an area of 20,000,000 acres, of which 1 The same occurred in Spain ; see page' 427. BAVARIA. 297 one-half is held by the Crown or communes, one-half by private owners. The annual product is 480,000,000 cubic feet timber, say 24 cubic feet per acre. The total proceeds in 1870 were £3,800,000 sterling. The tax is Is. 5d. per acre, and the annual yield of timber is equal to 20 cubic feet for each inhabitant of the kingdom. Eaffeisen's farmers' aid societies, begun in 1816, have been of immense benefit to the agricultural classes by saving them from money-lenders. There are fifteen of these societies counting 4000 members. The total of rural mortgages in the kingdom is £190,000,000, equal to 21 per cent of the landed value. Bavaria. The second great division of the German Empire has an area of 29,200 square miles, or about 19,000,000 acres. Agriculture is the principal industry, but the brewers pay two-thirds of the revenue. In size Bavaria is equal to Ireland ; its population, however, is one-fifth less. The principal manufacture is beer, the number of breweries exceeding 5500, which consume annually 10,000,000 bushels of malt, and produce 240,000,000 gallons beer. The various industries are in this order : — Breweries and distilleries . 40,000 uperatives Cotton, woollen, linen factories . 68,000 y> Glass, china, bricks . 26,000 it Metals and minerals . 23,000 )» Corn-mills, saw-mills, tanneries 26,000 )> 183,000 In 1840 King Ludwig completed, at a cost of £800,000, the canal proposed by Charlemagne in the eighth century, connecting the Ehine and the Danube. Bavaria has made much progress in the last thirty years, and is fairly pros- 298 PROGRESS OF THE WORLD. perous. The public debt stood at £21,000,000 in 1858, but has since risen to £55,000,000, the Government having expended £40,000,000 on the construction of 2400 miles of railway, say £16,500 per mile. The cost of Government is about £13,000,000, or 52s. per head of the population, say 10 per cent higher than in Great Britain. BAVARIAN AGRICULTURE. Feudal rights were not abolished till 1848, when the law of emancipation was promulgated, giving the serfs the option of redemption in any of the three following modes : — 1st. To pay down cash to the landlord eighteen times the assessed annual value of the service. 2d. To pay a rent for thirty-four years equal to two- thirds of the supposed net profit from the land. 3d. To borrow from the State Bank, at 4 per cent, the sum requisite for redemption. Most of the peasants seem to have adopted the last mode, as the returns for 1870 show that they had borrowed in this way, on mortgage of their lands, an amount of £18,350,000, of which they had already paid back to the bank £3,000,000. The distribution of landed property is at present as follows : — Owners. Acres. Average. Nobles . 1,100 400,000 370 acres Farmers . 226,000 11,700,000 50 „ Peasants . 290,000 1,500,000 5 „ Crown 3,430,000 Cities, rivers, etc. . 1,362,000 517,100 18,392,000 35 „ One-third of the kingdom is composed of dense forests, of which the Crown owns one-half, the official valuation showing as follows : — BAVARIA. Area. Valuation. Per acre. Forests . 5,900,000 acres £30,000,000 £5 Arable 7,300,000 ,, 95,000,000 13 Pasture . 3,900,000 ,, 38,000,000 10 17,100,000 „ £163,000,000 £9 : 10s. 299 The forests produce annually 380 million cubic feet of timber, or 65 cubic feet per acre, which is nearly three times the yield of Prussian forests. The value of the timber is about £3,000,000 per annum, say 10s. per acre. The arable lands are in the following proportions : — Acres. Crops. Per acre. Eye . 1,430,000 24,000,000 busbels 17 bushels Wheat. 720,000 12,000,000 ,, 17 „ Spelt and barley 1,180,000 30,000,000 „ 25 ,, Oats 1,150,000 25,000,000 ,, 22 ,, Potatoes 660,000 66,000,000 ,, 100 ,, Vines . 56,000 14,000,000 gallons 250 „ Hops . 45,000 6,500 tons 3 cwt. Flax . 115,000 26,000 „ 44 „ Tobacco 14,000 8,200 „ 11 ,, Clover . 720,000 880,000 „ 25 „ Beet and turnips 220,000 900,000 ,, 4 tons Fallow . 990,000 7,300,000 The production of cereals amounts to 9 1 million bushels grain and 66 of potatoes, or 18 bushels of the former and 13 of the latter, per head of the population. This is hardly enough for home consumption, especially in view of the large quantity of grain required for the breweries and distilleries. Farm-servants are well paid and fed; wages £10 per annum and board, or Is. 6d. per day. The rations for in- door servants are 18 bushels grain, 6 bushels potatoes, 125 lbs. meat, 700 lbs. milk, and 2 gallons of beer per annum. 300 PROGRESS OF THE WORLD. Nevertheless about 3500 young men and women emigrate yearly to the United States. There is only one steam-plough in the kingdom, but more than half the grain is threshed by steam. Some districts form clubs to buy steam-threshers, others hire them from the wealthy proprietors. This kingdom is proportionately richer in farm-stock than Prussia, the average being nearly £8 worth for each inhabitant (see page 271). WURTEMBURG. This little kingdom is just the size of Wales, having an area of 4800 square miles. There is a surplus of 7 J per cent females in the population. The principal manufac- tures are wooden clocks and musical boxes, of which 1,000,000 are made yearly by the peasants of the Black Forest. There are four mills for making beet-sugar, and half a dozen cotton and woollen factories. The Govern- ment salt-works produce over 30,000 tons. Fully three- fourths of the population are engaged in agriculture. Education has always been at a high standard. Even fifty years ago the proportion of school children was the highest in Europe, and the returns at present are equally satisfactory. Attending Ratio of School. Population. 1830 272,000 17 per cent 1877 350,000 18£ „ Every inhabitant over ten years of age can read and write. AGRICULTURE. The " Garden of Germany," as this country is styled, forms a pleasing picture to the economist, as horticulture WTJRTEMBTJRG. 301 and agriculture are closely blended. The highways, bor- dered with fruit trees, traverse a diversified and fertile succession of farms and vineyards until reaching the Black Forest on one side, or the Swiss Lakes on the other. According to official returns we find as follows : — Under crops 2,200,000 acres Pasture 940,000 „ Forest 1,420,000 „ Cities, rivers, etc. 240,000 „ Total area . 4,800,000 In 1817 the law was passed to emancipate the serfs, but the nobles of Wurtemburg petitioned the Imperial Diet at Frankfort, and obtained a postponement of the measure for twenty years. The peasants on all the Crown-lands were freed in 1836, but the emancipation throughout the kingdom did not have full effect until 1848. It was finally agreed to pay the nobles a rent for twenty-five years, end- ing in 1873, and of this the peasants paid one-half, the Crown the other. The land-owners at present are as follow : — Owners. Acres. Average. Nobles 718 650,000 840 acres Fanners . 85,000 1,900,000 22 „ Gardeners 246,000 750,000 3 „ Public lands 1,100,000 331,718 4,400,000 13 „ An average farm of 22 acres is said to produce £73 per annum, say 66s. per acre, and as the cost of seed and wages is £23, it leaves the farmer £50 for the support of his family ; the household generally contrive to make £15 out of wood and poultry, so that the farmer's income reaches about £65 sterling. There are 17,000 acres of Crown- 302 PROGRESS OF THE WORLD. land held by tenants, who have about 170 acres each, half tillage, half pasture, on leases for eighteen years. These tenants, as often happens in Germany, are a superior class of men to the small proprietors, with more intelligence and capital. They are prohibited from sub-letting their lands to others. The ordinary class of farmers are well-to-do, but the poor cottiers live on rye and potatoes, with meat only twice a year. There are 48,000 indoor farm-servants who earn £6 a year, and are well fed, being allowed, more- over, a gallon of cider daily. The area under crops increased after the emancipation, the extent of fallow-land in 1864 being 142,000 acres less than in 1848. The abolition of serfdom was not, however, unattended by a passing inconvenience. Such was the desire for land that the banks lent freely on all sides, lands rose to a fictitious value, and then came a general " smash '' in. 1853. At present, although one-sixth of the kingdom is mortgaged, agricultural industry is prosperous. Vine- yards often realise as much as £100 per acre. The official valuation shows thus : — Acres. Value. Per acre. Vineyards, etc. 204,000 £8,200,000 £40 Under crops . . 2,050,000 36,000,000 18 Meadow 720,000 20,000,000 28 Pasture 220,000 1,100,000 5 Forest . 1,420,000 14,400,000 10 4,614,000 £79,700,000 £17 Thus the value of land is almost double per acre what it is in the rest of Germany. The crops average as follows : — Acres.. Crop. Per acre. Grain 1,320,000 30,000,000 bushels 23 bushels Potatoes . 160,000 16,000,000 ,, 100 „ Flax 80,000 20,000 tons J ton Vines 45,000 90,000,000 gallons 200 gallons SAXONY. 303 Some years there is a surplus of half-a-million bushels of grain for exportation, but as the ordinary production is only sixteen bushels per inhabitant, it is barely enough for home use. Potatoes were introduced in 1710 by the Wal- denses, and are now a valuable item of food. The yield of the vineyards is little over 200 gallons per acre, or one- third of what is obtained in the adjacent duchy of Baden. There has been an increase of 44 per cent in the number of horned cattle since the abolition of the feudal laws in 1848. The sheep are very fine, being mostly descended from the Spanish merinoes. Some of the farmers attend to bees, the number of beehives exceeding 100,000. A cer- tain kind of snails is also bred as an article of food. The forests yield over a million sterling per annum, those belonging to the Crown forming one-third, say half-a- million acres ; and the Communes possessing nearly an equal extent. They were in the earlier part of the century so strictly preserved that it seemed the kingdom would be overrun by wild boars, deer, foxes, and hares. The king ordered a grand "battue" in 1817, which resulted in re- ducing the quantity of game very notably. Saxony. The kingdom of booksellers forms the fourth great division of the empire. Its area is less than that of the Grand-duchy of Baden, but it has double the number of inhabitants. Its population is 55 per cent thicker than that of China, and is the densest in the world, except Belgium. Since 1837 there has been an increase of 66 per cent, against 40 per cent for the rest of Germany. The returns for 1875-76, as compared with fifteen years ago, show as follows : — 304 PROGRESS OF THE WORLD. 1875-76. 1860-61. Births . 46 per 1000 inhab. 43 per 1000 inhab. Deaths ■ 31 29 Increase • 15 14 Marriages ■ 20 18 „ Although, the marriage-rate is the highest in Europe, the ratio of illegitimate births is also very high, being three times greater than in England, and 50 per cent over Prussia. Mining occupies a considerable number of workmen, most of the mines being worked by Government ; the pro- ducts are coal, iron, lead, and copper. The linen factories employ 60,000 operatives, and turn out more than £1,000,000 worth of table-cloths and other fabrics. The cotton manufactures are also reputed ex- cellent. There are said to be more printing-presses for the population than in any other part of the world, and the annual production of books by Tauchnitz and other great publishers reaches several million volumes. The book-fair of Leipzig is held simultaneously with that of porcelain, dry goods, etc., and the aggregate of merchandise annually sold is 20,000 tons in weight and £3,800,000 in value, books probably constituting one-third. The total import and export trade is over £10,000,000, of which one-fourth is in the hands of Hebrew dealers. Education is at the same high level as in Wurtemburg, every person over ten years being able to read and write. The University of Leipzig is attended by 3000 students, and ranks as the second in Germany. In 1870 the mortgages in the kingdom amounted to £26,000,000, or one-half the value of the territorial area. SAXONY. 305 AGRICULTURE. The kingdom of Saxony is just twice the size of Devon- shire, and is distributed in this manner : — Estates. Area. Average. Nobles . 440 490,000 acres 1100 acres Farmers 53,000 1,610,000 „ 30 „ Cottiers 45,000 85,000 ,, 2 „ Crown lands 1,077,000 „ Cities, rivers, etc 427,000 ,, 98,440 3,689,000 37 The value of the land is as follows :- Acres. Value. Per acre. Under crops . 1,550,000 £28,000,000 £18 Meadow 480,000 13,000,000 26 Pasture 510,000 4,000,000 8 Forest 720,000 6,000,000 8 3,260,000 £51,000,000 £17 More than half the Crown lands are covered with forest. These lands and the estates of the nobles are leased to tenants for terms of twelve years. The forests produce 52,000,000 cubic feet of timber per annum, about 70 cubic feet per acre, or three times the yield of Prussian forests. The total area under cereal crops is barely 1,500,000 acres, and the grain raised is insufficient for so dense a population, viz. — Bushels. 13,000,000 5,000,000 8,000,000 27,000,000 Eye Wheat Oats Potatoes Acres. 620,000 260,000 410,000 260,000 1,550,000 Per acre. 21 bushels 20 „ 20 „ 104 „ The product averages 10 bushels of grain and 10 of X 306 PROGRESS OF THE WORLD. potatoes for each inhabitant, or about half of the average in Prussia. There are 1,100,000 acres under meadow, fallow, and pasture, some of the sheep-farms being among the most renowned in Europe. That of Herr Steiger, at Meissen, was founded by the Prince of Reuss in 1806, with merinoes brought from Spain, and now produces 500 rams and ewes annually for exportation to all parts of the world. 1 The present flocks of Saxony derive their origin from a lot of '300 merinoes sent as a present by the King of Spain in 1765 to the Elector of Saxony, the flock being accom- panied by a gift of six Spanish shepherds and their dogs. At present Spain gets periodically from Saxony some of these fine sheep to improve the deteriorated flocks of her own. The farmers holding about thirty acres are able to live comfortably, but the condition of the poor cottiers is far from as favourable as that of ordinary farm servants. Even in good years the consumption of meat in Saxony is only 50 lbs. per head per annum, but it frequently falls to 20 lbs., which is very insufficient, being only an ounce of meat per day on the population. Small States. Baden is the most remarkable of the Duchies or Princi- palities. It has an area 90 square miles greater than the kingdom of Saxony, and a population of 1,507,000 souls, or nearly equal to that of Wurtemburg. Its area is as follows : — 1 Some New Zealand farmers have recently bought animals here at £400 per head. BADEN. 307 Under crops . . 1,350,000 acres ,, pasture . . 660,000 „ vines and gardens 90,000 „ forest, etc. . 1,644,000 ,, 3,744,000 The crops average 21 million bushels grain, 20 million bushels potatoes, 8000 tons flax, 12,000 tons tobacco, 27 million gallons wine. The serfs were emancipated in 1848 for eighteen years' purchase of the assessed value of feudal rights, the Government paying the nobles one-fifth, and the rest being made good by the peasants in return for their lands. The latter discharged their obligations so rapidly that the nobles found themselves at a loss how to employ so much money: most of them re-bought their own lands. At present the tenure is as follows : — Number. Acres. Average. Farmers and nobles 36,000 2,850,000 78 acres Gardeners and peasants 78,000 490,000 6 ,, Crown lands, etc. 404,000 114,000 3,744,000 33 There are 111,000 farms, ploughed by 260,000 oxen, and 3000 cultivated with the spade. Wages average 2s. per day out-door. For some years the Duchy lost about 2000 emigrants per annum, who took with them from £30 to £50 each. The manufacture of wooden clocks, metal spoons, and linen, occupies 168,000 persons. The Black Forest yields excellent timber, some of the pines attaining a height of 180 feet. The farm-stock comprises 73,000 horses, 481,000 cows, 189,000 sheep, 480,000 pigs, and 22,000 goats, of a total value of £7,120,000, or nearly £5 per head of the population. 308 PROGRESS OF THE WORLD. Hesse-Darmstadt has an area of 1,830,000 acres, dis- tributed thus : — Number. Acres. Average. Farmers . . 1,000 310,000 300 acres Cottiers . . 144,000 1,200,000 8 „ Corporate . . ... 320,000 145,000 1,830,000 13 „ The rural population is 558,000, or 60 per cent of the total number of inhabitants. This little Duchy sent out 150,000 emigrants in forty years. The peasants are well fed, the rations of in-door servants being 5 oz. meat, 4c\ lbs. bread and potatoes, 1 lb. sauer-kraut, \ lb. cheese and cream, and \ pint of corn-brandy daily. Saxe-Coburg is a Duchy of 525,000 acres and 182,000 inhabitants. There are 10,000 farms, averaging 35 acres each, under wheat, rye, beet-root, and lucerne ; the owners are able to live comfortably, but not on the same footing as the tenant-farmers. The latter rent most of the large estates in farms of 400 acres each. The other small duchies partake of the character of Coburg and Darmstadt : their statistics will be found included in those of Germany. BELGIUM. 309 BELGIUM. This is the thickest populated country in the world, and one of the most prosperous. Since the separation from Holland, in 1830, the population has increased 30 per cent. It is the only country in Europe where the males exceed the number of females, the surplus being 2 per 1000. Comparing the present statistics with those of forty years ago, we find a decrease of crime and pauperism, but an increase of insanity. Criminals. Paupers. Insane. 1840 1 in 585 1 in 1460 1860 1 „ 650 1 „ 1920 1 „ 1350 1877 1 „ 1010 1 „ 2220 1 „ 901 The decrease of crime would seem the result of educa- tion having risen 60 per cent since 1840 ; and in like manner we find the increase of insanity accompanied by a rise of 48 per cent in the statistics of suicide. How closely ignorance and crime are related is shown by the fact that 64 per cent of the criminals could not read. The ratio of married people, and of persons who speak French, has risen in thirty years as follows : — 1844. 1870. Married .... 36 per cent 38 per cent Speak French . . 40 „ 50 „ The number of German residents has increased rapidly, especially at Antwerp, whereas the British show a decline. Joint-stock enterprises were among the earliest promoters of Belgian industry. In 1851 there were 191 such com- panies, with an aggregate paid-up capital of £35,000,000. 310 PROGRESS OF THE WORLD. AGRICULTURE. Belgium may be termed a country of kitchen gardens, the average size of farms being 15 acres. Farm. Number. Area. Estates over 100 acres 4,000 650,000 acres „ average 40 „ 61,670 2,600,000 „ >> >> 8 „ . 270,000 2,160,000 „ Tenant farms of 10 acres 63,000 630,000 „ 398,670 6,040,000 „ Besides the above, there are 250,000 cottiers holding less than 2 acres each. The estates over 100 acres consist for the most part of forests, which cover one-sixth of the kingdom. The average of crops for the last ten years has been as follows : — Acres. Crop. Per acre. Wheat . 700,000 15,000,000 bushels 21 bushels Oats, rye, etc. 1,780,000 55,000,000 „ 31 „ Potatoes . 400,000 80,000,000 „ 200 „ Flax 120,000 30,000 tons 5 cwt. Beet 40,000 520,000 ,, 13 tons Hay 440,000 650,000 „ li „ There has been a trifling increase in agriculture during the last twenty years, owing to the reclamation of 116,000 acres of waste land, the returns showing : — 1856. 1876. Increase. Under tillage . 4,450,000 acres 4,566,000 acres 116,000 acres The nature of the soil and the condition of the peasant proprietors differ very much in the various provinces. In general, the land is far from fertile, but those parts called Polders, reclaimed from the sea by means of dykes, yield abundant crops, without manure, for twenty years running. 1 Not far from Antwerp waste land may be purchased at 15s. per acre, but the cost of bringing it into cultivation is enormous. BELGIUM. 311 Spade industry is more general than the plough, and M. Condroz advocates for this reason the system of small farms, because an acre of ground is made to produce the heaviest crops in succession. It appears, moreover, that the small farms are better tilled than the large ones. Never- theless, as 250,000 families have to subsist on farms averaging 1^ acre, it requires all the labour, economy, and perseverance of these frugal people to eke out a living. The small farmers often yoke their wives to the harrow, and all the children likewise take part in the field labours. The ordinary food is rye-bread, potatoes, butter-milk, and coffee ; and on Sundays, bacon. Steam-ploughs and reap- ing-machines are unknown, as they could not be used on such little farms, but steam-threshers are bought by farmers' clubs, and hired out by the day. The ordinary rent of land is 40s. an acre, 1 and the price £60. Such is the desire of the peasants to acquire a patch, however small, that a lot of two acres cut up in gardens sells for £300 sterling. The ordinary yield is £10 per acre. The working capital for a farm is estimated at £16 an acre, or double that usual in England. In-door servants are paid £15 per annum for men, and £10 for women ; out-door, Is. a day, except in harvest time. The trade returns for the last twelve years show that Belgium cannot raise enough grain for her population, but has to import to the value of £5,000,000 per annum. 1 This is double the rent of fifty years ago, the average having risen as follows : — 1830 . . . 18s. per acre 1866 . . . 32s. „ 1877 . . . 40s. „ The average price of land in East Flanders is £96 per acre, but that for the whole kingdom is only £63. 312 PROGRESS OF THE WORLD. 1865-76. Annual average. Value of imported grain . £78,000,000 £6,500,000 exported grain . 17,000,000 1,420,000 Surplus imported . £61,000,000 £5,080,000 The question naturally suggests itself whether, if half the rural population were to emigrate, and the whole king- dom were converted into farms of 300 acres, the soil would not produce more, and Belgium be richer? Belgian economists seem equally opposed to large farms and to infinitesimal subdivisions. They think farms of forty acres would answer best, yielding quite as much as at present, without the loss of labour, and the extra population which the present system entails. Half of the land-owners are able only to raise sufficient food for their own families ; others cultivate beet-root, not only for the sugar factories, but for purposes of distilling, as the extract is used in London for making Madeira wine and giving a tone to sherry. Meadow and fallow pastures support nearly 2,000,000 cattle of all descriptions, but this is insufficient to supply meat for 5,000,000 inhabitants. Cattle are imported from Holland and Germany, the average value of such imports being as follows : — Meat. Cattle. Total. 1866-69 . £56,000 per ann. £780,000 per ann. £836,000 per ann. 1874-77 . 680,000 „ 1,950,000 „ 2,630,000 Taking the items of meat and grain collectively, we find that Belgium pays annually 30s. per head of her popula- tion for food imported. The farm-stock has increased 7 per cent in twenty years : — 1846. 1866. Horses . . . 294,000 283,000 Cows . . . 1,204,000 1,242,000 Carryforward . 1,498,000 1,525,000 BELGIUM. 313 Brought forward . 1,498,000 1,525,000 Sheep . . . 662,000 586,000 Pigs . . . 499,000 632,000 Goats . . . 110,000 197,000 2,769,000 2,940,000 * ■ The value of the forest-cuttings is £680,000 per annum, equal to lis. per acre. Summing up the annual value of agricultural products, we find — Value. Grain .... . £14,000,000 Potatoes 5,000,000 Beet, flax, hay, etc. 5,000,000 Wool, meat, hides, etc. 10,000,000 £34,000,000 MINERALS AND MANUFACTURES. These branches of industry employ 760,000 persons, Belgium having come to rival Great Britain in certain manufactures, and employing comparatively more operatives, with reference to population, than any other country in the world. Coal. — The production has multiplied six-fold in forty years : — Tons. Miners. Tons per miner. 1836 . 2,100,000 32,000 70 1860 . 6,200,000 49,000 126 1878 . . 14,900,000 81,000 1S5 The value was 17s. per ton in 1873, but has now fallen to lis. The average profit is 3d. per ton, although it appears that 82 mines do not cover expenses. Miners' wages have been reduced from £46 to £37 per annum. The highest output yet attained was at Hainault in 1872, say 206 tons per miner. Ore. Pig-iron. 1836 . 460,000 tons 150,000 tons 1860 . 900,000 „ 320,000 „ 1873 . . 1,700,000 „ 607,000 „ 1878 . . 1,300,000 „ 464,000 „ 314 PROGRESS OF THE WORLD. Iron. — Mr. John Cockerill, from England, introduced the system of smelting with coke in 1816, and established at Seraing one of the finest iron-works in Europe. This gave such an impetus to the trade that it grew as follows : — Operatives. 12,500 » 25,000 42,000 24,000 Notwithstanding the depression in this trade, it is worthy of remark, " that in so adverse a season of three years (1874-77) not a single ironmaster in Belgium failed." The operatives accepted a reduction of 60 per cent in wages, and thus enabled their masters to import pig-iron from England, make it into girders, send it back to England, and sell it at a profit. 1 Belgian ironmasters explain that they can undersell the British because their workmen are more thrifty and live on lower wages, the price of provisions being also less than in England. The value of the hardware industry of Belgium may be measured by the fact that the exports average £4,000,000 sterling, whereas ten years ago they were barely one-third. Liege has grown up to be one of the great factories for arms. The value of this manufacture in 1829 was only £120,000, and now it falls little short of £1,000,000. There are manufactures of zinc, copper, and lead, amounting in the aggregate to £2,000,000 per annum. Glass has lately risen to great importance, as shown by the exports of this article : — 1867-68, average . . . £590,000 per annum 1875-77, „ ... 1,550,000 Woollen manufactures have long been one of the chief 1 In 1877 Belgium imported from Great Britain 68,000 tons pig-iron, and sent it back in the form of 46,000 tons of girders. BELGIUM. 315 industries. In 1836 the cloth-mills of Verviers employed 40,000 hands, and produced £1,000,000 sterling worth of cloth. At present the woollen manufactures exceed £15,000,000 per annum, of which one-third is exported. The imports of raw wool average 110 million lbs. Linen manufactures forty years ago amounted to £4,000,000 sterling, and employed 60,000 operatives. They increased so rapidly that in 1866 they employed 186,000 operatives, and the area of flax cultivation (150,000 acres) was double that of 1846. They have been, however, declining in recent years, and the exports at present do not exceed £800,000. The value of linen and hemp manufactures is about £6,000,000. Cotton -mills have multiplied seven-fold in thirty years ; they employ 100,000 operatives, consume 50 million lbs. raw cotton, and produce £5,000,000 worth of manufactures, which is 5 per cent more than required for home use. Sugar-mills for beet-root constitute another important industry of recent growth; since 1846 the cultivation of beet has risen from 5000 to 100,000 acres, the average crop being 12 tons per acre. This allows Belgium not only enough sugar for home consumption, but a surplus for exportation, shown as follows : — Sugar-export. Tons. Value. 1865-67 22,000 £510,000 per annum 1876-77 53,000 1,240,000 The Belgian manufactures may be summed up thus : — Operatives. Product. Textile fabrics . . 386,000 £26,000,000 Hardware and minerals 121,000 18,000,000 Sugar, beer, flour, etc. 254,000 27,000,000 761,000 £71,000,000 316 PEOGEESS OF THE WORLD. COMMERCE. The foreign trade has grown even more rapidly than in Great Britain, having multiplied twelve-fold in forty years. Imports. Exports. Total. 1831-1840, average £8,200,000 £6,100,000 £14,300,000 1841-1850 >» 13,400,000 11,400,000 24,800,000 1851-1860 t> 29,400,000 28,400,000 57,800,000 1861-1870 »! 54,700,000 48,800,000 103,500,000 1871-1878 )) 97,250,000 81,900,000 179,150,000 The balance of trade has improved, as it was 25 per cent against the country forty years ago, whereas since 1860 it has not been as high as 20 per cent. The above Table shows the general trade, of which 45 per cent consists of goods in transit for France and Ger- many. If we consider merely the special trade of Belgium, we find the increase has been only seven-fold, viz. — Imports. Exports. Total. 1831 to 1840 . £8,200,000 £6,100,000 £14,300,000 per annum 1873 to 1877 . 55,220,000 44,110,000 99,330,000 ,, The total returns for forty-eight years amount to £1,835,000,000 imports, and £1,602,000,000 exports, showing a balance against the country of only £233,000,000, or 13 per cent over exports. There is a steady inflow of bullion, the imports of bullion for the last ten years show- ing £45,500,000 over exports; The tonnage of entries has trebled in twelve years, most of the trade being on British bottom, namely 64 per cent of the total. The Belgian marine does not increase, but rather declines. Vessels. Tons. 1873 69 46,000 1876 48 45,000 Two-thirds of the tonnage belongs to steamers. The BELGIUM. 317 average size of vessels is increasing: 660 tons in 1873, and 940 in 1876. RAILWAYS AND CANALS.' Belgium has more railways for its size than any other country. The line from Brussels to Malines, opened in 1835, is incorrectly supposed to have been the first on the Continent, 1 although it was one of the earliest of any im- portance. The existing lines may be described thus : — Miles. Cost per mile. State lines . 1307 £22,000 Company lines 921 27,200 2228 £24,000 The ordinary traffic returns show as follows :- Passengers . 51,000,000 Goods, tons 27,000,000 Receipts £5,150,000 Expenses 3,250,000 Profits 1,900,000 The total cost of construction up to January 1877 was £53,500,000, or £10 per inhabitant. There are twenty-nine canals with an aggregate length of 530 miles, the longest being that from Brussels to Charleroy, forty-six miles. The canal tolls amount to £1,026,000 per annum (say £1930 per mile), and the expenses to £460,000, leaving a net profit of £1006 a mile. The total length of canals and navigable rivers is 1170 miles. The first electric telegraph line was made by an English company from Brussels to Antwerp, in 1846. At present there are 3080 miles, which cost £140,000, or £45 per mile. 1 See page 72. 318 PROGRESS OF THE WORLD. There are more than 4000 miles of macadamised roads, so that Belgium is admirably provided with highways. Railways . 2230 miles Canals and rivers 1006 „ Highroads 4200 „ 7430 „ This is equal to almost 1| mile of highway for every 1000 inhabitants. INSTRUCTION. In thirty-three years the degree of public instruction has risen from 49 to 81, an improvement equal to 64 per cent. The proportion of conscripts for the militia who could read was as follows : — Could read. Could not. 1843 . . 49 per cent 51 per cent 1863 . . 62 „ 38 „ 1876 . . 81 „ 19 „ It is plain the female average is equally high, the sexes being even at the schools. The increase of schools and scholars in thirty years has been as follows : — Schools. Scholars. r 1833 .... 4230 371,000 1846 .... 5747 472,000 1877 .... 8910 902,000 There are four universities, at Brussels, Ghent, Louvain, and Liege, besides ten lyceums, and fifty gymnasia or high schools. The expenditure for public instruction is almost as high as in the United Kingdom, being 2s. 6d. per head of the population. Since the abolition of the stamp duty (in 1848) the Press has multiplied its issues. In 1878 there were 124 newspapers in French, and 56 in Flemish. BELGIUM. 319 There are nineteen public libraries ; the largest being that of Brussels, with 200,000 volumes. BANKS. The Bank of Belgium was founded in 1835, with a capital of £1,200,000, and a charter for forty years. This was renewed in 1875, the capital being now £2,000,000. The Flanders Bank was established at Ghent in 1836, with a capital of £400,000. The National, founded in 1850, is the State bank, with a capital of £3,000,000 and the right to emit paper for three times its reserve of bullion, the emission in recent years averaging £13,000,000, and the reserve £5,000,000. Its dividends average 3J to 4 per cent per annum. The savings banks show 130,000 depositors, holding £2,500,000, or nearly £20 each. The returns of the mint show the coinage of the last fifty years thus : — Silver. Gold. Total. 1830-50 . £4,240,000 £580,000 £4,820,000 1851-70 . 10,830,000 6,960,000 17,790,000 1871-77 . 7,320,000 9,200,000 16,520,000 This shows that the coinage of the last six years was almost equal to twenty years preceding. WEALTH AND FINANCES. Everything indicates the soundness and prosperity of this little kingdom, which started into existence in 1830. Its capital and income are as follows : — Capital. Income. Ratio. Agricultural . . . £335,000,000 £34,000,000 10 per cent General and commercial . 575,000,000 92,000,000 16 „ £910,000,000 £126,000,000 14 This gives an average of £170 capital and £23 income 320 PROGRESS OF THE WORLD. for each inhabitant, the highest ratio in Europe after- Great Britain, Holland, and France. From 1865 to 1875 the State expended £20,000,000 on railways and such works, which has caused the expen- diture, and public debt to rise as follows : — Expenditure. DeTrt. 1864-65 . . £7,510,000 £24,600,000 1874-75' . . 11,880,000 40,244,000 The National Debt is only i\ per cent compared to the capital of the kingdom, and the incidence of taxation is very light, say 9£ per cent of the national income, being the lightest of all countries in Europe except Scandinavia. When we remember how much Belgium suffered under the Spanish yoke, it is interesting to compare the condition of the two countries ; Belgium in the highest prosperity, Spain reduced so low that the average income of her people is less than half that of the Belgians. HOLLAND. 321 HOLLAND. It has been truly said that the Dutch built Holland, for most of it has been reclaimed from the ocean by means of colossal polders or dykes, which are estimated to have cost £300,000,000 sterling. Nothing but the vigilance of the people can prevent the whole country from being submerged, some of the polders being 24 feet lower than sea-level. These polders are generally 30 feet high, 70 feet broad at the base, and built of Normandy stone, or of peat and timber. It is proverbial that there is no country for which Nature has done so little, and man so much. The indomit- able energy of the Hollanders is further shown by their heroic struggles against Spain and France, in which the world beheld a country no bigger than Wales resist the armies of Philip II. and Louis XIV. Nor have they de- generated ; they are as industrious and patriotic as their ancestors, and, moreover, so thrifty that there are neither beggars nor bankrupts. The population has not increased so rapidly as in Belgium, but the returns show a great improvement since twenty years ago. 1860 . . . 3,309,000 inhabitants 1876 . . . 3,865,000 In this interval the birth-rate has risen, and the death- rate declined, so that the annual increase is one-half more than it was, viz.- 1860-61. 1875-76. Births per 1000 inhabitants 351 38J Deaths „ „ 27 26 Increase 84 12§ 322 PROGRESS OF THE WORLD. The death-rate is nearly on a par with Prussia ; the ex- pectation of life compared with England shows thus : — Age. Holland. England. At 20 . 39 years 40 years „ 50 . 20 „ 21 „ In fact, the climate is by no means so unhealthy as generally supposed. The cold in winter is greater than in England, not only the rivers but the Zuyder Zee being frozen. At such season the women may be seen skating to market. AGRICULTURE. About two-thirds of Holland is cut up into 100,000 farms, averaging 50 acres each. The official returns show — Pasture lands Grain . Potatoes, flax, etc "Woods . Cultivated . Lakes, canals, etc. Area of Holland Acres. 3,250,000 1,310,000 710,000 490,000 5,760,000 2,380,000 8,140,000 The rural population comprises 65 per cent of the total, and most of the farmers are proprietors. There are tenant-farmers in the province of Groeningen, on the estates formerly owned by the convents ; the tenancy descends by right of primogeniture, and the holdings can never be sub- divided. The landlord cannot raise the rent or disturb the Meejer or tenant, whose wife also becomes a co-Meejer on her marriage. If the family die out the lands revert to the landlord. Notwithstanding the large exportation of cattle to England, and the disastrous rinderpest of 1866- 68, there has been an increase of about 10 per cent of live stock in fifteen years, viz. — HOLLAND 1860. 1875. Increase. Horses 243,000 260,000 7 per cent Cows . . 1,290,000 1,466,000 13 „ Sheep 866,000 941,000 9 „ Pigs . . 270,000 338,000 25 „ Goats 115,000 153,000 u „ 323 The value of the above stock is £33,000,000. The cattle are kept in the swamps till November, when they are lodged in sheds. 1 A good cow gives 80 lbs. butter and 180 lbs. cheese per annum. A farm of 50 acres will carry 15 cows, 20 sheep, and a horse, and require two farm-servants, whose wages average £10 a year. The price of land is about £60 an acre, but it may be rented for 40s., out of which the landlord has to pay 10s. per acre land-tax. The pastures are so rich that the lean kine from Denmark and Germany soon fatten, attaining sometimes a weight of 25 cwt. The export of cattle in 1869 was double that of 1849, Great Britain taking two-thirds. At present it exceeds 500,000 cows and sheep yearly, and the value of this item has almost trebled in ten years. The average from 1871 to 1875 was £1,600,000 per annum, but it has declined since the Americans began to export cattle in 1876. Butter and cheese form a still more valuable item of exportation — viz. 49,000 tons, worth £2,500,000, per annum. The produc- tion and consumption are as follows : — Home consumption. Exportation. TotaL Butter 7000 tons 23,000 tons 30,000 tons Cheese . 14,000 „ 26,000 „ 40,000 „ The total annual proceeds of the cattle farms are about £25,000,000 sterling. The cultivation of grain is a secondary matter, the area under all crops being barely 2 million acres, viz. — 1 They are ranged tite-d-Ute down the sheds, and their tails tied up behind by pulleys from the roof. 324 PROGRESS OF THE WORLD. Acres. Value of Crop. Per acre. "Wheat . . 240,000 £1,500,000 £6 Rye . . 500,000 2,400,000 5 Oats . 280,000 1,400,000 5 Potatoes . 330,000 3,600,000 11 Beet-root . 36,000 480,000 13 Flax . . 200,000 2,650,000 13 Barley . . 122,000 980,000 8 Beans, etc. . 316,000 2,340,000 £15,230,000 7 2,080,000 £7 The total grain crops average 40,000,000 bushels, which does not suffice for the population. The trade returns of the last ten years show — Value. Imported grain . . . £37,460,000 Exported 9,210,000 Surplus imports . . £28,250,000 It appears, therefore, that Holland has to pay £3,000,000 yearly for grain. Few steam-ploughs or reaping-machines are used, but steam threshers and winnowers are becoming general. Every year, in May, 100,000 farm-labourers arrive from all quarters to aid in the tillage, say one man for every eighteen acres under crops. The young women rake and hoe the ground, but are never yoked to the harrow as in Belgium. The average yield per acre is 27 bushels for wheat, 31 for other grain, and 160 for potatoes. In sowing grain the farmers sow less per acre than in England, and the yield is ordinarily fifteen-fold. Besides agriculture there is a valuable industry in rearing flowers. There are 600 acres under tulips, the value exported reach- ing £100,000 per annum. Summing up the value of imported and exported agricultural products, the account stands thus : — HOLLAND. 325 Exports. Cattle . . . £1,350,000 per annum Butter and cheese . 2,330,000 Flax .... 1,100,000 £4,780,000 Grain imported . . 2,820,000 Balance of exports . £1,960,000 The farming wealth of Holland reaches £434,000,000, and the annual product of the farms £41,000,000. INDUSTRIES AND MANUFACTURES. The Dutch found their country had no stone, no iron, no coal, no timber, and therefore they began the world as fishermen. Amsterdam is built of herring-bones, as the adage goes, for no people have ever equalled the Dutch in the preparing and preserving of fish. In the sixteenth century they had 1500 vessels engaged in the Shetland herring -fisheries, and 260 whalers in the Arctic Seas, employing 14,000 seamen. Injudicious restrictions about the size of the barrels and the capacity of the busses, or smacks, as also severe taxes, contributed to bring this trade so low that Holland had only 80 busses in 1854. The number has, however, since risen to 108, which take annually £150,000 worth of fish in the Northern seas, besides the herrings of the Zuyder Zee. 1 Diamond-cutting is another pursuit in which the Dutch have always excelled, the actual number of diamond- cutters at Amsterdam being 700. Meerschaum pipes are also an important industry, occupying 900 persons. Sugar is refined on a large scale, partly for home use, partly for exportation to Russia, but there is little or no 1 In 1861 the number of herrings taken was 25,000,000, or one- third more than at present. 326 PROGRESS OF THE WORLD. increase in recent years, the export averaging 68,000 tons, worth £2,250,000. Gin is manufactured principally at Schiedam, which town has 200 distilleries. The exports during the last ten years averaged 5 million gallons. Textile manu- factures have grown 50 per cent in the last ten years, and this, as well as the increase of railways, accounts for the fact that the consumption of coal has increased 60"per cent in the same period. The growth of cotton and woollen manufactures is shown by the importation of raw cotton and wool, and of yarn, in value as follows : — Imported 1865-67. 1876-77. for 10 years. "Wool and yarn . £1,410,000 p. an. £1,860,000 p. an. £19,500,000 Cotton and yarn . 2,760,000 „ 4,120,000 „ 41,000,000 £4,170,000 „ £5,980,000 „ £60,500,000 Nevertheless, the production is unequal to the demand, for, whereas ten years ago the value of cotton and woollen goods exported was over the imports, the reverse is now the case, and Holland does not make enough for herself. Ironworks have multiplied five-fold in the last ten years. Most of the factories formerly worked by windmills have now adopted steam-power. The total value of manufactures is about £44,000,000 sterling. CANALS AND RAILWAYS. Holland derives much of her wealth and importance from her admirable system of canals, constructed without regard to labour. Most of them are used for highways, the number of Trekshuits or passenger boats being 5600, besides 15,000 "flats" for conveyance of cargo. The Helder canal, completed in 1825, after six years of labour, HOLLAND. 327 is navigable for vessels of 1000 tons, or 46-gun frigates ; it is 50 miles long, 40 yards wide, and 20 feet deep, allowing two merchantmen to pass abreast, and its cost was £750,000. The returns for 1877 show that 5000 vessels, exceeding an aggregate of 1,500,000 tons, passed through the Helder canal in that year, 45 per cent being steamers. The Maestricht canal is navigable for vessels of 800 tons. Another, called the Y, or North Sea canal, was opened in 1874 at a cost of £2,000,000, bringing Amsterdam within 15 miles of the sea ; its width is 80 yards, and its depth 23 feet. This canal reclaimed 15,000 acres from the sea, and took eleven years in construction, being 14 miles in length. In 1852, the English company that had taken the contract for draining Haarlem Lake completed the work, which took some enormous steam-pumps thirteen years to accomplish. The lake was 15 feet deep over an area of 60,000 acres, or 90 square miles ; the land was sold by auction for an average price of £16 per acre, and gives excellent crops. Herr Van Diggeln, in 1849, proposed to drain the Zuyder Zee, at a cost of £9,500,000, by making a ship canal through the centre, with dykes 15 feet high. The inhabitants of the numerous seaport towns complained that it would leave them high and dry, the Zuyder Zee being their only means of living, which induced the Government to oppose such a violent change. The project is, however, revived by a joint -stock company, who estimate that 10,000 horse-power steam-engines can pump the Zuyder Zee dry in twenty-one months for £9,000,000 sterling, as it is only 12 feet deep, and covers an area of 600 square miles. The projectors expect to sell 390,000 acres of land reclaimed, at an average of £42 per acre, in 50,000 farm- lots of eight acres, to support a population of 250,000 souls. 328 PROGRESS OF THE WORLD. Besides the navigable canals, there are many used only for drainage, the water being raised by windmills from one level to another, till discharged into the sea. Some of these windmills are so powerful that they can raise 700 tons of water per minute a height of four feet. The main- tenance of the canals and dykes is attended to by a body of State engineers at a cost of £500,000 per annum. Railways are of very recent construction : — 1850 110 miles in traffic. 1860 . . 197 „ 1878 ■ • 1040 „ The last includes 510 miles built by Government in the last ten years, at a cost of £18,000 per mile. Few countries can compare with this for highroads, made of hard bricks called klinkers, of Haarlem clay. COMMERCE. In the last thirty years trade has increased 150 per cent. Imports. Exports. Total. 1849 . . £22,100,000 £21,900,000 £44,000,000 1877 . . 61,700,000 44,300,000 106,000,000 These returns are merely the " special trade," not in- cluding goods in transit. The balance of trade for the last ten years shows £110,000,000 against Holland, the imports being 27 per cent over exports. Imports £495,000,000 Exports 385,000,000 Balance against Holland . . £110,000,000 In forty years since the separation from Belgium the Dutch merchant shipping has quintupled. HOLLAND. Vessels. Tons. 1837 1394 112,000 1868 2116 394,000 1878 1558 535,000 329 In 1670 Sir W. Petty estimated that the Dutch pos- sessed one-half the shipping of the world : at present their mercantile fleet is hardly 1\ per cent of the total. The arrivals in Dutch ports have almost doubled since 1865, but the great increase is in foreign shipping. Dutch Flag. Foreign. Total. 1865 . 500,000 tons 972,000 tons 1,472,000 tons 1876 . 664,000 „ 2,026,000 ,, 2,690,000 „ No less than 50 per cent of the total tonnage is British, 26 per cent being Dutch, and 24 per cent of various flags. Thus the national shipping barely suffices for one-fourth of the trade of Holland. It is observed that 40 per cent of the vessels clearing from Dutch ports leave in ballast, whereas the vessels arriving in ballast form only 3 per cent of the tonnage. This is accounted for by the transit trade with Germany, the figures for which show as fol- lows : — Upward to Germany . . 16,000,000 tons per annum. Downward from do. . . . 8,500,000 ,, ,, One-fourth of the downward traffic consists of coal and timber. INSTRUCTION. People who love liberty love letters, and hence we find the Dutch have always given great attention to schools. It has been often said that every man and woman in Hol- land can read and write. Probably all can read, but the marriage registers show (1870) that 7 per cent cannot write. 330 PROGRESS OF THE WORLD. Scholars. Cost per head. Expenditure. Primary schools . . 304,000 Is. £15,000 Latin „ . . 1,250 50s. 3,200 Universities . . . 1,570 £15 24,500 306,820 2s. lOd. £43,000 The increase of schools in the last forty years has been thus : — 1835. 1870. Increase. Schools . . . 2,830 3,614 27 per cent Scholars . . . 304,000 456,000 50 „ The school children form 1 3 per cent of the population, and the sexes are represented by 50 male to 43 female children. 1 In 1845 there were but 25 newspapers; in 1875 the number had risen to 226. Foremost among literary associations is the Society for Public Good, founded in 1784, which provides reading- rooms, lectures, and savings banks for the working-classes. There are 220 branches in the various districts of Holland, supported by 14,000 members. BANKS. The Netherlands Bank has the sole right of emission ; limit £25,000,000, the specie reserve to be at least 40 per cent of the notes in circulation. Capital, £2,000,000 ; emission, £16,000,000 ; deposits, £5,000,000. The sav- ings banks show £4,000,000, with an average of £30 to each depositor. In the seventeenth century the Dutch bankers nego- tiated numerous State loans, and Sir William Temple saw them frequently with tears in their eyes, because their money was repaid them and they could not find means for ' Later estimates put down the school ratio of Holland at 15 per cent of the population. HOLLAND. 331 investment. 1 In the following century, during the Ameri- can war, they lent £60,000,000 sterling to France and England, besides £20,000,000 to other States. At present the Dutch capitalists hold £320,000,000 sterling of foreign loans, bringing them an income of £14,000,000. FINANCES AND WEALTH. Holland resembles Great Britain in many respects, especially in the fact that her own National Debt is much less than the amount of her money lent to foreign nations. The income derived from such loans is more than five times the sum (£2,500,000) annually required for interest of the debt of Holland. Since 1848 the public debt has been reduced from £120,000,000 to £79,500,000; but as the interest is only 3 per cent, the wisdom of redeeming it may be questioned. Holland has always been one of the heaviest taxed countries in the world. When a fish is put on the table, it is said to have paid the fisherman once, and the State six times. These taxes have driven some of the richest Dutch bankers to settle in England. At the close of the nineteenth century Holland will probably have redeemed her National Debt. The expenditure has risen from £7,000,000 per annum thirty years ago to an average of £8,500,000 for the last seven years, a portion of this increase being caused by the construction of railways, in which the Government has expended £9,000,000. Another drain upon the Treasury was produced by the emancipation of slaves in the Dutch West Indies in 1862, when the State paid £24 a head for them to their masters. Holland shows the following statement of capital and income : — 1 There were no Turkish or Peruvian loans in those days. 332 PROGRESS OF THE WORLD. Capital. Income. Ratio. Agricultural . . £434,000,000 £41,000,000 9J per cent General and commercial 928,000,000 84,000,000 9 „ £1,362,000,000 £125,000,000 9 „ This gives an average of £345 capital and £33 income for each inhabitant, Holland being the only European country which shows the same degree of wealth as Great Britain. The Dutch obtain the lowest interest on capital ; for although Holland is 50 per cent over the value of Bel- gium, the national income is almost the same. It is in every respect the least encumbered of all countries, the total of mortgages being only £40,000,000, and the interest never passing 5 per cent. Dutch Colonies. Java is the most important, as the island contains 18,000,000 inhabitants, and pays Holland £3,000,000 net annual tribute. Governor Van-den-Bosch planted50,000,000 coffee trees in 1831, and so actively promoted industry that the products of Java have quintupled. The colonies maintain an active trade with Holland, chiefly through the Java Company. This company was founded by a number of merchants in 1824, the late king subscribing for a large number of shares, and guaranteeing out of his private fortune a dividend of 14 per cent. His Majesty had to pay most of the dividends down to 1830, but the company is now flourishing, and sells annually at Amsterdam the following colonial produce : — Quantity. Value. Coffee . . 95,000 tons £3,300,000 Sugar . . 220,000 „ 4,600,000 Tin . . . 7,000 „ 530,000 Spices, etc. . ... 300,000 £8,730,000 The company, whose chief office is at Amsterdam, and principal factory at Batavia, has a paid-up capital of £3,150,000, and pays usually 10 per cent annual dividend. SCANDINAVIA. 333 SCANDINAVIA. The three kingdoms of Sweden, Norway, and Denmark bear a certain resemblance to the United Kingdom, * while it may be said that there is no part of Europe advancing more steadily in trade, population, and national wealth. Population. Denmark. Sweden. Norway. Total. 1830 . 1,993,000 2,882,000 1,092,000 5,967,000 1875 . 1,785,000 4,430,000 1,807,000 8,022,000 Deaths. Increase. 20 12 20 13 17 11 19 13 But for the spoliation of Denmark in 1866, when Germany stripped her of Sleswig-Holstein, the aggregate population of the three kingdoms would now be over 9,000,0000. The present population shows an increase of 93 per cent, since the beginning of the century, and the average gain from births over deaths in the last ten years may be set down thus : — Births per 1000 inhah. Norway . . 32 Sweden . . 33 Denmark . . 28 General average . 32 The ratio of illegitimate births is very high, especially in Sweden, being 8£ per cent for all Scandinavia, or double the rate that prevails in England. 2 The death-rate is the lowest in Europe ; giving an average life-term of two years longer than in Great Britain, and four years longer than France. The marriage-rate is 15 per 1000 annually, which is the lowest in Europe, except Ireland, and is 2 per 1000 below England and Germany. 1 They were united under Margaret of Waldemar, but the union lasted only sixty years. 2 The Swedish rate is now 9£ per cent, against 8 J previous to 1850. 334 progress or THE world. The increase of trade was very slow until 1850, which arose chiefly from the restrictions on imports, and the futile efforts to turn farmers into manufacturers. During the last thirty years the progress has been as follows : — Scandinavia. Imports. Exports. Total. 1850 . £7,310,000 £7,790,000 £15,100,000 1876 . 37,380,000 27,720,000 65,100,000 In twenty-six years there was an advance of 333 per cent, equal to 13 per cent per annum. The increase of tonnage is not equalled by any country in the world. On the abolition of the British Navigation laws the tonnage of Scandinavian vessels doubled. The rate of progress is still marvellous; the returns for 1876 being 57 per cent over those of 1868, viz. — Danish flag Swedish flag Norwegian flag 1868. 1876. Increase. 174,000 tons 303,000 „ 948,000 „ 255,000 tons 525,000 „ 1,436,000 ,, 46 per cent 73 „ 51 „ 1,425,000 ,, 2,216,000 ,, 57 The increase of commerce and shipping is specially noted since the abolition of the Sound-dues in 1857 (see page 358). The balance of trade for ten years was £61,000,000 against Scandinavia, or £6,100,000 per annum ; yet the imports of specie slightly exceeded the exports in that period. Public instruction has always been so well attended to that there is little progress to report. Fifty years ago Laing found the working classes as well educated as in Scotland or Prussia, any man or woman that could not read being debarred all civil rights : this class did not reach to 1 per cent of the population. Iceland, which nominally belongs to Denmark, but is SCANDINAVIA. 335 actually a republic, preserves the language and letters introduced from Norway a thousand years ago. The inn- keepers talk Latin with their guests, and the peasant, as he sits by his fireside, reads aloud the verses of Virgil or Homer to his family, or repeats the Sagas that perpetuate the heroic deeds of his ancestors. In 1804 Iceland com- prised 4750 farms, with 47,000 inhabitants. Since then it has almost doubled in population and farm-stock, but it produces no grain, and supports with difficulty its scanty number of inhabitants. But it deserves a special mention for the classical tastes of its people, who have maintained two printing-presses since 1529. WEALTH OF SCANDINAVIA. At the beginning of the century these three northern kingdoms were so poor as to count for little in the public wealth of Europe. Industry and frugality have almost insensibly led them to 'a high degree of affluence, the average capital and income of the inhabitants being far above the level of most other countries. Sweden . Norway . Denmark Agricultural capital. Income. Millions sterling. . 340 38 . 140 13 . 230 27 General capital. Millions Millions sterling. ; sterling. 710 78 163 95 120 378 Income. Millions sterling. 20 18 14 52 Total capital. Millions sterling. 503 235 350 1088 Income. Millions sterling. 58 31 41 130 Distributing the capital and income according to popu- lation, we find that Denmark occupies the first place, as follows : — Capital. Per inhab. Denmark. . £350,000,000 £192 Norway . . 235,000,000 132 Sweden . . 503,000,000 114 Income. Per inhab. £41,000,000 £23 31,000,000 17 58,000,000 13 Total £1,088,000,000 £135 £130,000,000 £16 336 PROGRESS OF THE WORLD. Nearly one-third of the income of Norway is derived from her merchant fleet, which reaches 1£ million tons, thus giving her a greater income for population than the more important kingdom of Sweden. The earnings of the Norwegian shipping are equal to £5 per head of the population, whereas the merchant fleet of Great Britain earns little over £1 per inhabitant of the United Kingdom. As regards Denmark, two-thirds of the income is derived from agriculture, and the same is true of Sweden. The increase of savings bank deposits in all Scandinavia since 1860 has been as follows : — Deposits. Per inhab. 1860 .... £4,912,000 13 shillings 1878. . . . 21,305,000 53 „ This only represents a small portion of the national savings, for we all see (page 340) that the Swedish peasants purchase annually nearly a million acres of land, of which they clear one-fifth for cultivation ; while the small farmers of Denmark are equally provident and industrious. The Scandinavian people have, for at least three generations, lived much under their income, and hence the accumulation of wealth goes on increasing in geometrical ratio. They have the lowest public debt in the world, £24,000,000 sterling (say 2£ per cent of their capital), which is little more than half the value of their railways. The incidence of taxation is the lightest in the world, the total expenditure of the three kingdoms, includ- ing local taxes, summing up barely £11,000,000, say 8£ per cent of the national earnings. Eural mortgages affect 40 per cent of Denmark and about one-third of Sweden, but as the interest charged seldom exceeds 6 per cent, the burthen on the farmers is comparatively light. SWEDEN. 337 SWEDEN. After the peace of Vienna the condition of Sweden was little better than it had been a century before ; the national destinies seemed tending downwards. The whole kingdom consisted of 1200 large estates, on which the nobles lived in a style of becoming opulence and hospitality. There was no middle class, no trade, no manufacturing industry, except felling timber and smelting iron. Agriculture was so neglected that not enough grain was raised for the food of the people, and the traveller would often go 80 or 100 miles without meeting other sign of life or industry than a hut in the midst of a forest of pines. In 1828 many of the absurd laws were repealed that had retarded progress, and the effect was soon visible. Previous to that time the importation of many useful articles of merchandise was pro- hibited by law, in deference to the farming classes, but was tacitly allowed in a contraband manner. Since 1830 popu- lation, trade, and internal wealth have advanced with great rapidity. The Swedes are for the most part industrious, orderly people, but they consume prodigious quantities of potato- brandy ; in 1829 there were 168,000 stills, which produced 30 million gallons, or 9 gallons per inhabitant ; the con- sumption has, however, since fallen to 2 gallons per head. Crime was stated at a very high ratio by Laing, who showed that the proportion of criminals was 1 in 134 of the population, or ten times the average of England. It appears, however, that some of the criminals were flogged (1828) according to law for having failed to repair the roads ; others had forgotten to get their chimneys swept. The peasants have primitive habits, and make most of the Z 338 PROGRESS OF THE WORLD. articles for household use. Their food consists chiefly of oaten bread, salt-fish, and pork. Twice a year they bake their bread and salt their meat, and the loaves are usually broken with an axe instead of being cut. The fisheries, though not so productive as in the eighteenth century, are said to yield £600,000 worth of fish annually, which is mostly consumed at home. Battues of large game occur periodically, the annual slaughter averaging 110 bears, 90 lynxes, and 50 wolves: However wild and sterile the general aspect of the country, Nature has bountifully endowed Sweden with two of the first requirements of civilised life — timber and iron. The first is found superior to that of Canada, the second is unsurpassed in the world. The first book-shop was opened in the seventeenth cen- tury. At present there are 100 printing-offices, and 80 newspapers, of which 19 appear at Stockholm. The University of Upsal has a library of 50,000 volumes, founded by Gustavus Adolphus, who sent hither whatever books he picked up in his conquests. The Swedish Academy of Science, so renowned in Europe, has published 100 volumes since its foundation in 1739. The botanical garden, founded by Linnaeus at Upsal, has a library of 40,000 volumes. Sweden has 3007 miles of railway, of which one-third are Government lines ; total cost, £21,000,000. The Gotha Canal, opened in 1800, is a noble work, only three miles in length, but cut for some distance through a rock 150 feet high. It had been attempted by various kings of Sweden without success, and was finally taken, in 1793, by a joint-stock company, which completed it after seven years, at a cost of only £72,000. It has eight locks, and is navigable for vessels of 100 tons not drawing over SWEDEN. 339 6 feet. It lends great aid to internal traffic, and pays a dividend of 1 2 per cent per annum to the company. There is another canal of more recent date connecting Lake Meier with the German Ocean. The Statistical Tables of Sweden for 1874, compared with 1860, afford a striking proof of the prosperity of the nation : — Increase. Assets of banks 275 per cent Deposits in banks 510 Shipping 75 Imports 150 Exports 100 Manufactures 137 Population 15 Hence it appears that arts, industry, commerce, and wealth increased ten or twenty times as fast as population. AGRICULTURE. The first census taken in the reign of Bernadotte showed that only one-eightieth of the area of Sweden was culti- vated : — Meadow and crops Lakes .... Forest, mountain, etc. Acres. 1,363,000 14,224,000 93,661,000 109,248,000 Land was of trifling value; the 1200 noblemen had under them 65,300 tenants, occupying as many farms, the whole supporting an agricultural population of 1,444,000 souls. Thus each farm averaged 21 acres and supported 22 persons. Each farmer sowed but a bushel of grain, for which he reaped in good years eleven-fold, and in bad only five. The crops in the years 1801-12 ranged from 270,000 to 560,000 bushels. As this would only feed from 50,000 to 100,000 souls, it was necessary to import grain from 340 PROGRESS OF THE WORLD. Denmark and Dantzig, failing which the peasants ground the inner bark of the pine and mixed it with rye for bread. In 1818 the nobles, being reduced to great straits by the splendid hospitality of their mode of life, began to sell their estates to the peasants and others who had saved money. "Within twenty-two years, that is until 1840, the official records showed — Acres. Amount. Per acre. Estates sold . . 15J million £1,100,000 17 pence The peasants at once set about cultivating the soil, and sawdust was never used for making bread after 1820. On the contrary, the crops were so much increased that, instead of importing cereals, Sweden now began (1820) to ship 100,000 tons of grain yearly to other countries. When Laing visited the country in 1830 he found "the peasantry in a better condition than in Scotland : " the poorest earned a shilling per day on farms. In 1837 the crops exceeded ninety times what they had been only twenty years pre- vious, and summed up 44,000,000 bushels. The breed of sheep was also improved by the introduction of merinoes. The subdivision of land at one period threatened to overwhelm the country with pauper proprietors. In 1840 the average size of cultivated farms was only 28 acres, but this varied in different provinces. In Dalecarlia it was not uncommon to see estates sold for 7s., about a quarter of an acre in extent. The area of the kingdom is now distributed as follows: — Class. Number. Cultivated. Uncultivated. Total. Average. Acres. Acres. Acres. Acres. Landowners . . 204,000 9,000,000 21,000,000 30,000,000 150 Tenants . . . . 40,000 1,500,000 14,500,000 16,000,000 400 Forest owners . . 10,000 1,000,000 39,000,000 40,000,000 4000 State forests . 9,000,000 9,000,000 95,000,000 254,000 11,500,000 83,500,000 340 SWEDEN. 341 Land is usually divided into " mantals " of 1 600 acres, which the large proprietors let to tenants in lots of 400 acres each. A farm of this description has usually 40 acres under crops, and the rest forest. The independent farmers ordinarily own about one-tenth of a mantal, which they may have bought as uncleared forest for 2s. per acre, say £15 for a farm. They plough up fifty or sixty acres, and leave the rest under wood, where their cattle may freely go at large. These men preserve the simple habits of the peasants of fifty years ago, and it is not uncommon to meet men worth £5000 or upwards in the plain garb of wood- cutters. On each farm there is a number of cottiers, who have cottages with a few acres of land, to till for themselves in return for their services on the farm. Grain seldom yields more than five-fold, and the ordinary grain crops sum up about 70,000,000 bushels. The farmers say "three years of good crops, three years of bad crops, and the seventh year no crop at all," the country suffering as fre- quently from heavy rains as Spain does from drought. The increase of agriculture has been as follows : — Acres. Crops, grain, and potatoes. 1812 . . . 1,363,000 500,000 bushels 1837 . . • 4,830,000 44,000,000 „ 1876 . . . 11,590,000 119,000,000 „ Agriculture advanced between 1812 and 1837 at the rate of 140,000 acres, and in the last forty years 165,000 acres per annum. The returns for 1874 showed that there were under grain and pasture 254,000 farms, supporting an agricultural population of 3,000,000, or 68 per cent of the inhabitants. Each farm may therefore be said to average 15 acres under crops and 32 acres meadow, sup- porting twelve persons. Grain is raised sufficient for home consumption, mostly oats and barley, of which, moreover, there is an annual surplus for exportation. 342 PROGRESS OF THE WORLD. The returns of farming-stock, as compared with 1837, show the following increase: — 1837. 1876. Increase. Horses . . . 385,000 461,000 20 per cent Cows . . . 1,658,000 2,189,000 33 ,, Sheep . . . 1,413,000 1,589,000 12 „ The number of cattle shipped annually exceeds 50,000 head, mostly for the English market. In 1874 the area under forest was 43,500,000 acres, which is more than the extent of England, and the felling of timber has for some years averaged 1,150,000,000 cubic feet per annum. Meanwhile the forests near the iron mines are nearly exhausted, and the Government has introduced regulations for the preservation of timber in the way of planting. About one-fifth of the forests belongs to the State. The exportation of timber averages 120,000,000 cubic feet of planks, and 40,000,000 spars, masts, rafters, etc. The agricultural income of Sweden is about £38,000,000, of which £28,000,000 are from tillage and pastoral indus- tries, and £10,000,000 from wood-cutting. MANUFACTURES AND MINERALS. The decree of 1765 prohibiting all manufactures, with the view of promoting agriculture, had a very disastrous effect. Factories of steel and of silk were closed, and the skilled artisans took refuge in Russia. After an interval of twenty years the insane law was repealed, but the coun- try did not soon recover the blow. Prohibitory duties upon foreign merchandise existed in full force till 1828. No sooner were they abolished than manufactures increased in a surprising manner. In 1839 the official returns showed an increase of 35 per cent over ten years before. In 1876 the Swedish manufactures reached £10,250,000 sterling, counting merely the products of 2825 factories, viz. — SWEDEN. Worked by steam . 684 „ by water . 640 „ by horse, etc. . . 1501 2825 343 Cotton-mills consume about 10,000 tons of raw cotton yearly. The factories of Norkoping use 4,000,000 lbs. of wool, but this is so far short of requirements, that Sweden imports £3,000,000 worth of woollen fabrics per annum. Silk manufacture has made considerable progress ; the amount in 1839 was but £40,000, to-day it exceeds £300,000. There are 90 tobacco factories, which con- sume 4000 tons tobacco yearly, chiefly in making cigars. Distilleries are a very flourishing industry, producing 10,000,000 gallons potato-brandy, worth £1,100,000 ster- ling. The above factories, not counting ironworks, com- prised in 1871 a total of 42,400 operatives. Since then the manufacture of wooden matches at Jonkoping has become of importance, besides which there are thirty smaller factories, and the export of wooden matches is over 6000 tons per annum. Coal abounds in Sweden, but costs more to raise than the price of coal imported from England. Swedish iron has long been considered the best in the" world, and especially suited for making Bessemer steel. This is partly from the quality of ore, partly from the smelting by wood instead of coal. The supply of iron is inexhaustible. Tuberg, a hill of 370 feet high, is simply a mass of magnetic iron ; it is described as " a source of riches to remotest posterity," although the ore is not very pure, yielding from 20 to 30 per cent (which is considerably below the average in England). Persberg is another mountain of ore, containing thirteen mines ; but the best ore is that of Dannemora, which produces 4000 tons iron annually, 344 PROGRESS OF THE WORLD. the shaft (500 feet deep) being worked by blasting. The production of iron has increased as follows : — 1812 . . . 65,000 tons 1850 . . . 140,000 „ 1870 . . . 292,000 „ 1876 . . . 340,000 „ This does not include 78,000 tons Bessemer steel. The total number of miners and hands in the 200 mines and 1400 smelting-works usually ranges from 18,000 to 20,000. Copper-mines in Dalecarlia have been worked for a thousand years, especially those at Fahlun. The yield, however, has steadily declined, from 4000 tons per annum in the seventeenth century to 500 tons in recent years. The Fahlun mines now count but 500 workmen ; the ore is inferior. All the copper-fields of Sweden now produce about 1400 tons, say 1 per cent of the copper-crop of the world. Silver exists in many parts of Sweden, mixed with lead* Kongsberg was reputed the richest silver-mine in Europe, having produced a block, almost pure, weighing 600 lbs., and worth £1800 sterling. At present the total yield of silver in Sweden is under one ton per annum, say £6000 worth, or one day's produce of the Nevada or Peru- vian silver-fields. Zinc is of some importance, the yield being over 40,000 tons yearly. There are numerous mines of lead, iron, and copper in Lapland, which can only be worked in midsummer, as the cold at other times congeals the engines. COMMERCE. The growth of commerce in the early part of the cen- tury was slow : — Imports. Exports. Total per ann. 1801 . . . £1,369,000 £1,008,000 £2,377,000 1830-1840 . . 1,330,000 1,570,000 2,900,000 1865-1866 . . 6,020,000 5,940,000 11,960,000 1875-1876 . . 15,230,000 11,820,000 27,050,000 SWEDEN. 345 For the first forty years no perceptible progress was made. In the interval from 1840 to 1866 commerce quadrupled, and it has again doubled in the last ten years. In fact, it is now nine times what it was forty years ago, which is a greater increase even than in Great Britain. It is only during the present generation that Sweden has become a commercial nation. Trade was considered dis- honourable and illegal until the seventeenth century, when the Crown gave charters to twenty-four towns to trade, but only in vessels belonging to themselves. Differential duties on foreign bottom were still levied in 1830, and as the whole mercantile navy of Sweden barely reached 61,000 tons, the exportation of timber and iron was in a measure prohibited. The increase of shipping has been on a par with that of commerce. Vessels. Tonnage. Average tons. 1831 . 1178 61,000 52 1868 . 3268 303,000 90 1876 . 4381 525,000 120 Thus the flag of Sweden, which claimed 1200 schooners in 1831, now possesses 4400 fine sea-going vessels. The aggregate tonnage of the mercantile marine has multiplied nine-fold in the interval. Taking the returns of the ports of Sweden for 1875-76, and comparing them with ten years before, we find the tonnage of entries has grown as follows : — 1865-66. 1875-76. Average. Average. Increase. Swedish . 497,000 tons 951,000 tons 90 per cent Foreign . 1,133,000 „ 1,890,000 „ 68 1,630,000 „ 2,841,000 „ 75 „ In 1866 the proportion of steamers in vessels carrying the Swedish flag was 1 2 per cent : at present it is 1 6 per cent. 346 PROGRESS OF THE WORLD. The number of merchants in Sweden rose from 15,900 in 1861 to 22,200 in 1871. BANKS. Sweden was the first country to establish a regular bank of emission, and is still, according to an eminent English economist, the only country in Europe that can present a complete annual balance-sheet. In 1656 Mr. John Palmstruck obtained the right of emission for his bank, now known as the Eiks-bank. It was forced to suspend payments in 1745, but resumed in 1776, on pay- ing 14s. in the £ for its notes. It again stopped payment in 1818, and again resumed in 1834, this time compound- ing for 7s. 6d. in the £, say 37 per cent. Since then it has always paid gold for its notes on demand. In 1852 its metallic reserve was £2,750,000, but in October 1877 it had fallen to £640,000. Its dividends for twelve years have averaged 7 per cent. In 1830 the first of the Ens- kilda or joint-stock banks of issue was authorised, and in a few years their number multiplied. At present there are twenty-eight banks of issue (independent of the Eiks- bank), which have 153 branches all over Sweden, the country people preferring the notes to gold. The notes range from 5 shillings to £30, and the metallic reserve varies from 35 to 50 per cent of the emission. Each bank of issue must have at least thirty-three shareholders, all Swedes; minimum capital £55,000 all paid up, each sub- scriber being liable for all the bank's obligations. These banks have been so well managed that their profits every year range from 4 to 20 per cent. There are also fifteen joint-stock banks of limited liability, without right of emission, and 324 savings banks. SWEDEN. 347 The balance-sheet of the Riks-bank, and of the forty- three joint-stock banks, at the close of 1877 showed thus: — Riks-bank. Capital . £1,400,000 Reserve fund . 680,000 Assets 5,000,000 Emission . 1,700,000 Metallic reserve 600,000 Deposits . 1,080,000 Discounts 1,600,000 Banks Limited Total. of issue. banks. £3,200,000 £1,400,000 £6,000,000 680,000 410,000 1,770,000 18,500,000 7,200,000 20,500,000 3,300,000 5,000,000 480,000 13,000 1,093,000 9,500,000 3,100,000 13,680,000 8,400,000 3,100,000 13,100,000 The General Mortgage Bank, founded in 1861, has ten branches with 47,000 members; any land-owner whose property is worth £55 or upwards may become a member. In 1877 the bank had emitted debentures up to £13,500,000, on estates valued at £32,500,000, and these debentures ruled at par in the market. More than £2,000,000 had been redeemed, leaving the actual issue at £11,250,000 sterling. Borrowers pay 6 per cent, which includes redemption in sixty years, as well as ^ per cent for bank expenses. The actual expenses, however, average only fifteen-pence for every £100, and the surplus is divided as a bonus among the members. The reserve capital consists of £440,000 donation from Government at starting (in public funds, not to bear interest unless in case of emergency), and also £400,000 accumulated profits before the law of 1878 introduced the bonus system: in all £840,000 sterling. The House Mortgage Bank has been established on principles similar to the above, and will advance debentures on any house insured against fire. Its capital and reserve fund do not exceed £16,000, and its transactions up to December 1877 only reached £314,000. The progress of savings banks in the last few years shows the increasing prosperity of the people. 348 PEOGBESS OF THE WORLD. 1862. 1874. Increase. Number of depositors . 208,000 695,000 242 p. t . Amount .... £1,655,000 £7,480,000 350 „ Number of banks . . 167 324 90 „ Ratio per inhabitant . 8s. 33s. 310 ,, One-third of the depositors are children under sixteen years of age. FINANCES. Sweden is one of the lightest taxed countries in Europe, and its public debt is trifling. Per head. Revenue . £4,100,000 18s. 6d. Debt 10,120,000 46s. The debt consists of railway loans, mostly raised in England, and the value of the State railways is equal to 95 per cent of the debt. Local taxation amounts to £2,000,000 per annum, or 9s. per head ; thus making the total burden only 27s. 6d. per head. NORWAY. When ceded to Sweden in 1814, Norway was so insig- nificant in population, commerce, or wealth, as to give no promise of the prosperity it has since attained. Under the Danish regime letters were not encouraged ; there was no university, nor even a bookseller's shop in the whole country. There are now public libraries and schools in every parish, and the university of Christiania counts 600 students. So late as 1840 the country was in so primitive a condition that the merchants used to send a vessel weekly from Bergen to Amsterdam to purchase vegetables, and even to forward their clothes to be washed in London. The Government maintained inns along the roads of the interior for the reception of travellers, in the same hospit- able manner as the Incas of old in Peru. NORWAY. 349 Norwegians make excellent sailors, the number of hands in their merchant navy reaching 61,000, an increase of 26 per cent since 1868. Their fisheries form a great source of wealth; during seven weeks the northern seas are crowded with fishing-boats, which take usually 600,000 tons of fish, valued at £700,000 sterling. On this occasion about 1,000,000 codfish are cut in stripes, and dried on the rocks, for exportation. There are also important lobster fisheries on the coast, and all the rivers are full of salmon. The supply of timber is well-nigh inexhaustible, but the destruction of forests in some instances has caused the glaciers to descend upon places that were before habitable. The exportation of timber amounts to £1,500,000 sterling per annum. The increase of population since 1801 has been 145 per cent. Whether owing to climatic causes, or the consump- . tion of spirits, the rate of insanity (the same as in Ireland) is the highest known on the face of the earth, namely three per 1000 of the population. Crime is rare, and the in- habitants are very hospitable ; they are so' conservative that in the rural districts they wear the same costumes as in the time of Harold Haarfager. AGRICULTURE. Although 93 per cent of the population are farmers, there is less than 1 per cent of the area of Norway under tillage. Dense forests cover most of the country, except in the vicinity of the mining works. Eivers are numerous, and serve for floating down the timber and metals from the interior. There are 110,000 estates for tillage, two-thirds being occupied by the proprietors, and one-third by tenants. An ordinary estate may be purchased for £1000 sterling, say 300 acres of wood and arable land ; the renting value 350 PROGRESS OF THE WORLD. would be £50 a year ; wages about 6d. a day with, board. Cottiers often rent small patches of a couple of acres at Is. per month. They may 'at any time give six months' notice that they intend to leave, but if they pay their rent they or their widows can never be disturbed by the landlord, nor can he raise the rent. The crops are often destroyed by the rains. Vegetation in the northern parts is so vigorous that it is only seven weeks from sowing-time to harvest. In the six months' night of winter the peasants manufacture all the require- ments of domestic use, except cutlery and pottery, which they import from England. They also devote a part of the winter to fishing, as the moonlight and aurora borealis enable them to work. They live mostly on fish, black rye-bread, and salt butter, and sometimes have meat on Sundays. They consume prodigious quantities of brandy made from potatoes, which costs only 1 4d. a gallon. The increase of agriculture in ten years has been as follows : — 1865. 1875. Increase. "Wheat, bushels 271,000 254,000 Oats „ . 7,881,000 8,846,000 12 per cent Eye, barley, etc. . 4,995,000 7,144,000 43 „ Potatoes . . 18,035,000 18,825,000 5 „ 31,182,000 35,069,000 13 per cent The average yield of wheat is 21 bushels, of barley 32, and of oats 38 bushels per acre. The latest returns of farm-stock are as follow : — Horses . 152,000 Cows . . 1,016,000 Sheep . . 1,687,000 Pigs and goats 325,000 In the far north the inhabitants of Lapland have herds NORWAY. 351 of reindeer, varying from 100 to 2000 head : when used for draught these animals travel easily 130 miles a day. Norway exports 60,000 fat cattle yearly. The total agricultural income is £13,000,000, including £3,000,000 for timber. COMMERCE. In 1820 trade was so backward that it was impossible to buy a pound of butter at Christiania, the capital, unless at the half-yearly fairs, when people laid in stocks of every- thing for six months. Merchants were only allowed to deal in specific wares : thus a tea-merchant could not import flour. The export of timber and minerals sufficed to pay for grain, meat, and cheese, imported from abroad. The arrivals of vessels in Norwegian ports compare as follows : — 1866. 1876. Increase. Norwegian . 1,044,000 1,252,000 20 per cent Foreign . . 390,000 565,000 45 „ 1,434,000 1,817,000 29 per cent In the last few years Norway has increased her trade 55 per cent :- 1870-71. Average. 1875-76. Average. Increase. Imports . . £5,710,000 £9,550,000 75 per ce: Exports 4,483,000 6,130,000 35 „ £10,193,000 £15,680,000 55 per cent So sound is the mode of business, that it is said not a single ship-owner has failed in the present century. The exports comprise £1,500,000 sterling of timber, 240,000 tons of dried fish, and minerals valued at £160,000. A new item has lately been added — namely, beer, the export of which is 500,000 gallons, or 100 times what it was ten years ago. 352 PROGRESS OF THE WORLD. Norway possesses the third great mercantile fleet of the world. Its development has been incredibly rapid. Tons. Increase. 1868 . . 948,000 1876 . . 1,436,000 6 per cent per annum In the last eight years the Norwegians have built 60,000 tons yearly. Their merchant navy shows an aver- age of 24 tons per seaman. The manufactures and minerals amount to £5,000,000 per annum. Debt and taxation are very light : the former only £4,000,000, of which one-half is represented by State railways. Taxes of all kinds are about 26 s. per inhabitant. DENMARK. Having been stripped of Norway in 1814, and of Sles- wig-Holstein in 1866, this is now one of the smallest states in Europe, the area being barely half that of Ireland. Denmark is, nevertheless, remarkable for the thrift and industry of its inhabitants, the advanced condition of public instruction, and the general prosperity of the people. Manufactures were introduced in the eighteenth century by a nobleman of Jutland, who constructed a foundry and a leather factory, his example being imitated by some mer- chants, who commenced woollen manufactures. The only handicraft that has been of much benefit to the country is boat-building ; but there are sundry sugar-mills, paper- mills, distilleries, and foundries, of more or less importance. Agriculture constitutes the real wealth of Denmark, which was' for a period retarded by unwise efforts of the Govern- ment to promote manufactures at any cost ; " protective " duties were imposed, which succeeded in clothing the Danes in Danish broadcloth. The stuff was abominable and very dear, and the hands taken from agriculture to work in factories were so much loss to the nation. DENMARK. 353 The Government has made 500 miles of railway, be- sides 350 miles belonging to companies. Internal traffic is further aided by a canal constructed in the close of the last century (1777-1784), connecting the Baltic with the German Ocean, twenty miles in length, navigable for vessels of ten feet draught. Denmark is entitled to the applause of mankind for having been the first European nation to abolish slavery, an example quickly followed by Great Britain. Her West Indian possessions of St. Croix, St. Thomas, and St. John, are of little value, since they only produce annually 7000 tons sugar, and 1,000,000 gallons rum. AGRICULTURE. So backward was agriculture in the eighteenth century that potatoes and clover were unknown. Each estate com- prised from 2000 to 10,000 acres, the Hovedgard or mansion being surrounded by small farms called Bonder- gods, or Bondsman's lots. Each bondsman held by a verbal lease for his own and his wife's life, the lease con- sisting in the lord's shaking hands with him. These bonds- men were, however, at times treated with extreme harsh- ness, the local judges being usually the nobleman's footmen or coachmen. The assembly of land-owners at Roskild declared their right to flog women. So deserted were the estates under Frederic IV. that he had to send militia to till the lands. Counts Stolberg and Struensee commenced reforms by emancipating the bondsmen on the Crown lands in 1769, but it was not till the present century that they were " levelled up " to the standard of yeomanry. In 1801 the whole of Denmark belonged to 15 earls, 16 barons, and 583 landed gentry, except a few estates of the Crown, or of certain corporations. The peasants, previous 2 A 354 PROGRESS OF THE WORLD. to 1788, had been sold like trees on the various estates, an English writer describing them as " dirty, devoid of energy, and not so well fed as Jamaica negroes." A single generation of freedom wrought wonders in the aspect of the farming class. In 1840 the census showed that one-half of Denmark was owned by peasant farmers, and the exports of agricultural produce had doubled. The value of the farms in 1840 was estimated at £21,000,000 sterling, one-half of which had been accumu- lated in a few years by the thrifty farm-labourers. " The first thing (writes a traveller) that one of these peasants buys is a clock, next a horse or cow, which he hires out until he has enough saved to buy a piece of land." Many of the peasants began by renting a cabin and three or four acres, either going halves with the landlord, or giving thirty days' labour during the year. In this manner the crops increased yearly, as well as the cattle. The pastures are equal to those of Lincolnshire, and as no part of Den- mark is ten miles from the sea, there is always ready means of exporting fat cattle for the London market. The peasants and farmers grow rich by reason of the high prices they obtain for their products, while the cost of living is small. A Danish peasant can support a house- hold of five persons with ease on £20 a year. The actual tenure of the kingdom is as follows : — Class. Hovedgards Large farms Bond-farms Hmismen Cities and wa Number. 550 1,180 . 69,100 . 137,000 ste Area of Denmark Area. 1,380,000 acres 360,000 „ 4,200,000 „ 560,000 „ 2,700,000 „ Average. 2500 acres 300 „ 60 „ 4 ,, 9,200,000 „ 31 „ A " Hovedgard," or noble's estate, has usually 400 head DENMARK. 355 of cattle and 1000 merino sheep. The cows give 200 lbs. butter each per annum, and as two-thirds are milch cows, the product averages 25 tons yearly. All the appliances are on the most approved plan, including steam-churns, threshing-machines, and the like. The same may be said of the large farms, on which, as on the Hovedgards, the cows give nearly double the proportion of butter, and the quality of the same is so much better than on small farms, that it sells higher in the market. The bondsmen, who hold usually sixty acres in fee, are the most independent, intellectual, and prosperous class of peasant-farmers in the world. Their stock consists of about ten horses, twenty cows, and as many sheep ; each farm gives about 1700 lbs. of butter, besides the 1 grain crops, and the bondsman's annual profit averages £90 sterling. This is after paying all expenses, including a land-tax of 3s. per acre and wages ; the latter may be put down at £6 a year for indoor servants. Tenant-bondsmen still exist on some of the Hovedgards ; their condition is precisely similar to the class just described, except that they pay 20s. or 25s. per acre rent. The net profit of a tenant bondsman is about 10s. per acre, say £30 per annum, which they put into savings banks until able to buy their land from the lord, at £30 to £35 per acre. This class is, therefore, rapidly declining in numbers : — 1835 . . 29,800 tenant-bonds 1868 . . 10,780 In the aggregate they hold 650,000 acres, or half the area of Hovedgards, many of the latter having now only 1000 acres as held by the lord, and 1500 acres rented in Bondergods. Bishop Mourad's law in 1861 greatly facili- tated the acquisition of land by peasants, without confis- 356 PROGRESS OF THE WORLD. eating the rights of owners. The value of land is assessed ordinarily as follows : — Bent. Purchase. 1st class 25s. £35 1 per acre 2d „ . . 18s. 23 „ This is about the same as in England, but much below the values in Belgium, France, and Lombardy (q.v.) Huusmen or cottiers hold three or four acres, and their stock consists of a cow and three or four pigs or sheep. As it is impossible to support their families on less than twenty acres, they usually work at certain seasons on the Hovedgards or Bondergods. Sickness or misfortune often reduces them to want, but in such cases they are well attended to by the parochial authorities — the poor-rate averaging for the rural departments £120,000, or nearly 2s. per inhabitant. The high price of land causes 4000 young men annually to emigrate. They are said to take with them about £100 each, enough to buy a farm in the United States, whereas it would only pay for three acres in Denmark. Farm ser- vants are well fed, and allowed two glasses of brandy daily. Steam-ploughs and steam -threshers are almost unknown, but patent sowers, reapers, threshers, and winnowers are worked by horses. Since 1850 Denmark has advanced more in husbandry than in a century previous. The breed of sheep has been improved by crossing with the merino ; pigs are fattened for exportation to Norway ; and the shipments of cattle and dairy produce to England now reach some millions sterling. The official Tables for the last ten years show — 1 In some cases land sells as high as £90 per acre. DENMAKK. 357 1866. 1876. Increase. Wheat, acres 120,000 140,000 16] per cent Barley, • oats, and rye . 2,260,000 2,435,000 8 >) Potatoes 85,000 96,000 13 >> Meadow ■ • • 3,115,000. 3,405,000 6,076,000 9 9 j> 5,580,000 j* The i average crops for 1875-76 show — Per acre. "Wheat . 4,230,000 bushels 30 bushels Other grain . 66,670,000 27 j» Potatoes 10,890,000 122 j) The Danes consume a great quantity of barley in distilleries. They raise rye in sufficient quantities to export a considerable surplus to Norway, where (as well as in Denmark) most of the bread is made of this grain. The crops of all descriptions are very heavy, finding no parallel except in England. The average yield is, wheat ten -fold, barley eleven, rye and oats eight -fold. The average consumption of grain is 60 million bushels, leaving a surplus of 10 or 12 million for exportation, England taking two-thirds. The value of the grain crop is about £9,000,000 sterling. If we compare farm-stock with population, we find the Danes have £15 worth for each inhabitant, which is three times the European average, and double that of Great Britain. The latest returns are as follow : — Horses 352,000 Cows . 1,348,000 Sheep . 1,720,000 Pigs . 504,000 It appears that from 1866 to 1876 there was but slight increase of stock. Cattle had increased 12 per cent, but sheep had declined in equal ratio. The exportation of cattle of all descriptions rose in ten years as follows : — 358 PROGRESS OF THE WORLD. Number. Value. 1866-69 . . 105,000 £630,000 per annum 1875-76 . . 334,000 1,426,000 „ showing an increase of 230 per cent in number and 125 per cent in value in ten years. In the same time the export of butter has risen from 4000 to 14,000 tons, being now half the quantity of butter raised in Denmark. Although the country has 400,000 acres of forest, the supply of timber is deficient, and a good deal is imported. Mortgages amount to 40 per cent of the value of the total area of the kingdom, which is because of the general desire to buy land. COMMERCE. Few countries are better suited for commerce than Denmark. She has a coast-line of 600 miles, and no part of her territory is over 10 miles from the sea. Neverthe- less her nobles despised commercial pursuits, and there being no middle class, all trade remained in the hands of foreigners until the seventeenth century. At the same time there were so many restrictions that commerce was only in a manner tolerated. In the present century a wonderful transformation has taken place. Copenhagen often sees 2000 vessels enter her port in a week. This development of trade is partly due to the abolition of the Sound-dues in 1857, previous to which date all vessels passing Elsinore paid a toll of 1 per cent on the value of their cargo, to enable the Danish Government to maintain an efficient system of lights along its dangerous coasts. The toll produced £200,000 per annum, and Denmark received as indemnity a sum of £3,600,000 sterling, of which Great Britain contributed one-third. The growth of trade is forcibly shown by comparing the DENMARK. 359 tonnage of vessels entering Danish ports in 1875-76 with the returns of ten years before : — 1865-66. 1875-76. Increase. Foreign bottom . 340,000 tons 937,000 tons 180 per cent Danish, bottom . 290,000 „ 972,000 ,, 235 630,000 1,909,000 „ 203 The balance of trade is against Denmark, the returns for seven years showing a surplus of 25 per cent imports over exports', viz. — Gross trade of seven years. Imports .... £78,600,000 Exports .... 62,500,000 Surplus imports . . £16,100,000 Thus the balance against the country is about £2,250,000 per annum. Shipbuilding has been very active in recent years, the number of new vessels launched yearly since 1873 showing an average of 23 steamers and 150 sailing vessels, and the tonnage of the merchant-navy increasing 32 per cent, viz. — 1873 197,260 tons 1876 260,200 ,, In 1868 steamers formed 6 per cent of the merchant- navy ; in 1876 they were as 17 per cent. BANKS AND FINANCES. In 1814 the National Bank of Copenhagen was made the Eiks-bank of Denmark, with a right of emission up to £2,250,000 sterling, provided the specie reserve always reached 50 per cent of the notes in circulation. This reserve is mostly silver, but in 1865 it fell to 40 per cent of the emission, without, however, impairing the credit or stability of the bank. Since 1860 its sphere is greatly extended, as 360 PROGRESS OF THE WORLD. it does all the business of the Treasury, besides discounts averaging £2,000,000 sterling. Its emission is now about £4,000,000. The Private bank is a joint-stock one, estab- lished in 1857 with a paid-up capital of £666,000 ; dis- counts average £1,000,000. The Loan bank has a capital of £220,000. The Landman's bank is the newest estab- lished ; it advances on mortgage of lands, in debentures bearing 4 per cent interest, these debentures being usually worth from 85 to 90 per cent in the market. The borrower pays annually 5 per cent, which includes the quota for redemption — namely, 1 per cent per annum. None of the Danish banks succumbed to the crises of 1857-1866, or 1873. There are 314 savings banks, with 316,000 depositors, holding an amount of £10,062,000 ; and the returns, as compared with 1860, show a prodigious increase of wealth among the people :- Deposits. Ratio to population. 1860 . £3,221,000 25s. 1875 . 10,062,000 110s. This is the highest proportion of any country in Europe, and more than double that of the United Kingdom. In 1810 the revenue was £1,550,000 sterling, of which Denmark paid one-third, Norway one-third, and the rest was made up of £200,000 from Sound-dues, and £300,000 from West India Islands. Forty years later we find the revenue was the same, although Norway had been trans- ferred to Sweden ; the deficit so caused being met by a land-tax of 2 per cent on the value of all farms in Denmark. At present the revenue is usually £2,500,000, or 10 per cent over the expenditure. The National Debt has been reduced £5,000,000 in twelve years, or one-third, and is now less than £10,000,000 sterling. . RUSSIA. 361 RUSSIA. This was a great military power at the beginning of the century, but as much behind the rest of Europe in arts and sciences as if the Ural range formed its western instead of its eastern boundary. When Clarke visited St. Petersburg in 1802, the police provided him with the usual uniform that all foreign guests were compelled to wear as long as they remained in the Czar's dominions : there were also stringent regulations about keeping one's hair cut, the police sometimes visiting the ball-rooms for this purpose. A considerable part of the capital was built of plastered wood. Schools had not yet been established. Most of the carrying trade with foreign nations was done by British vessels ; and as the Eussian Treasury was unable even to support the Cossack troops, Great Britain (1805) allowed the Czar for them the sum of £12 per head to enable his Majesty to keep on the war against Buonaparte. Eussia would doubtless have progressed more rapidly but for the wars of 1828, 1855, and 1877, which have been a serious drain upon the manhood of the country. Nevertheless, the empire has made comparatively greater advancement than the more favoured (but enfeebled) nations of southern Europe. The best proof of the energy of the Eussians is afforded by the rebuilding of Moscow after its destruction in 1812. "When Mr. Laveau visited it in 1824 he found 10,000 houses and 12,000 merchants, and the great bazaar comprised 5600 shops. So rapidly did that city rise from its ashes, that in 1839 it contained 1060 factories with 83,000 workmen. Since the peace of Vienna there have been two distinct 362 PROGRESS OF THE WORLD. epochs in the onward march of Russia. 1st. The reign of Nicholas, beginning in 1825, remarkable for the creation of numerous canals, and the first system of public instruc- tion. 2d. That of Alexander II., since 1856, in which period we have seen 12,000 miles of railway constructed, and the emancipation of 48,000,000 serfs, as well as an unexampled development of trade. Population has increased about 55 per cent in forty years : — 1835 .... 56,217,000 1877 .... 86,728,000 This is not wholly the result of natural increase, but partly of conquest. The Emperor Nicholas in 1826 wrested from Persia the provinces of Erivan and Nakshivan, besides compelling that country to pay £3,000,000 sterling for his expenses. Two years later he made war on Turkey, and forced the Sultan, in like manner, to cede territory and pay a war indemnity of £5,000,000. In later years Russia has annexed the rest of Poland, and large portions of Asia Minor and Tartary. The rate of births exceeds that of any other country in Europe, and, as "always occurs with races of rapid repro- duction, the span of life is short, the death-rate high, and the proportion of able-bodied males comparatively low. Annual average of Births per 1000 inhabitants Deaths ,, ,, Increase ,, „ Marriages ,, ,, The difference between the number of males and females is less than in other northern countries, and varies from 2 to 3 per cent. Shortly after the Crimean war there were 105 women to 100 men, but in 1870 the surplus of the former was only 2 per cent. As already observed in many 831 to 1860. 1876. . 44 41 . 33 29 . 11 12 . 19 15 Russia. 363 countries, the excess of male over female births is greatest after long wars, and thus the ratio was higher after the Napoleon wars in Eussia than since. 1800 to 1830 . . .105 male to 100 female births. 1831 to 1860 . . .103 „ 100 „ The death-rate has fallen so notably, that the average of life is five years longer than it was previous to 1850. In the smiling valleys of the south, amid corn-fields and vineyards, the mortality is 50 per cent higher than in the cheerless regions of the north. Northern provinces 32 per 1000 per annum Siberia . . 34 „ „ South of Nijni .53 „ „ The waste of life is greater than in any other part of Europe, owing to the insufficient food of the peasantry. Half the mothers are unable to suckle their infants, having to work in the fields, besides acting as policemen, tax- gatherers, and postmen ; for which latter reason the mails are commonly known as the "petticoat post.'' The death- rate under five years, compared with other countries, shows thus (the figures indicating the number of children per 1000 who complete their first and their fifth birthdays): — Of 1000 births First year complete. Fifth year. In Great Britain 854 742 In Russia . 708 527 In France . 824 707 If Eussia could reduce her infant mortality to the level of Great Britain, she would save almost 1,000,000 lives annually. According to the census of 1872, the classes of the people were as follow : — 364 PROGRESS Or THE WORLD. Ratio. Number. Nobles and clergy- 3 per cent 2,500,000 Military and citizens . 16 „ 19,000,000 Peasants 81 „ 60,500,000 100 „ 82,000,000 Among the citizen class the most important are the merchants. First-class merchants must have a capital of 50,000 roubles, and pay an annual licence of £500 ; they may do banking, shipping, or mercantile business, drive four horses, and carry a sword. Second-class merchants must have 20,000 roubles capital, and pay £200 yearly licence ; they may do all manner of business, drive two horses, but carry no sword. Shopkeepers cannot act as bankers or shippers ; they are exempt from flogging, and pay a small licence. Among the first-class merchants are the "foreign guests," who numbered forty-six persons in 1835, and only thirty-four in 1857. COMMERCE. The customs returns since 1820 show the rapid progress of trade : allowing for the discount on paper roubles at various periods, the returns are, in round numbers, as follows : — Imports. Exports. Total. 1820-1839 £10,500,000 £12,000,000 £22,500,000 1840-1849 15,000,000 18,000,000 33,000,000 1850-1859 21,000,000 23,000,000 44,000,000 1860-1869 33,000,000 32,000,000 65,000,000 1870-1878 69,000,000 59,000,000 128,000,000 Down to 1857 the tariff all but prohibited the im- portation of foreign goods, with the unwise object of foster- ing native manufactures, instead of devoting all the energies of Eussia to raising wool, flax, wheat, and other products that would have proved inexhaustible sources of wealth. eussia. 365 No sooner were the duties relaxed than trade increased prodigiously, both imports and exports growing 50 per cent in ten years. Moreover, the system of railways begun in 1862 was so actively prosecuted that, during sixteen sub- sequent years, no less than 700 miles a year were opened to traffic. This explains how the trade of the empire has trebled in twenty years. During the half-century between 1819 and 1869 the Custom-house books showed an excess of exports, that is, a balance of trade in favour of Russia to the amount of £90,000,000 sterling: on the other hand, the balances against Russia since 1869 make up an equal amount, averaging £10,000,000 per annum. No returns later than 1857 are published on the number of merchants and tradesmen in the empire, but by com- paring them with 1835, we find the increase of their numbers and capital was as follows : — 1835. 1857. 1st Class mer- No. Capital. Average capital. No. ranital Average capital. capital. chants 810 £7,000,000 £9000 963 £18,000,000 £19,000 2d do. do. 1,730 6,000,000 3500 2,065 18,000,000 9,000 Shopkeepers 32,000 4,500,000 140 49,400 48,000,000 980 Huxters and Pedlars 13,000 6,700 The resources of Russia are not yet half developed, or even understood : so prodigious are they, that, in an inter- val of ten years of peace, the exports doubled, viz. — 1865-66. 1875-76. Average. Average. Grain . £9,730,000 £27,220,000 Flax, hemp, linseed 7,710,000 12,450,000 Cattle . 490,000 1,870,000 Sundries . 14,920,000 20,560,000 £32,850,000 £62,100,000 366 progress or THE world. The returns for 1878 show a still larger sum, as the export of grain last year reached 6,000,000 tons, worth £43,000,000 sterling. There is one article of export which shows a great falling off — viz. tallow. In 1803 it was over £3,500,000 sterling; in 1865 it had fallen to 50,000 tons, and at present it averages 9000 tons, worth one-twelfth of the sum it stood for in 1803. It is remark- able that fifty years ago (1827-1832) the export of hemp and flax was double that of bread stuffs; but now the order is reversed. The Khans of Bokhara and Khiva maintain a brisk trade with Eussia, averaging £5,000,000 yearly ; the exports from Eussia to Tartary being 50 per cent over the value of what the empire receives from the Khanates. As the balance of trade has been £100,000,000 against Eussia in the last twelve years, it is not surprising to find there has been an outflow of precious metals. The bullion account shows £19,000,000 exports over imports. Imports of "bullion. Exports. 1866 to 1869 . £11,000,000 £9,000,000 1870 to 1877 . 12,000,000 33,000,000 £23,000,000 £42,000,000 The surplus export of £19,000,000 sterling is less than the proceeds of the gold-fields in Siberia, which average more than £4,000,000 sterling per annum. The number of vessels entering Eussian ports has pro- gressed as follows : — Vessels. Tons. Proportion of Russian. 1837 . . 5,620 935,000 5 per cent 1866 . . 17,200 2,576,000 21 „ 1876 . . 31,150 4,570,000 18 „ Although the proportion of Eussian vessels on the waters of the empire was lower in 1876 than ten years EUSSIA. 367 before, it is nevertheless true that the Russian vessels in- creased 64 per cent. 1866. 1876. Increase. Russian, tons . . . 426,000 680,000 64 per cent Foreign 2,150,000 3,890,000 81 „ 2,576,000 4,570,000 79 The internal navigation of the empire employs 385 steamers and several thousand flat boats and rafts, the system of canals and rivers forming a total of 19,800 miles, and connecting the White, Black, Baltic, and Cas- pian Seas. The merchandise carried on these canals is valued at £105,000,000 yearly. St. Petersburg stands for half the trade of the empire. AGRICULTURE. The area of Russia is nearly 2,000,000 square miles. It may be briefly described as follows : — Acres. Proportion. Crops and pasture . 310,000,000 25 per cent Forest . 500,000,000 40 „ Waste . 434,000,000 35 „ 1,244,000,000 The lands actually occupied are almost evenly divided between agriculture and pasture, the former producing yearly about 40,000,000 tons grain, and the latter serving to maintain 124,000,000 cattle and sheep. Sixty years ago the Russians contented themselves with raising corn for themselves, the exportation rarely exceeding in value 1,000,000 roubles or £140,000 sterling. As soon, how- ever, as the canals facilitated traffic, grain became an important item of trade, the production being further stimulated by the emancipation of the serfs in 1861-63, since which time the export of grain has multiplied sevenfold. 368 PROGRESS OF THE WORLD. Previous to 1861 no less than 80 per cent of the popu- lation were serfs, who were bought and sold on the estates like cattle, viz. — Males. Females. Total. Crown serfs . . . 11,168,000 11,683,000 22,851,000 Held by nobles . . 10,674,000 11,081,000 21,755,000 (serfs . . 1,624,000 1,702,000 3,326,000 23,466,000 24,466,000 47,932,000 The Crown serfs paid a poll-tax of 6s. for each " soul," that is for each male, in lieu of rent for the land, the aver- age farm of 35 acres being subject to about £1 per annum. When the emancipation took place in 1861 the poll-tax was raised 50 per cent, and the peasants obtained "fixity of tenure," being forbidden to leave the lands, which re- main mortgaged to the Government until 1901. The serfs of the nobles were owned as follows : — Nobles. Average of serfs. Total. 44,000 15 each. 660,000 36,000 70 „ 2,520,000 23,000 800 „ 18,575,000 103,000 211 „ 21,755,000 The average holding was about 30 acres for each family. Those subject to rent paid usually 4s. per acre. Those who paid no rent were obliged to give two days' work every week for their masters. " The land is ours, but we are yours,'' was their motto, and they refused liberty without the lands. Meantime the nobles pawned both serfs and lands when- ever they needed money, and these mortgages in 1859 reached a sum of £60,000,000 sterling, 1 of which one-half was due to the Imperial Bank. 1 The mortgages comprised 7,107,000 serfs, and 102,000,000 acres of land. Russia. 369 When the emancipation was decreed the nobles were compelled to sell the lands to the serfs at 80 per cent of the official valuation, unless the latter chose to take a " beg- gar's lot," that is, one-fourth of their previous holding, gratis. In 1870 the result appeared as follows : — 3,614,000 peasants had purchased 34,766,000 acres 1,840,000 „ took "beggars' lots," 6,440,000 „ 5,454,000 ,, 41,206,000 „ As each family had an average of three males, it re- sulted that a peasant holding was about thirty acres, that is ten acres for each male. The holders of " beggars' lots " were free to sell their farm, and move to any other part of the empire, but the peasant who had purchased from his master ' was bound to remain on the land, and pay 2s. an acre for forty-nine years (till 1912), to discharge to the Crown the price of his emancipation. The total assessment for indemnity to the nobles was £65,000,000 sterling, say £3 per head for the number of serfs. 3 The actual sum paid by the State, down to 1870, was only £50,633,000, of which £30,000,000 in mortgages, cancelled by the Imperial Bank, and the balance in Government stock. The returns embrace 40,954 estates, which cost on an average £1200 each, or 29 s. per acre. Besides this, the peasants them- selves paid 6s. per acre, making the total cost of redemption stand thus : — Paid by Government . . £50,633,000 „ the Serfs . . 10,470,000 Total (35s. per acre) £61,103,000 1 These peasants are in one respect better off than before. They can now be flogged only by the municipal authorities, and not by their masters. 2 The domestic serfs, having no land, were liberated in 1861, sub- 2 B 370 PROGRESS OF THE WORLD. This does not include the redemption in Poland, which was carried out differently, at a cost of only 17s. per acre, nor the Baltic provinces of Finland, Corn-land, and Livonia, where the nobles had already enfranchised the peasants after a manner of their own. There are at present llf million land-owners, with an average of 110 acres each. Arable. Forest and waste Total. holding. Class- Acres. Acres. Acres. Acres. Crown . 76,000,000 284,000,000 360,000,000 103,000 Nobles . 60,000,000 132,000,000 192,000,000 1900 142,000 Cossacks 10,000,000 8,000,000 18,000,000 130 3,614,000 ex-serfs. 35,000,000 25,000,000 60,000,000 17 3,975,000 Crown peasants 84,000,000 96,000,000 180,000,000 45 37,000 civilians, merchants J etc. . . 6,000,000 32,000,000 38,000,000 1000 Colonies, mines, etc . 2,000,000 315,000,000 317,000,000 1,840,000 "Beggars " 7,000,000 7,000,000 4 1,625,000 Appanage 30,000,000 310,000,000 42,000,000 72,000,000 45 11,336,000 934,000,000 1,244,000,000 110 Although land has generally doubled in value, 1 the ultimate benefits of emancipation will not appear till the close of the century. At present the ex-serfs seem hope- lessly plunged in debt. In 1875 they owed the Crown £85,135,000, including for arrears £1,890,000, and it is probable that before long the Crown will have to admit the 10 million land-holders to a general bankruptcy, and allow them all to start fresh for themselves. Many of the ject only to a payment of £10 within two years to their masters, or of £8 in case of female serfs. i Report of Sir A. Buchanan, H.B.M. Ambassador. RUSSIA. peasants are poorer than before, their stoc' ing a fall of 50 per cent in the last ten yea: Some have taken farms on the " Metaye: the nobles, as the latter have introduced ments and machinery to supply the loss The average crops on the lands show as follows : — Nobles' lands. Peasants' lands. Wheat 14-fold 4-fold. Rye . . 16 „ 8 „ The nobles put fourteen tons of manure, the peasants only seven tons per acre. Each peasant, as a rule, culti- vates twelve acres, but his food is so bad, his implements are so rude, that it is said two men working sixteen hours will get through less labour than an English farm-servant in ten hours. " No man but a Russian could subsist on such poor fare," is the opinion of an eminent writer. The Moujiks' food consists of rye-bread and mushroom soup, which represents a value of twopence a day. He lives in a hut five feet square, which is periodically burnt down, from the custom of using woodlaths for candles. 1 His wife helps him at the plough, sometimes only three days after her confinement. The poor women have such a wretched life, that 5 per cent die in childbed, or double the European average. The condition of the nobles has been wonderfully im- proved by the emancipation. They were enabled to pay off their debts to the Imperial Bank, and by better agri- culture obtain much more from the land. The importation of agricultural machinery from abroad has increased six- fold in ten years, which shows the improvement in this direction. 1 From 1860 to 1864 no fewer than 53,200 houses were burnt, say 10,600 yearly. 372 PROGRESS OF THE WORLD. 1865-66 Imported ploughs . £61,000 per annum 1875-76 „ „ . . 354,000 Southern Russia is admirably suited for agriculture, both as regards climate and soil, the rainfall being only 12 inches, against 20 in the other provinces. In the last century it was heavier, but it has declined since the forests have been reduced. The country west of the Volga is termed the granary of the empire. The peasants scratch the ground with wooden ploughs, and the yield averages four-fold. There is a deplorable waste of labour, since the men and acres employed in Eussia for raising grain ought to suffice to feed all Europe. Each peasant cultivates about 12 acres, and raises 120 bushels, whereas each rural male adult in England is found to cultivate 1 8 acres, and pro- duce 540 bushels, or four times- as much as in Eussia. The consumption and export of grain during the last five years averaged as follows : — Consumption. Export. Total. Eye and oats 1220 million tush. 80 million hush. 1300 million hush. "Wheat . . 110 ,, ,, 80 ,, „ 190 „ „ 1330 „ ,, 160 „ „ 1490 „ So great has been the impulse given to agriculture by the emancipation of serfs and the construction of railways, that the grain exports have increased seven-fold in twelve years. Grain. Value. 1838-39 . 573,000 tons £8,400,000 1866-67 . 910,000 ,, 9,600,000 1878 6,150,000 „ 43,460,000 The consumption is about 17 bushels per inhabitant, chiefly rye ; including a bushel a head used in distilling corn-brandy. The acreage and crops averaged in the years 1870-1872 as follows:— eussia. 373 Acres. Crop. Per acre. Wheat . . 29,000,000 188,000,000 bushels 6| "bushels Rye, oats, etc. 126,000,000 1,306,000,000 „ 10i „ Potatoes . 3,000,000 345,000,000 „ 115 „ Flax and hemp 3,000, 000 340,000 tons 250 lbs. 161,000,000 The banks of the Don constitute the largest flax-field in the world, and Eussia exports annually 220,000 tons of flax and hemp. These products attain the sum of £16,000,000 sterling in value, viz.' — Fibre. Seed. Value. Flax 250,000 tons 300,000 tons £12,000,000 Hemp 100,000 ,, 500,000 ,, 4,000,000 Beet-root forms another staple industry. The crop has trebled since 1850, and is now 1,500,000 tons, 1 yielding over 120,000 tons sugar, of which one-third is exported. The introduction of potatoes by a Mennonite colony from Prussia in 1769 was attended with fearful riots, the Eussians saying they were "devil's apples.'' Tobacco yields an average crop of 52,000 tons, or nine-tenths of the quantity consumed in the empire. The production of cotton reaches 6,000,000 lbs., or one-thirtieth of the amount requisite for the Eussian mills. Silkworms were intro- duced by Emperor Nicholas in 1840, the same year that His Majesty founded the agricultural model-farms, and at present 1,000,000 lbs. of raw silk are produced yearly. Wine was first cultivated with success in 1824, by a Frenchman who settled on the banks of the Don. The vintage now averages 2,000,000 gallons per annum. Pasture. — The meadow and grazing lands comprise 145,000,000 acres, which supported the following farm- stock : — i It averages a little over 3 tons per acre. 374 PROGRESS OF THE WORLD. 1848. 1878. Increase. 1 Cows . . 20,000,000 28,000,000 40 per cent Ilorses , 16,000,000 20,000,000 25 „ Sheep , 36,000,000 64,000,000 77 „ Goats and pigs . 9,000,000 12,000,000 124,000,000 33 „ 81,000,000 50 „ Much attention has been devoted in recent years to the improving of breeds. Eussia is now one of the great horse- farms of Europe, the exportation averaging 3000 animals monthly, some of them, especially from Count Orloff 's stud, obtaining as much as £1500 a head. Merino sheep number 12 millions, or one-fifth of the total. 2 The Tartars have large flocks of sheep, sometimes 40,000 or 50,000 head, and even the poorest 1000. Taking the mini- mum yield of sheep at 3 lbs. per fleece, the annual clip of Eussia cannot be less than 200 million lbs., three- quarters of it being used for home manufacture. The wandering Tartars of the steppes have numbers of camels, sometimes as many as 1000 for one family. 3 In the north of Eussia the peasants cultivate bees on an extensive scale, producing 40 million lbs. honey and wax. Forests.-^ The value of timber felled averages£25,000,000 per annum, or barely Is. per acre, which is much less than in other countries (see page 26). It is stated that the forests contain about 170,000 wolves, and the number of travellers and children eaten by them averages 200 yearly. Summary. — The total rural products of Eussia are valued as follows : — 1 The increase in the last thirty yeaTs has been less than ten years' increase would be in Texas, River Plate, or Australia. 2 In Taurida there is a farmer, Mr. Falz Fein, who has 300,000 merinoes. 3 A camel will easily carry a burthen of 300 lbs., and travel twelve or fourteen days without water. Grain Flax and hemp Timber Sundries . Cattle-farming RUSSIA. 375 £215,000,000 16,000,000 25,000,000 14,000,000 100,000,000 £370,000,000 MANUFACTURES AND MINERALS. From the beginning of the century until 1815 the industry of Russia was seriously cheeked by the Napoleon wars, but not altogether paralysed. In 1808 there were 640 factories, chiefly at Moscow, Kazan, and Tula, for the manufacture of cottons, linens, woollens, leather, canvas, and cutlery, without counting the ironworks of Perm and Olonetz, or the mines of Siberia. The Ural mountains were said to be "the Potosi of Europe," yielding in minerals £6,000,000 per annum, of which one-third consisted of gold and silver. The iron of Dougua was esteemed equal to the best Swedish, however little developed owing to the difficulty of transport, sometimes taking three years to reach St. Petersburg. A second epoch may be said to date from the opening of three main canals between the Caspian, the Baltic, and the White Sea, almost coincident with the accession (1825) of the Emperor Nicholas. Shubert, in his report of 1828, sums up the total manufacture of Eussia thus : — 96 million yards of cotton, woollen, and linen fabrics, 16,000 tons of sugar, 7000 tons soap, 15 million glass bottles, and £800,000 worth of silk manufactures. He took no account of hardware, although thousands of operatives were employed in the iron industries of Perm, Viatka, and Nijni, which counted 900 furnaces, while Tula and Olonetz produced large quantities of cutlery, arms, and artillery. Tula was 376 PROGRESS OF THE WORLD. already known as the Sheffield of Eussia, its 600 workshops and 7000 artificers being specially famous for cutlery and snuff-boxes. At that time (1827-1832) iron was so dear that the horses were unshod, and even the farming imple- ments were entirely made of wood. So rapidly did industry progress after the peace with Turkey (1828), that we find in 1840 there were 6850 factories, employing 413,000 operatives, besides 280,000 men engaged in the mines and ironworks. A separate report on the cotton factories (1842), shows 620 factories, of which 63 moved by steam, the whole employing 47,000 looms and 96,000 operatives, whose yearly product was over £5,500,000 sterling. The iron and copper works at Perm counted 7400 furnaces, and the annual production in all Eussia was 4000 tons copper and 170,000 tons iron. Mining industry was still far from being adequately understood ; the coal-beds of Taganrog were said to be not worth working, and salt was imported from England be- cause the carriage from Orenburg was so expensive. The first time Eussian coal came into use was in 1847, the yield being only 50,000 tons. Tegebolzki the same year estimated the manufactures of the empire at £72,000,000 sterling, but this seems to have been above the reality, as we find that in 1856 the amount was only £35,000,000, not including the minerals and metals. The production of iron between 1840 and 1850 averaged 150,000 tons per annum. After the Crimean war the Czar set himself seriously to make railways all over European Eussia, and such im- pulse was thus given to native industry that in 1866 there were 85,000 factories, with 919,000 operatives, the total value of manufactures being returned as £1 10,000,000, since increased to £166,000,000 sterling, as shown thus : — RUSSIA. 377 Product. 1866. 1876. Millions Millions Factories. Operatives. sterling, sterling. Increase. Cotton mills . 3,306 147,000 25 23 ... Woollen mills . 1,831 105,000 11 18 65 per cent Distilleries 13,460 84,000 19 30 55 „ Foundries 1,732 137,000 12 17 40 „ Sugar mills 408 102,000 8 8 ... Flour mills 20,834 78,000 4 16 300 „ Tallow factories 2,961 19,000 6 6 ... Tanneries 5,368 25,000 4 8 100 ,, Linen, silk, glass, et c. 35,044 222,000 21 30 43 „ 84,944 919,000 110 166 51 „ The production of coal has in late years risen to 7,000,000 tons, or two -thirds of the required quantity for consumption, the importation being close on 3,000,000 tons yearly. Gold-digging usually employs 20,000 miners in Siberia ; the annual yield varies from £3,000,000 to £6,000,000 sterling. The iron-fields have yet to be fully opened up, the supply being so far short of the demand that the importation of iron and steel has grown six-fold in ten years, and now averages 300,000 tons per annum. The salt-works produce yearly about 1,000,000 tons, be- sides which 250,000 tons are imported. The progress of internal industry may be measured by the returns of the great annual fair at Nijni-Novgorod, viz. — Goods offered. Goods sold. 1841 . . £8,000,000 £7,000,000 1857 . . 13,000,000 12,000,000 1876 . . 30,000,000 28,000,000 The merchandise disposed of between the 100,000 traders at this fair in 1876 consisted of: — Cottons, linens, silks Ural metals Flax, furs, leather, etc. . £8,000,000 7,000,000 7,000,000 Carry forward £22,000,000 378 PROGRESS OF THE WORLD. Brought forward . .£22,000,000 Flour, fish, brandy, etc. . 3,000,000 Tea and luxuries . . . 3,000,000 £28,000,000 The above development of industry is confirmed by the returns of the foreign commerce, all tending alike to prove that the industry of Eussia has quadrupled in the last forty years. Poland is one of the most industrial provinces of the empire, having at present 3290 cotton, woollen, and linen factories. RAILWAYS AND CANALS. The first railway was opened in 1838, from St. Peters- burg to Czarsko-Selo ; the second was the Moscow line in 1851. It was not, however, until 1862 that the present network of railways was begun, and in latter times about 700 miles yearly have been opened to traffic : — 1871. 1879. Miles open .... 7, 200 13, 500 Cost of construction . .£150,000,000 £250,000,000 The lines belong to fifty companies, forty of which hold Government guarantees up to a total of £7,500,000 yearly. In fifteen years ending with 1874, the Government had paid, on account of these railway guarantees, the sum of £15,200,000, or about £1,000,000 per annum. The railway companies were at the same time (1875) indebted over £50,000,000 to the Government, including the liability of refunding the £15,000,000 paid for guarantee. Almost half the shares of the existing railways are held by Government, to an amount of £101,000,000 sterling. The traffic returns are as follows : — Number of passengers yearly . . 29,000,000 Merchandise 26,000,000 tons Gross receipts £23,550,000 Expenses 15,650,000 Russia. 379 Canals had been attempted with partial success before the present century. The Empress Marie set a notable example in 1808 by undertaking at her own expense to make the canal which now bears her name, and which carries over 9000 vessels yearly. The Vishney canal (opened in 1825) completed the direct navigation by way of the Volga between the Caspian Sea and St. Petersburg — 1434 miles ; the traffic on the Volga and Vishney exceed- ing 13,000 vessels, mostly laden with timber and metals for the Baltic, to a value of £20,000,000 yearly. Before the opening of the Suez Canal it was said the Vishney car- ried more tonnage annually than any other canal out of China. The Volga throws off another canal to Archangel in the north, by which goods are conveyed in three weeks from Astrakhan to the White Sea. The Tikwina canal, for empty boats returning from the Baltic to the Volga, was opened in 1822. The Kubinsko, for timber, com- pleted in 1828, carries 300 vessels yearly. There are four steamboat companies that navigate the Volga with first- class river steamers, this noble river running a course of 2000 miles without a rapid, whirlpool, or sandbank. It shortens the route for Siberian metals to St. Petersburg by 900 miles ; and such is the traffic with many of the prin- cipal towns on its banks that Nijni Novgorod employs 70,000 Bourlaki or raftsmen to carry merchandise to or from St. Petersburg, Moscow, and the Caspian. The in- ternal traffic on all the Russian canals is estimated thus : — St. Petersburg £25,000,000 Moscow 4,000,000 Riga 4,000,000 Nijni, Archangel, etc. etc. . . . 72,000,000 £105,000,000 The total inland navigation is as follows : — 380 PROGRESS OF THE WORLD. Canals .... 865 miles Navigable rivers . . . 18,985 „ 19,800 „ INSTRUCTION. In 1802 the Czar founded the universities of Moscow and St. Petersburg, and twenty years later 600 public schools were established all over the empire. Nevertheless there was little progress made before the emancipation of the serfs: in 1860 only 2 per cent of the military con- scripts could write, but in 1870 the proportion had risen to 11 per cent. There are now 1,500,000 children at school, and the empire counts 220 circulating libraries and 360 printing-offices. The following returns show the state of the Press (besides which the booksellers import 2,000,000 volumes yearly) : — Books printed. Newspapers. Total. St. Petersburg 714 123 837 Moscow 525 31 556 Provinces 853 164 1017 2092 3113 2410 In St. Petersburg the daily papers have an issue of 125,000 copies, or less than a single journal of London, Paris, or New York. The papers of the whole empire consist of 264 Russian, 29 German, 6 French, and 19 in various provincial tongues. BANKS. The Imperial Bank, founded in 1859, has the sole right of emission, and its notes, as before mentioned, are worth twelve shillings in the pound. Its capital is £2,625,000, and it holds among other securities about £66,000,000 in RUSSIA. 381 Russian consols, besides a mortgage on the Crown lands for £15,000,000, for advances to pay the nobles for the serfs. Its deposits fluctuate between £30,000,000 and £40,000,000 sterling. There are 376 joint-stock banks in the empire, few of them more than ten years old, the aggregate of their books showing — Capital paid up . . £42,000,000 Deposits .... 64,000,000 Discounts . . . 82,000,000 Dividends . . . 8£ to 13£ per cent. Those of the number which are over ten years old. show a very profitable result, namely, a collective profit of 1 1 4 per cent paid in dividends from 1866 to 1875, say 11£ per cent per annum. Two of the above are the land-banks of St. Petersburg and Kherson, founded in 1866 to lend money in rural mortgages: in 1870 they had advanced £1,580,000 on 729 estates. There are 120 savings banks, the deposits amounting to £3,160,000, say ninepence per head of the population. These banks flourish chiefly in Finland, which province stands for one-third of the numbers of the whole empire, both as regards depositors and amount. WEALTH AND FINANCES. Although the gross wealth of the empire holds the fourth place among European nations, coming next after Germany, the ratio for population is the very lowest ; the income, however, showing a larger return on capital than any other country of Europe. Capital. Income. Ratio. Agricultural . . £1,690,000,000 £370,000,000 22 p. c. General and commercial 1,334,000,000 190,000,000 16 „ £3,024,000,000 £560,000,000 19 „ 382 PROGRESS OF THE WORLD. This shows an average of £37 capital and £7 income for each inhabitant, -which is so low that there seems no accumulation of wealth. The Russian debt, unlike the French or English, is held abroad ; the serfs also owe the State £85,000,000 for their lands, and the evils of im- pecuniosity are enhanced by the flood of inconvertible paper money. Previous to 1810 the revenue averaged £9,500,000: there was no national debt, the annual subsidy from Great Britain enabling the Czar " to make both ends meet." The invasion by Buonaparte caused for some years an outlay of £30,000,000 per annum, the revenue rarely exceeding half that amount ; the difference was covered by loans from the Dutch, and various emissions of paper money. In 1820 Russia owed £35,000,000 to the Dutch merchants, paying them 7J per cent interest and 6 per cent sinking fund. Meantime the revenue by no means increased in ratio with the population, nor was the public debt of any magnitude until the Crimean War and the construction of railways necessarily involved enormous outlay. The growth of expenditure and debt is shown as follows : — Ann. expenditure. 1810 . . £9,500,000 1850 . . 18,000,000 1880 . . 74,000,000 More than half of the National Debt arises from wars of conquest, 1 but it appears that the greater number of the territories annexed within the last hundred years are a weakness to the empire, entailing heavy loss upon the national exchequer, since the expenditure far exceeds the revenue. 1 The recent war -with Turkey is stated officially to have cost £130,000,000. er inhab. National Debt. Per inh 5s. 6s. £50,000,000 15s. 18s. 682,000,000 160s. Poland Caucasus . Finland Other annexations RUSSIA Receipts. £2,384,000 599,000 24,000 4,585,000 Expenditure. £3,393,000 3,388,000 302,000 6,886,000 Loss. £1,009,000 2,789,000 278,000 2,301,000 £7,592,000 £13,969,000 £6,377,000 383 Thus, if Russia were stripped of the above provinces, her revenue would be £6,500,000 more than at present. The cost of collecting the taxes is, moreover, very great, say £12,000,000, or 16 per cent of the total. The incidence of taxation and burden of debt, compared with income, have grown so much heavier in recent times that the vitality of the empire is sapped, and there can be little hope for improvement until the masses are educated, the paper- money redeemed, and agriculture raised to a proper level. 384 PROGRESS OF THE WORLD. AUSTEIA AND HUNGARY. There is a marvellous difference between the Austrian monarchy of to-day and that of forty or fifty years ago, when the nation was said to be composed of peers, peasants, and pedlars. The nobility, in those days, were exempt from taxes, and numbered 472,000 persons, in two classes. First, the rich magnates who lived at Vienna in great mag- nificence ; second, those who had been ruined by lavish expenditure or plundered by their bailiffs, and who now tilled a few acres with their own hands. Most of them, especially in Hungary, spoke Latin as freely as their own tongue, but the bulk of the people were plunged in ignor- ance, 1 only 5 per cent being able to read. Cattle-lifting was a permanent occupation of one-half the inhabitants of Galitzia, known as Gorales or highlanders, who made periodical raids upon the Mazurakes or lowlanders. The richest lands in Hungary and Bohemia presented for miles the appearance of a desert. The population of Austria and Hungary was almost stationary previous to the emancipa- tion of serfs and introduction of railways. Austria. Hungary. Total. 1819 . . 16,231,000 10,976,000 27,207,000 1857 . . 18,224,500 13,768,500 31,993,000 1869 . . 20,210,000 15,425,000 35,635,000 The increase for thirty-eight years ending 1857 was less than \ per cent per annum, whereas in the thirteen years ending with 1870 it was double that ratio. The population is made up of 15,000,000 Slavs, 8,000,000 1 The superintendent of a large mining establishment asked an English traveller (1828) if Mexico was not one of the British Islands, and if coffee grew well in England. AUSTRIA-HUNGARY. 385 Germans, 6,000,000 Magyars, and 6,000,000 of Wallacks and other races. On comparing the returns for 1869 with those of 1857 we find that the population in some provinces increases much faster than in others : — i85r. 1869. Annual increase. Bohemia . 4,705,000 5,106,000 7 per 1000 Galitzia . 4,597,000 5,418,000 15 „ Austria 2,389,000 2,686,000 10 Styria 1,057,000 1,131,000 6 Moravia . 1,867,000 1,998,000 6 „ Tyrol 851,000 879,000 3 Other provinces 2,758,500 2,992,000 7 „ Empire of Austria 18,224,500 20,210,000 9 per 1000 Hungary proper 9,901,000 11,118,000 10 per 1000 Croatia, etc. 3,867,500 4,307,000 91 a 2 » Kingdom of Hunga ry 13,768,500 15,425,000 10 per 1000 Total Empire 31,993,000 35,635,000 9J per 1000 The increase of Galitzia is hardly altogether from births over deaths ; it probably arises in part from influx of Poles during the insurrections against Russia in 1864 and 1868. Hungary was visited by epidemics in 1872-1874, during which period the deaths were 81,000 over the births. At present the returns for the whole empire average thus : — Births. Deaths. Increase. Austria . 41 per 1000 32 per 1000 9 per 1000 inhab. Hungary ■ 43 „ 36 „ 7 „ Empire . . 42 „ 34 ,, _8 „ „ The mortality of infants is very high, more than one- third dying under 5 years of age. Although the marriage rate is the highest in Europe, the proportion of illegitimate births is 14 per cent, or double the European average. The principal cities have grown more rapidly in popula- tion than the rural parts : — 2 c 386 PROGRESS OE THE WORLD. 1815. 1875. Increase. Vienna . . 238,000 1,021,000 5J per cent per annum Buda-Pesth . . 76,000 296,000 ii „ Prague . . 78,000 190,000 2g »j a In every branch of industry, especially manufactures, mining, and commerce, there has been a notable advance- ment during the reign of the present Emperor, and in reviewing the progress made by Austria and Hungary a recent English -writer says : — " Austrian legislators are no longer a heavy drag on enterprise, as they were a few years ago. On the contrary, their spirit of reform sets an example to other nations.' - AGRICULTURE. After the treaty of Vienna the Austrian Empire enjoyed for a period of thirty-three years the utmost tranquillity, unambitious of improvement, and as feudal in agricultural matters as if mankind had turned back the pages of history for five centuries. Bohemia, Moravia, Galitzia, and Hungary, were owned by nobles who held such vast estates that some of them had over 10,000 serfs. 1 These serfs were obliged to the following service for their masters : — 1st. To give 104 days manual labour, or 52 days with their horses or oxen every year. 2d. To pay annual tribute of fowl, eggs, and butter. 3d. Each man to cut a load of wood, each woman to spin six lbs. wool, for the lord of the soil. 4th. One-ninth of all crops or increase of cattle to go to the landlord. The serfs lived in huts, without the means or the desire of bettering their condition ; while the land-owners kept up 1 In 1819 there were 1,427,000 male serfs, representing with their families a population of 7,000,000 souls, or one-fourth of the total. AUSTRIA-HUNGARY. 387 a style of the most princely magnificence and hospitality. 1 The latter derived their chief income from flocks and herds, but were overwhelmed with debts. Wheat was threshed by driving cattle over it, and the surplus grain stored in holes in the ground, for it was impossible to export any, since there were no roads. Pastoral industry was preferred to tillage. Wood-cutting also occupied a large number of people, some of the nobles having 30,000 or 40,000 acres of timber on their estates. Bears and wolves were so abundant, that in one year the Galitzian peasants received rewards for having slain 10 bears and 2000 wolves. In 1849 the Government abolished the feudal system, and released the serfs from all obligations for the lands held by them. Compensation was given to the proprietors in 5 per cent funds, of which the interest is levied one-half on the peasants, the other half on the proprietors themselves. So complete a transformation ensued, in the condition of the country, that the proprietors found their incomes doubled in less than twenty years. The value of land all over the empire rose 100 per cent, and the peasantry became industrious and thrifty. The improvement was not due solely to the new system of peasant-proprietors, but still more to the introduction of machinery on the estates of the nobles, and the construc- tion of railways. In 1870 the tenure of the lands was as follows : — Pmvinr.pi Area Number Average of ±Tovuiees. Area. of estates. holding. Upper and Lower Austria . 8,000,000 acres 189,500 42 acres Bohemia .... 13,000,000 „ 199,400 65 „ Galitzia .... 20,000,000 „ 496,100 40 „ Carryforward 41,000,000 „ 885,000 1 In 1832 the Bohemian magnates residing at Vienna held lands to the value of £45,000,000 sterling, hut seldom visited their estates. 388 PROGRESS OF THE WORLD. Provinces. Area. Brought forward Styiia Moravia Tyrol Seven other Provinces . 41,000,000 acres . 5,500,000 „ . 5,500,000 „ . 7,000,000 „ . 15,000,000 „ Austria . . 74,000,000 „ Hungary . 79,500,000 „ 153,500,000 Number Average of of estates. holding. 885,000 134,500 40 acres 97,800 56 „ 112,700 63 „ 277,308 54 „ 1,507,308 50 „ 1,925,000 40 „ 3,432,000 45 „ Although feudalism was abolished, the nobles were left in possession of vast properties. There are 900 magnates in Bohemia and Moravia who hold more than 6,000,000 acres, in estates ranging from 6000 to 60,000 acres, one-half timber. In like manner Galitzia has 1500 nobles who own 1 2 million acres. The other provinces belong for the most part to peasant -farmers, and the tenure of the whole Austro-Hungarian monarchy may be summed up thus : — Owners. Area. Average. Nobles . 11,800 62,000,000 acres 5200 acres Peasants . 3,431,000 72,000,000 ,, 21 „ The large estates are chiefly devoted to pastoral, the peasant-holdings to agricultural, industry. Wheat gives ten -fold, maize thirty-fold. Formerly one -third of the arable land was fallow, now only one-fourth. The returns for 1875-76 show:— Austria. Under grain . „ potatoes, vines, etc. ,, fallow . ,, pasture and waste „ forest . Hungary. Total. 16,000,000 acres 16,000,000 acres 32,000,000 acres 3,500,000 „ 2,000,000 „ 5,500,000 6,000,000 „ 14,000,000 28,000,000 „ 49,500,000 27,000,000 „ 52,000,000 8,000,000 21,500,000 25,000,000 74,000,000 79,000,000 153,000,000 The number of able-bodied men engaged in agriculture AUSTRIA-HUNGARY. 389 is 7,540,000. Allowing half a million for pastoral pursuits, in looking after 45 million head of farming stock, there remain 7 million for the cultivation of 52 million acres under plough, say 1\ acres per man, 1 against twelve acres in France, and eighteen in England. The average crops for the last three years have been — Wheat Barley, rye, etc. Potatoes Beet-root Wines . , There is no increase of the area under grain in the last thirty years, but a remarkable increase of potatoes, beet- root, and rotation-pastures. Moreover, ■ the grain crops have given a greater weight per acre since the introduction of machinery. 90,000,000 bushels 14 bushels per acre 390,000,000 16 „ ,, 310,000,000 108 „ 3,000,000 tons 7 tons 290,000,000 gallons 200 gallons „ Acres. Bushels. Per acre. 1840 . . 32,000,000 385,000,000 12 bushels 1874-1876 . . 32,000,000 480,000,000 15 „ At present the yield per acre is almost on a level with France, or half the average of England. The imports and exports of cereals for the last twelve years gave the following average : — Tons. Value. Imported. . . 260,000 £1, 540, 000 per annum Exported . . . 850,000 5,320,000 Surplus exports . 590,000 £3,780,000 „ Nothing has fluctuated more than the yield of wine. 1 Although the product of each man's labour is so small, the peasant- farmers may compare in prosperity with those of any other country. They pay no rent, their taxes are light, and wages seldom exceed £4 a year. 390 PROGRESS OF THE WORLD. Austria. Hungary. 1825 65 million gallons 90 million gallons 1840 260 „ „ 300 „ 1874-76 90 „ „ 70 „ 1877-78 100 ,, „ 275 „ Total. 155 million gallons 560 „ 160 „ o75 ,, „ The tobacco crop averages 100,000 tons, mostly grown in Hungary. The Tyrolese peasants cultivate silkworms, the yield being nearly half a million lbs. silk. Bees form an important industry in various provinces, the total number of hives being 15 millions. The following Table shows the proportion of land under tillage, and the ratio of proprietors in the general popula- tion, of each province in Austria proper. Cultivated land. Ratio of proprietors. Austria 40 per oen t 7 per cent of po Bohemia . 43 „ 4 „ Galitzia . 42 „ 9 „ Styria 22 „ 12 „ Moravia . 50 „ 5 „ Tyrol 13 „ 12 „ Seven other provinces 30 „ 10 „ 29 „ 8 „ The smallest proportion of cultivated land is where the proprietors are most numerous, these being the mountain- ous districts, such as Styria and Tyrol. In the last thirty years the wealthy land-owners have devoted much care to refining the breeds of cattle. The returns for 1850 and 1870 show a remarkable increase in the interval. Austria. Hungary. Total in 1870. Total in 1850. Increase Horses . 1,385,000 2,159,000 3,544,000 3,238,000 9 p. c. Cows 7,422,000 5,206,000 12,628,000 10,460,000 21 „ Sheep 5,026,000 15,077,000 20,103,000 17,080,000 18 „ Pigs 2,552,000 4,443,000 6,995,000 7,410,000 Goats 979,000 17,364,000 573,000 1,552,000 44,822,000 2,260,000 27,458,000 40,448,000 11 „ AUSTRIA-HUNGARY. 391 The flocks in Hungary do not multiply as in Australia or South America. From 1810 to 1850 the increase was only 25 per cent; but in later years the returns are more encouraging, for there is an increase of 50 per cent since 1850. In the provinces of Austria proper, sheep-farming has declined very notably since the emancipation of the serfs, many of the nobles having begun to prefer tillage. In 1840 the Austro-Hungarian monarchy counted 30 million sheep, or 50 per cent more than at present, but the civil wars of 1848-49 reduced the number by one-half. The Styrian peasants have sheep-farms to an elevation of 9000 feet over sea-level. The official returns above quoted do not comprehend the newly-annexed territory of Bosnia-Herzegovina, whose inhabitants possess 1,315,000 sheep, 505,000 cows, and 213,000 horses, while their grain-crops average 7,000,000 bushels. Large game is plentiful in the Bosnian forests, the peasants killing annually 150 bears, 200 lynxes, 1200 wolves, 8000 foxes, and 3000 tiger-cats. Austria exports cattle to France and England to a value of £2,000,000 yearly. The total rural products of the empire are as follow : — Value. Grain and potatoes .... £110,000,000 Wine, oil, beet-root, etc. . . 31,000,000 Timber 7,000,000 Cattle-farming 115,000,000 £263,000,000 MANUFACTURES. Dr. Becker's report in 1834 showed that the total number of operatives in Austria and Hungary was 595,000. The estimates published in 1870 gave double that number, viz. — 392 PROGRESS OF THE WORLD. Operatives. Value of manufactures. Textile fabrics 510,000 £39,400,000 Leather 80,000 10,200,000 Sugar and tobacco 80,000 12,100,000 Beer 44,000 10,690,000 Cutlery and glass 60,000 8,340,000 Minerals 92,000 7,100,000 Flour-mills, etc. 244,000 32,220,000 1,100,000 £120,050,000 There has been but trifling increase since 1870, the latest returns puttingthetotalmanufactures at£130,000,000. Cotton manufactures have risen to great importance, as shown by the imports of raw cotton and cotton yarn, com- pared with thirty or fifty years ago : — 1830 . . . 11,000,000 lbs. 1850 . . . 57,000,000 „ 1876 . . . 156,000,000 „ There are 120 large factories, mostly in Austria and Bohemia, counting nearly 2,000,000 spindles, and pro- ducing goods to a value of £13,000,000 per annum. Woollen factories, 230 in number, consume 70 million lbs. wool, most of which is native. The excess of imported over exported wool and woollen yarn averages 12 million lbs., viz. — Imports . . 36,000,000 lbs. Exports . . 24,000,000 „ The above factories employ 110,000 operatives, and the value of goods produced exceeds £8,000,000. , Bohemian linen is one of the oldest industries in Europe. It flourished in the fourteenth century, and still maintains a prominent place. In 1830 Bohemia raised 8000 tons flax, which was not sufficient for her linen factories, count- ing 60,000 weavers, who produce not only enough linen AUSTRIA-HUNGARY. 393 for the Austrian empire, but also export a quantity worth £2,000,000 sterling per annum. The growth of this in- dustry is shown by the exports : — 1865-66 . . £990,000 1871-73 . . 1,670,000 1875-76 . . 1,884,000 In fact, the exports have doubled in the last ten years. Silk factories consume 2,000,000 lbs. silk, of which one- sixth is grown in the Tyrol, the rest imported. The factories are unable to supply enough silk fabrics for home use, although the manufacture has multiplied five-fold in ten years. The import of raw silk shows as follows : — Average. Raw silk. 1865-66 . . . £292,000 1870-72 . . . 1,350,000 1875-76 . . . 1,490,000 Besides the home-made goods, Austria consumes im- ported silk fabrics to the value of £3,000,000 yearly. There are 100 glass factories in Bohemia, and 70 in other provinces, producing wares to the value of £1,000,000 sterling, three-fifths of which are exported. Bohemia has 1000 breweries, and the other provinces in proportion. The total product is 270,000,000 gallons, an increase of 50 per cent on the returns for 1852. The exportation averages 4,000,000 gallons, leaving 266,000,000 for home consumption, or 1\ gallons per head. The sugar industry has increased as follows in twenty years : 1857. 1878. Sugar-mills . 91 217 Beet-root . 410,000 tons 3,700,000 tons The annual production of beet-sugar is over 300,000 tons, worth £6,000,000 sterling, of which one-half is exported. 394 PROGRESS OF THE WORLD. Flour-mills constitute a very important industry. The single district of Szegedin has 300 floating mills on the Theiss. In 1877 the flour-mills of Hungary produced 1,500,000 tons flour, of which only 50 per cent was kept for home use. There are no fewer than 24,000 wind, water, or horse mills in Hungary, but their number is de- creasing with the introduction of steam-power. The growth of Austrian manufacturing industry in forty years is shown by the consumption of coal. 1839 .... 500,000 tons 1864 .... 3,500,000 ,, 1878 .... 14,300,000 „ MINERALS. At the beginning of the century Transylvania was called "the gold-mine of Europe," the yield of the Krem- nitz for 100 years averaging £300,000 per annum. Vari- ous mines of iron, copper, etc., were also carried on with such activity that Hungary had 45,000 miners, and at least as many more were employed in Illyria, Bohemia, and the salt-mines of Galitzia. Thus the annual yield of mines was not far short of £3,000,000 sterling in 1830, since which time it has more than doubled. The mining interest reached its highest point in 1873, when the total product was up to £9,000,000 ; but since then the iron industry has so much declined that the minerals do not now sum up £7,000,000 :— Coal . £3,320,000 Iron 1,710,000 Sundries 1,770,000 £6,800,000 Coal is increasing, the output now averaging 12,000,000 tons, or 20 per cent more than in 1873. The supply is, AUSTRIA-HUNGARY. 395 nevertheless, insufficient, and Austria has to import 3,000,000 tons yearly. The production of iron, in like manner, is so far short of the requirements, that the im- portation in the last ten years averaged 400,000 tons per annum. Styrian ore is considered equal to Swedish in quality, and yields about 45 per cent of metal. In the last century the Idria quicksilver mines averaged 600 tons per annum, but now they do not reach one-third of that quantity. These mines formerly exceeded the yield of the Almaden mines in Spain. Copper-mines in Hungary were advantageously worked before the present century. Most of the works, however, had been destroyed, the mines lying idle for several years. The ore is not rich, barely 4 per cent being pure metal. Tin is extracted in Bohemia, and lead in Illyria. Sixty per cent of the lead ore is metal. The salt-mine of Wieliczka in Galitzia, at the base of the Carpathians, is the greatest in the world, extending 600 miles, and seeming inexhaustible. For six centuries it has given prodigious quantities of salt. The Government has a monopoly, and sells the salt at £10 for home con- sumption, or £1 per ton for exportation. The works occupy 9000 miners. The various mining and furnace works employ 84,000 men, 6000 women, and 2100 children, the distribution of hands being as follows : — Hands. Coal 62,650 Iron 13,360 Silver 5,380 Lead, etc 10,710 92,100 The coal-miners raise 12,000,000 tons a year, which 396 PROGRESS OF THE WORLD. represents £72 per miner. The iron miners and founders turn out twenty tons, worth £120 a head. The product of the lead-mines is £80 each ; and the general average of all mining £87 per head. Notwithstanding the depression, especially in iron, which has prevailed for a couple of years, it is likely mining will take strength owing to the better economy in working. Each miner now produces much more than the average of 1873 : — Coal Iron. Miners. Per head. Operatives. Per head. 1873 . . 66,742 153 tons 20,823 171 tons 1876 . . 62,650 192 „ 13,360 20J „ Increased yield per head . 26 per cent 16 per cent In like manner the production of silver has in seven years increased 65 per cent per head. The royalties on all the mines in the empire were £70,000 in 1869, and at present exceed £124,000 sterling. The miners have, in the last seven years, constructed 700 miles of railway. Steam-power is aiding efficiently in the development of the mines, the number of engines at work having nearly doubled in seven years. 1869. 1876. In coal mines . . . 447 engines 842 engines In other 63 „ 118 „ 510 „ 960 „ The miners are a prosperous and thrifty class of people. The masters provide them with schools, libraries, hospitals, etc., besides which the men have 355 joint-stock banks, holding an aggregate capital of £717,000 sterling. AUSTRIA-HUNGARY. 397 COMMERCE. The trade of the empire has multiplied eight-fold in forty years, and twenty-seven-fold since the Treaty of Vienna — Imports. Exports. Total. 1819 . £3,200,000 £3,000,000 £6,200,000 1841 . 10,400,000 11,300,000 21,700,000 1851 . 15,600,000 13,400,000 29,000,000 1866-67 35,800,000 45,300,000 81,100,000 1875-76 81,400,000 78,650,000 160,050,000 The country lay in a state of extreme depression for thirty years, owing to the want of roads, the super-abun- dance of paper -money, the degraded condition of the peasantry, and the absence of any desire on the part of the nobles to improve even the breeds of sheep. The first impulse given to trade was the formation of the Austrian Lloyd's company in 1833, which rapidly extended its commercial relations in the Levant. The second element of progress was the Danube Steam Navigation Company in 1850, which proved so successful that the company two years later established a number of tug-steamers connecting the Hungarian ports with the Black Sea and Dardanelles. The company reduced its fares in 1865, and the receipts at once rose 22 per cent. The Danube was only opened to the flags of all nations in 1856, yet the competition has not prejudiced the earnings of the company in question : — 1850-56 average earnings . £700, 000 per annum. 1860-65 ,, „ . 900,000 1866-70 „ „ . 1,100,000 The Danubian company's fleet has nearly doubled in twenty years, and counts at present 193 steamers, with an aggregate horse-power of 17,200. The number of passen- gers averages 1,250,000 yearly, and the goods traffic 398 PROGRESS OF THE WORLD. 1,350,000 tons. The Austrian Lloyd has seventy-one superb ocean-steamers, with 16,000 horse-power, Clyde-built vessels. The earnings in 1878 amounted to £984,000, and the dividend to 10 per cent. There is but small increase in the mercantile marine of the Austrian empire during the last ten years : — 1869. 1878, Steamers . . 47,242 tons 55,383 tons Sailing . . 269,135 „ 269,700 ,, 316,377 „ 325,083 „ The tonnage of entries in Austrian ports has increased 33 per cent in ten years, viz. — 1865-66. 1875-76. Austrian arrivals . 2,790,000 tons 3, 605, 000 tons Foreign do. . 390,000 „ 597,000 „ 3,180,000 „ 4,202,000 „ The balance of trade for twelve years shows as fol- lows : — Imports. Exports. Surplus. 1865-70 .£286,000,000 £320,000,000 £34,000,000 exports 1871-76 . 489,000,000 424,000,000 65,000,000 imports £775,000,000 £744,000,000 £31,000,000 imports The general average for the twelve years results as fol- lows : — Imports . . . £64,500,000 per annum Exports . . . 62,000,000 Surplus imports . £2,500,000 RAILWAYS AND CANALS. The first care of the Government after the Peace of Vienna was to construct roads. In the interval between AUSTRIA-HUNGARY. 399 1815 and 1875 no less than 60,000 miles of macadamised highroads were made, most of them at prodigious labour and expense. The road from Verona to Bukovina is 1000 miles long, traversing the whole empire and crossing the Alps, besides which various radiating highways were made to connect Vienna with the frontiers of Saxony, Bavaria, and Prussia. Sixty passes were made over the Alps, some of them with casemate protection against the avalanches. The Stelvio Pass is a greater work than either the Simplon or Mont Cenis. Railways may be said to date from 1849; the Linz and Budweiss line was twenty years previous, but generally worked by horses. At first the Government made the principal lines, but it was soon compelled by fiscal exi- gencies to sell them to French and German companies. The progress of construction in the last few years is very remarkable. MiJes in traffic. 1855 . . . 1,760 1868 . . . 4,390 1878 . . . 12,100 The total at present is made up as follows : — Austria 7,296 miles Hungary . 4,274 „ Mining and tramways 530 ,, 12,100 During a period of six years the new lines opened to traffic (1868-1874) averaged 1000 miles yearly. This in great measure explains the circumstance of the trade of the empire doubling between the years 1866 and 1876. The traffic returns for 1878 compare with 1868 as follows : — - 400 PROGRESS OF THE WORLD. 1868. 1878. Miles open . . • 4,390 12,100 Cost . . . £85,000,000 £255,000,000 Number of passengers 14,500,000 36,000,000 Goods, tons . . 20,000,000 48,000,000 Receipts . . £12,000,000 £18,500,000 Expenses . . £7,500,000 £11,000,000 Traffic per mile . £2, 730 per arm. £1, 530 per ann. There are but two canals of much value, that which connects the Theiss and Danube, 80 miles in length, and that from Vienna to Neustadt, 33 miles. The Danube is only at certain seasons available for commerce : in winter it is frozen, and in summer that portion between Presburg and Vienna is only navigable for vessels under two feet draught. Formerly all communication between opposite banks of the Danube at Buda-Pesth depended on a bridge of forty-seven boats chained together, except in winter, when the ice offered a secure highway. Now there is not only a fine suspension bridge, but also a railway across the Danube at this point. INSTRUCTION. The times have changed since an Austrian Kaiser said, " I want not my subjects to be scholars, but to obey my orders." The Government has laboured for thirty years to promote the instruction of the masses, on which all constitutional government must seek its most solid basis. The empire of the Hapsburgs is not precisely on a footing with Scotland, United States, or Prussia, as to popular education, but it has made great strides in forty years. Schools. Children. Ratio to pop. 1837 . 16,754 1,562,500 54 per cent 1870 . 31,100 3,189,000 9 The grade of instruction as represented in the attend- ance at the above schools is as follows : — AUSTRIA-HUNGARY. 401 School children. Not at school. Austria and Tyrol 90 per cent 10 per cent Moravia 90 j j 10 »> Styria 80 „ 20 „ Hungary ' 76 ») 24 ii Illyria . ' 47 „ 53 is Galitzia 27 ,, 73 ,, Bukovina . 20 >. 80 > > General average 70 30 ii In Austria 57 per cent of the adults can read and write, in Hungary only 39 per cent. In 1830 there were but 58 printing-presses in the whole empire; at present there are 122 in the city of Vienna alone. In 1870 the number of newspapers was 362, and of so many tongues is the monarchy composed that only one-half of the above number appeared in German. There are 45 literary and scientific societies, with 15,600 members. Some of the universities have valuable libraries, e.g. Vienna, 300,000 volumes ; Prague, 100,000 ; the number of public libraries being over fifty, with 3,000,000 volumes. BANKS. The Imperial Bank of Vienna was founded in 1816, and ceased to exist on January 1, 1880, when it was trans- formed into the Austro-Hungarian Bank. It had the sole right of emission, and a capital of £11,000,000 sterling. The increase of its business from 1840 to 1876 was as follows : — 1840. 1876. Discounts . . . £30,830,000 £78,190,000 Deposits ... ... 11,006,000 Gross earnings . . 528,600 984,200 Dividends ... 4 per cent 7f per cent 2 D 402 PROGRESS OF THE WORLD. The bank issued mortgage bonds on house and landed property. The amount in circulation in 1878 was : — On lands .... £7,920,000 ,, houses. . . . 2,390,000 £10,310,000 The bullion reserve was £16,500,000, or 56 per cent of the amount of its notes in circulation. The joint-stock Banks of Vienna suffered so heavily during recent stormy periods that their numbers are de- clining. 1876. 1877. Number of banks 17 14 Capital . £13,850,000 £11,438,000 Bills in safe E . 10,091,000 11,302,000 Advances . 16,420,000 13,020,000 The Bank of Hungary, founded in 1842, with a capital of £200,000, becomes merged in the new Austro-Hungarian Bank, which will have the sole right of issue in Austria and Hungary. The business of the National Bank of Hungary for the year 1877 showed as follows : — Discounts . . . £3,238,000 Mortgages . . . 5,980,000 £9,218,000 In the official reports of 1875 the following summary of banks and joint-stock companies shows the rapidly increasing prosperity of Hungary : — 1867. 1874. Banks and companies . . 59 386 Capital . . . £7,000,000 £15,500,000 Deposits in banks . 11,500,000 18,500,000 There are 170 joint-stock banks in Austria and Hungary, AUSTRIA-HUNGARY. 403 the aggregate of their paid-up capital and deposits amount- ing to £49,000,000. There are also 557 savings banks with nearly 2,000,000 depositors, the deposits reaching a total of £79,150,000, being the largest sum held in savings banks in any country of Europe. WEALTH AND FINANCES. Twice in the first quarter of the present century the empire formally declared bankruptcy, in 1811 and 1814, by paying the holders of Government paper money from 20 to 40 per cent of the amount of their notes. Notes called in. A ™°™' Bate. 1811 . £106,000,000 £21,000,000 20 p. c. 1814 . 25,000,000 10,000,000 40 „ The incidence of taxation is high, owing to the rapid growth of public debt. Debt. Per inhab. Expenditure. Per inhab. 1840 . . £125,000,000 £4 £30,000,000 20s. 1879 . . 419,000,000 12 66,000,000 36s. The debt is equal to 28 per cent of the capital of the empire, and the taxation absorbs 15 per cent of the income. It is, however, gratifying to observe that these burthens are relatively much lighter than forty years ago, the national earnings having more than trebled, while the taxa- tion has only doubled. The capital and income of the empire are as follow : — Capital. Income. Ratio. Agricultural . . £1,564,000,000 £263,000,000 17 p. <;. General and commercial 1,215,000,000 162,000,000 13 „ £2,779,000,000 £425,000,000 15 p. c. This gives an average of £78 capital and £12 income 404 PROGRESS OF THE WORLD. for each inhabitant, about half the ratio of France. No country (except the United States) shows so high a return for agricultural capital, -which is explained by the fact that cultivated land may be bought for £1 6, and the forest and pasture at £5 per acre. The profit on the general and commercial capital, on the other hand, is less than in most countries. In one respect Austria has an immense advantage over the rest of Europe : her rural industry is unfettered by encumbrances, the total of rural mortgages being under £120,000,000, or 7 per cent of the agricultural capital. Moreover, the interest charged is very low, one-third of the mortgages being due to rural banks, and the rest to private lenders at 7 per cent. To judge by the savings banks, which show an increase of £2,250,000 per annum during the last eighteen years, there is a considerable accumulation of wealth each year ; the increase of the savings banks (vide Appendix) is only sur- passed by Germany, and the ratio of deposits for popu- lation is equal to Great Britain. ITALY. 405 ITALY. Until recently Italy was but a geographical expression. Since the beginning of the century she had seen her terri- tory occupied alternately by French and Austrian troops, but it often happened that her foreign masters promoted substantial progress. The French introduced many reforms, legislative and municipal ; they abolished the torture of prisoners, and compelled the inhabitants of the principal cities to attend to hygienic regulations. Owing, however, to the divided condition of the country, the want of roads, the restrictions on commerce, and the ignorance of the masses, there was little or no advancement in the first half of the century. Down to 1850 it was common to meet three pair of oxen drawing a pipe of wine ; the peasants could not export grain unless whenever the municipal authorities saw fit ; brigandage formed a prevalent feature in rural life ; and the inhabitants counted the hours from sunset to sunset, up to 24 o'clock, sooner than adopt what they termed the " tempo Francese," or ordinary method. It is only within the last thirty years that the country has fairly entered on the path of progress ; railways have been constructed through all parts of the peninsula ; schools are multiplying in every province ; and most of the obstacles to commerce have been removed. Population has increased but slowly, say 33 per cent in sixty years :— 1820 21,350,000 inhabitants 1850 23,472,000 „ 1878 28,944,000 406 PROGRESS OF THE WORLD. During the thirty years preceding 1850 the increase was only 3 per 1000 per annum; in the years subsequent to 1850 it has been uniformly 7 per 1000. Although the birth-rate is higher than in England, the rate of increase is much less. Per 1000 inhabitants. Italy. England. Births 38i 36 Deaths 30^ 22 Increase 8 14 The average birth-rate in Italy was 36 J per 1000 pre- vious to 1870, but since that year it has been 38|-; the marriage-rate has in like manner risen from 14J to 15| per 1000. Illegitimate births are as 6| per cent, which is much higher than in England, but considerably under the European average of 8 per cent. The diet of the poorer classes is insufficient to maintain the naturally robust physique of the race. Signor Bodio shows that 38 per cent of the conscripts are rejected by the army surgeons — that is, 15 per cent for being under the required height (5 feet 2 inches) ; and 23 per cent for physical defect. Although the Italians are so temperate in eating and drinking, so exempt from gout and other diseases, the average of life is one-third shorter than in England, being only twenty-eight years. This is mainly due to the enor- mous mortality of children under five years, which is exactly 50 per cent higher than in England, viz. — Italy. England. Die nnder five years . 39 per cent 26 per cent Complete fifth year . 61 ,, 74 ,, Hence it will be seen that the difference in the mortal- ity of adults is not so great between the two countries ITALY. 407 as might appear. Insanity is rare, owing to the sobriety of the people : the rate is 1 in 4800 inhabitants, or one- twelfth of the rates in Ireland, Scotland, and Norway. Emigration has no visible effect on the population. About 30,000 persons leave Italy every year for South America, and the stream of returning emigrants ranges from 10,000 to 20,000. Crime appears to have increased in recent years, 1 since the abolition of capital punishment. AGRICULTURE. The garden of Europe is by no means as well cultivated as it might be. Some parts, indeed, are models of agri- culture, such as Lombardy ; others are equally fertile, but utterly neglected. The irrigated plains of Lombardy rent for £6, and even £7, per acre; in that part of Italy 90 per cent of the land is under crops. Sicily, on the other hand, which for centuries fed both the Eoman Empire and Carthage, does not now raise enough grain for her two million inhabitants, although in the most deserted parts of the island the traveller comes upon a rich loam, ten to eighteen feet thick. Portions of Tuscany and Naples are fairly cultivated, but the Campagna di Eoma is a howling waste, except such patches as are tilled periodically by the Abruzzi peasants. The latest returns show as follows : — Acres. Crop. Per acre. Wheat 11,550,000 142,000,000 bushels 124 bushels Maize 4,220,000 85,000,000 „ 20 „ Barley and oats 2,130,000 38,000,000 „ 18 „ Potatoes 170,000 20,000,000 „ 110 „ Carry forward 18,070,000 1 In 1874 there were 3438 murders and 31,474 cases of stabbing, say 1 in 9100 inhabitants murdered and 1 in 980 stabbed, one-fourth of the murders being in Sicily (Kolb). 408 PROGRESS OF THE WORLD. Acres. Brot. forward 18,070,000 Vines . 4,620,000 Olives . 2,260,000 Eiee, beans, etc. 2,340,000 Crop. 660,000,000 gallons 33,000,000 „ Per acre. 145 gallons 15 „ Total tillage 27,290,000 The rest of the kingdom is composed of 12,500,000 acres forest, and 32,000,000 of mountain and pasture — the total area being under 72,000,000 acres. There are 1,865,000 land-owners, thus giving an average of 39 acres to each estate ; but the lands are very unevenly distributed. Owners. Mfflion Average. Lombardy and Piedmont . 1,180,000 19 16 acres Tuscany and Eomagna . 145,000 16 110 Naples . . . 120,000 21 180 „ Eest of Italy . . 410,000 16 40 „ 1,865,000 72 39 Most of the owners in Lombardy and Piedmont till their own lands, but in Central and Southern Italy the estates are usually given out to tenants on the Metayer system or for rent. There are 604,000 estates, or one-third of the total in the kingdom, held in this manner. There are 1,248,000 Metayer tenants in Tuscany, Romagna, Modena, etc., holding 18,000,000 acres — an average of 15 acres each. Tenant-farmers paying rent are found mostly in Lombardy and Naples, to the number of 310,000, who hold altogether some 20,000,000 acres, or 66 acres each. The whole system of agriculture may be summed up as follows : — Number. Area. Average. Proprietors . . 1,140,000 33,000,000 acres 30 acres Metayers . . 1,248,000 18,000,000 „ 15 „ Tenants . . 310,000 20,000,000 „ 66 „ 2,698,000 71,000,000 26 „ ITA1Y. 409 The total of the agricultural population is as follows : — Males. Females. Total. Farmers . 3,126,000 1,880,000 5,016,000 Labourers . 1,744,000 952,000 2,694,000 4,870,000 2 ,840,000 7,710,000 Labour is relatively much dearer than in England, as the Marquis Ridolfi showed (1854), in this manner: — Italy. England. Crops per acre . . 30s. 85s. Labour . 50 per cent 32 per cent Taxes • 17 „ 30 „ Profit . 10s. per acre 30s. per acre According to the report of the British Secretary of Legation in 1868, the net profit was then nearly 16 shillings per acre. The land-tax varies from _9 per cent in Tuscany toJ 1 5_rjeiJien±inXonibardy. Some land-owners get nothing, unless in good years, from the Metayer tenants, nor is it unfrequent for them to have to pay the local taxes also, and thus suffer actual loss by reason of their estates. Mean- time the peasants are (except in Lombardy and Piedmont) almost as poor as in Spain or Russia. Capital and machinery would perhaps improve the condition of affairs. The ordinary yield of wheat is eight-fold, the total grain crops barely reaching 265 million bushels, which is not sufficient for home consumption. The imports and exports of grain for ten years showed thus : — Tons. Value. 1868-77 Grain imports (ten years) . . 3,100,000 £35,300,000 Do. exported „ . . 1,900,000 21,000,000 Surplus imports ,, „ . . 1,200,000 14,300,000 This is an average of 120,000 tons imported annually, at a cost of £1,500,000 sterling. Italians boast, probably with reason, that the Po valley 410 PROGRESS OF THE WORLD. irrigation is unsurpassed in the world. Every day in summer a volume of 45 million tons of water is diffused over an area of 1,370,000 acres of teeming fertility, by means of an elaborate system of sluices and canals. The water supply is measured through little gates, and the permanent right to one inch of water has been sold for £500, and even £800 sterling. A farmer having, say, 100 acres in the valley of the Po, pays £600 a year rent ; for three consecutive years, rice, then two years meadow. So rich are these lands that 100 acres will support 120 cows, each of which yields £8 worth of cheese and butter annually. Sometimes the landlords give these lands on halves, expecting a net return of about £5 per acre. The average crop of rice is treble the weight of wheat per acre. It is, however, so unhealthy a mode of agriculture that the death- rate of labourers is very high. The area under rice is only 460,000 acres. Cheese. — -The kind commonly known as Parmesan is probably the best in the world. The yield has been variously stated j sometimes 11,000 tons, sometimes 35,000 tons. Each cow gives 300 lbs. cheese per annum, worth £10 sterling. About 100,000 cows come from Switzerland every year and produce 14,000 tons of cheese, value £1,000,000 sterling, after which they are again driven back to Switzerland. Wine and OH. — The vintage varies from 600 to 700 million gallons, or little more than half that of France, the area under vines being about one-fifth less in Italy. Some of the best wines are grown in Sicily. The production of wine and oil is returned as follows : — ITALY. 411 Wine. Oil. North and Central Italy . 440,000,000 gallons 14,000,000 gallons Naples .... 52,000,000 „ 13,000,000 ,, Sicily .... 160,000,000 „ 6,000,000 ,, 652,000,000 33,000,000 The exportation of wine is increasing very rapidly, being now 9 million gallons, or 50 per cent more than in the years 1865-66-67. The shipments of oil have in the same time grown 36 per cent. An acre of vineyard gives, as stated above, 145 gallons of wine, against 220 gallons in France, and 75 gallons in Spain. An acre of olive-grove produces 4^ bushels of olives, equivalent to 14 gallons of oil, as compared with 1 6 gallons per acre in Spain. Pdshcre. — The half of Italy is under pasture in a natural state. Ten million sheep and cows are tended in the plains and valleys. Numberless goats find sustenance in the rocky Apennines or Abruzzi, and thousands of swine are fattened in the oak and pine forests. There are large numbers of buffaloes, in a tame state, used for ploughing and draught. The returns of stock show 1 5 million head of all kinds, viz. — Cows Horses and mules Asses Sheep Pigs . . . Goats Number. 3,490,000 950,000 502,000 7,150,000 1,470,000 1,720,000 The total value of the above stock is almost £60,000,000, an average of £2 for each inhabitant, or little more than one-third of the European average. The rural products may be summed up thus : — 412 PROGRESS OF THE WORLD. Grain £54,000,000 "Wine 27,000,000 Oil, rice, fruit, etc. 22,000,000 Silk .... 11,000,000 Pastoral products 28,000,000 £142,000,000 This is an average of £5 per inhabitant, whereas if Italy were better cultivated the ratio would be two or three times as much. MANUFACTURES. Great progress has been made in the last twenty-five years, reviving in a measure many of those industries which had gained wealth and renown for Italy in the Middle Ages. There was almost a blank interval from the peace of 1815 down to 1850, the men of capital preferring to invest in lands, rather than submit to capricious regulations affecting all classes of industry. In some districts the peasants were allowed to export wool, in others it was a felony ; and in like manner manufactures were subject to interference. Venice no longer counted her thousands of silk opera- tives ; even her glass industry languished. Florence, whose woollen factories in the last century employed 30,000 hands, was now a city of quiet retire- ment. The Tuscan maidens were the sole manufacturers of Leghorn bonnets, and exported £130,000 worth to England. Milan made locks and keys and other hardware instead of the steel blades of former times. The Etrurians had long since forgotten the art of their ancient pottery. Cheese was the only manufacture that flourished. Such was the decadence that a traveller in 1820 ITALY. 413. mentioned that in a city of 20,000 souls lie was unable to obtain a pair of gloves, and in a town of 11,000 inhabitants he could "not get a piece of soap. Silk was the first industry to revive, and others followed in its train. At present the chief manufactures are stated as follows : — Silks .... £5,230,000 Cottons .... 5,110,000 Woollens and hemp . 3,850,000 Flour and macaroni 22,400,000 Glass, hardware, leather . 3,300,000 Velvet, fine arts, etc. 2,400,000 £42,290,000 All the above are carried on in Lombardy and Sardinia, besides which the Genoese boat-builders construct 100,000 tons of shipping yearly. Genoa produces velvet to the value of £500,000 sterling. In Southern Italy the manu- factures belong more properly to the fine arts, such as mosaics, cameos, coral, etc. Flour mills occupy a large number of hands in many districts. Most of them are water-mills, built on rafts, on account of the periodical fall of the rivers. It is gratifying to observe that while the agricultural products, judging by exportation, show an increase of 20 per cent in the last ten years, there has also been a remark- able growth of manufactures and minerals, viz. — Increase. Cotton fabrics . 150 per cent Woollen ,, 52 „ Silken ,, 190 Iron ,, 32 „ Lead , , 25 ,, Sulphur 18 „ Minerals. — Sulphur has long held the foremost place, 414 PROGRESS OF THE WORLD. the world getting most of its supply from Sicily. There are 600 sulphur-mines near Girgenti, employing 22,000 men, and producing over 200,000 tons per annum, 1 worth £6 per ton. Elba was famous for its iron in the time of the Romans. Small quantities are still extracted, but it is sent to Wales for smelting, as fuel is scarce and dear. There is also a superior kind of iron obtained at Brescia, which is made into steel, at Milan, for cutlery. Lead is found in many places, in sufficient quantity to allow 25,000 tons for exportation over and above home con- sumption. Carrara marble is another valuable mineral, chiefly used for statuary. Silk. — This is the most valuable of Italian products, the annual exportation of raw silk averaging £10,000,000 sterling. Lombardy is the chief seat of this industry, the silk grown being almost wholly (96 per cent) of Japanese seed. The eggs or seed are imported from Japan on cards at a cost of £12,000 sterling per ton (say 7s. per oz.) the average importation being from 70 to 80 tons per annum. The eggs were formerly more prolific, and yielded 50 lbs. of cocoons per oz., but at present an ounce gives only 35 lbs., worth about 50s., or seven times the cost of the eggs. The single province of Lombardy raises an annual crop of 11,000 tons cocoons, worth £200 per ton. For a period of thirteen years down to 1878, the silk trade of Italy may be summed up thus : — Paid for Japanese eggs . £13,200,000 Exported raw silk . . 127,600,000 Profit . £114,400,000 The production at present averages 50 per cent more than it did ten years ago, as shown by the official returns. 1 In 1860 the shipments were under 70,000 tons. ITALY. 415 Annual average. Tons. Value. 1865-1868 1940 £7,300,000 1869-1873 2880 11,570,000 1874-1877 3110 10,160,000 Italy produces one-third of the silk of the world. There are factories for " throwing " the silk at Milan and Turin, and some of the fibre is consumed at home in the manufacture of velvets and damasks : but the chief quan- tity is exported to France for the Lyons factories. COMMERCE. In the early part of the century the trade with foreign countries was small. The mercantile glory of Venice had passed away. The import trade consisted of grain from Odessa, beans from Egypt, cottons from England, and dry cod-fish from Canada. The exports included Genoese velvets, Sicilian wines, Lombard silk, and oil from Lucca. The new epoch may be said to date from 1850, when industry received an impulse from the new railways. If we take for example the trade of Genoa we find it doubled in thirty years, viz. — 1835 . . £8,220,000. 1867 . . 14,410,000 In 1835 Genoa had 150 sea-going vessels : in 1867 she built more than that number yearly. It is only since Italy has been constituted as one kingdom that any exact statistics of commerce can be arrived at. The increase in thirteen years has been very great both in imports and exports : — Imports. Increase. Exports. Increase. Coal .... 160 p. u. Silk . 36 p. u. Raw cotton and yarn 230 „ Oil . . 35 ,, Sugar 33 „ Cattle ■ HI „ "Wool 52 „ Wine . . 42 „ 416 PROGRESS OF THE WORLD. Thus the increase in ten years has been fully 40 per cent, viz. — Imports. Exports. Total. 1865-70 Average . £39,000,000 £31,000,000 £70,000,000 1875-77 „ . 52,000,000 46,000,000 98,000,000 From the statements of Italian ports it appears the tonnage of vessels entering said ports has increased 15 per cent. 1865-66. 1875-76. Increase. Italian . . 1,160,000 tons 1,290,000 tons 11 p. c. Foreign . . 2,070,000 „ 2,420,000 „ 17 „ 3,230,000 „ 3,710,000 „ 15 ,, The average trade for the last ten years has been £100,000,000. The balance against the country has been £6,000,000 per annum, but the imports of specie have, nevertheless, exceeded the exports by £100,000 yearly. Italy has the fifth merchant navy in the world, having passed France since 1866, and being now very little behind Germany. The increase of shipping in ten years shows as follows : — 1868. 1878. Tonnage of steamers . . . 23,000 tons 58,000 tons „ of sailing ships . . 860,000 „ 1,010,000 ,, Total 883,000 ,, 1,068,000 „ This is equivalent to a rise of 2 per cent per annum. INSTRUCTION. The parent of arts and letters had been for more than a century one of the most backward countries in education. The universities of the Middle Age stand in grass-grown streets. Padua, which counted 18,000 students, has even now but 300, and the other great schools are in like deca- dence. There is, however, at present a marked tendency to ITALY. 417 improvement in popular education, the number of adults who can read and write increasing every year. The pro- portion in 1861 was barely 35 per cent, whereas in 1878 it had risen to 45 per cent, being three times as high in Sardinia and Lombardy as in Sicily or Naples. The ratio of school children to population has more than doubled since 1830, and is now the same that it was in France forty years ago. On comparing the post-office returns, it will be, moreover, seen that the ratio of letters to each inhabitant has risen 33 per cent in the last ten years. There are 210 public libraries, with 4,000,000 volumes, and 950,000 readers yearly. In fine arts Italy still holds the foremost rank, and her galleries of pictures and statuary would, if placed in a line, form several hundred miles in length. Literature has made notable advancement in recent years, there being now 1120 newspapers, the largest in circulation being the Secolo of Milan, 55,000 copies daily. The number of new books published averages 1520 yearly. RAILWAYS AND CANALS. The first railway was constructed in 1839, but nothing more was done for twenty years. The present complete system may be said to have been commenced in 1861, there being now 5130 miles in traffic, representing an outlay of £101,000,000. Nearly one-half of the existing lines were made by Government, which caused an increase of £50,000,000 to the National Debt. The general profit on all the lines does not exceed 2-J- per cent on the cost, owing to the lightness of the goods traffic ; the statement for 1876 showing as follows : — Passengers . . . 28,000,000 Goods 7,000,000 tons Gross earnings . . . £1260 per mile Working expenses . . £840 „ 2 E 418 PROGRESS OF THE WORLD. Canals are more used for irrigation than traffic. Of the twelve in Lombardy only two are navigable, those of the Ticino and the Cavour. The shorter ones of Pavia, Padua, Pisa, etc., are little more than aqueducts. The cost of the Cavour canal was £2,500,000 sterling; it discharges 110 tons of water per second from the Po into the Ticino. The sums expended by the State in draining Lake Bientina, near Pisa, and the marshes of the Campagna di Eoma amounted in 1876 to £1,740,000. The newest canal is that made by Duke Torlonia at Lake Fucino, near Terra- cina, reclaiming 37,000 acres of land. The total inland navigation is officially stated to reach 1875 miles between rivers and .canals. BANKS. The Bank of Italy has a capital of £9,000,000 and the right to emit £40,000,000 of inconvertible notes; the deposits average £5,000,000. The banks of Rome, Tus- cany, and Naples have an' aggregate paid-up capital of £4,250,000. There are, moreover, 226 joint-stock and private banks, whose registered paid-up capital reaches £15,500,000. In 1866 rural banks, called Credito Fondiaro, were established at Naples, Milan, and other large cities, to make advances not less than £40, nor over £20,000, to land-owners on mortgage of their properties up to 50 per cent of their value. The banks gave the borrowers mortgage debentures, charging 5 per cent interest and 1 per cent sinking fund per annum. The emission aver- aged £500,000 sterling yearly; and in 1869 the deben- tures had fallen to 77 per cent in the market, so that the borrower actually paid 8 per cent per annum. In 1870 were founded two other banks, the Agricola Nazionale ITALY. 419 and the Agricola Italiana, on the same principle as the preceding. Savings banks were first introduced in 1822 at Venice and Milan, but their progress was, until recent years, slower than in the rest of Europe. The returns show as follows : — Banks. Depositors. Amount. 1825 . 11 £108,000 1860 . . 125 13,925,000 1878 . . 3627 1,115,000 28,094,000 From 1875 till 1878 the number of depositors in- creased 100,000 per annum, and the amount of deposits £2,200,000 per annum. The average of each deposit is £25, and the limit is £200, the Government guaranteeing 4-J- per cent interest. One-third of the deposits is under £4 sterling. Although Italy was the first country in Europe to establish banks, the banking power of the kingdom is rela- tively small, say £65,000,000, or 4 per cent of the capital of the country. FINANCES AND WEALTH. The national wealth and income are greater than those of Spain and Portugal combined, but still comparatively small : — Capital. Income. Ratio. Agricultural . . . £1,048,000,000 £142 13| Geueral and commercial . 565,000,000 88 15§ £1,613,000,000 £230 lij This gives an average of £57 capital and £8 income for each inhabitant. The income-tax lists give a much lower return, less than half ; but adopting their classification, the above total would be distributed thus among the heads of families : — 420 PROGRESS OF THE WORLD. No. of persons. Average Income. Total. First class . . . 615,000 £130 £80,000,000 Second Third Fourth Families 601,000 80 48,000,000 2,435,000 30 73,000,000 2,120,000 12 25,000,000 5,771,000 £39 £226,000,000 There are 97,000 persons of the first class resident in the six largest cities, Naples occupying the foremost rank for affluence, and the others being in this order : — Turin, Milan, Palermo, Rome, and Florence. An Italian econo- mist has estimated .the income of the nation as high as £275,000,000, or nearly £10 per inhabitant, putting down the urban population at £30, the rural at £6 per head. If, however, the same method be adopted (see page 41) as in measuring the wealth of other nations, it will be found the Italian estimate is 15 per cent too high. The incidence of taxation (including local) is the heaviest in all Europe, being 35 per cent of income, which is double the European average, and three times that of Great Britain. No other country has grown so rapidly in debt and taxation, as appears from the following Table : — Nat. debt. Per inhab. Nat. expend. Per inhab. 1821 . . . £33,000,000 £1£ £8,320,000 8s. 1860 . . . 97,000,000 4 41,000,000 34s. 1878 . . . 405,000,000 14 59,200,000 41s. Nor is it merely the weight of debt and expenditure that overpowers the energies of the nation, but still more the money-lenders who charge exorbitant interest. The whole kingdom, except Lombardy, is mortgaged up to half its value : — Valuation. Mortgages. Eatio. Lombardy . . . £80,000,000 £15,000,000 19 per cent Rest of Italy . . 1,167,000,000 520,000,000 45 ,, £1,247,000,000 £535,000,000 43 ITALY. 421 Three-fourths of this sum is due on rural properties, the chief burthen falling on small farmers, as 70 per cent of the mortgages are found to be for sums less than £40. The medium rate of interest charged is 9 per cent in Pied- mont, 16 in Naples, and 24 in the island of Sardinia ; but some of the mortgages are actually paying 30 per cent per annum. 1 In order to remedy this evil, rural banks were founded in 1866 in various provinces, but their number and resources are insufficient for all needs. It is, mean- time, gratifying to note a steady accumulation of 'wealth among the proletarian classes, as shown in the savings banks returns. The annual increase of deposits for the last twenty years has been £820,000, an increase only surpassed by five other States in Europe. There is in Italy a large proportion of industrious, thrifty people, and as the last ten years have witnessed such remarkable increase of commerce, shipping, manufactures, and agricultural products, there is room to hope that the fortunes of the country will steadily improve. Economy in the national expenditure, and redemption of the inconvertible paper money, would work marvels in the condition of Italy. 1 It is, doubtless, owing to such exorbitant interest that we find the amount of mortgages rose from £353, 000, 000 in 1862 to £535, 000, 000 in 1870, an increase of 50 per cent in ten years ! 422 PROGRESS OF THE WORLD. SPAIN". Since the beginning of the century Spain has made great progress, in spite of civil wars, trade restrictions, and the want of highroads. In commerce, instruction, and legislation, we see (especially in the last four years) a notable improvement. Although the proportion of married people is 2 per cent less than in the last century, and the loss of life has been so considerable in the Carlist wars and the Cuban rebellion, still the growth of population has been satisfac- tory — less, indeed, than in England and Germany, but four times greater than in France. There are, nevertheless, certain parts of Spain in decadence ; in Cadiz, for example, the deaths are regularly 5 per cent over the number of births. The census of 1870 showed that Spain had in- creased 33 per cent in thirty-seven years : — Population. 1833 . 12,287,000 1870 . 16,799,000 Some of the provinces, such as Galicia, are as thickly peopled as Ireland, others as sparsely as Eussia. The birth-rate and death-rate are much higher than in England, e.g.— Per 1000 inhab. Spain England The average span of life is eleven years less than in England. Infant mortality is excessive, 36 per cent of the sixths. Deaths. Increase. 37 30 7 35 22 13 SPAIN. 423 children dying before they complete five years. Illegiti- mate births are as 5 J per cent, being 1 per cent more than in England, and 2-J under the European average. Whether from the insecurity for life or other causes, the rural population is much less than the urban, being as 16 to 84. And yet there are but five cities that have over 100,000 inhabitants, namely Madrid, Barcelona, Seville, Valencia, and Malaga. There are, however, eighty-eight provincial towns numbering over 10,000 souls, and 2700 villages of 1000 inhabitants or upwards. The distribution of the inhabitants is as follows •, — Hidalgos or nobles 1,456 Lawyers and graduates 35,700 Officials, students, etc. 171,000 Merchants and manufacturers 231,000 Mendicants and vagrants . 246,000 Shopkeepers and artisans . 698,000 Farmers, shepherds, peasants 2,723,000 Persons of no occupation . . 1,384,000 Women and children . 11,308,844 16,799,000 In the last century the number of Hidalgos exempt from public burdens was 481,000. At present the nobility con- sists of two classes, there being in reality only 203 Spanish peers — Grandees. Only titular; Total. Dukes . 79 2 81 Marquesses . . 60 615 675 Counts . 60 4S0 640 Barons . 4 156 160 203 1253 1456 Some of the above are far from wealthy, but the Dukes of Osuna, Alva, and Medina possess vast portions of the finest lands in the south, chiefly in Andalusia, which give a 424 PROGRESS OF THE WORLD. rent-roll over £50,000 a year, being under the manage- ment of two or three hundred mayordomos. There are 90,100 public officials whose salaries average £28 each, and 49,000 "jubilados'' in receipt of pension, averaging £30 a year — together £4,000,000 sterling per annum. Mendicancy is an institution of the country, as it has been for centuries. It was estimated in the last century that 100,000 beggars received victuals daily at the various convents, besides 60,000 poor students who went on beg- ging tours. At present, besides the deserving or infirm poor, who are unable to work and must subsist on alms, having no provision from the State, there is a large vagrant population of idlers, gypsies, and contrabandistas. The peasants are generally very poor, and the ordinary food for a family of four persons costs about a shilling a day ; the workhouse paupers cost fourpence a head. Shep- herds often rent caves (such as one sees near Grenada), for which they pay a shilling a month rent. Gypsies do not sensibly increase in numbers, being only 45,000. Most of them lead a wandering life, but sometimes they become innkeepers in the small towns. So late as 1830 the system of law was as tyrannical as in Central Africa. No traveller could take more than £20 in coin out of Spain, and then only in gold ; if he had any silver in his pocket he was sent to prison. People can remember when the mails from Madrid to Barcelona and to Bayonne were robbed regularly once a month, when the " arrieros " paid a fixed toll for passengers and merchandise to the banditti, and when travellers went to Spain to see a bull-fight and to be robbed by highway- men in the Sierra Morena. That picturesque mode of life has almost disappeared, partly owing to the introduction of railways, but mainly to the exertions of the Guardia Civil, SPAIN. 425 a superb body of rural police 15,000 strong, of which Spain is justly proud. Crime was so prevalent fifty years ago that cases of murder and stabbing averaged 3000 yearly, or 8 persons stabbed daily. In 1827 there were 1223 persons mur- dered and 1773 stabbed, but some of the latter recovered. In 1844 the number of criminals convicted and sentenced was 31,740, or 1 in 450 of the inhabitants, the highest ratio being at Madrid — 1 in 210, and the lowest in the northern provinces — 1 in 850 persons. Since then the ratio of criminals has declined one half, the returns for 1850-1860 showing an average of 18,100 criminals, or 1 in 900, which is double the ratio for those years in the United Kingdom. Much of the crime arises from poverty, and some of the local institutions seem expressly designed for reducing to pauperism as large a number as possible of the people. The octroi or " derecho de puertas," is awful, often 1 00 per cent on wine and 70 per cent on oil, yet the municipal arrangements are so wretched that in some places, such as Cadiz, the monthly cost of procuring water for house use is more than the rent of the house. In some cities the popu- lation declines every year in the same way as it increases in the rest of Europe. Blindness is so common that the ratio is equalled or surpassed only in Egypt, being most frequent in the table- lands of Castille, which some supposed was due to the custom of bleeding ; but it is doubtless the result of the dust and sun in the arid, treeless plains of La Mancha and Burgos. Insanity is rare, owing to the temperate habits and indolent life of the people, as also to their stoicism and gravity of demeanour. In the absence of statistics it may be supposed the ratio is the same as in Italy — 1 in 4800. There were four lunatic asylums at Toledo, Valencia, Sara- 426 PROGRESS OF THE WORLD. gossa, and Cordova, but the last has been closed for want of patients, there being now only three asylums in the kingdom. Charitable institutions are more numerous than in most countries. There are 1771 hospitals and asylums, that accommodate 174,000 sick and afflicted; besides 3000 "positos" or relieving dep6ts for giving grain to poor persons in times of scarcity. AGRICULTURE. It is generally supposed, without any definite proof, that Spain was better cultivated in former times than at present. Its wheat was famous in the time of Hannibal ; its " vegas " were of teeming fertility under the Moors. But Romans and Moors confined their labours mostly to the southern provinces, which are still highly productive. The table- lands of the centre and the frequent Sierra ranges were probably at all times as desolate as to-day, unless so far as the destruction of timber in modern ages has added to the aspect of sterility. The annual migration of sheep has been an institution of the country from the earliest ages, and somewhat checks agriculture, but there is still plenty of land for the plough, if the people were industrious. It is remarkable that for three centuries the Spaniards held South America, where hundreds of millions of acres of the richest soil lay around them ; yet they introduced no tillage, preferring pastoral occupations. The area of Spain is 190,000 square miles, or about 120,000,000 acres, say three times the size of England. The following returns are official : — Grain and wine . . 34,000,000 acres Olives .... 2,000,000 „ Carry forward . 36,000,000 SPAIN. • 427 Brought forward . 36,000,000 acres Pasture .... 15,000,000 „ Woods .... 10,000,000 „ Mountains and waste . 59,000,000 „ 120,000,000 In the rich southern provinces there are 2,500,000 acres irrigated, on the system originally introduced by the Moors. Castille and Andalusia produce the finest wheat in the world, but the system of culture is so rude that the crops are light — only fourteen bushels to the acre, or half the yield in England. There are 25,000,000 acres under all kinds of grain, the crop averaging 300,000,000 bushels. From 1870 to 1876, notwithstanding civil war, the exports of grain averaged 5,225,000 bushels over the imports. Fifty years ago the surplus crop was often suffered to rot on the ground, as the cost of freight was more than the market price. Roads were few and bad ; mules carrying four bushels, and ox carts a ton, took six or eight days to go from Castille to the nearest seaport (150 miles), and freight varied from £3 to £6 per ton for that distance. Not only was it impossible to send the wheat abroad, but even the southern parts of Spain often paid famine prices, while it was rotting in the subterranean '' silos " of the north. Take, for example, the average market-prices over two years for wheat and wine (1827-1828) as follows : — Wheat. Wine. Estremadura 19 re lis 29 VaUadolid . . 21 , 9 Navarre 29 , 6 Madrid 34 , 22 Biscay 38 , 15 Seville . 40 , 20 Barcelona . 53 , 14 General average 32 16 4:28 PROGRESS OF THE WORLD. The yearly average for wheat at Barcelona was three times what it was at Valladolid, and the common wine drunk by the " arrieros " was five times dearer in Estrema- dura than in Navarre, while the northern provinces were shipping wine to France, as that country was more acces- sible than the centre of Spain. Ox-carts paid a toll of twenty pence for every 100 miles, yet the roads were in a shocking condition, as may be judged from the small amounts expended on their repair, and on bridges, viz. — Tear 1827. Koads under repair . . 3300 miles Bridges ,, . . 35 ,, Expenditure . . . £91,000 A Spanish writer boasted that it took 30,000 ox-carts to convey the wheat crop of Castille to the '' silos," or under- ground granaries, where sometimes the overstock was kept five or six years till scarcity brought higher prices. Before the French invasion there were 5000 " silos " in Spain. The number was still large until the Customs reform in 1869, previous to which time the importation of foreign grain was prohibited. In the years 1826 to 1830 the average price of wheat was — Inland. Seaboard. Per fanega ... 21 reals 40 reals Per bushel ... 27 pence 52 pence At present wheat is more used in the centre and south than in the north of Spain. The hardy Basques subsist for the most part on " borrona " — a cake made of maize flour. Eice is also largely used in some provinces. From a statement published in 1840, and the official returns of recent years, it is easy to measure the develop- ment of Spanish agricultural interests, viz. — Value of Products. 1803 .... £51,000,000 1840 .... 74,000,000 1877 .... 107,000,000 Spain. 429 The number of rural proprietors appears on the register to be 2,676,000, but this includes owners of house pro- perty in the towns and villages. Landed proprietors, as appears from the census, do not exceed 596,000, including nobles, hidalgos, etc. In all Spain there are but 3900 land- owners whose rent-roll reaches £400 a year. Land varies extremely in value ; the peasant of Valencia, using the Moor- ish system of irrigation, pays a rent of £5 or even £7 per acre, his farm rarely exceeding two acres. In the northern provinces of Biscay and Galicia land is cheaper, but the labour more severe. In the less cultivated parts of Spain a farm of two or three hundred acres may be rented at 4s. an acre, even the best land fetching only 1 6 shillings. The country suffers exceedingly from drought, the average rain- fall not exceeding 16 inches. Water is so scarce in Upper Arragon that bricklayers often use wine for making mortar. Vineyards cover 3,500,000 acres, or about two-thirds, the area of those in France. The yield is nowise in pro- portion. Acres. Gallons wine. nee . . 5J millions 1250 millions in 3J „ 260 Five-sixths of the wine is consumed in Spain, and only 44 million gallons exported, viz. — 6 million gallons sherry, four-fifths to England. 17 „ „ Valdepenas, etc., to various countries. 21 „ „ Catalan, to France and South America. The vineyards of Xerez, comprising 15,000 acres, pro- duce annually 45,000 barrels of the best kind of sherry, which is said to keep 200 years without injury. France takes 1 million gallons of Catalan wine to replace some of the vintage she exports. 430 PROGRESS OF THE WORLD. If we estimate the arroba of wine at 3 shillings, the annual crop in Spain will be worth £15,000,000 sterling, and allowing for the extra value of sherry, Valdepenas, etc., the total cannot fall short of £18,000,000, including ex- ports valued at £5,500,000. No fewer than 25,000 kinds of Spanish wine were sent to the Paris Exhibition. The vines give fruit at two and three hundred years old. Olive oil is another valuable item of industry, the olive groves covering 2,100,000 acres; the yield is usually ten times what is required for home consumption, the average surplus exported being 2,500,000 gallons. The oil of Seville is mentioned by Cicero. The method of crushing the olives is as primitive as it was in his day. The orange groves of Seville present a poor aspect to any one who has travelled through Paraguay and Brazil. Nevertheless, the trees, though stunted, are said to give sometimes from 1000 to 2000 oranges each. The gardens and orangeries of Andalusia cover approximately 100,000 acres. Some vineyards grow their fruit not for wine, but to export as raisins ; bunches of grapes near Valencia have been found to weigh from 12 to 14 lbs., in those places artificially irrigated. There are hardly any products that will not thrive in Spain. Maize was introduced from South America, and is grown largely in Valencia and Catalonia. Sugar-cane is of more recent introduction, and promises to be no less suc- cessful. It is painful to see the plazas and suburbs of Cordova, Seville, Xerez, and other towns thronged with able-bodied mendicants basking in the sunshine, while one remembers that 90 per cent of the province of Santander, and 66 per cent of La Mancha, are as un tilled as if they were situated in the moon. SPAIN. 431 Cattle Farming. — Katherine of Lancaster is said to have brought the first fine sheep into Spain from England, as part of her dowry, in espousing the Infante of Castille (1394). Since then some of the finest merino stocks have been sent from Spain to other countries, especially the Eambouillet and Saxony breeds. The flocks, in 1803, were said to number 12,000,000 sheep; but they have not much increased in seventy-five years. They are distinguished in two classes : first, the Mesta, or migratory sheep, about 5,000,000, which descend every winter, in troops of 10,000, to the lower lands of Estremadura, and return in summer to the moun- tains of Leon and Arragon ; second, the permanent flocks, 9,000,000 head, which keep the same pastures all the year round. The latest returns of farm-stock show 14,000,000 sheep, 3,000,000 goats, 1,500,000 horned cattle, 1,000,000 horses and asses, and 1,000,000 pigs, representing a total value of £36,000,000, or £2 for each inhabitant. It is worth observing that in Ireland the value of farm-stock is £10 to each inhabitant, or five times as much as in Spain. The rural products of all descriptions may be summed up as follows : — 300,000,000 bushels grain . £60,000,000 260,000,000 gallons wine . 18,000,000 Fruit, oil, vegetables, etc. . 9,000,000 Pastoral industry . . . 20,000,000 £107,000,000 This is equal to nearly 13 per cent on the agricultural capital -of the kingdom. MANUFACTURES. The value of manufactures produced annually is offi- cially put down at £60,000,000, which is doubtless below 432 PROGRESS OF THE WORLD. the reality. Cotton and woollen mills in Catalonia and Valencia occupy 45,000 hands, consuming 80,000,000 lbs. raw cotton, and 40,000,000 lbs. wool yearly. The com- monest goods, owing to protective duties, sell at very high prices, the muleteers having to pay much more for the rudest cloths than the best fabrics cost in England. Silk- worms were introduced by the Moors several centuries before this industry was known in France, and silk manu- factures survived the Moorish overthrow, the mills of Valencia and Catalonia still giving employment to 16,000 operatives ; the production, however, is insufficient for the demand, and Spain imports silk goods largely from other countries. Tanning. — All the tanning of the kingdom is done by the Bascos in the north, or the English tanners in Anda- lusia. The Moors of Cordova established a fame for Cor- dova leather that is not yet forgotten. Hardware. — Toledo swords are still unequalled for temper, which some ascribe to the water of the Tagus. The royal factory usually employs about 300 operatives. Fire- arms are made at Valencia, artillery at Seville, nails, horse- shoes, and copper utensils in Biscay. The muleteers of Vittoria convey weekly a ton of horseshoes to the inland provinces. Minerals. — No country of Europe is richer in minerals, yet the total number of miners employed is only 43,500. There is no return of the value of minerals extracted, which will probably reach £7,000,000, as the exports are over £5,000,000. This branch of industry has trebled in twenty years, the exports of minerals in 1860-61 not exceeding £1,400,000. The returns for 1875 to 1877 average as follow : — Spain. 433 Lead £2,050,000 Copper 1,650,000 Quicksilver 780,000 Iron 460,000 Zinc 240,000 £5,180,000 The iron of Biscay, being specially suited for Bessemer steel and Krupp guns, is mostly exported to England and Prussia. The largest ironworks are those of two English companies, and of Messrs. Ibarra at Bilbao. The English companies at Cordova and Grenada have extracted such quantities of lead in the last twenty years, that other countries have had to suspend working their mines. The most productive coal-fields are those of Belmez and Seville, employing 10,000 miners, who extract only 300,000 tons yearly : this is barely one-third of the consumption in Spain, the rest being imported from England and Belgium. Previous to the discovery of quicksilver in California this article was almost a monopoly of Spain : the Almaden mines have been worked from the time of the Romans, and belong to the State ; they employ 4000 miners, who raise 1500 tons yearly. Rio Tinto, near Seville, is the most productive copper mine. There are 2000 silver mines, but the yield is trifling; even the Sierra Morena mines give less than in the eighteenth century. Pottery. — The clay known as Kaolin is used at Pick- man's china factory in Seville, which employs several thousand hands. The royal porcelain factory at San Ilde- fonso is an imitation of Sevres, and does not pay expenses. Old Roman furnaces near Seville show that the Romans had works of a similar nature to those of Mr. Pickman. 2 F 434 PROGRESS OF THE WORLD. COMMERCE. With a seaboard of 1300 miles, Spain ought to be a first-class mercantile power, as she was in the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries. The loss of her American colonies in 1810 inflicted a great blow upon her trade, but was far less injurious than her subsequent customs- policy, a policy in system and details only worthy of the King of Dahomey. In 1854 a slight modification took place, followed by such increase of trade that a further step was taken in 1869, equally beneficial in results. The most notable improvement in exports has been in the last four years, since the accession of King Alfonso. Imports. Exports. Total. 1850 to 1854 . £7,100,000 £7,200,000 £14,300,000 per an. 1863 to 1870 . 16,150,000 12,220,000 28,370,000 „ 1875 to 1877 . 16,480,000 16,560,000 33,040,000 „ The trade with Great Britain has doubled since 1866, while that with France has declined. The merchant navy has almost doubled, being now seventh in the world, and coming next after the French. Notwithstanding the extra duties on foreign bottom, most of the commerce during the present century has been in the hands of foreign shipowners. The tonnage of vessels cleared from Spanish ports has increased about 150 per cent in ten years. Annual average. Spanish vessels. Foreign. Total. 1860 to 1867 450,000 tons 850,000 1,300,000 1872 to 1874 . 1,230,000 „ 2,300,000 3,730,000 Even the coasting trade of carrying salt from Cadiz to Galicia for the sardine fishermen is done by foreigners, chiefly Swedish vessels. The following Table shows first the decline and then the revival of Spanish shipping : — Spain. 435 Sailing vessels. Steamers. Total. 1859 460,000 tons 13,000 tons 473,000 tons 1872 340,000 „ 45,000 „ 385,000 „ 1876 625,000 „ 115,000 „ 740,000 „ If the country remain at peace Spain will again become important in the carrying trade of the world. INSTRUCTION. The proportion of adults who can read and write is only 35 per cent, or less than half the ratio of England. Much progress has, nevertheless, been made in twenty years, the number of school-children having increased 75 per cent since 1861. Moreover, the returns for 1874 show that the number of persons who can read is exactly double what it was in 1848. The Press has also advanced in late years : the largest circulation of any of the Madrid papers was barely 3000 copies in 1867, whereas some of them now throw off five times that number. There are only twenty-nine public libraries, with an aggregate of 627,000 volumes. According to post-office returns the intellectual activity of the people has quadrupled since 1846, showing at present five letters per inhabitant, being ahead of Italy and Portugal. RAILWAYS AND CANALS. The year 1848 may be said to mark the introduction into Spain of steam locomotion by land and water. In that year there were twenty-four steamers of an aggregate of 3000 tons, and in the same year the first railway was opened, from Barcelona to Matar6, a distance of eighteen miles. Since then a network of railways radiating from Madrid in all directions has been constructed. The engineering 436 PROGRESS OF THE WORLD. difficulties were formidable, especially in crossing the Sierra Morena, Pyrenees, and other ranges. Yet the average cost of construction has been only £16,550 per mile. The existing lines (January 1880) are twenty-nine in number, the principal being as follow : — Great Northern . 1115 miles Madrid and Saragossa 975 „ Ciudad Real and Badajoz 376 „ North-Eastern . 272 „ Almanza and Valencia 245 ,, Twenty-four others . 1362 „ 4345 The total cost has been £72,000,000, viz.- Expended by companies State subsidies . Total expenditure £44,000,000 28,000,000 £72,000,000 Comparing the returns for 1878 with those for 1872, we find a great increase of traffic, viz. — 1872. 1878. Passengers . 12,000,000 22,000,000 Merchandise . 4,500,000 tons 6,000,000 tons Gross earnings . £4,030,000 £5,210,000 Working expenses are the lowest in the world, averaging only 43 per cent of the receipts. The mileage earnings have risen from £1144 in 1864 to £1«200 in 1878. How much railways have promoted the industry of the country is shown by a Spanish writer comparing the exports in 1849 with those of 1873 in quantity — "Wine increased 600 per cent Oil 600 „ Lead „ 300 „ Fruit „ 300 „ General exports 300 „ General imports 150 „ spain. 437 The imperial canal of Arragon, begun in the last century to connect the Mediterranean and the Bay of Biscay, is far from completion. In combination with the canal of Castille the total length from sea to sea would be 405 miles, of which only 175 are made. The portions completed are 60 feet wide and 10 feet deep. The other canals in Spain are of trifling mention. WEALTH OF SPAIN. Nothing remains of the £980,000,000 of gold and silver that Spain drew from the New World in the seven- teenth and eighteenth centuries. The adage of " 111 got, ill gone," has been fully borne out, and Spain is to-day much poorer than before the days of Pizarro, Cortes, or Almagro. While other nations accumulate wealth, Spain accumulates debt. The statement of capital and income is remarkably low : — Capital. Income. Ratio. Agricultural . . . £840,000,000 £107,000,000 13 per cent General and commercial . 433,000,000 68,000,000 154 .. £1,273,000,000 £175,000,000 14 „ This shows about £75 capital and something over £10 income for each inhabitant, which is higher than the ratio in Italy or Portugal, but nowise comparable with the resources of the country. Except Turkey or the Central American Eepublics, there is no country so plunged in debt as Spain — the proportion is as 43 per cent of the capital of the kingdom. The growth of debt and expenditure has been as follows : — Debt. Per inhab. Expenditure. Per inhab. 1830 . £40,000,000 £3 £8,500,000 14s. 1850 . 186,000,000 12 13,500,000 18s. 1868 . 221,000,000 14 21,000,000 27s. 1878 . 550,000,000 33 29,500,000 37s. 438 PROGRESS OF THE WORLD. The incidence of taxation is 17 per cent of national income, which is much higher than the ratio of Great Britain. Agricultural industry suffers a still heavier tax from the money-lenders, whose charge for interest ranges from 15 to 24 per cent per annum. The province of Murcia is mortgaged up to 65 per cent of its value, although one of the richest in Spain, and it is asserted that 10 per cent of the crops and products are absorbed by the usurers. Banks are much needed, if only to release the farming classes from the exactions of the money-lenders ; but the banking-power of the country is small — at most£l 6,000,000, or -§- per cent of the capital of the kingdom — a lower ratio even than in Portugal. There are no savings banks, nor does there seem to be any accumulation of wealth or earn- ings, the people being content to live from hand to mouth. Spain has been aptly described as a country of " six banks and a hundred bull-rings." According to the three classes of tax-payers in the official returns, the national income seems distributed thus : — • Number. Average income. Amount. 1st class 491,000 £120 £59,000,000 2d class . 1,897,000 50 95,000,000 3d class . 1,105,000 20 22,000,000 3,493,000 £50 £176,000,000 The returns alluded to only give the numbers of the three classes and the taxes they pay, this being the basis for an estimate such as the above. SPANISH COLONIES. 439 SPANISH COLONIES. The colonial system of Spain has always been the worst imaginable, apparently on the principle that the colonies are meant as places of punishment. There is an unmeaning waste of money in keeping up such possessions as Melilla and the Bazeef Islands. The first is a fortress on the African coast, where some prisoners are detained ; if they were sent to Ceuta, the money thus saved might be devoted to the wants of the Philippine Islands. As for Razeef, these barren rocks have no fresh water, and a vessel is sent thither at intervals to succour the in- habitants ; the latter might be more cheaply provided with board and lodgings at any suitable watering-place, and Eazeef could be advantageously obliterated from the list of Spanish possessions. Ceuta alone is of any value or importance among the Spanish settlements in Morocco. Let us turn to consider the real colonies of Spain, viz. — Square miles. Population. Canaries 2,700 284,000 Cuba . . 48,000 1,025,000 P. Rico 3,700 646,000 Philippines . . 88,000 7,500,000 This is all that remains of that empire of Carlos Quinto, " on which the sun never set.'' Cuba. This island, which is much larger than Ireland or the kingdom of Portugal, was for ten years the scene of a dis- astrous rebellion, finally suppressed in 1878. 440 PROGRESS OF THE WORLD. Before its outbreak there were 1190 sugar estates, the number being now reduced to 700. The population has, moreover, declined one-fourth since 1861. The returns show — 1877. 1861. Whites . 480,000 793,000 Free coloured . 72,000 232,000 Slaves 372,000 371,000 1,025,000 1,396,000 The importation of Chinese Coolies began in 1847 and was stopped in 1873, in which period 116,300 coolies were landed at Havana ; the actual number of Chinese is barely 50,000, as they were not allowed to bring any women, and they rapidly succumbed to the climate. It is one of the absurdities of the Spanish Government to put import duties on Cuban sugar, which compels the planters to send it to other countries than Spain. This industry attained a high degree of prosperity in 1870 to 1873, but the enormous taxation has broken down many planters, and the exports of 1877 and 1878 are 30 per cent less than they were in 1873. The returns of fifty years may be summed up thus : — 1833 exported . . . 90,300 tons 1869-73 „ average . 660,000 „ 1874-78 ,, „ . 580,000 „ The value of the sugar-crop is generally £10,000,000 sterling, the United States taking two-thirds. The ship- ments of tobacco average 7,000,000 lbs. yearly, besides 2,000,000 boxes of cigars, representing a value of £5,000,000. The French Government takes one-fourth of the cigars ; the German and Belgian Governments also send large orders. It is worthy of remark that the sugar and tobacco shipped from Cuba are equal in value to all SPANISH COLONIES. 441 the exports of Spain. This island, poetically styled the " Pearl of the West Indies," would be the richest and most prosperous colony in the world, but for the recent troubles and the overwhelming taxation. The taxes average £16,000,000 sterling, or £16 per head of the population. The export duties are very oppres- sive, viz. £3 per ton on sugar, and £12 per ton on tobacco. So heavy is the income-tax that^one planter pays £30,000 a year ; some have fled, abandoning their vast estates, machinery, etc., because unable to meet the taxes. Planters have been known to expend up to £1,000,000 sterling in machinery for their mills and in making tram- ways to the port. Some estates count 1000 or 2000 labourers, Chinamen and negroes, who cost almost alike, say £50 a head per annum. The custom-houses are mortgaged for war loans amount- ing to £14,000,000 sterling, and the Government has also emitted £13,000,000 of paper money, which has declined in value as follows : — 1869 . . £1 paper = 19s. 1876-77 ... = 9s. In 1878 the Viceroy reduced all salaries (beginning with his own) 50 per cent, but as there are 16,000 Govern- ment officials in the island, the machinery of administration is far too dear. Notwithstanding the extra duties on foreign vessels, more than half the trade is done on foreign bottom, chiefly American and British. The tonnage of vessels cleared from all the ports is over 1,000,000 tons yearly. The census shows that besides 700 sugar-plantations, there are 4500 "vegas" or tobacco estates, 192 coffee estates, 3200 "potreros" or cattle-farms, and 17,000 small farms or plantations. At one time timber was an article 442 PROGRESS OF THE WORLD. of export, but owing to the reckless destruction of forest, it is now necessary to import timber from Canada. The railways mostly belong to English companies, and some of them have given for years 10 to 14 per cent net profits per annum. The central line from Habana to Incaro was made in 1845, three years before the first railway was commenced in Spain. Habana has six banks, but the only one with right to emit paper money is the Banco de Espana. Porto Eioo. ' This island contains 300,000 whites, 200,000 Creole Mestizos, and 20,000 negroes. Slavery has been recently abolished, but industry has not received such a check as was anticipated. The export taxes operate very prejudicially, being £1 per ton on tobacco and sugar, and 50s. on coffee. Instead of the Government devoting such taxes to the internal necessities of the island, it does nothing in this sense. There are no roads or bridges ; if the weather be fine one can travel or horseback, if rainy, the rivers are impassable. The exports are approximately as follow : — Tons. Value. Sugar . 100,000 £1,450,000 Coffee . 15,000 1,040,000 Tobacco 5,000 150,000 £2,640,000 Some of the natives have farms for raising cattle. A few occupy themselves in extracting copper, lead, iron, and other minerals. If the export taxes were abolished, this island would become one of the most prosperous places in the world. The climate and soil are excellent. spanish colonies. 443 Canary Islands. This is another Spanish colony that makes little pro- gress. The population in 1802 was 194,500, and from that time down to 1835 there was an increase of 40,000 souls. Within the last forty years, however, most of the islands have gone back both in population and industry. Area. Pop. in 1835. Pop. in 1860. Teneriffe . 1060 sq. miles 85,000 93,700 Grand Canary . . 910 68,000 69,000 Palma . 250 33,000 31,000 Other islands . . 588 2808 47,600 43,100 233,600 236,800 The decline of population in some islands and stationary character of the rest is the more remarkable as the natural rate of increase is higher than in England, and averages 2 per cent per annum. Births, per 1000 inhabitants ... 45 Deaths „ „ ... 25 Annual increase .... 20 Thousands emigrate yearly to Cuba and the Eiver Plate, although not one-sixth of the area of the islands is cultivated, nor the fisheries one-quarter developed. Much of the _ soil is of course utterly barren and worthless, but there is still plenty of land whereon maize could be cultivated, instead of having to import it from Brazil. In 1852 these islands were made free to the commerce of the globe, except as regards tobacco. So absurd and vexatious, however, were the regulations about quarantine, that the mail steamers had to give up calling at Santa Cruz, and move their coal-station to] the Cape Verde Islands. Since then the islands have sensibly decayed. 444 PROGRESS OF THE WORLD. Cochineal was introduced in 1825, and may be said to have supplied the place of wine as a staple product. From 1865 to 1869 the crop doubled, and in spite of the com- petition from artificial dyes it holds its ground. The ex- portation averages 6,000,000 lbs., worth £500,000 sterling. Tobacco is now cultivated successfully on the sites of many old vineyards. Unfortunately these islands in the present century have suffered from long droughts, owing to the inhabitants having cut down much of the timber. The average of rainy days is thirty-six in the year. At times the droughts cause famines, and the inhabitants are generally in a wretched condition, although climate and soil formerly deserved for these islands the epithet of " The Fortunates." Their temperature never goes below 64° nor above 79° Fahrenheit. The silkworm thrives here, and a small quantity of raw silk is exported. Although the fisheries are twenty times as productive as those of Newfoundland, and a vessel of 30 tons will often fill up in three or four days, there is no effort made to dry the fish for exportation to Portugal, which country takes 10,000 tons of dried fish yearly from Norway and elsewhere. Crime is so rare that only two murders have been committed in a century. The inhabitants are so weighed down by taxes, land-laws, etc., that they have no spirit to labour, but when they emigrate to Cuba or Brazil, they prove the most industrious of all classes of settlers. They are of domestic habits, the marriage-rate in these islands being 16 per 1000, that is on a par with Great Britain. The official statistics of twenty years ago reported 450,000 acres tilled, 2,000,000 waste; value of agricul- tural estates, £13,000,000 sterling ; annual crop, £400,000; fisheries, £40,000. An average crop was then supposed SPANISH COLONIES. 445 to be 50,000 pipes wine, 20,000 tons grain, 40,000 tons potatoes. At present the crop of cochineal is of more value than all the above products. The commerce of the islands, imports and exports, is over £1,300,000 sterling, mostly carried on with Great Britain. There are usually 500 vessels arrive annually from all parts, with a gross tonnage of 200,000 tons, besides two lines of steamers from Europe to South America that call at the Canaries. Philippine Islands. For two centuries no foreign vessels were allowed by the Spanish Government to trade with these islands. In 1809 an English firm first obtained permission to open a house at Manila, but the monopoly of the Spanish Philippine Company effectually prevented trade until 1834, when the Company's charter expired. Since that time various English, German, and Swiss houses have been established. The census of 1858 showed the population to consist of — Europeans . . . 6,000 Chinese . . 78,000 Malays . . . 4,206,000 4,290,000 The Europeans are mostly Spaniards, including the public officials and garrison. The Chinese carry on most of the retail trade, and are subject to an annual tax of £2 a head for permission to reside in the island. The Malays are skilful farmers and navigators, and all the internal industry of the country is in their hands. The Mestizos or half-castes are remarkable for their energy. There are also Negritos or forest aborigines, not included in the census, since they pay no taxes. 446 PROGRESS OF THE WORLD. There are 10 large and 1000 small islands, with a total area of 134,000 square miles, or 85 million acres, of which only 4,500,000 are cultivated, viz. — Eice .... 3,140,000 acres Sugar .... 640,000 „ Hemp .... 260,000 „ Coffee, maize, tobacco, etc. 410,000 „ 4,450,000 The island of Luzon has 2,670,000 acres under tillage, being two-thirds of the total agriculture of the archipelago. Sugar- exports have doubled in fifteen years, being now 130,000 tons, worth £2,500,000 sterling; for want of proper machinery half the sugar is lost, the yield not exceeding 15 cwt. per acre. There are, meantime, 160 large estates with steam machinery for crushing cane. Rice, being the food of the people, is the chief article of agriculture, and yields one hundred-fold. The first coffee plantation was made in 1836 ; the production now exceeds 60,000 tons. Hemp is largely cultivated, but has recently declined one-half, the export averaging at present only 500 tons. There are five Government factories at Manila, employing 33,000 cigar-makers, the export of tobacco and cigars reaching £1,000,000 per annum. No country in the world is richer in a variety of woods, but the cost of conveying the timber to a seaport would exceed its value, there being neither bridges, roads, nor canals. Minerals. — Gold is found in many places, and the quantity annually washed and crushed by the Malays averages 2500 ounces, say £8000 sterling. Lead mixed with silver abounds, as also iron, but neither is worked. Copper is extracted in South Luzon for home use. Coal is also produced, but capital is requisite to work the mines SPANISH COLONIES. 447 properly. Sulphur and quicksilver would also repay enterprise. Commerce. — All the trade of the Philippines passes through Manila, amounting to £7,500,000, of which two- thirds are exports. Docks, quays, roads, and railways are much wanted, but no effort is made in this direction. The canals made by the Jesuits are now choked up, and all internal traffic is in a wretched condition. 448 PROGRESS OF THE WORLD. POKTUGAL. In the year 1801 this country had almost the same population as the United States of America. At present it has less than the State of New York. The difference in point of wealth, industry, products, etc., is still more re- markable. For forty years Portugal remained stagnant, and travel- lers who visited' the country in 1840 found it in almost the same condition as described in the last century. There were no roads, no mail-coaches ; persons who disliked riding on mules had to be cawied in sedan chairs. There were no inns, and the peasantry were so poor that for want of furniture they sat cross-legged on the floor of their huts. Even the nobles slept on straw stitched in canvas bags. Beans formed a principal article of food, and all classes drank port wine with impunity, gout being (as is still the case) utterly unknown in the bills of mortality. Some of the above features remain, but the Portugal of 1880 is as different from what it was in 1840 as if two centuries had elapsed. Population.- — The tendency for forty years was down- wards, owing to emigration to Brazil and other countries, but it has been in late years ascending : — 1802 . . . 3,683,000 inhabitants 1840 . . . 3,224,500 1870 . . . 3,991,000 „ . Manufactures. — Some English cotton-mills have recently been started, but there are hardly any native manufactures. The goldsmiths of Oporto make very handsome filigree PORTUGAL. 449 work. In 1872 the total number of permanent steam- engines in the kingdom was seventy, representing an aggre- gate of 1200 horse-power, the factories being as follows : — Factories. Operatives. Cotton and woollen . . .115 8,600 Glass, soap, etc 247 10,500 362 19,100 Setubal exports 2,000,000 tons of salt, valued at £120,000. A coal-bed near Oporto is worked at intervals. In the last fifteen earthquakes several new veins of copper and silver were discovered, but nobody takes the trouble to work them. Commerce. — Notwithstanding the admirable position of Lisbon for commerce, Portugal shows hardly any increase as compared with fifty years ago. In fact, the import trade has declined 15 per cent, owing to the vexatious character of the fiscal regulations. Thus dried cod-fish, the staple food of the working-classes, is subject to a duty of £9 per ton, and the Customs tariff has no fewer than forty-nine categories for English cotton goods. The following are the trade returns :• — Imports. Exports. Total. 1820 to 1840 . . £3,200,000 £2,600,000 £5, 800, 000 per an. 1871 to 1878 . . 2,700,000 4,500,000 7,200,000 „ It is satisfactory to note that exports have increased 73 per cent. Instruction. — Few countries stand lower in this respect, the proportion of school children to population being 3 per cent, the lowest in Europe except Russia and Turkey. The returns, nevertheless, indicate a favourable progress, showing that the average has doubled since 1861, and quadrupled since 1854. We find similar advance in colla- teral branches of instruction. According to the census of 2 G 450 PROGRESS OF THE WORLD. 1827 there were but sixteen printing-offices in the king- dom, whereas now there are thirty newspapers, including eight at Lisbon. The intellectual activity, as shown by the post-office returns, is 35 per cent lower than in Spain. Colonies. — Portugal has three valuable possessions in the Atlantic, namely Madeira, the Azores, and the Cape Verdes, but her territories in Africa, India, and China are only a source of expense, and the sooner she can sell them to some other Power the better. Perhaps, as Great Britain expended £] 9,000,000 in rescuing Portugal from the grasp of Buonaparte, the people of Portugal will some day make us a present of Goa, Mozambique, and Macao. AGRICULTURE. The total area of Portugal is held as follows : — Class. Number. Area. Average farm. Peasants . . 105,000 550,000 acres 5 acres Farm owners . 252,000 5,400,000 „ 22 „ Tenants . . 140,000 2,800,000 „ 20 ,, Nobles, etc. . 62,000 12,450,000 „ 252 ,, 559,000 21,200,000 . 50 „ In 1805 one-half of Portugal was said to be untilled, but in 1825 a much greater proportion was waste. The crops of grain and potatoes were barely sufficient for 60 per cent of the population. Some years the northern pro- vinces produced good crops, but there being no roads south- ward, and the rivers being unnavigable from the dangerous bars, the imports of foreign grain to Lisbon usually amounted to 6,000,000 bushels. In 1840, for one year, the country raised enough grain for home consumption, but since then there has been an average deficit of 5,000,000 bushels yearly. The mode of agriculture is rude, wooden ploughs being in general use. The soil is not so good as that of PORTUGAL. 451 Spain, and the area under tillage less, only one-seventh of Portugal being cultivated, viz. — Acres. Value of crop. Grain . . . . 2,570,000 £5,550,000 Vineyards and gardens 690,000 11,952,000 Olive groves 130,000 520,000 Woods, mountains, etc. 19,010,000 22,400,000 £18,022,000 The above is the official valuation, which puts down also a sum of £5,160,000 for pastoral products, making a total of £23,182,000, equal to £1 per acre, for the extent of the kingdom. The grain-crop averages 30 million bushels, say 12 to the acre, the yield varying from six to seven fold. In 1870 the agricultural products were found to be double what they amounted to twenty years before, this being the result of railways. In 1850 the roads were so bad, that an ox-cart, with a pipe of wine, drawn by two oxen, could only travel six miles in a day. Wines. — The extent under vineyards is 474,000 acres, which produce 132 million gallons of wine, valued at £8,000,000 sterling. The export comprises 80,000 pipes of red and 60,000 white, the latter chiefly Lisbon. The trade of port wine is in English hands, the bulk being shipped to Great Britain. Some German houses in Oporto also ship largely to Brazil. The exportation from Oporto has increased 50 per cent in ten years, viz. — 1863-67 . . . 37,500 pipes per annum 1875-78 . . . 55,200 „ „ Great Britain usually takes five-sixths of the port wine, notwithstanding the heavy duties charged on it in England. The valley of the Minho is called the "Garden of Portugal," being mostly of spade cultivation. Estate-owners cut up their properties into farms of 1 3 acres, which are 452 PROGRESS OF THE WORLD. let to tenants at 5 s. an acre. Most of these farms have patches of maize, cabbage, and vines, and the result is as follows : — Value of cropa .... £80 Eent £3 Seed and wages . .37 Balance £40 This balance affords a decent support for the farmer and his family, who live on frugal fare ; salt-fish for breakfast, and pork and beans, with a little port wine, for dinner. Meantime, peasants who own patches of 5 acres are the most pitiable class in the world. Their food averages but 34 "grammes " of nitrogenous substance daily, or one-third of what is requisite for the proper support of a full-grown man. They eat meat only four times a year. A portion of their little income goes to greedy money-lenders ; while the tax-collector takes the rest. Summing up all the grain-crops we find a total of 30 million bushels, the yield of wheat being only 9 bushels to the acre, viz. — Acres. Bushels. Wheat 620,000 5,450,000 Rye . 1,000,000 6,600,000 Maize 750,000 15,200,000 Barley 160,000 2,050,000 Oats and rice 40,000 2,570,000 900,000 30,200,000 Cattle.— In the valleys of the Douro and Minho are raised some fine breeds of horned cattle. For the last two years an annual average of 16,000 head has been -hipped to England from Oporto. The sheep of Portugal ire inferior to the Spanish, the farmers caring little to im- s are PORTUGAL. 453 prove the breed. About 1,000,000 lbs. -wool are annually shipped to England, the rest is kept for rough home-spun fabrics. The returns of farm-stock are as follow : — Number. Value. Horses . 70,000 £1,050,000 Cows . 523,000 5,230,000 Sheep . 2,417,000 2,417,000 Pigs . 858,000 1,716,000 £10,413,000 The official valuation is only £6,670,000, but it appears alow estimate. Taking the above valuation of £10,000,000, it is equivalent to 50s. per inhabitant, which shows that in this respect Portugal is one of the poorest countries in Europe. Most of the swine are raised in the province of Algarve, where they are fattened on acorns. Alemtejo offers the best pastures in the south, having a rich soil ; the whole province consists of large grazing farms. According to the latest official returns, the annual income of the nation from rural pursuits was as follows : — - Agricultural products . . £18,022,000 Pastoral „ . . 5,160,000 £23,182,000 This is only equal to £1 per acre for the whole extent of Portugal, against £3 per acre for United Kingdom. WEALTH OF PORTUGAL. In the eighteenth century Portugal received from her colony of Brazil more than £150,000,000 sterling in precious metals ; 1 to-day she is one of the poorest countries 1 Total for one hundred and thirteen years, from 1690 to 1803, was £171,000,000. 454 PROGRESS OF THE WORLD. in Europe — an eloquent proof of Adam Smith's theory that there is no real wealth except what springs from industry. Not that the Portuguese are so indolent as is generally supposed, for thousands of them migrate yearly to Brazil and other countries, returning after a few years with a store of money; but the economy of the kingdom is out of joint, and its resources are not half developed. The capital and income of the nation are at present as follow : — Capital. Income. Ratio. Agricultural . . . £160,000,000 £23,000,000 144 per cent General and commercial 72,000,000 9,000,000 12$ „ £232,000,000 £32,000,000 14 ,, The embarrassed condition of the landed proprietors has been a mill-stone on the neck of Portugal, and of late some effort to effect a remedy has proved partly successful. In 1863 the law of entail was abolished, whereupon encumbered estates were brought to the hammer to the value of £3,000,000 sterling. 1 It is further proposed to make compulsory the sale of bankrupt estates, on which the existing mortgages already amount to £10,000,000, and if this be carried out there will be a notable advance in agriculture, which constitutes the great wealth of the country. How much the agricultural industry is borne down by the charges of interest is shown in a Table of rural mortgages published in 1861, viz. — Lenders. Amount. Interest. Usurers .... £6,250,000 15 to 20 per cent Religious communities . 1,600,000 5 ,, £7,850,000 14 1 One estate in Alemtejo, with a rent-roll of £3000, fetched £80,000, which gives a fair idea of the value of landed property. PORTUGAL. 455 In 1866 the Credito Portuguez mortgage bank was founded, to lend money at 6 per cent and rescue the land- owners from the excessive rates of the usurers. The bank emitted, in three years down to 1869, an amount of £1,100,000 in debentures on 1630 estates, two-thirds of this sum being taken up by distressed noblemen, averaging £3500 each. Some more of these banks are needed to multiply the good effects already made evident. The banking power of Portugal is relatively much greater than that of Spain, and amounts to £10,000,000 sterling, or 4J per cent of the capital of the kingdom. There are no savings banks, but the deposits in the ordinary banks reach £3,500,000 besides £6,000,000 capital, so that it would appear there is a certain annual accumulation of wealth in spite of the heavy burthen of debt and taxation. The growth of debt and expenditure in fifty years has been — Debt. Expenditure. 1825 . £2 per head 14s. 1840 . . . 5 „ 15s. 1878 . . . 22 „ 27s. The proportion of debt is four times that of Great Britain, say 36 per cent on the capital of the kingdom. The incidence of taxation is, however, not quite double what it is in the United Kingdom, being over 21 per cent of the national income, including local taxes. Portugal shows the same rate of income per inhabitant, namely £8, as in Italy, but the net income, after paying taxes, is £1 per head higher. 456 PROGRESS OF THE WORLD. SWITZEBLAND. Thirty years ago Switzerland derived its principal riches from the exportation of watches, horned cattle, and butter, but the returns for 1876 and 1877 show that the importa- tion of cattle and butter was greater than the quantities exported. At present the sublime scenery is a great source of profitable income, every year on the increase. The Swiss papers give the following estimate for visitors : — Number. Sum spent. Per head. Americans 210,000 £1,680,000 £8 Germans 350,000 700,000 2 Kussians . 160,000 1,600,000' 10 English, etc. . 227,500 1,820,000 8 947,500 £5,800,000 £6 Switzerland wears a look of general prosperity, the chalets surrounded by the little farms having the most picturesque effect. But the country is sadly impoverished, first by the subdivision of property, secondly by the Ameri- can competition in clock-making. So late as 1873 Switzer- land had 40,000 watchmakers constantly at work, who ex- ported 1,300,000 watches yearly, worth £2,500,000 sterling. Since then the Americans have invented machinery for making watches by steam-power, producing them much cheaper, and ruining the staple industry of Switzerland. As the country abounds in water-power, the Swiss have established numerous cotton-mills, which they work so cheaply as to undersell the cotton fabrics of Great Britain, the wages being also very low. Thrifty and industrious as are the inhabitants, with SWITZERLAND. 457 every available inch of ground cultivated, they are unable to raise enough grain for their support. Every year they import 12,000,000 bushels, three-fourths wheat, at a cost of £2,000,000 sterling. The farms are usually about 12 acres; farm-labourers earn from Is. to Is. 6d. per day. Land-mortgages represent about one-fourth of the total value. The exportation of cattle and cheese has fallen away completely, but the farmers still send 90,000 cows yearly to the fat plains of Lombardy to produce the cheese vulgarly known as Parmegiano. Agriculture is not very advanced in Switzerland, the farmers still threshing grain by hand. So careful are the people of their earnings that the savings banks are full of money, although the inhabit- ants live so sparingly that they eat meat only on Sundays. Berne is the richest canton, with a population of 500,000 ; of these there are 23,000 who pay income-tax on an average of £32 per annum. Public instruction is so well diffused that all the adults can read and write. Every canton is full of free libraries, where the working-classes spend their evenings. Switzerland has 1550 miles of railway, which earned last year £3,380,000, say £2200 per mile. The various public debts amount in the aggregate to an average of £1 per inhabitant. GEEECE. This little kingdom has doubled its population since 1838. The Greeks are often accused of indolence, and it is certain that notwithstanding the richness of the soil the inhabitants do not raise enough grain for six months' con- sumption. Perhaps this is because they have a taste for 458 PROGRESS OF THE WORLD. nautical pursuits, their merchant shipping, compared to population, being larger than in Great Britain. The balance of trade for the last ten years has been against Greece : — Imports (1868-1877) .... £41,000,000 Exports „ 28,000,000 Surplus imports .... £13,000,000 ' :The gross trade of 1877 was £8,500,000, or 50 per cent over the returns for 1867. The arrivals consist as follow : — Number. Tons. Greek vessels . . . 63,465 2,211,000 Foreign .... 11,089 1,783,000 74,554 3,994,000 This is an enormous traffic for so small a country, and the merchant fleet carrying the Greek flag is also remark- able. There are 5440 vessels, of 262,000 tons burthen, manned by 26,800 skilful seamen. The revenue is low, and the public debt very high, but the latter has been for some years in abeyance. Amount. Per head. Revenue . £1,400,000 17s. Debt . . 17,150,000 £10 Education is backward. School-children are as 4 per cent of the population, and only 20 per cent of the adults can read or write. With such advantages of soil and climate Greece ought to produce ten times as much as at present. The backward condition of the country is usually ascribed to brigands, but is perhaps more due to want of highroads. Crown lands cover 5,000,000 acres, which might be rendered productive if distributed as homestead GREECE. 459 grants among agricultural families. At present only \ of the kingdom is under tillage. Cultivated lands . Rich, tut uncultivated Mountains . Woods Lakes, rivers, etc. Acres. 1,920,000 3,032,000 4,820,000 1,410,000 608,000 11,790,000 The cultivated lands are in the hands of 147,000 agri- cultural families, say thirteen acres to each family. The rest of the country is held as follows : — Acres. Crown lands . . 5,400,000 16,000 nobles . . . 3,860,000 9,260,000 The mountain and tilled lands afford pasture to 4,000,000 sheep and goats, tended by 59,000 pastoral fami- lies. So primitive is the system of agriculture, that grain is threshed by driving horses over it. Wages are compara- tively high — £6 a year for indoor servants, and Is. 6d. per day for ordinary labourers, in both cases with food. This ordinarily consists of wine, bread, olives, and onions, with meat once a month. Wine is good and cheap, only four- pence a quart. The best land sometimes rents as high as £1 per acre, but farming is far from profitable. Although Athens is but twenty-five miles from Marathon, the freight on a ton of grain is £6, so that the citizens find it cheaper to get their supply from the Black Sea. The Government also collects one-tenth of all crops for the revenue, which falls heavily on the farmer. The farming-stock comprises 58,000 cows, 162,000 horses and asses, and 4,000,000 sheep and goats, repre- senting a total value of £4,500,000 sterling. 460 PROGRESS OF THE WORLD. OTTOMAN EMPIEE. This part of the world has made rapid progress in debt and dissolution. Sixty years ago, when Mahmoud II. suc- ceeded to the throne, his dominions extended over a great portion of Europe, Asia, and Africa. In 1811 he lost Egypt; in 1828 Russia stripped him of some provinces, and since that time the Sublime Porte has been on the road to ruin. The Turkish Empire, by a diplomatic figure of speech, is still supposed to comprise provinces that are virtually independent, such as Bulgaria, Eastern Roumelia, Arabia, Egypt, and Tunis, but the actual dominions subject to Abdul Hamet are only the shadow of a monarchy. The latest estimates of population are as follow : — Greeks, Turks Total Copts, etc. and Arabs. European provinces 4,470,000 2,415,000 6,885,000 Asia Minor and Arabia 2,647,000 13,068,000 15,715,000 Egypt . 1,125,000 15,800,000 16,925,000 Tunis 72,000 2,028,000 2,100,000 The trade of the empire amounts to £50,000,000, exports and imports being almost even. 1 Egypt stands for one-third. Grain and cotton are the principal exports, the former representing a value of £15,000,000, coming chiefly from the Danubian territories. Railways have been constructed as follows : — Turkey proper Bulgaria . Asia Minor Egypt Tunis 786 miles 140 172 1102 45 2245 1 The first English merchant opened a house of business at Con- stantinople in 1812, and soon found a large portion of the commerce pass through his hands. OTTOMAN EMPIRE. 461 It is proposed by an English company to make the Euphrates Valley railway, from Alexandretta on the Mediterranean to Busreh on the Persian Gulf, and thus shorten the route to India very considerably, viz. — Days. Alexandretta to Busreh by rail . . .3 Busreh to Kurrachee (India) by steamer . 6 The railway would be 850 miles long, the cost being estimated at £7,300,000, but there is another project to trace the line from Alexandretta to Bagdad, and connect the latter city with Busreh by steam navigation on the Tigris. The second line would be 250 miles shorter than the first, and cost only £5,000,000, the country being a dead level. At present the largest steamer on the Tigris is the Blosse Lynch, 100 tons, carrying the Ottoman flag, no other being allowed. Far more important than the railways is the Suez Canal, constructed by M. Lesseps in thirteen years, and opened in 1869 : length 92 miles, depth 26 feet. The traffic from the first year of working is shown by the following figures : — Date. Ships. Tonnage. Fees. 1870 486 435,911 £206,400 1871 765 761,467 359,500 1872 1082 1,439,169 656,000 1873 1173 2,085,270 916,000 1874 1264 2,500,000 994,000 1875 1494 2,940,000 1,156,000 1876 1457 3,072,107 1,199,000 1877 1663 3,418,949 1,311,000 1878 1593 3,291,535 1,244,000 Of the total tonnage for last year no less than 2,630,258, or 80 per cent, were represented by British 462 PROGRESS OF THE WORLD. vessels. Steamers make the passage in thirty hours, but tugs 1 with sailing vessels take forty-four hours : the former pay 8s. per ton, say £800 each. Sometimes twenty-five vessels pass through the canal in one day: two cannot pass abreast unless in the sidings. In 1876 the British Government purchased one-fifth of the shares of the canal, at 12£ per cent premium, paying £3,977,000 for 176,602 shares, with the coupons cut off till 1895, the Khedive promising to pay the coupons himself. The total capital expended on the Canal is £17,026,000, and the earnings give a dividend of 3 per cent. The revenues and debt of Turkey and Egypt are dis- tinct, and estimated as follows : — Turkey. Egypt. Total. Revenue £20,000,000 £9,000,000 £29,000,000 Debt . 260,000,000 92,000,000 352,000,000 Although Egypt is practically independent, the Khedive has to pay a tribute of £720,000 per annum to the Sublime Porte. Tunis also pays a small tribute, being in all respects on a footing similar to Egypt. OTTOMAN AGRICULTURE. Every province has its distinct features and modes of agriculture. Some are held in small farms, averaging 20 acres, or as much as a man can cultivate with a pair of oxen. Others are mostly in the hands of Murabas or "Metayers;" but mostly all are exceedingly backward, owing to the want of machinery and the oppression of the tax-gatherers and money-lenders. Epirus and Thessaly offer the same appearance as in the 1 The usual charge for tugs is £200 from sea to sea. OTTOMAN EMPIRE. 463 days of Alexander the Great, except that the women now work harder in the fields. A vast portion of fertile land is uncultivated, either for want of population, or due to the lazy habits of the men. Indoor servants receive £5 a year and shoes ; outdoor only 9d. a day. Bulgaria is more advanced; for in 1874 there were already forty reaping and threshing machines. The adja- cent territory of Roumania is also progressing, especially since the emancipation of the serfs in 1864. The Rou- manian Government paid the nobles £2 per acre in 10 per cent funds, and handed over the lands to the peasants, obliging the latter to pay 2s. per acre for sixteen years to redeem their lands. Adrianople is the centre of a rich farming country, the most progressive of all the Ottoman territory. Steam r threshers are used, and the wages of farm-servants are very high — £10 a year for indoor, and Is. a day for out- door. The land-tenure may be described thus : — 70 per cent in 50-acre farms. 30 „ rented to tenants. The proprietor of 50 acres has patches of wheat and maize, ploughing 4 inches deep, with oxen or* buffaloes, and his farm-stock comprises 20 sheep, a cow, a horse, pigs, goats, and poultry. His family aid him in his labours, and if a suitor presents himself for one of his daughters, a commutation-fee is arranged for the loss of the maiden's services. The value of land for purchasing or renting is as follows : — Purchase. Rent. 1st Class £85 per acre 60s. per annum 2d „ 50 „ 40s. 3d „ • 20 „ 15s. Waste land varies from £3 to £6 per acre. Until 464 PROGRESS OF THE WORLD. recently the farmers were plundered by usurers, who charged 18 per cent; but now the National Loan Society makes them advances at 8 per cent per annum, and has enabled them to pay off their old debts. Bessarabia (now ceded to Russia) is a country of ex- treme fertility in corn and wine. The vineyards pro- duce about £18 per acre; the grain-farms yield, without manure, an average of 60 bushels maize per acre. In 1870 the serfs were emancipated, the Boyars or nobles being compelled either to sell to each peasant his holding at 26s. per acre, or to give him the moiety gratis. Four hundred Boyars preferred the latter, as the land easily gives 45s. per acre annual profit. The obligations of the serfs before their emancipation were as follow : — 1st. To work 12 days in the year for the Boyar. 2d. To give him one-tenth of the crops. 3d. To buy groceries at the Boyar's shop. The emancipation at once converted 350,000 male Bessarabian serfs into proprietors of farms, averaging 30 acres each. Some of the Boyars rent out their own lands to tenants at 5s. per acre. The cost of tillage is 12s. per acre, and the maize crop is usually sold on the spot at 75s., leaving the tenant a net profit of 58s. per acre. The jobbers who buy the maize at Is. 3d. per bushel have to pay 100 per cent for freight to Odessa, where they sell it for 3s., thus making a profit of 6d. per bushel. Asia Minor (not including 'Arabia) has an area of 304,000,000 acres, as follows : — Forest .and common . . 102,000,000 acres Unreclaimed lands . 152,000,000 „ Arable lands . . , 50,000,000 „ 304,000,000 OTTOMAN EMPIRE. 465 The cultivated lands are mostly held, either by owners or tenants, in farms of 20 acres, viz. — Class. Number. Area. Average farm. Proprietors . . 651,000 15,000,000 acres 23 acres Murabas . . 1,395,000 28,000,000 ,, 20 „ Cottiers . . . 633,000 7,000,000 „ 11 ,, 2,679,000 50,000,000 „ 19 „ The Murabas are identical with the Metayers of France and Italy, or the Medianeros of Spain, the landlord getting half the crops. The mode of agriculture is rude ; the habits of the people are simple. A family of five persons rarely spends as much as £10 a year ; but the farmers are bled by money-lenders, at the rate of 24 per cent per annum. The want of roads is such that the freight of a ton of corn would be about £9 for 100 miles. Egypt consists mostly of Crown lands. There are altogether 5,000,000 acres under crops, of which the Khedive owns 3,800,000, which he rents to the Fellahs at 8 s. per acre in Upper Egypt, or 30s. in the Nile valley. Egypt is the third great cotton-field of the world, produc- ing nearly one-twentieth of the whole crop. There is still room for great development of agriculture, there being 2,250,000 acres of arable land at present idle. THE EAST. Commerce and civilisation have made great progress in the last thirty years among Eastern nations. This is more especially true of Japan and China, countries closed for centuries against European intercourse. One by one the most conservative Oriental States are coming into the great 2 H 466 PROGRESS OF THE WORLD. family of nations, and contributing to the welfare and happiness of mankind by an interchange of products. It is to be regretted that statistical science is utterly neglected, except in Japan, and hence we are deprived of the only safe measure of public progress. The Mikado, however, is setting an example in this respect which may ultimately provoke imitation among the other Eastern potentates. JAPAN. The " Empire of the Rising Sun " is about twice the size of Great Britain, and has the same population as the United Kingdom. Commodore Perry, U.S.N., opened the country to foreign commerce in 1854. A complete refor- mation ensued after the fall of the Tycoon in 1868, since which time railways, national banks, newspapers, free schools, police, gas, and other improvements have sprung up. The Mikado's power seems now consolidated, the Satsuma re- bellion having been suppressed in 1878 after it had cost the Government an outlay of £8,500,000 sterling, and the lives of 13,000 soldiers. Eice, being the chief food of the people, is the principal branch of agriculture. The official report shows that the yield per acre is less than in Lombardy. Little more than one-tenth of Japan is cultivated, most of the country being held in large estates by 266 Daimios, whose incomes range from £15,000 to £900,000 per annum. The agricultural returns show as follow : — Acres. Crop. Rice .... 6,790,000 136,000,000 bushels Grain, vegetables, etc. . 4,110,000 Pasture .... 94,600,000 105,500,000 JAPAN. 467 The rice crop is usually more than enough for home consumption, which is estimated as follows : — Upper classes . . .10 lbs. weekly Children . . . . 5 ,, „ Lower classes . . . 3 „ „ This gives an average of three bushels per inhabitant, and the ordinary price is 3s. per bushel. Besides what is eaten there is a large quantity used for making beer, and some is exported. The usual consumption is as follows : — Food Sak6-beer Confectionery Exportation Total . 96,000,000 bushels 15,000,000 6,000,000 9,000,000 136,000,000 The production of sak6 is about 144 million gallons, the consumption averaging 4|- gallons per inhabitant. Japan is contrary to Europe in so many things that it is not surprising to find there are 3 per cent more males than females. The returns show a total of 33,997,000 inhabitants. As soon as the railways are completed that are now in construction there will be over 200 miles, but the actual length working is only 66 miles. Telegraph wires extend for 1840 miles, and Nagasaki is connected with Europe by cable. Commerce is estimated at £8,000,000, imports and exports being equal. In 1878 the revenue was £10,500,000, an increase of 4 per cent on the previous year. The expenditure included £20,000 for the National Museum, and various subsidies to schools. Public debt and paper money have increased in recent years, partly owing to public improvements, partly to the Satsuma rebellion. 468 progress or THE world. Debt. Paper money. Total debt. 1876 . . £9,000,000 £19,000,000 £28,000,000 1878 . . 46,500,000 28,500,000 75,000,000 The debt includes a new loan emitted last year for £2,500,000, for railways, mines, bridges, and reclaiming waste lands. The paper money consists of £24,000,000 in Government notes and £4,500,000 emitted by the banks. There are no fewer than 133 national banks, in all the principal towns and seaports. Currency is now at 13 per cent discount, the paper dollar being worth only 87 " sen " silver, say, 3s. 8d. English. The Mikado introduced penny postage in 1871, and the mails carry annually 29 million letters and 7| million newspapers. The Japan Mail and the Hiogo Times are published in English, which is the polite language of the empire ; but the journals of largest circulation are in Japanese (see page 92). English is taught in the State schools, of which there are 22,000, attended by 1,800,000 pupils, a ratio of 6 per cent to the population, about the same as in Italy. Japan also maintains 700 students in colleges in the United States, besides a number studying in Europe. CHINA. The Flowery Land is so thickly populated that terrific famines are become periodical, but as the Brazilian Gov- ernment is now endeavouring to promote a current of Coolie emigration to the Amazon valley, there will be thus a suit- able outlet for millions of Chinamen, Brazil having double the extent of China, with only three inhabitants to the square mile. China was opened to foreign trade in 1842, when Hong- CHINA. 469 kong was ceded to Great Britain. At present there are twenty-four ports licensed to have commerce with strangers, and the trade returns for 1878 show as follows : — Taels. Sterling. Imports . . 76,000,000 £22,800,000 Exports . . 67,500,000 20,250,000 Two-thirds of the exports go to England, tea sometimes reaching the figure of £10,000,000. Silk is another staple product, this industry being 3000 years old. The shipments to foreign countries average 6,500,000 lbs. yearly. The balance of trade for ten years shows as follows : — 1869-78. Imports of ten years . . . £195,000,000 Exports „ „ . . . 208,000,000 Balance for China . . . £13,000,000 In 1820 the revenue was said to be £50,000,000 ster- ling, but at present it is hardly half that sum, say 1 5d. per head. The public debt is little over one penny per in- habitant. Railways were introduced in 1876, when the Shanghai line was opened ; but the Government purchased the line, and then pulled up the rails. Canals, in a mea- sure, supply the place of railways, the Imperial Canal, 1200 miles long, affording a convenient highway for 11,000 flat-boats carrying grain. There are 400 canals of less note, all invaluable not merely for conveyance of merchandise, but also for irrigation. High roads, to the number of 20,000, traverse all parts of the empire. Coal is found in eighteen provinces, but the amount raised does not exceed 3,000,000 tons per annum. The Chinese are industrious, orderly, and thrifty. Those who emigrate to Cuba and Peru are often ill-treated, which is the reason that the British colonies of Mauritius, Queensland, Trinidad, and Guiana are preferred by the Coolies. 470 PROGRESS OF THE WORLD. PERSIA. The Shah's empire is dwindling away as fast as the Sultan's. Sixty years ago it was supposed to count 10,000,000 suhjects, but at present the "King of kings" rules a smaller population than the King of Portugal. Great part of the country is a wilderness, thinly inhabited by Kurds, Arabs, etc., while the Persians of blue-blood hardly reach 1,000,000 souls. Ghilan is the most interesting part of the empire, being the centre of the silk industry. The export of this staple was formerly worth £1,000,000 sterling, and is now just one-tenth, say 210,000 lbs., valued at 10s. per lb. The highlanders, or Khal-Kahls, come down every winter to till the lowlands at 6d. a day, and return to their caves as soon as winter is over, with £1 each of their savings. Agriculture is carried on generally as in Italy, on the " Metayer " system ; the landlord receiving one-third of the silk and rice, as well as the first-fruits, and paying all the taxes. The share that falls to the tenant varies from £5 in bad years to £9 in good seasons, or three times as much as the average in British India. Rice, the prin- cipal food, is cheap and abundant ; meat is worth about 2d. per lb. Imports are usually in excess of exports, the total com- merce being about £4,000,000. The revenue averages 9s. per inhabitant. There are 2500 miles of telegraph, but no railways. Public instruction is carefully attended to. In all the towns and villages every male and female child is taught to read and copy passages from the Koran, and from the poems of Hafiz and Ferdoussi. SOUTH AMERICA. 471 SARAWAK. Rajah Brooke's dominions, in the island of Borneo, comprise an area of 25,000 square miles, protected by a chain of fourteen forts from the tribes of the interior, and by a fleet of three war-steamers against Malay pirates. The Dyak militia number 25,000 natives, under English officers. The total commerce is £350,000 per annum, sago and quicksilver being the chief expopfcsT'^'fie-Tzgnue £40,000 a year. SOUTH AMERICA. The War of Independence, which began at V^uezueEjfjn April 1810, resulted, after fourteen years, in the ftnalfover- throw of the Spanish arms at Ayacucho ; the Portuguese having been two years previously expelled from Brazil. Thus the States of South America are little more than half a century old, and yet they have made considerable progress, especially in the last twenty years : — 185S. 1877. Increase. Population 23,500,000 25,700,000 10 per cent Commerce £68,400,000 £91,300,000 34 „ Railways . 245 miles 4,877 miles 20-fold Telegraphs 320 „ 19,600 „ 60-fold Revenue . £12,430,000 £33,270,000 170 per cent Debt £85,890,000 £206,400,000 140 „ Some States have advanced much more than others, the Argentine Republic, Chile, and Brazil having left the others far behind. The statistics for 1877, as far as can be ascertained, show as follows : — 472 PROGRESS OF THE WORLD. Population Commerce . Revenue . Debt Railways . Telegraph. . Brazil. 9,858,000 .£35,500,000 £11,200,000 £74,800,000 1250 miles 5800 „ Argentine Republic; 2,150,000 £17,400,000 £2,750,000 £18,300,000 1360 miles 6500 „ Chile. 2,270,000 £11,200,000 £2,900,000 £11,100,000 980 miles 2500 „ Peru. 2,670,000 £10,300,000 £5,000,000 £43,000,000 1200 miles 2500 „ AH S. America. 1 25,700,000 £91,300,000 £33,270,000 £206,400,000 4,897 miles 19,600 „ It may be observed that the States which have most progressed are those mostly in contact with Great Britain. English gold has fertilised the plains, opened up the rivers, and developed the resources of South America, the amount of capital invested being as follows : — ■ Loans i Railways. Banks, etc. Total. Brazil . £19,214,000 £6,650,000 £5,475,000 £31,289,000 Peru . 31,840,000 2,100,000 1,990,000 35,930,000 Chile . 7,550,000 840,000 3,754,000 12,144,000 Argentine Republic . 12,970,000 6,610,000 6,140,000 25,720,000 Uruguay . 3,209,000 2,000,000 2,431,000 7,640,000 Paraguay . . 2,915,000 2,915,000 Bolivia . 1,666,000 1,666,000 Venezuela . 6,691,000 400,000 7,091,000 New Grenada . 2,017,000 400,000 2,417,000 Ecuador . . 1,824,000 400,000 2,224,000 £89,896,000 £18,200,000 £20,940,000 £129,036,000 The above totals give interest as follows : — Amount; Interest: Bankrupt loans Good loans Railways . Banks Sundries . £129,036,000 £5,410,000 1 The various items belonging to the minor republics of Venezuela, New Grenada, Ecuador, Bolivia, Paraguay, and Uruguay, are included in this summary, and will be found set out in detail hereafter in the respective countries. . £47,600,000 Nil. . 42,296,000 £2,200,000 . 18,200,000 1,100,000 . 3,950,000 200,000 . 16,990,000 1,910,000 BRAZIL. 473 Deducting the money lost in bad loans, it appears the other investments produce 7 per cent. The number of English settlers is 46,000 ; the amount of English capital being, therefore, as £2900 for each British subject in the continent. The balance of trade since 1868 has been as follows : — 186S-1S78. Imports of ten years . . . £505,000,000 Exports „ „ . . . 549,000,000 Surplus exports . . . £44,000,000 This shows an average of £4,400,000 per annum in favour of South America, more than one-third falling to the share of Brazil. About £75,000,000 have been expended in the con- struction of railways, say £15,000 per mile, the average net earnings being 3J per cent. These 5000 miles of railway and 20,000 miles of telegraph account for a portion of the public debt, the latter amounting to £206,000,000, or £8 per head of the population. The revenue is £33,000,000, or 27s. per head, while the value of exports is 44s. per head ; judged by this standard, the people are taxed twice as heavily as in Great Britain, where the exports are three times the amount of the national revenue. BEAZIL. This empire comprises twenty provinces, each of which is the size of an ordinary kingdom. The largest are Ama- zonas and Matto Grosso, together 2,000,000 square miles. The law for gradual abolition of slavery was passed in 1870, the actual number of slaves being under 1,000,000, and it is computed that there will be none by the close of the 474 PROGRESS OF THE WORLD. century. In the meantime, efforts are on foot for the intro- duction of Coolies, as none but the southern provinces are suitable for European settlers. There are 90,000 German colonists in the Provinces of Rio Grande do Sul, Parana, Santa Catarina, and San Paulo, who are tolerably prosperous, forming 36 agricultural colonies. The soil is so fertile that agriculture gives very abundant returns; maize 300-fold, rice 900-fold, wheat 50-fold. An acre of cotton gives four times the average of the United States, or nearly a ton of unjinned fibre, while coffee and sugar bring as much wealth to Brazil as if each plantation were a gold-field. Sugar can only be cultivated by negroes, but the other products are suitable for German or other European industry. The area and products corre- sponding to the labour of an able-bodied man are as follow: — Crop. Value. Observations. 1J ton £60 2000 coffee-plants 6 „ 90 Negro's share, £30 6 „ 80 14,000 cotton-plants 8 „ 90 made into Tapioca More than 80 per cent of the male adult population is engaged in agriculture, say 1,200,000 persons, of whom five-sixths are slaves. The product of their labour aver- ages £30,000,000 sterling, say £25 per head. One-third of the crops is kept for consumption, and two-thirds are exported. Average per annum (186M874.) Coffee . Area. 5 acres Sugar . Cotton Mandioca . 5 „ • 7 „ • 4 „ Exports. Tons. Value. Per ton Coffee . 165,100 £10,190,000 £60 Cotton . 54,400 2,720,000 50 Sugar . 153,300 2,680,000 17 Tobacco . . 14,980 750,000 50 Yerba-tea . . 15,700 410,000 25 Indiarubber 5,600 1,150,000 200 Hides . 27,900 1,410,000 Sundries . 1,000,000 £20,310,000 BRAZIL. 475 Brazil is at present the first coffee-growing country in the world, the production having trebled in thirty years. The various plantations cover a total area of 1,400,000 acres, comprising 540 million coffee-plants, which give about a pound of coffee each, say, 240,000 tons annually. This branch of agriculture occupies 300,000 hands, the value of the crop being close on £15,000,000 sterling. Cotton reached its maximum in 1874, and has since declined. The plantations cover 70,000 acres, employing over 50,000 hands, and the crop averaging £1,200,000 in value. Most of it is exported to Europe, only a small quantity being kept for the local mills at Bahia and Paranahyba. Sugar-fields have an area of 260,000 acres, yielding a crop of 300,000 tons, of which one-half is used at home, the other exported ; the total value of the crop being £5,000,000. It employs about 90,000 hands, exclusively negroes. The quantity exported has doubled in fifteen years. 1 Tobacco is another great staple, producing about 30,000 tons, worth £1,500,000 sterling. The exportation rose from 4600 tons in 1861 to 15,000 tons in 1874. Yerba or Paraguayan tea is so largely cultivated in the southern provinces, that the shipments have increased 120 per cent in fifteen years. The import trade has increased pari passu with the exports, the latter, however, always showing a balance in favour of the country. 1867-1876. Imports of ten years . . £175,600,000 Exports ,, „ . . 193,300,000 Surplus exports . . £17,700,000 1 The Brazilian guide-book for the Philadelphian Exhibition gives 2£ tons sugar per acre. This must be exceptional, as the average is only 1J ton. 476 PROGRESS OF THE WORLD. The official summary of trade for forty years gives the aggregate of imports and exports thus, per annum : — 1836-41 .... £9,992,000 1856-61 .... 26,630,000 1867-75 .... 37,980,000 Great Britain is the chief customer, standing for 28 per cent of the total ; hut in exports singly the United States is ahead of all, as that country takes two-thirds of the coffee. Public debt is made up of £20,000,000 due to England, and £55,000,000 home debt, in all £75,000,000 ; this includes £25,000,000 in paper money and treasury-bills. The debt has been caused by an expenditure of £39,000,000 in the Paraguayan war, £9,000,000 on rail- ways, and the rest in various ways. The several provinces have also local debts, making an aggregate of £3,000,000. The total debt averages £8 per inhabitant, and the revenue £1 sterling. There are 33 banks, of which only three have the right of emission, namely the Banks of Brazil, of Bahia, and of Maranham. The Bank of Brazil has a paid-up capital of £3,630,000, in shares usually at 15 per cent above par. The emission is £3,000,000, and the bank is obliged to lend always £2,600,000 to planters. The dividend averages 8 per cent per annum ; reserve fund £440,000. The charter will expire in 1900. The Bank of Bahia emits only £150,000 of paper money, its paid-up capital being £440,000. The Maran- ham Bank, capital £110,000, has yet a smaller emission. Among the other banks are the English Bank of Eio and the New London and Brazilian. The aggregate paid-up capital and reserve of all thirty-three hanks is £11,270,000, say £350,000 each. BRAZIL. 477 Brazil has 1250 miles of railway, the principal lines being as follow : — Pedro Segundo . Santos, San Paulo, etc. Cantagallo . Bahia Pernambuco Eleven other lines Miles open. In construction 320 132 260 190 92 78 76 424 1208 1250 1530 The Pedro Segundo belongs to Government, having already cost £7,300,000, or £24,000 per mile; it has sixteen tunnels and many fine viaducts ; the earnings aver- age £890,000 per annum, and the net profits %\ per cent on the capital. The traffic consists of 1,250,000 passengers and 220,000 tons of merchandise, chiefly coffee. This line is now connected at Cachoeira with the San Paulo system. The Santos line, made by an English company, cost nearly £3,000,000, and pays dividends of 10 or 12 per cent per annum. There are various mining companies, but the most suc- cessful is that of San Juan del Rey, the annual output being 70,000 ounces of gold-dust, worth £220,000. The average dividends for the last thirty-three years have been 23 per cent per annum; shares usually sell at four times their nominal value. Education is advancing in a satisfactory manner; number of State schools 5890, attended by 191,200 children, say 2 per cent of the population; annual subsidy £575,000, say £3 per scholar, or 14 pence per inhabitant. There are four universities that confer degrees, and twenty-six colleges for special studies. Among the literary societies the fore- most is the Instituto Historico, of which the Emperor Dom Pedro is chairman. There are 97 free libraries, two-thirds 478 PROGRESS OF THE WORLD. supported by private subscription; they contain 462,000 volumes, and are visited by 85,000 readers yearly ; the largest is the Biblioteca Nacional of Rio, -which has 120,000 volumes. There are 350 printing-offices, which produce 299 newspapers and magazines ; of these 44 appear at Rio Janeiro. The Jornal do Comercio prints 15,000 copies daily. Nothing more impresses a European than the magnifi- cence of the hospitals of Brazil. The Misericordia, founded in 1545, admits yearly 14,500 patients, of whom only 30 per cent are Brazilians, the rest being Europeans ; yellow fever forms a heavy contingent, which explains how the mortality is 16 per cent, or double the rate of hospitals in England. Attached to it are four dispensaries, which give medicine gratis to 11,000 applicants, the whole being under the charge of Sisters of Charity. The hospital has an income of £198,000 per annum, but the expenditure seldom exceeds £180,000 sterling; say £12 for each indoor patient, and 1 0s. for those relieved at dispensaries. There are six other hospitals at Bio, besides twenty-eight institutions for sick or distressed Europeans ; an orphanage for girls which gives dowries of £200 each to a certain number every year, a refuge for aged women, a school for deaf and dumb, and numberless similar institutions. Every province in the empire has, moreover, its own Misericordia hospital and an orphanage for destitute children. ARGENTINE REPUBLIC. This confederacy of fourteen provinces has made great progress since the overthrow of General Rosas in 1852, and now ranks next after Brazil among South American States. The census of 1869 showed as follows : — ARGENTINE REPUBLIC. 479 Area. Population Buenos Ayres 45,000 sq. ] niles 495,100 Cordoba 70,000 , 210,500 Entre Rios . 40,000 134,300 Corrientes 40,000 129,000 Tuouman 20,000 109,000 Santa Fe 36,000 89,100 Eight other provinces 349,000 569,900 600,000 1,736,900 Indian territory . 580,000 , 100,000 1,180,000 , 1,836,000 Buenos Ayres and Santa Fe constitute the second great sheep-farm of the world, possessing 63,000,000 sheep, which produce 200,000,000 lbs. wool per annum. Tucu- man raises enough sugar for three of the upper provinces. Cordoba is interesting for its university, dating from 1613. Corrientes and Entre Eios, forming the Argentine Meso- potamia (between the mighty rivers Parana and Uruguay), are the most favoured part of South America in wood, water, soil, and climate. The population of Buenos Ayres is largely composed of European settlers, being made up thus : — Argentines 245,000 Italians .... 110,000 British .... 38,000 Spaniards 34,000 French .... 32,000 Germans and Swiss 21,000 Americans 1,600 Various .... 13,400 495,000 Natural increase is small, although the climate is healthy. The influx of immigrants is about 32,000 yearly, or double the number of persons leaving the country. All 480 PROGRESS OF THE WORLD. manner of physical deformity or of mental insanity is rare ; but heart-disease is very prevalent in the city of Cordoba, which some attribute to the political disturbances, others to the water-supply. Goitre is met with in the provinces at the foot of the Andes. Lockjaw is much commoner than in Europe, owing to the rarity of the air. All classes are temperate in eating and drinking, courteous to each other ajid to strangers, and emulous of placing themselves on a par with Europeans. Pastoral industry has been so prosperous during the last twenty-five years that some of the Estancieros have large incomes. Wool usually fetches 6d. per lb. ; thus a farmer of 100,000 sheep has an income of £10,000 sterling, his expenses not exceeding half that sum. The returns of cattle, compared with exports, show as follows, •for all the fourteen provinces : — Number. Value. Export. Value. Sheep . 63 million £16,000,000 "Wool and skins £5,725,000 Cattle . 12 „ 12,000,000 Hides, beef, tallow 4,410,000 Horses . 4 „ 4,000,000 £32,000,000 £10,135,000 Thus each inhabitant of the republic has about £18 worth of farming-stock, which produces him an income of £6 per annum. If we take, however, the province of Buenos Ayres singly, we find that each inhabitant has 110 sheep, 12 cows, and 4 horses, representing a value of £43 sterling and annual exports of £7,400,000, say £15 per head, the same as in Australia. Tillage is in its infancy, but the new colonies of Swiss and Italian settlers in Santa Fe and Gran Chaco are now able to raise enough grain for home consumption, say 4,000,000 bushels, besides exporting 200,000 bushels to Europe. This industry can never prove so lucrative as the ARGENTINE REPUBLIC. 481 pastoral, since the highest price that can be profitably paid for wheat at Eosario is 2 s. 6d. per bushel. The Santa Fe colonists have 700,000 acres under crops, and the value of their farms is put down at £1,864,000, which, divided among 3185 families, gives an average of £585 to each family. One of the most important is the Central Argen- tine colony, with 3000 population and 100,000 acres under tillage. There is also a colony of Italian wheat-growers at Chivilcoy, province of Buenos Ayres, besides a Welsh colony of 900 souls at Chubut in Patagonia. The yield of wheat in Santa Fe ranges from fifteen to forty fold. Excellent land, free of timber, can be rented in any of the Santa Fe colonies at Is. per acre, or purchased at £1 per acre, the latter payable in five years, without interest. Land for sheep-farming may be bought very cheap in the upper provinces, say 4d. an acre, but lack- ing facility for conveying products to market. The usual price in Buenos Ayres is 25 s. per acre. There are nine railways, the most important being as follows : — Miles. Cost. Owner. Great Southern . 270 £7,500. per mile English Company Central Northern 336 4,500 „ Government Central Argentine 246 6,400 „ English Company Western 175 9,500 „ Government Andine 158 5,200 „ „ East Argentine . 100 10,000 „ English Company Three other lines 97 1382 10,000 ,, £7,700 ,, The above lines carry 3,500,000 passengers and 650,000 tons of cargo yearly, the dividends varying from 8 per cent on the Great Southern and the Western to | per cent on the Tucuman and the East Argentine. These railways, as well as immigration, have led to a 2 I 482 PROGRESS OF THE WORLD. prodigious increase of exports, as shown by the following returns : — I860. 1873. Increase. Wool, bales . . 42,275 211,000 5-fold Sheepskins Cow-hides Jerked beef . Value of exports 10,715 62,500 6-fold 1,662,500 2,538,000 50 per cent 21,240 tons 33,500 tons 55 „ £4,222,000 £9,174,000 110 During the last ten years the balance of trade has been against the country. 1868-1877. Imports of ten years . . £87,000,000 Exports „ . . 71,000,000 Surplus imports . 16,000,000 There are five banks, but the emission may be said to be confined to the Provincial Bank of Buenos Ayres : the paper dollar of this bank was worth sixpence in 1836, but has steadily declined to its present value, three halfpence, that is 160 to the pound. Emission £6,200,000, deposits £4,700,000, capital £2,400,000 ; rate of discount usually 6 per cent. The London and River Plate Bank, with a capital of £1,500,000, has averaged in the last fifteen years a dividend of 8 per cent. , The public debt averages £8 : 10s. per inhabitant, and is composed of £13,000,000 due to London bond-holders, and £5,500,000 home debt. The interest and sinking fund are paid regularly, and the nine Argentine loans on the Stock Exchange stand highest after Brazil among South American securities. The revenue averages 30s. per head of the population, having doubled since 1863. Public instruction is more advanced than in the rest of the continent, and costs £305,000 per annum, say £3 per scholar, or 3s. 6d. per inhabitant. There are 1816 schools, attended by 119,000 children, besides the universities of Cordoba and Buenos Ayres, 14 provincial colleges, 3 mining CHILE. 483 schools, 4 model farms, a national observatory, and 156 free libraries. These libraries count 130,000 volumes, and 170,000 readers yearly. The school population is 6 per cent of the number of inhabitants. There are 74 news- papers, of which 22 appear at Buenos Ayres in Spanish, French, English, Italian, and German. CHILE. This republic has long enjoyed the reputation of the most industrious of all the South American States. For twenty years it supplied wheat to California and Australia, being at that time the only country in the South American continent that raised grain for its own inhabitants. Its minerals, especially copper, were also favourably known in Europe. An era of remarkable prosperity was initiated by Mr. Wheelwright's introduction of steam navigation into the Pacific in 1840, since which time the growth of trade has been four times greater than of population. Trade. Per inhab. 1844 £2,937,000 35s. 1854 6,391,000 72s. 1865 9,222,000 92s. 1876 14,173,000 140s. The exports average £3 per inhabitant, but have been declining since 1876, owing to the depression in copper, the deficient wheat harvests, and a severe monetary crisis. The balance of trade during the last ten years has been almost even. is6s-im. Imports of ten years . . £56, 000, 000 Exports „ . . 54,000,000 The amount of English capital, as already shown, is 484 PROGRESS OF THE WORLD. £12,000,000, including seven loans in London, which make up £7,500,000, and which were chiefly spent in making railways. The various lines belong mostly to Government, and form a complete network from Valpa- raiso to Araucania, viz. — Government lines . . 810 miles Company „ . . 170 ,, 980 „ The Valparaiso and Santiago line, 1 42 miles, cost the State about £1,500,000 sterling ; the rest averaged £9000 per mile, and the net profits on all the Government lines are about 3 per cent on their cost. The Copiapo line belongs to a company, who have reaped very large profits. It was the first built in South America (except that of Central America at Panama), the proprietor, Mr. Wheel- wright, carrying it up to the Puquios mines, 3500 feet over sea-level. Public instruction is carefully attended to, Chile being second only to the Argentine Republic, in South America, for the ratio of her school population. There are 1650 schools, attended by 98,000 children, say 5 per cent of the number of inhabitants. PEEU. This republic is best known in Europe for its export of guano. During thirty years the shipments of this staple product averaged 300,000 tons, worth £3,000,000 ster- ling, but it has been in a measure superseded since 1871 by nitrate. When the Chincha Islands were surveyed in PERU. 485 1853 they were found to contain 15,000,000 tons guano, valued at £75,000,000 sterling. They are now showing signs of exhaustion. The growth of Peruvian trade may be dated from the first shipments of guano in 1840, reach- ing a climax in 1872, since which time there has been a decline. 1830 Imports and exports 1840 1850 „ „ 1872 1875 £1,640,000 2,370,000 3,220,000 12,790,000 10,180,000 The balance of trade for the last ten years has been in favour of Peru. 1868-1877. Imports of ten years . . . £49,000,000 Exports ,, . . . 60,000,000 Surplus of exports . . £11,000,000 The amount of English capital sunk in Peru is £36,000,000, of which £32,000,000 may be regarded as lost, being the sum of dishonoured loans. A great portion of the money borrowed in London was expended in making railways to points of the Andes previously inaccessible. The Oroya line ascends to a height of 15,600 feet, being already half-way to the Cerro Pasco mines, supposed to contain £120,000,000 worth of silver. The Tacna and Bolivia line cost £34,000 a mile. In 1877 the lines com- pleted, or in construction, exceeded 2000 miles, having cost up to January of that year the sum of £36,000,000. Miles. Cost. 11 Government lines . . 1280 £25,500,000 10 Company „ . 750 10,500,000 2030 £36,000,000 486 PROGRESS OF THE WORLD. The lines in actual traffic were 1200 miles in length, and may be said to have cost £30,000 per mile, but the earnings cannot be ascertained. Peru, once famous for its mineral treasures, is now in so impecunious a condition, that in 1878 (before the out- break of war with Chile) the paper money was at 9 s. to the £, equal to a discount of 55 per cent. Yet there are persons living who remember when Peru had forty smelting- works, turning out hundreds of tons of pure silver yearly. The mines at present produce about £290,000 worth, most of which is exported. Sugar-planting is the most valuable branch of agricul- ture. It was, in a measure, introduced by a Scotchman named Henry Swayne, in 1832, and greatly improved by James Cahill in 1865, the latter bringing from the United States all the newest machinery. The crop averages 110,000 tons; the exports of sugar in 1877 were little under £2,000,000 sterling. The revenue of Peru is nominally £11,000,000, but as the dollars have fallen to 2s., it is in reality about £5,000,000, say £2 per inhabitant. Schools have been established in all the departments, and the scholars form about 3 per cent of the population. MINOK EEPUBLICS. Bolivia. Area, 840,000 square miles; population, 1,987,000. The foreign trade averages £2,000,000 per annum, imports being slightly in excess of exports. The coffee known as Yungas is the best in the world, but costs 12s. per lb. in BOLIVIA. 487 Buenos Ayres, owing to the expense of land carriage. It is proposed to make a road from Santa Cruz to the river Paraguay across the Chaco wilderness, or else to open up the navigation of the Eio Pilcomayo from Chuquisaca to Asuncion, a length of 1650 miles. Both projects are visionary. 1 The only access to Bolivia is by the Tacna railway, from the Peruvian seaboard, the line rising to a height of 14,600 feet. There are four trains weekly, and the receipts last year left £700 over expenses. Silver mines are numerous, but mostly abandoned by their owners. The country is as mountainous as Switzerland, the scenery being almost as fine. No regular statistics are published, but the dsath-rate is high, owing to the frequent revolu- tions. Tne silver coinage is of so low a value that the dollar seldom reaches 3s. ; there is, nevertheless, a law against exporting it, " lest the country should be impov- erished." The loan due in London was contracted for making a railway to connect with one of the tributaries of the Amazon. Paraguay. L soil and climate one of the most favoured parts of the ;lobe, with a population officially stated at 221,000 souls but probably less. The heroism of the people in re- sisting the invading armies of Brazil and Buenos Ayres has neve been surpassed in history, 2 but resulted in the anni- hilaton of the Paraguayans, after a prolonged struggle of five ears' duration. The railway from Asuncion to Para- guar is thirty miles in length, and has recently been sold by (overnment to a Brazilian company. Tobacco and 1 ; is also proposed to connect Tucuman, Jujuy, and La Paz by way t the Humahuaca valley and Tarija, but the project cannot Be regar.ed as serious. 2 iee Colonel Thomson's War of Paraguay. 488 PROGRESS OF THE WORLD. Paraguayan tea are the chief products. Before the war Asuncion exported £200,000 worth annually of the tea, commonly called Yerba-mate. Uruguay, sometimes called Banda Oriental, is the smallest republic in South America, and a little larger than England. The population is almost 500,000 souls, viz. — Natives . 260,000 Italians . 58,000 Spaniards . . 42,000 1 French . 26,000 1 Brazilians . . 14,000 i English and Germans 6,000 Various . 67,000 473,000 The proportion of wealth to each 'inhabitant is fery great, the income-tax returns showing as follows : — ' Montevideo . Country districts Population. Income. Per inhabiint. 127,700 £20,860,000 £164 per afnum 345,300 51,540,000 148 473,000 £72,400,000 £152 Trade has been almost even for some years, the baance against the country being trifling, say £400,000 annum : — 1868-1877. Imports of ten years .... £34,100,000 Exports „ .... 30,200,000 Surplus imports £3,900,000 The returns of live stock show for each inhabitat 15 cows, 3 horses, and 34 sheep, worth about £26 steling, and the exports of wool, tallow, etc., reach £3,000,0(J), or per VENEZUELA. 489 £6 per inhabitant. The wheat crop usually amounts to a value of £720,000 sterling. Eevenue averages £2 per head, and the public debt in 1876 amounted to £9,000,000, or £19 per inhabitant, but has been reduced by the Dictator Latorre to £6,000,000. There are three railways, making up 160 miles; earnings 3 per cent. Public instruction is improving ; 245 schools are attended by 16,800 children, say 4 per cent of the population. Charitable institutions in Montevideo are numerous and munificent. Columbian Republics. Venezuela is very subject to earthquakes and revolutions. Area, 403,000 square miles; population, 1,784,000. Im- ports and exports are almost even, together £6,500,000 yearly. The chief export is coffee, worth £2,500,000. National Debt £20,000,000, including £6,500,000 due to Great Britain. The revenue is barely £700,000. Ecuador has a mixed population of 1,000,000 souls. Eevenue £300,000, or 6s. per head. This republic is remarkable for the fact that its capital, Quito, stands 9,534 feet above the sea-level, and enjoys a delightful climate almost under the line. Nevertheless, the adjacent volcanoes incommode the citizens. Death-rate uncertain. New Grenada.- — This republic is remarkable for possess- ing the Isthmus of Panama, with a valuable transit trade from the Atlantic to the Pacific and vice versa. The ex- ports average £2,500,000, being nearly double the imports. Debt £10,000,000, or 68s. per inhabitant, the revenue being under 9s. per head. The Panama railway, 47 miles long, gives great importance to this republic. The Panama Star and Herald is the oldest English paper in South America, and circulates all over the Spanish republics. 490 PROGRESS OF THE WORLD. UNITED STATES. Although the growth of the United States for a quarter of a century after Independence was very slow, it received a great impulse about the beginning of the present century from two principal causes, namely, the invention of Whitney's cotton-gin, and the activity of shipbuilding. A second epoch dates from 1820, when European emigrants began to settle in the country, to which cause is in a great measure attributable the progress attained in the last sixty years. According to the census of 1800, the population of the United States was little over that of Portugal. There were but two cities which had up to 40,000 inhabitants, and four towns over 10,000 souls each. Seventy per cent of the en- tire population lived in log huts, 25 to 30 feet in length. Roads had not yet been made through the primeval forests, nor was much known respecting the country beyond the Alleghanies. The Bey of Tripoli was the first, in 1801, to declare war against the young republic, for refusing to pay tribute like the European powers to the Barbary pirates. Hostilities with Spain occurred a few years later, ending in the annexation of Florida. France had already been pre- vailed upon to sell Louisiana, just as in later years Mexico ceded California, and Great Britain the Oregon territory. While pursuing a peace policy, the American Government always displayed great energy in making its flag respected, and exacted indemnities from Denmark, Naples, Spain, Portugal, and France. In 1836 war with France seemed inevitable, on the score of indemnities for injuries inflicted in 1805, but the French Government admitted the claim, and paid £1,000,000 sterling. UNITED STATES. 491 The various cessions of territory to the United States, and the prices paid, are shown as follows : — Date. Territory acquired. Area, sq. m. Cost. Per acre. From 1776 13 states 421,000 £15,000,0001 14 pence G. Britain 1803 Louisiana 1,172,000 3,000,000 1 „ France 1819 Florida . 60,000 1,000,000 6 „ Spain 1829 Indian lands . 123,000 5,500,000 17 „ Indians IS 45 Texas 376,000 2,000,000 2 „ Mexico 1846 Oregon . 280,000 G. Britain 1848 California 546,000 3,000,000 2 „ Mexico 1853 New Mexico . 46,000 1867 Alaska . 580,000 1,500,000 1 „ 3d. avera Russia 3,604,000 £31,000,000 ge Thus a territory, originally the size of France and Spain, has grown to the dimensions of the European continent, by acquiring possessions from five of the great Powers, and- from Mexico, all at a very trifling cost. The growth of population has been equal to that of territory, namely nine-fold, viz. — Whites. Coloured. Total. 1800 . 4,304,500 1,001,400 5,305,900 1878 . 38,976,000 5,368,000 44,344,000 By the census of 1870 it appears that 14 per cent of the population consisted of European emigrants. The sexes are more evenly divided than in Europe, being as 102 males to 100 females. The average influx of emigrants was as follows : — 1820 to 1839 1840 to 1859 1860 to 1879 Sixty years Per annum. 35,600 215,400 292,500 Immigration. 712,000 4,308,000 5,850,000 181,200 10,870,000 1 This was the cost of the War of Independence. 492 PROGRESS OF THE WORLD. The proportions were — 46 per cent British, 35 per cent German, and 19 per cent of various nationalities. The country sustained a serious check by the civil war (1861-65), in which 581,000 men perished. The returns show that 2,653,000 men served in the Northern army, including 186,000 negroes. The Confederate army at one time (1864) counted 549,000 men. The number of Indians diminishes yearly, and in another century there will be but scattered remnants of the Pawnees, Mohicans, Sioux, and other famous tribes. In 1836, when the United States Government purchased 94 million acres of Indian country at 17d. per acre, the total Indian tribes numbered 333,000 souls, including 67,000 fighting men. Lands were set apart — namely, 150 million acres, chiefly in Montana and Dakotah Territories, where their settlements now number 42,000 families. The total red-skinned population is as follows :• — ■ Living by the chase . . 98,108 Semi-civilised . . 52,113 Settled on farms . 100,085 Voting as citizens . 24,595 274,901 This shows a decline of 18 per cent in little more than forty years. Whether for internal industry or foreign commerce, the United States are singularly favoured. They can put boundless territories under tillage, and their coast-line is equal to half the earth's circumference, comprising 10,300 miles on the Atlantic side, and 2300 on the Pacific. In spite of the great exodus to the Western States, the rural population does not grow so rapidly as the urban : — UNITED STATES. 493 Over 10,000 population. Urban population. Rural population. 1840 ... 44 cities 8 per cent 92 1870 . . .226 „ 21 „ 79 At present there are thirty cities of greater magnitude than Philadelphia was seventy years ago. Criminal statistics for 1876 showed 47,000 convictions, or one in 900 inhabitants, being double the ratio of Great Britain. It is remarkable that although foreigners compose but one-seventh of the population, they supply 14.000 offenders, or 30 per cent of the total. AGRICULTURE. Nothing has more powerfully contributed to the progress of the United States than the rapid development of agri- cultural interests, based on the easy acquisition of land. During almost half a century the Government sold annually several millions of acres at 5 s. an acre, and made liberal grants to various railway companies. Finally, in 1862, the Homestead-law was passed, whereby free lots of 160 acres were obtained by settlers on condition of occupying the land five years. 1 In the earlier part of the century the public lands were supposed to comprise 314 million acres, and the accounts of 1837 showed 75 millions sold to settlers, and 239 unsold. Since then the United States flag has taken in new terri- tories, and the returns of sales and grants down to 1875 show as follows : — Sales per annum. Sold before 1801 . . . 5,000,000 acres 250,000 acres 1801 to 1830 . . . 23,000,000 „ 750,000 „ 1831 to 1875 . . . 332,000,000 „ 7,000,000 „ Lands for sale . . . 1,475,000,000 „ 1,835,000,000 ,, or 3,000,000 sq. miles 1 The fees attending the title to a, Homestead farm are only £3 sterling. " 494 PROGRESS OF THE WORLD. There are 724 million acres of surveyed lands, ready for occupants. From 1875 to 1879 the sales averaged more than 7,000,000 acres yearly, notwithstanding the decline of immigration. Moreover, the land grants to railway companies during ten years (1861-1870) averaged 21 million acres yearly, besides petitions for 150 millions more. The area of lands taken up by settlers in the last forty-five years is equal to the aggregate extent of France, Spain, and Portugal, or five times that of the United Kingdom. The area still available for settlers is twenty times that of the British Islands, but one-fourth of it, com- prising Alaska territory, is of little value. Between railway concessions, homestead grants, etc., all the available Government lands will probably be disposed of in the remaining years of this century. The development of agriculture in the last forty years appears as follows : — Vnino of on Value of Acres tilled. Grain crops. crops Agricultural ^ " exports. 1840 . 45,000,000 615,000,000 bush. £82,000,000 £16,000,000 1878 . 138,000,000 2,150,000,000 „ 385,000,000 107,000,000 At present the average is 50 bushels of grain for each inhabitant against 35 bushels in 1840-50. The surplus of wheat for exportation now ranges from 150,000,000 to 185,000,000 bushels per annum. The official returns for 1878 show as follow : — Acres. Average yield. Value of crop. Wheat . 32,000,000 13 bushels £93,000,000 Maize 50,000,000 26 „ 101,000,000 Oats, etc. . 17,000,000 21 „ 34,000,000 Potatoes 2,000,000 90 „ 15,000,000 Hay 24,000,000 1J ton 54,000,000 Cotton 12,000,000 200 lbs. 47,000,000 Sugar 160,000 1600 „ 3,000,000 Tobacco . 550,000 900 „ 8,000,000 Sundries . 290,000 30,000,000 138,000,000 £385,000,000 UNITED STATES. 495 The average value of crop is nearly £3 sterling per acre. As the farmers pay no rent, and have cheap freight for their products, they can afford to sell grain at prices much lower than in Europe. In 1866 the usual freight from Chicago to New York was 27 cents per bushel ; at present it is only 1\ cents. The cotton-fields, covering a larger area than the king- doms of Denmark or Belgium, are cultivated by 120,000 whites and 500,000 negroes. One man can till 12 acres, or, with machinery, 30 acres. Maize requires only one- fifth the labour of cotton, and this crop, along with wheat, takes up the same area as the kingdom of Prussia. Hay represents a value superior to the cotton crop. Potatoes have trebled since 1850. The hop crop now exceeds 5000 tons. Eice gives 30 bushels per acre, sugar § ton, besides 80 gallons molasses — the latter item usually paying the working expenses on a sugar-farm. Since the emanci- pation of the negroes, many of the cotton-farms are worked similar to the Metayer system of France and Italy, the owner giving the labourers a half or a quarter of the crop, with board. The average work of a cotton-picker before the emancipation was 1 4 bales ; but now it is 7 bales. Great Britain takes one-half the cotton crop, one-third is kept for home consumption, and the rest goes to France and other countries. The production of cotton during fifty years has been as follows : — ■ Export. Home consumption. Total crop. Average lbs. lbs. lbs. price. 1830-1840 . 610,000,000 110,000,000 720,000,000 6d. per lb, 1841-1850 . 920,000,000 220,000,000 1,140,000,000 4d. „ 1851-1860 . 1,260,000,000 350,000,000 1,610,000,000 5d. „ 1861-1870 505,000,000 415,000,000 920,000,000 20d. „ 1871-1878 . 1,350,000,000 600,000,000 1,950,000,000 6d. „ 496 PROGRESS OF THE WORLD. The production now exceeds 2,400,000,000 lbs. ; the value in the United States is about fivepence farthing, or sixpence in England. Vineyards are extending so rapidly in California, Ohio, and other States, that the area under vines now exceeds 130,000 acres, the vintage averaging 20,000,000 gallons : this is equal to 160 gallons per acre, against 120 in Australia. California produces one-fourth of the total wine crop. It would be difficult to ascertain the number of farms in the early part of the century, but we know that in 1810 the total value of cotton and other agricultural exports was £5,000,000 sterling. Very little progress was made for the next thirty years. Mr. H. Murray, writing in 1834, says : — " Agriculture is in its infancy in the United States, the country being covered with dense back-woods. Even the State of New York is still three-fourths forest. Nevertheless, we shall probably see the United States leave all other nations behind them, as this country pos- sesses more fertile land than the whole of Europe, has magnificent rivers, and is occupied by a very energetic people. The best land can be purchased from 8s. up to 24s. an acre." At that time the exports comprised 1,000,000 barrels flour, 90,000 casks of pork, 150,000 tons of cotton, and 120,000 barrels of rice ; but the dear- ness of freight, as the farmers said, alone prevented them from raising food to supply one-half of Europe. The following returns show that agriculture in the United States has made more progress in the last eighteen years than in a century previous : — Export or Gkaih. 1860-1870, annual average . . £12,100,000 sterling 1878 „ . . 36,150,000 ,, UNITED STATES. 497 The great increase of grain crops has been accompanied by an extraordinary rise in the quantities of meat, etc., exported, viz. — Prom 1870 to 1878. Increased quantity. Beef has increased ... Z\ fold Bacon and hams . . . 15 „ Cheese 2 „ Lard 10 „ In the above interval of eight years the prices of bacon and pork fell 45 per cent. Moreover, an active trade sprang up in the exportation of live cattle to England. Customs returns for 1879 show that the number of live cattle exported to Great Britain had trebled in the past year. The ordinary value of farm-stock is £10 for horses and £5 for cattle, 14s. for sheep, and 22s. for hogs. The increase of cattle has not been so rapid as in the River Plate territories or Australia, the returns being as follow : — Horses. Cowa. Sheep. Pigs. Value of stock. 1840 . 4,000,000 15,000,000 19,000,000 26,000,000 £93,000,000 1879 . 12,500,000 33,500,000 38,000,000 35,000,000 355,000,000 The ordinary slaughter of cattle is 7,500,000 head, besides which there are 150,000 shipped yearly to Great Britain, and 100,000 killed at seaports to be sent to the same destination. The live and dead cattle thus shipped for England had for three years averaged a value of £3,000,000, but rose in 1878 to £7,500,000. The slaughter of hogs is 4,500,000 yearly, of which total one-third is at Chicago. Sheep have improved in breed, but declined in numbers since 1867. The following Table shows the advance of this industry in the last forty years : — 2 K 498 PROGRESS OF THE WORLD. Wool clip. Average fleece. 1836 . . 12,890^000 42,000,000 lbs. 3J lbs. 1867 . . 42,300,000 148,000,000 „ H „ 1877 . . 35,500,000 208,000,000 „ 6 „ At present the average fleece is the same weight as in Australia. The largest sheep-farm in North America is at Albuquerque, New Mexico, where one squatter has 500,000 sheep on an area of thirty square miles. The largest cattle-owner is Mr. Sam. Allen of Texas, who has 225,000 horned cattle on a farm of 4,000,000 acres (6400 square miles), employing 400 herdsmen and 3000 horses. Comparing the census of 1870 with that of 1850, it appears the number of farms had increased 80 per cent, viz. — Farms. Acres. Average farm. 1850 . . . 1,449,000 303,000,000 209 acres 1870 . . . 2,660,000 417,000,000 153 „ The average size of the farms is diminishing, and the area under cultivation increasing in inverse ratio. Farm area per inliab. Tillage per iahab. Prop, of farms tilled. 1850 13 acres 2 acres 16 per cent 1870 11 „ 31 „ 32 „ In other words, one-third of the farm area is now under crops, whereas in 1850 the farmers had only ploughed one- sixth of their holdings. The largest farms are in California and Texas, the smallest in Massachusetts and Connecticut. 1850. 1S60. California, average farm 4470 acres 468 acres Texas , , 942 ,, 591 ,, Connecticut , , 106 „ 99 ,, Massachusetts , , 99 ,, 94 „ Mr. Mitchell of San Joaquin valley, California, lias UNITED STATES. 499 90,000 acres under wheat, Dr. Glin, 1 of the same State, 45,000 acres ; and Mr. Dalrymple of Dakotah 70,000 acres. They can raise wheat profitably at 3s. per bushel, to which adding freight, the selling price in San Francisco or New York is only 4s. The average crop is 13 bushels per acre, or half the average for Great Britain. The census of 1870 shows the farms to be classified thus : — Under 20 acres . . 474,000 farms From 20 to 100 . 1,602,000 ,, From 100 to 500 . 565,000 „ Over 500 acres . . 19,600 „ 2,660,600 The above farms, with their houses, cattle, implements, etc., represented a value of £2,224,000,000. The sum paid yearly for wages is £62,000,000 sterling, 2 and the annual receipts from agriculture and cattle-farming sum up £535,000,000. In the single item of dairy-farming the total value pro- duced in 1840 was under £7,000,000, whereas in 1870 the dairy-farms of New York alone yielded 4 £ times that amount. The United States at present produce 460,000 tons of butter and 120,000 tons of cheese, the total dairy produce, including milk, being valued at £60,000,000 sterling. New York stands for one-third of the cheese, each cow giving about 330 lbs. per annum. The new wheat-fields are mostly beyond the Mississippi. In 1876 no fewer than 4000 flat boats descended that river, carrying 9,000,000 tons of grain. The quantities of 1 On this farm is used an improved kind of machinery ; each machine can cut, thresh, winnow, and bag sixty acres gf wheat in a day. 2 Wages vary from £16 a year in South Carolina to £84 in Nevada for indoor servants, with board. 500 PROGRESS OF THE WORLD. wheat raised in the last thirty years have been in the following manner : — Wheat . . Bushels crops. Cis-Mississippi. Trans-Mississippi. Total. to pop. 1849 . 95,000,000 bushels 5,000,000 bushels 100 H per head 1877 . 212,000,000 „ 153,000,000 ,, 365 8% 1878 . 215,000,000 „ 208,000,000 „ 423 9£ In thirty years (while the population has only doubled) the wheat-crop has quadrupled. Comparing the extent now under crops with that of 1850, we find an increase of 81,000,000 acres in twenty-eight years, say 3,000,000 acres a year. In the same interval the value of farms and cattle has risen at the rate of 8| per cent per annum. SHIPPING. Notwithstanding the illiberal restrictions imposed by Congress, the commerce of the country has increased in fifty years on a par with that of Great Britain, namely eight-fold, the carrying trade, however, suffering a notable decline in recent years. "At the beginning of the century," says Yeats, "the commerce of the world seemed passing into American hands, their shipping having increased five-fold in twenty years." In 1808 it amounted to 110,000 tons, and was second only to that of England. Ten years later their ocean clippers had gained such reputation, that Mr. Gran- tham says people used to go to Liverpool to see them. The invention of steamers was first practically adopted by Fulton, on the Hudson, and in 1838 there were 800 American steamers plying on American waters. For thirty years preceding the Civil War the dockyards built 140,000 tons of vessels annually; but since 1861 the movement has been downward. The following Table gives the ton- nage at various epochs : — UNITED STATES. Tons. Increase. ( 1808 110,000 Period of J 1830 . 1,268,000 50, 000 tons per ann. prosperity i 1851 . 3,772,000 117,000 ,, 1861 . 5,540,000 180,000 „ Decrease. Period of (" 1868 . 4,352,000 170,000 tons per ann. decline ~) 1877 . 4,242,000 12,000 501 At present an effort is made to revive the shipping in- terest, which can only hope for success by repealing the Navigation Laws and the duties on imported iron. The American marine in 1877 stood as follows : — Sailing vessels, high seas , , , , coasting Ocean steamers River and coasting do. 1,421,000 tons 1,650,000 „ 190,000 „ 981,000 ,, 4,242,000 Before the Civil War the American dockyards were not able to build vessels fast enough for the increase of com- merce, as appears from the proportion of trade passing to foreign ship-owners. Since the war the bulk of the trade has been done on foreign bottom : — Commerce. American bottom. Foreign bottom: 1808 . £19,000,000 70 per cent 30 per cei 1835 40,000,000 65 ,, 35 ,, 1865 . 125,000,000 48 „ 52 „ 1878 . 230,000,000 25 „ 75 „ According to the United States law no foreign vessels can engage in coasting or internal trade, which is three times the magnitude of the foreign commerce. The vessels occupied in 1878, and the tonnage borne by them, are shown as follows : — Sea-going vessels. American 10,594 Foreign . 20,202 Total Total Tons. Coasting. Tons. vessels. tonst 3,642,000 74,219 34,143,000 84,813 37,785,000 0,821,000 ... ... 20,202 10,821,000 502 PEOGEESS OF THE WOELD. The American sea-going vessels average 402 tons, which is 3 per cent larger than the average of British shipping. On the Mississippi and its affluents, navigable for 17,000 miles, there are more than 1000 steamboats, which carry passengers for one cent per mile ; and 4000 flat boats, carrying 9,000,000 tons of merchandise annually. The tonnage of the various ports in 1877 showed that the carrying trade between the United States and foreign countries was in this proportion — 43 per cent on British bottom, 32 per cent various flags, 25 per cent American, in all 13,500,000 tons entries. COMMERCE. Whitney's cotton-gin may be said to have laid the foundation of American trade — the hand-picking previously in use was so costly that cotton was only used for candle- wick. The exports of this staple were as follows : — 1790 .... 90 tons 1800 .... 8,000 „ 1832 .... 145,000 „ 1878 .... 650,000 „ For nearly half a century cotton formed the chief article of export, but in recent years it has become very inferior in importance to the grain shipments. The growth of American trade since 1800 has been as follows : — Annual average. Imports. Exports. Total. 1801 to 1830 . . £12,000,000 £9,000,000 £21,000,000 1831 to 1850 . . 22,500,000 20,500,000 43,000,000 1851 to 1870 . . 59,000,000 57,000,000 116,000,000 1871 to 1878 . . 108,000,000 117,000,000 225,000,000 The total imports for seventy- eight years amounted to £2,868,000,000, and the exports to £2,750,000,000. It has been already shown (page 46) that imports are over- UNITED STATES. 503 valued 11 per cent, so that if we take off 10 per cent from the above sum of imports, we find the real value to be £2,581,000,000, thus leaving a balance of £169,000,000 in favour of the country. Protective tariffs have at all times impeded import trade, the ad valorem duties ranging as follows : — Highest. Lowest. Average. 1801 to 1830 . . 60 per cent 6| per cent 22 per cent 1831 to 1860 . • 28 „ 8 „ 18 „ 1861 to 1870 . ■ 44 „ 12 „ 34 „ The first protection tariff was that of Madison in 1816. The second, which was still higher, was in 1824. The third, in 1828, raised the import duties to an average of 60 per cent, and threatened civil war, until the Southern States compelled Congress in 1832 to reduce it to an average of 20 per cent, which remained in force until the war of 1861. The present tariff is in many respects more oppressive than its predecessors. The most extraordinary revolution in trade is that which has taken place since 1872, viz. — 1872 imports to exports as . . . . 135 to 100 1878 „ ,, .... 60 to 100 In the subjoined lists will be seen the fall of imports and rise of exports in the said interval of six years— 1S72. 1878. Decrease. . £18,000,000 £6,000,000 67 per cent 45,000,000 24,000,000 47 „ 74,000,000 62,000,000 16 ,, Imports. Metals and minerals Manufactures . . Sundries . . . Exports. Grain Cotton and tobacco Bacon, beef, etc. Manufactures . £137,000,000 £92,000,000 33 „. 1872. 1S78. Increase. £24,000,000 £50,000,000 108 per cent 45,000,000 43,000,000 14,000,000 29,000,000 107 per cent 21,000,000 27,000,000 30 „ £104,000,000- £149,000,000 43 504 PROGRESS OF THE WORLD. The export of food, which formed but 30 per cent of the total in 1872, has now risen to equal all other articles in the aggregate. The shipments of grain in 1878 were sufficient to feed 30 million persons for twelve months, and those of meat would give half- a- pound daily to 8,000,000 for the same length of time. Since 1878 the charge of freight by ocean steamers has been reduced almost one-half, thus stimulating the exportation of meat and grain to Great Britain. Cattle, which formerly paid £6 per head, are now carried for £2 : 10s., and grain was reduced in February 1880, from 4d. to 3d. per bushel, Thus wheat from Dakotah or Red River can now be placed in Liverpool for a cost of 15d. per bushel. The export of dairy produce has notably increased in the last few years ; about 80,000 tons of cheese and butter, value £4,000,000 sterling, are annually shipped to Europe, the freight amounting to £260,000 sterling, which would be sufficient to maintain a line of steamers solely for this purpose. The United States railways receive annually £2,000,000 for carrying cheese, butter, and milk. The countries which take the exports of grain, meat, and cotton, are as follow : — Grain. Meat. Cotton. General average. Great Britain . 62 per cent 75 per cent 68 per cent 68 per cent Germany 9 „ 6 „ 5 France 5 Spanish America 8 „ Low Countries .... 7 Various . 30 4 100 „ 100 16 „ 7 3 2* „ 3 7* „ 14 100 „ 100 In the above-mentioned three staples the United States have left all other countries far behind, the weight of these exports being over 7,000,000 tons yearly. Another important item is petroleum, which now sur- UNITED STATES. 505 passes in value the exportation of tobacco, the yield of the oil-springs increasing enormously (see page 512). In fine, the exports of the United States have almost trebled in ten years, the figures standing thus : — 1868, value of exports . . £56,123,000 1878, „ . . 148,874,000 Such an increase is unparalleled in any country. The relative increase of trade with Great Britain in the last fifty years is shown thus : — 1829-30. 1S78-79. Great Britain . 33 per cent 44 per cent British Colonies ■ 3 „ 10 „ France • 13 „ 9 „ Various • 51 „ 37 „ 100 „ 100 „ The increase of trade with Great Britain is owing to the enormous exports of food thither ; on the other hand, the imports from England have declined 48 per cent in the last four years. The aggregate of twenty years' trade, from 1859 to 1878 inclusive, shows — Imports from Great Britain . . . £598,000,000 Exports to „ ... 911,000,000 Balance in favour of United States . £313,000,000 It is now more than half a century since the United States began to export meat and fish to Europe. In 1830 to 1832 the shipments of pork approached 100,000 barrels annually, worth £250,000. Cincinnati became the ftentre of the pork-packers, and its prosperity grew in the same ratio as the slaughter of hogs, which rose to 1,500,000 per annum. In 1876 two new branches of the meat supply were commenced, with such success that this trade promises soon to rival the grain 506 PROGRESS OF THE WORLD. supply. The first was to ship live cattle to England ; the second to slaughter the animals at the port of embarkation, and send over the meat in ice-chambers. The shipments have been — Beef. Live cattle. 1876 1,900 tons 2,000 head 1877 . 23,000 ,, 70,000 „ 1878 . 25,000 „ 150,000 „ The value of these shipments now exceeds £3,000,000 per annum. Some cattle are also shipped to Cuba, but of inferior description, being valued at only £3 a head, or one- fifth of the average price of those sent to England. Chicago and New York are the principal grain dep6ts, having stores to hold many hundred million bushels. The growth of sugar has declined since the abolition of slavery. Thus, from 1850 to 1854 the consumption was 330,000 tons per annum, of which 52 per cent was im- ported, and 48 per cent native grown. In the last five years (1874-1878) out of 780,000 tons annually consumed, only 70,000 were of native growth, or less than half the quantity of twenty-five years ago. Coffee is more largely consumed in the United States than elsewhere, that country taking nearly one-fourth of the world's crop. Two-thirds of the supply is obtained from Brazil, the rest from Venezuela and East Indies. Silk cocoons have been for some time cultivated in California and other States ; but raw silk is also imported to the value of £1,000,000 sterling, three-fourths from China and Japan. MANUFACTURES AND MINERALS. Until very recently the manufactures were almost ex- clusively for home use, but since 1876 Americans have UNITED STATES. 507 begun to export largely to foreign markets. The progress of manufactures is shown to have been as follows : — Operatives Capital employed Raw material Manufactures 1850. 957,000 £47,000,000 107,000,000 111,000,000 204,000,000 1860. 1870. 1,311,000 2,054,000 £76,000,000 £155,000,000 202,000,000 424,000,000 201,000,000 510,000,000 378,000,000 846,000,000 The returns for 1870 show 252,400 factories, 1 those driven by steam and water power being as follows : — Number. Horse-power. Steam engines 40,200 1,216,000 Water ■wheels 51,000 1,290,000 91,200 2,506,000 Three of the older States make up one-half of the manufactures of the Union, as may be seen in the following Table :— Cap. employed. No. of factories. Value of products. Pennsylvania . . £81,500,000 37,200 £142,500,000 New York . 74,000,000 36,206 157,000,000 Massachusetts . 46,000,000 13,212 111,000,000 Ohio . 28,000,000 22,773 54,000,000 Illinois . . 19,000,000 12,597 41,000,000 Connecticut . . 19,000,000 5,128 32,000,000 Missouri . 16,000,000 11,871 41,000,000 New Jersey . 16,000,000 6,636 34,000,000 Michigan . 14,000,000 9,455 24,000,000 Rhode Island . . 13,000,000 1,850 22,000,000 Indiana . . 11,000,000 11,847 22,000,000 Other States . . 86,500,000 83,373 166,000,000 £424,000,000 252,148 £846,500,000 1 As an instance of the energy of American manufacturers, the British Secretary of Legation at Washington mentions a boot factory in Massachusetts that was burned down on "Wednesday. The owner ordered new machinery on Thursday, and the factory on Friday was turning out 2400 pairs of boots in twenty-four hours, as before the fire. 508 PROGRESS OF THE WORLD. It would be difficult to classify the wages paid to operatives according to their trades ; but the Tables of 1870 show the principal States paid their hands as follows : — • Q . , Number of stMe - Operatives. Wages. Per head. New York . 352,000 £28,500,000 £82 per annum Pennsylvania . 319,000 25,500,000 80 Massachusetts . 279,000 23,500,000 84 Other States . 1,104,000 77,500,000 70 2,054,000! £155,000,000 £75 „ The value of manufactures is shown approximately ] the following Table : — Manufacture. Factories. Value. Flour 13,870 £95,000,000 Cottons and all textiles 1,350 87,000,000 Metals, arms, cutlery- 4,020 74,000,000 All leather industries 8,660 56,000,000 Clothing 50,000 45,000,000 Saw-mills 20,165 77,000,000 Carpentery, furniture, waggons, etc. 17,170 48,000,000 Machinery 1,380 24,000,000 Paper and printing 3,260 22,000,000 Sugar and tobacco 2,140 22,000,000 Liquors . 3,300 70,000,000 Sundries 126,833 161,000,000 Manufactures 252,148 £781,000,000 Minerals 65,000,000 Total £846,000,000 Cottons. — The most important manufacture in the United States is that of cotton goods, which amounts to one-fourth of the world's supply. One operative at Lowell, Massa- chusetts, can make enough cotton drill to clothe 1500 Chinamen for a year, or 750 Americans. The consump- 1 The Census shows that this number should be 2,704^000. UNITED STATES. 509 tion in the United States is 50 yards per inhabitant — say 2250 million yards, and the exportation 150 million yards, and consuming 700 million lbs. of cotton, or one-third of the crop. The exportation forms but 6 per cent of the quantity manufactured, whereas, in England, 70 per cent is exported. There are 956 cotton factories, employing 160,000 operatives, and 10,500,000 spindles, the number of the latter having risen 50 per cent since 1860. The value of cotton goods manufactured in the United States was as follows : — 1831 . • . . £8,000,000 1860 . . . 23,000,000 1877 . . . 40,000,000 Massachusetts produces as much cotton fabrics as all the rest of the Union in the aggregate, and the operatives (according to Mr. Connolly and other English travellers) are better fed, better educated, better lodged, more thrifty, and more respectable, than any other operatives in the world. So rapid has been the growth of this industry that thirty-eight years ago cattle grazed where the largest manu- facturing towns, such as Lowell and Laurence, now count their tens of thousands of workmen. Woollens. — This branch of manufactures is burthened by the import-duties on wool. The clip of the United States reaches 208,000,000 lbs., but the factories could consume double that quantity. There are 2890 factories, which consume 250,000,000 lbs. and produce £36,000,000 worth of manufactures. Silks. — The value of silk goods manufactured in 1875 was over £6,000,000 sterling. Liquors. — There are 2830 breweries, which produce annually 360,000,000 gallons beer; and 2900 distilleries, producing 72,000,000 gallons spirits. If we add 23,000,000 510 PROGRESS OF THE WORLD. gallons wine, the total is equal to 112,000,000 gallons alcohol, or 2£ gallons per inhabitant, against 4 gallons in the United Kingdom. Leather and Boots. — This industry has made great strides. In 1840 it amounted to £6,000,000 sterling, and in 1870 to £55,000,000. Massachusetts makes 100,000,000 pairs of boots yearly for 5s. a pair, say £25,000,000. The machinery for making boots and shoes at Boston is in great demand for various foreign countries. As a proof of the value of machinery, it is shown that in 1835 there were in Massachusetts 30,000 more boot- makers than at present, yet the factories now produce £14,000,000 sterling more of boots than they did then. Flour.— In 1840 the flour-mills produced 7,500,000 barrels, the exports of flour to foreign countries then aver- aging a value of £900,000 per annum. According to the census of 1870, the value of flour manufactured the previous year was £90,000,000 sterling. The export averages 4,000,000 barrels. Timber.' — In 1840 this industry occupied 36,000 log- cutters, who felled timber worth £2,500,000, one-half being used for shipbuilding. At present the annual consumption of forest timber is £77,000,000. Since 1840 the destruction of forest has been excessive. It is supposed the saw-mills of Maine consume 600,000,000 feet timber yearly, and those of Michigan 900,000,000 feet. The area of timber felled averages 24,000 acres daily, or 7,500,000 acres per annum. The consumption includes an amount valued at £30,000,000 sterling for fencing, £15,000,000 for fuel, £28,000,000 for railway sleepers^ house furniture, etc., besides £4,000,000 for exportation. By the close of the century there will be a scarcity of timber east of the Bocky Mountains unless a system of UNITED STATES. 51 plantation be adopted, of eucalyptus or other fast-growin timber. Coal. — Forty years ago this industry was in its infancy employing but 7000 miners, who raised 2,000,000 ton yearly. In 1879 the production has exceeded 55,000,00 tons, worth £18,000,000 sterling. The United State coal-fields are seventy times the extent of those of Gres Britain, and produce just enough coal for home consumj tion, say one-third the quantity of England, and one-fourt of that of the world. Iron. — The returns for 1830 show 29,000 operative engaged in this industry, the production reaching 184,00 tons. During the last forty years the production of pi{ iron has quintupled : — Tons. 1840 490,000 1874-1878 .... 2,420,000 per annum During the great demand for iron in 1872-73 the: were as many as 719 furnaces at work, the production < pig-iron in 1873 reaching 5,500,000 tons. A great depre sion ensued, and in 1875 there were but 216 furnaces i work. The returns for 1 8 7 8 show a production of 2 , 5 7 0, C tons. The price fell from £11 in 1872 to £3 a ton i 1878. Bessemer steel was first made in the United Stafc in 1867; the price was then £23 a ton, and has no fallen to £8. Some of the hardware factories vary the nature of the products according to circumstances ; the Peabody rifl factory of Bhode Island, after producing millions of fir arms, turned its attention to sewing-machines, of which now makes 300 daily. During the recent Turkish war tl Rhode Island tool-factory took a contract for 1,000,0( rifles at 68s. each, being the largest contract ever taken the United States. 512 PROGRESS OF THE WORLD. Petroleum. — This mineral oil was first discovered in Pennsylvania in 1859, since which time the production and shipments have gone on thus : — Production. Exports. 1859-63 Average . . 6 million gallons 1864-68 1869-73 1874-77 1878 13 „ „ 11 million gallons 22 „ „ 13 „ „ 47 „ „ 22 „ 610 „ „ 407 „ At present the yield is so great that 400,000 gallons are wasted daily for want of barrels, and it is predicted that the market value of the liquid will soon he as low as Is. a barrel. The exportation during the years 1873 to 1877 averaged £8,000,000; and the actual production (1879) exceeds 850,000,000 gallons. RAILWAYS, CANALS, TELEGRAPHS. At the time of Independence there were few roads through the backwoods, and the chief communication (as at present in Brazil) was by coasting vessels. The nineteenth century, however, was ushered in with various enterprises for constructing highroads, and to this end the Govern- ment gave charters to joint-stock companies, which pushed forward so zealously their labours that in 1830 they had opened for public use 115,000 miles of highways. Canals had, meantime, been commenced and carried out with equal vigour. The grandest of these works was the Hudson and Erie canal, 363 miles long, and 40 feet wide, constructed in eight years, and opened to traffic in 1825. It was carried over a range of hills at a height of 688 feet by means of 83 locks and 18 aqueducts, and cost £1,800,000 sterling. One thousand vessels monthly, paying tolls to the annual amount of £200,000, soon rewarded the labours UNITED STATES. 513 of the constructors. The Cincinnati and Erie canal, 306 miles, was opened in 1830, having cost only £600,000. The Delaware and Chesapeake had already been opened in 1826 : although but 14 miles long, it had taken three years to make, and cost £400,000, admitting vessels under 10 feet draught, of which 400 passed through monthly. The Hudson and Delaware, 108 miles, cost £440,000, and was opened in 1828; and about the same time another canal from the Hudson to Lake Champlain, thus opening up communication with Canada; this latter cost £175,000 for a length of 63 miles. Several short canals were made in Pennsylvania, summing up 730 miles. The Cincinnati and Miami, 70 miles, and the Dismal Swamp canal to con- nect with the Ohio river, were made about 1830. Almost rivalling the Hudson and Erie was the Chesapeake and Ohio, opened in 1834 after six years of labour, 360 miles in length and 60 feet wide, being carried through the Alleghany range by a tunnel 4 miles in length. Since then many others i.ave been made, the total of canals now reaching 3200 miles, which have cost £20,000,000 ster- ling, an average of £6800 per mile. Canals and rivers render invaluable service for convey- ance of grain and other merchandise. It is computed that the Mississippi and its affluents carry yearly £400,000,000 sterling worth of cargoes. For example, the tug-boat Ajax has been known to tow at once thirty-two flat boats carry- ing 21,000 tons, which would have required 2100 railway waggons. The Mississippi valley counts 1100 steamers, and 850 flat boats, with a capacity of 415,000 tons ; the average cost of transport is 20 pence per ton for 100 miles. On the great lakes there are 900 steamers and 1800 sailing- vessels and flat boats, with a gross tonnage of 590,000 tons ; 2 L 514 PROGRESS OF THE WORLD. they carry over 9,000,000 tons yearly, including 2,000,000 tons of grain, the freight to New York being only 7| cents per bushel. Eailways were begun in 1826, the Quincy and Boston line of 4 miles proving such a success that in 1835 there were 1100 miles of railway in public traffic. Since then the increase has been extraordinary. Miles. Cost per mile. 1850 . . . 9,020 £6,600 1860 . . . 30,630 7,500 1870 . . . 47,250 8,400 1878 . . . 80,853 12,000 The capital invested in these railways down -to 1878 was £970,000,000 sterling. During the years 1870 to 1873, the Americans built 20 miles of railway per day. Most of the railways and canals were at first built with English capital. Thus, in 1 841, there was altogether a sum of £42,000,000 lent by London capitalists in the con- struction of 3430 miles of railway, and 2700 miles of canals. « The first railway of magnitude was that undertaken in 1836, from Baltimore to Pittsburg, 300 miles in length, crossing the Alleghany mountains. In recent years there has been nothing to compare with the Pacific line 1 3300 miles long, which traverses the Rocky Mountains at double the height of the Mont Cenis tunnel. So exposed is this part of the line, that it has been necessary to construct a snow-shed 22 miles in length. Many of the new railways have given poor returns. In 1876-77 no fewer than eighty-four lines were brought to the hammer, representing an aggregate length of 7720 miles, 1 One of the quickest railway journeys on record is that made two years ago from New York to San Francisco in eighty-four hours being over forty miles an hour for three days and four nights. UNITED STATES. 515 and a cost of £83,000,000 sterling, besides U other lines ordered to be sold, with, a length of 5400 miles, and a cost of £147,000,000 sterling, unable to meet their expenses. Some lines, meantime, are doubling their traffic; the Hudson River Railway, for example, carried 8,250,000 tons merchandise in 1878 against 4,500,000 tons in 1873. The ordinary freight charge in United States by rail is one cent per ton per mile. The traffic returns for all the lines in the Union show as follows ; — ■ Miles. Net earnings. Dividend. 44,600 £28,400,000 5-j per cent 60,300 38,100,000 41 „ 74,100 34,200,000 %i » 81,840 38,120,000 4 „ 1871 1874 1877 1879 INSTRUCTION. Next to immigration the greatest factor in the national progress has been popular instruction. Fifty years ago an English statist (Sir Rawson Rawson) predicted that the United States would become one of the greatest and most prosperous of nations, because they paid so much attention to the education of the masses. In 1831 the proportion of school-children to population was 1 5 per cent, or double the European average, and second only to Prussia. It would have been as high as 22 per cent, but for the slave-states, where the negroes were not educated. The census of 1870 showed that the ratio was now 1 9 per cent, being therefore ahead of the two foremost European countries in public instruction, namely Prussia and Scotland. Nevertheless, there are at present in the United States 4,528,000 persons over ten years of age unable to read or write, but they are doubtless negroes or foreign immigrants. The school returns show as follows for 141,630 schools : — 516 PROGRESS OF THE WORLD. Teachers. Scholars. Male . . 93,330 3,622,000 Female \ . 127,710 3,588,000 221,040 7,210.000 School revenue £19,080,000; of which £12,500,000 from lands, local taxes, etc., and £6,000,000 from fees. The Press has materially aided the cause of enlighten- ment. In 1810 there were already 364 newspapers, although the Union had but eleven towns of more than 10,000 inhabitants. In 1828 there were existing 802 newspapers, including 50 daily, and the city of Philadelphia nad no fewer than 51 printing-offices, some of them on such a scale that one publisher set up in type in one day the whole of one of Scott's three-volume novels. In 1871 the statistics of the Press showed : — Number. Circulation. Monthly. Daily papers ... 637 2,500,000 65,000,000 Weekly ,, ... 4642 11,000,000 50,000,000 Magazines .... 891 7,500,000 8,000,000 6170 21,000,000 123,000,000 No fewer than 57 papers are edited by women, and 300 are printed in German. In public libraries the total is set down as 164,800 libraries with 45,500,000 books, but this includes 141,000 school libraries. The real number of public libraries is probably under 20,000. In fact, there are but 30 libraries with more than 30,000 volumes each. The growth of learned societies has been almost on a par with Great Britain, France, or Germany : — 1805 2 learned societies 1836 • • 16 „ 1878 • • 49 „ UNITED STATES. 517 In 1836 the total members of such societies numbered 5000 ; at present it is likely they count ten times as many. The principal of these societies are : — Philosophical Society, founded hy Franklin. New York Academy of Science. Franklin Institute, Philadelphia. New England Historical Society. American Association of Science (1848). Society of Natural History, Boston. St. Louis Academy of Science. United States Astronomical Society. Institutes of Civil and Mining Engineers. Academy of Arts and Sciences, Boston. Boston is par excellence the home of letters and sciences in the American continent, and has produced men whose names rank high in the literature and learning of the nine- teenth century. CHARITABLE INSTITUTIONS. There are only fifty asylums for blind, deaf and dumb, and insane, but the number of persons so afflicted is so much lower than in Europe, that the above asylums are found amply sufficient. Insanity, meantime, is increasing almost as rapidly as in Europe, as appears from the census returns, viz.- No. of insane. Katio to population. 1850 . 31,397 1 in 738 inhab. 1860 . 42,864 1 ,, 733 „ 1870 . 61,909 1 ,, 623 ,, The present ratio is about the same as in Germany (see page 100), and much lower than in the United Kingdom. The city of New York is remarkable for an excessive rate of suicide, the average being 1 in 10,000 inhabit- 518 PEOGEESS OF THE WORLD. ants annually ; but only one-fourth of the cases are American. PAPEE MONEY AND BANKS. Washington emitted the first American paper money to pay his army in 1775, and called the notes " bills of credit." They passed the same as silver dollars for more than a year, but fell to 25 cents in 1778, to 5 cents in 1779, and to 2-J- in 1780. Then Congress ordered the whole amount to be redeemed at a cost of 3,000,000 (£600,000). A further amount of 6,000,000 was subsequently redeemed at one cent per dollar, but 74,000,000 were never presented. The first United States bank was established at Phila- delphia in 1790, with a capital of £2,000,000 sterling, having several branches. Its charter expired in 1811, and it was succeeded in 1816 by a bank with the same title, having a capital of £7,000,000 sterling, of which the Government subscribed for one-fifth. This second bank incurred the mistrust, or (as some say) the hostility, of President Jackson, on account of electoral intrigues in dis- counts. The Government moneys were withdrawn in 1833, and the bank collapsed four years later. Meantime, numerous State banks had been established, viz. — No. of banks. Capital. Emission. Specie. Deposits. 1801 . 33 £7,000,000 1811 . 88 11,000,000 £6,000,000 £3,000,000 1836 . 689 50,000,000 28,000,000 8,000,000 10,000,000 This last year was known as the epoch of the " Wildcat " banks, and on May the 10th, 1837. all the banks in New York suspended specie payments, for which an Act of the Legislature was obtained, and in a few weeks all the banks in the United States had to suspend in like man- UNITED STATES. 519 ner. Nevertheless, gold did not rise above 16 per cent premium. A second shock in 1839 caused, if possible, still greater disaster, and completely paralysed trade for some time. Eight of the States repudiated their public debts. At last matters began to improve in 1842. A second general suspension of specie payments was caused in 1861 by the Civil War. The Government was forced to emit " greenbacks" to pay the army, and these notes so rapidly depreciated that, in 1864, gold was at 200 per cent premium, three greenbacks being equivalent to one silver dollar. The quotations of this currency were : — January 1862 greenback worth 97 cents July 1864 )> 35 „ „ 1867 „ 75 „ „ 1876 )> 96 „ December 1878 ,, » 100 „ The emission in recent years has ay eraged_£ 1 4 OjO O 0, 000 sterling, the Government having given charters to hundreds of banks to emit greenbacks '%> ^\ REVENUE. \Kf.'y < ' ? % ! . \ At the beginning of the century. , 12 „ 19 1 ., 17 „ 15 1 „ 17 „ 16 2 „ 10 „ 13 5 .. Over 20 years. Males. 92 p. c. 99 99 100 Females. 78 p. u. 80 83 83 90 95 The marriage-rate in Scotland is 14, and in Ireland only 10 per 1000, but the Irish registers are supposed to be im- perfect. The ages for England are taken from the Registrar- General's report, and should read "under 21," "over 21." APPENDIX. 529 « .Page 7. Professor Kolb's death-rate for various lows, in every 1000 inhabitants, per annum countries is as fol Age. 5 to 10 10 to 20 20 to 30 30 to 40 40 to 50 ■EuglancL 8 5' 8 . 13 . 17 Prance. 9 7 13 12 14 Prussia. 9 5 9 12 16 Italy. 114 7 10 12 15 ■ Sweden. 8 4 6 8 12 Page 9. The list in page 9 includes all losses, of which the number slain on the field is not always the greatest. The following Table shows how much more bloody were Napoleon's battles than the combat of Sadowa, wherein the needle-gun was first used : — • Number engaged. Hors-de-combat. Ratio. Marengo 58,000 13,000 22 per cent Austerlitz 170,000 23,000 13 „ Jena 200,000 34,000 17 „ Borodino 250,000 80,000 32 „ Sadowa . 400,000 33,000 8 „ Page 1 2. The following Table shows the average prices of wheat for fifty years : — Per bushel. England. France. Prussia. Austria. Hungary. Russia. N T. 1821-30 7s. 6d. 5s. 5d. 4s. Id. 3s. Id. 2s. 5d. 3s. lid. 5s. 1831-40 7s. 5s. 7d. 3s. lOd. 3s. 2d. 2s. 8d. 3s. 8d. 6s. 4d. 1841-50 6s. 8d. 5s. 9d. 4s. 8d. 4s. Ss. 7d. 3s. 6d. 5s. lOd 1851-60 6s. lOd. 6s. 6d. 5s. lOd. 6s. Id. 5s. 3d. 5s. 5d. 8s. 4d. 1861-70 6s. 6d. 6s. 3d. 5s. 8d. 7s. 6d. 5s. 7d. 5s. 8d. 6s. Page 13. Omission. — In 1878 India exported 13,000,000 bushels. Page 18. The wine countries of Europe are as follow . — Acres of vines. Yield, gallons. Per acre. France 5,250,000 1,100,000,000 210 gallons Italy . 4,620,000 660,000,000 145 ,, Spain . 3,500,000 260,000,000 75 ,, Portugal 474,000 132,000,000 270 „ Germany 304,000 90,000,000 300 „ Austria . 2,000,000 375,000,000 190 „ Russia . 20,000 2,000,000 100 „ 16,168,000 2,619,000,000 165 „ 2 M 530 APPENDIX. Page 19. Sugar was first brought to Europe by the Moors in the 12th century. Page 22. Denmark also produces 28,000 tons per annum. Page 23. Spade tillage produces 140 per cent more than the plough, but costs four times as much. Page 24. The wheat crop of the various countries averages as follows : Per acre. Per 100 inhab. 28 bushels 270 620 330 215 240 495 490 260 250 1140 3220 880 96 unuea jxiuguoiu France . 16 „ Germany Russia . 23 „ 7 „ Austria . 15 „ Italy Spain Low Countries 13 „ 24 „ Denmark 30 „ Australia 14 „ New Zealand . 31 „ United States 13 „ India 11 „ Page 24. The transfer of land is much less expensive in Germany than in most other countries, being as 1J per cent of the value, against 6 per cent in France, and' 7 per cent in Belgium. Page 25. The farm-stock of all nations is shown thus, the value being in millions sterling, and^ 000's omitted under each column of farm-stock : — APPENDIX. 531 Horned cattle. Horses. Sheep. Pigs. Value. Per inhab. Russia . 28,000, 20,000, 64,000, 7,000, £356 £5 United States 33,500, 12,500, 38,000, 35,000, 355 8 River Plate . 18,850, 6,150, 76,000, 1,200, 41 15 Germany 15,800, 3,360, 25,200, 7,300, 219 5 Austria 13,133, 3,757, 21,418, 7,200, 200 5 France . 11,315, 3,033, 23,674, 4,000, 210 6 United Kingdom . 9,912, 2,866, 32,174, 3,390, 240 7 Australia 7,403, 1,010, 61,066, 815, 26 10 Scandinavia . 4,553, 965, 4,997, 809, 69 8 Italy . 3,490, 950, 7,150, 1,470, 53 2 Spain and Portugal 2,023, 670, 16,417, 1,858, 48 n Canada 2,702, 866, 3,331, 1,425, 33 8 Low Countries 2,708, 543, 1,527, 970, 60 7 South Africa 1,329, 241, 11,280, 5 5 154,718, 56,911, 386,234, 72,437 £1,915 H Page 26. Mr. Jeula also shows from Lloyd's register that years of maximum sun-spots are attended with 14 per cent extra of shipwrecks. Page 28. Sir Hector Hay, in his examination before the House of Commons, estimated the production of precious metals from 1852 to 1875 as follows :— Gold Silver £572,195,000 241,890,000 £814,085,000 This agrees with the estimates in page 28. Page 28. According to Humboldt's estimates in 1803, and others carried down to 1848, the yield of Spanish America from 1521 down to the discovery of gold in California was as follows, in millions sterling : — Before 1803. j^V. Total. Mexico . . £406 £164 £570 Peru and Chile 482 168 650 Brazil . 171 19 190 Venezuela, etc. 82 46 128 £1141 £397 £1538 532 APPENDIX. The above total was distributed thus : — Gold Silver Before 1803. . £301 840 From 1803 to 1848. £142 255 Millions sterling £1141 £397 Total. £443 1095 £1538 Page 29. The annual production of precious metals at different epochs in the present century is shown as follows : — Gold. Silver. Ratio of gold to silver. 1801 1846 1850 1852 1879 19 tons 42 „ 134 „ 242 „ 90 „ 856 tons 727 „ 978 „ 1027 „ 1060 „ 1 to 45 1 to 17 1 to 7 1 to 4 1 to 12 The actual production of precious metals is estimated thus :- Gold. Silver. Total. United States Australia . Siberia, etc. . Spanish Ameri . £5,000,000 . . 3,000,000 . . 4,000,000 £6,000,000 3,000,000 £11,000,000 3,000,000 4,000,000 3,000,000 £12,000,000 £9,000,000 £21,000,000 Page 32. Hian Tsung, Emperor of China, issued paper-money a.d. 807. Page 32. The first bank is now said to have been at Barcelona. The Bank of England was founded by a Scotch clergyman, Bev. William Patterson, in 1694 ; the founder died in extreme misery. Page 38. At the beginning of 1879 the principal banks of Europe stood thus, in millions sterling : — APPENDIX. 533 Capital. Emission. ^.^ Bank of England £14i £32] £35£ Bank of Prance n 92 83 Bank of Germany H 29 24 Bank of Austria 11 29 15 Bank of Belgium 3 12 4 AGE 41. £42+, £194J £1614 P The principal industries of mankind are shown thus, in millions sterling : — Agriculture. M tol a °" commerce. To'* 1 - inhabit. United Kingdom . . £265 £665 £601 £1,531 £46 France . . 380 416 368 1,164 32 Germany . 340 286 319 945 22 Russia . . , 370 166 128 664 S Austria . . 263 130 160 553 15 Italy 142 42 98 282 10 Spain and Portugal . . 130 72 39 241 11 Low Countries . . 75 117 275 467 48 Scandinavia . .78 20 65 163 20 £2,043 1,914 2,053 £6,010 £20 United States . 535 846 225 1,606 36 South America . 62 30 91 183 7 British Colonies 87 20 147 254 32 £2,727 £2,810 £2,516 £8,053 £21 The British Colonies do not include more than Australia, Canada, and South Africa. Page 44. Savings ban js returns for 1860 and 187 8 compare as follows : — I860. 1878. Annual increase United Kingdom . £41,285,000 £74,640,000 £1,850,000 France . 13,543,000 40,430,000 1,500,000 Germany 16,320,000 76,580,000 3,350,000 Austria . 28,170,000 79,150,000 2,840,000 Italy 13,925,000 28,094,000 780,000 Scandinavia 4,912,000 21,305,000 890,000 Switzerland 5,276,000 11,581,000 350,000 Low Countries 1,730,000 6,550,000 260,000 Russia . 1,052,000 3,100,000 110,000 "Europe £126,213,000 £341,430,000 £11,930,000 Thus the working classes alone have accumulated £215,000,000 sterling in eighteen years, or £12,000,000 sterling per annum. 534 APPENDIX. Page 45. The inventor of Life Insurance was Thomas Allan, Bishop of Oxford, 1706. Page 45. Bankruptcies have been increasing in recent years even faster than trade. United Kingdom. United States. 1870 and 1871 . . 8,157 per annum . 3,233 per annum. 1876 and 1877 . . 11,048 „ - . 8,957 The failures in Great Britain between 1870 and 1875 amounted to £111,000,000, assets £33,000,000 ; say 30 per cent ; but in some cases the creditors only received 2d. in the £. Some estates take a lifetime to wind up : for example, on Nov. 19, 1879, the creditors of Messrs. Perkins and Mullens, who faiied in London in 1847, received a final dividend of 3|d. after thirty-two years' delay. In France, likewise, failures are becoming more frequent, and giving less dividends, e.g. — Failures. Dividends. 1840 to 1850 . . 3480 per annum 31 per cent average 1861 to 1870 . . 5120 „ 21 „ „ The failures in the United States (see page 520) amounted, in 1878, to £47,000,000, or an average of £4500 for each failure ; while those of Canada reached £2,000,000, or about £3600 each bankrupt. Page 46. In the total of South American trade is included that of Mexico, but the trade of South America proper is only £91,000,000, as shown in page 472. Page 46. The principal articles that compose the trade of the world have grown as follows i — Articles of food . Cotton and wool Textile fabrics . Coal, timber, hardware Sundries . 1830. £41,000,000 11,000,000 45,000,000 6,000,000 62,000,000 1878. £310,000,000 101,000,000 166,000,000 86,000,000 659,000,000 £1,322,000,000 Increase. 650 p. c. 820 „ 270 „ 1330 „ 960 „ £165,000,000 730 „ APPENDIX. 535 Page 51. The first steamer is supposed to have been that constructed by Bias de Garay, at Barcelona in the year 1543, called the " Santissima Trinidad." The second was that of Symington and Miller, in 1787, the engine of which is shown at the Kensing- ton Museum. The third was that of James Eamsay, an American, which made several trips on the Thames, at four miles an hour, in 1793. The fourth was the " Charlotte Dundas," in March 1802, which towed canal-boats on the Clyde, being the first ever used for commerce. The fifth was Robert Fulton's " Clermont," on the Hudson, in 1807, being the first regular passenger steamer. After the " Savannah " the most remarkable in ocean navigation was the " Enterprise,'' in 1825, which made the voyage to India, 13,700 miles, in 113 days. The " Great Western " of Bristol and " Sirius " of Cork, in 1837, which crossed the Atlantic at the same time, are often incorrectly alluded to as the first ocean steamers. Page 54. Dr. Gillies says that the Pharos of Alexandria, built by Ptolemy Soter, was 450 feet high, the light being visible 100 miles. In modern times the most famous lighthouses have been : — 1st. Tour de Cordouan, at the mouth of the Gironde, 186 feet high, begun in 1584 and completed in 1611. It is one of the finest works of the kind, and was the first to use a revolv- ing light. 2d. Eddystone, off Plymouth Sound, built by Smeaton in 1756-59 ; 10 miles from shore. 3d Bell Bock, in the Firth of Tay, built by Stevenson in 1807-10; it is 11 miles from shore. Coal-fires were used in many English lighthouses down to 1810. Page 56. The cotton manufactures of Belgium and Holland are here over-estimated, and do not exceed £8,000,000. Page 57. The importation of wool into Europe has increased by one- third since 1871. 536 APPENDIX. 1871. 1878. Increase. From Australia . . 567,000bales 791,000 bales 40 p. c. „ River Plate . 222,000 „ 267,000 „ 20 „ „ Cape Colony . 149,000 „ 164,000 „ 10 „ Total . . 938,000 „ 1,222,000 „ 32 „ Page 70. The Missouri mines are said to be at present producing over 50,000 tons of lead. Zinc is produced by Prussia on a larger scale than in any- other part of the world, the production having multiplied 15- fold since 1830. There are 77 mines, worked by 11,000 miners, who raise 350,000 tons ore per annum, worth £1 per ton. The ore gives 17 per cent zinc, that is 58,000 tons. Page 78. The new railways through the Alps will render compara- tively unnecessary the hospices of the friendly monks of St. Bernard and St. Gothard. The returns of travellers crossing the Alps by the best-known passes are as follow : — St. Gothard . . 65,000 per ann. Splugen . . 28,000 „ Simplon . . 27,500 „ The monks of St. Gothard give hospitality to 17,500 travellers per annum. Page 79. The Birkenhead tunnel will supply the place of the steam ferry-boats, which at present carry 20,000,000 passengers yearly. Page 79. The Suez Canal, 92 miles in length, cost only £105 per yard, as compared with £200 for the Mont Cenis Tunnel, £500 for the London Metropolitan Eailway, and £1100 per yard for the Thames Tunnel. Page 85. The only land cable of any note is that over the Andes, 30 miles in length, during the laying of which in 1871-72 Mr. Clark and his men were five months snowed up in huts near the Cumbre of Uspallata. appendix. 537 Page 86. Since the British Government purchased the telegraph lines of the United Kingdom the traffic has almost doubled, the number of messages transmitted being as follows : — 1871. 1877. Increase. England . 9,650,000 17,960,000 84 per cent Ireland . 800,000 1,560,000 95 „ Scotland . 1,310,000 2,460,000 86 ,, 11,760,000 21,980,000 8 5 Page 91. The oldest existing newspaper is the Pelcin Record, which recently completed its tenth century. If there had been " special correspondents" in the early period of that paper, we might recur to its files for an account of the Battle of Hastings, or of the coronation of Manco Capac, the first of the Incas, at Cuzco. Page 97. In many countries the hospitals and asylums are under the direction of Sceurs de Charite", who render valuable services to suffering humanity. It has been my fortune to meet with some of their institutions in the snows of the Andes, in the forests of Brazil, and amid the Arab tribes in Barbary. Page 101. In the report of the Hanwell Asylum, Middlesex, it is stated : — " We believe the increase of insanity is due, in great measure, to drugged gin and drugged beer." Page 110. Mr. R. Giffen sums up the wealth and annual profits of the United Kingdom thus, in millions sterling : — ■ Capital. Income. Lands . . . £2010 £67 Houses . . . 1420 95 Railways . . . 650 26 Mines, foundries . 89 22^ Foreign loans, etc. . 1032 68| Public Companies, etc. 3347 2054 £8548 £484* 538 APPENDIX. Mr. Giffen's estimates of capital agree with those of M. Leroy Beaulieu, and the above returns of earnings are apparently based on income-tax returns. The total earnings of the British nation may be briefly summed up thus : — Subject to Income-tax .... £579 millions Exempt from „ „ . . . 106 „ Earnings of working classes . . . 430 ,, £1115 „ 381 14 13 408 606 45 31 682 1504 99 52 1655 1900 Page 111. The Insurance returns show as follows, in millions sterling : — England. Scotland. Ireland. Total. 1801 . £220 £4 £9 £233 1821 1841 1868 1872 The annual payments for premium average £7,000,000, or about 3| per £1000. Page 113. Professor Levi estimates the earnings of the working classes at £420,000,000 per annum. Page 116. The Clearing-house of New York is less than that of London, the former averaging only £14,000,000 daily in 1878 ; but in 1868 it averaged £19,200,000. Page 116. Sir J. Lubbock estimates that 97 per cent of our transactions are done by means of bills or cheques, 2 J per cent of bank notes, and J per cent coin. Page 117. As an instance of thrift on the part of operatives, Mr. Pease stated that 268 miners in his colliery deposited in one year (1872) the sum of £3900 in bank. Page 119. The secrets of England's greatness, according to Mr. Mun- della, are : — APPENDIX. 539 1. The abundance of coal and iron. 2. Our insular situation. 3. A climate suitable for work. 4. Cheapness and abundance of money. 5. Superiority of English workmen. 6. Our merchant shipping. 7. Our colonial possessions. 8. Free trade. Page 119. The following Table shows the progress of the United Kingdom since 1801 : — (From 1801 to 1879.) Tear. Population. 1801 16,302,410 1811 18,532,522 1821 21,300,573 1831 24,423,588 1841 27,077,095 1851 27,764,034 1861 29,358,927 1871 31,914,985 1879 34,150,000 Commerce per head. £4 4 2 10 3 9 4 10 8 5 12 10 20 4 17 18 Taxation. £3 9 3 4 3 2 8 9 1 18 8 1 16 1 16 2 9 2 3 2 8 National Debt. £34 38 40 33 29 28 28 26 23 Page 119. British expenditure on wars : — William III. . Against Spain . „ United States „ France Kaffir, Chinese, etc. . Crimean . Second Chinese Zulu war Date. 1688-97 1702-63 1776-85 1793-1815 1838-53 1854-56 1879 Amount. £32,500,000 182,000,000 97,500,000 831,400,000 6,000,000 69,400,000 6,500,000 4,500,000 £1,229,800,000 The cost of Indian and Affghan wars is not included. Page 120. The extremes reached by Consols since 1800 have been as follows : — 540 APPENDIX. Lowest. Highest. 1803 50J 1817 84i 1821 68f 1824 96J 1831 74£ 1838 954 1847 78| 1852 102 1866 841 1867 96| 1872 91J 1879 100 The National Debt reached its maximum in 1817, namely £916,000,000, having risen £373,000,000 from 1801. Page 121. The police -force of the United Kingdom is shown as follows : — England Ireland Scotland Force. 30,000 12,500 3,350 Annual cost. £2,900,000 1,183,000 283,000 Per nian £97 95 85 45,850 £4,366,000 £95 Page 121. The valuation of London in 1879 had risen to £25,055,000. Page 122. The number of paupers in the United Kingdom declined 23 per cent in ten years, but the sum expended for their mainten- ance has nevertheless increased, viz. — England. Scotland. Ireland. Total. Number in 1867 . . 1,034,800 129,000 72,900 1,206,700 1877 . . 742,700 96,400 -55,500 924,600 Cost in 1867 ,, 1877 Decrease 29 p. c. deer. 25 p. c. incr. 17 p. c. deer. 23 p.e. . £6,960,000 £808,000 £797,000 £8,565,000 7,400,000 859,000 1,018,500 9,277,500 Increase 6 p. c. 6.^ p. c. 27 p. c. 8 p. c. Page 124. The progress of agriculture in Scotland since 1855 is shown as follows : — APPENDIX. 541 1855. 1876 Increase. Acres under crops . 1,996,000 2,085,000 4£ p. u. Number of cattle . 975,000 1,133,000 16 „ „ of sheep. . 5,695,000 6,990,000 23 „ Three-fourths of Scotland is held by 583 owners, one-half being the property of 49 persons, and there are 21 landed estates which comprise one-fourth of the kingdom. Page 127. The depression of farming interests is shown by the number of farmers who have failed in England in the last few years : — 1870 . 229 1875 . 354 1876 . 480 1877 . 477 1878 . 815 1879 . 1228 The average rental for Ireland on Professor Caird's esti- mate of £14,000,000 is 50 per cent over the income-tax returns. The income-tax Table for the three kingdoms, in 1876, showed as follows : — England . . . £50,220,000 27s. per acre Scotland . . . 7,505,000 7s. 6d. „ Ireland . . . 9,290,000 9s. 4d. „ The value of land, from 1866 to 1876, rose 8 per cent in England, 10 per cent in Scotland, and 1| per cent in Ireland. Page 134. The following abstract is taken from the published price of wheat for seventy-eight years : — Average. Maximum. Minimum. 1800 to 1825 81s. 8d. 126s. 6d. in 1812 44s. 7d. in 1822 1826 to 1850 56s. 4d. 70s. 8d. in 1839 39s. 4d. in 1835 1851 to 1877 52s. 5d. 74s. 8d. in 1855 38s. 6d. in 1851 1800 to 1877 62s. 4d. 126s. 6d. in 1812 38s. 6d. in 1851 Page 138. There has been happily a decline in 1879, viz. — Value of liquor. Per inhabitant. 1868 £113,465,000 74 shillings 1876 147,289,000 90 „ 1879 128,144,000 75 „ 542 APPENDIX. Page 142. The ratio of persons enjoying the right to vote is much larger in other countries than in the United Kingdom. United Kingdom . 9 per cent of pop. Germany . Spain Switzerland France 21 23 24 27 Of persons actually enrolled on the registers the ratio ot those who vote is as follows : — 18 per cent in Sweden, 41 in Prussia, 50 in Switzerland, 53 in Spain, 54 in Italy, 66 in Portugal, 72 in France, and 84 per cent in Belgium. Page 145. The importation of raw cotton and of wool into the United Kingdom since 1801 has been, in millions of lbs., as follows : — Cotton. Wool. 1801 54 7J 1811 . 90 4£ 1821 . 137 17 1831 . 273 32 11841 . 437 56 1851 645 70 1861 . 959 93 1871 . 1,416 188 1877 . 1,186 223 Page 147. The production of flax in Ireland reached its maximum in 1864, and has since declined, but is now again rising — 1864 . . . 64,500 tons 1874 . . 18,100 „ 1878 . . 24,500 „ Linen-damask industry is chiefly indebted to a Carlow peasant named James Quinn, who, in 1712, wrought a table- cloth representing the castle of Carlow. As he kept his cottage closed while doing the work, he was supposed to be engaged in necromancy, and the neighbours were about to throw him and his wife into the river Barrow, when they were saved by the parish priest. In 1713 the Linen Board of Ireland estab- lished the damask school at Lurgan, under Quinn's direction. appendix. 543 Page 149. One of the most remarkable of the new articles of manufac- ture is Alkali, chiefly made on the Tyne, which showed an ex- port of 4200 tons in 1840, and 198,000 tons in 1870. The value exported in the years 1873-78 averaged £2,400,000 per annum. Page 150. The production of coal in Great Britain has risen as fol- lows : — Year. Tons. 1660 . 2,150,000 1700 . . 2,610,000 1750 4,774,000 1800 10,080,000 1829 16,035,000 1846 . 36,400,000 1853 . 54,000,000 1860 84,000,000 1870 110,000,000 1876 133,000,000 Page 152. Our production of lead ore has varied from 70,000 tons to 100,000 for yeara — the value being on an average of a score of years £1,250,000 annually. Page 155. It is difficult to understand how certain rapid journeys were made before the use of steamers or railways. The Annual Register of March 1802 mentions that Mr. Hunter travelled from Paris to London in 22 hours, in fulfilment of a wager. Page 168. In 1850 the principal societies had the following number of members : — Royal .... 830 Horticultural . 1500 British Association 2300 Pharmaceutical . 3000 Statistical ... 450 Archaeological . . 2000 Royal Geographical 750 Antiquaries . . 570 544 APPENDIX. Geological ... 620 Society of Arts . 830 Botanical . . . 1260 Law Association . 1370 Zoological . . . 2000 Medical .... 580 Some of the above have since doubled their numbers, Statistical now counting 880 members. the Page 170. Dr. Lawson Tait gives the following hospital data : Founded. 1547 1548 1722 1735 1736 1739 1753 1767 1778 1794 ■o- ,. . Annual Hospital. admission. St. Bartholomew's 5500 St. Thomas's Guy's Bristol Edinburgh Aberdeen Manchester Leeds Birmingham Glasgow London (fever) Liverpool 3200 5600 2600 4500 2100 3000 3000 2700 5700 3000 3000 Deaths, 1861-V0. 11 per cent 11 10 54 11 61 11 10* 17 6 Deaths, 1871-75. 5 per cent 12 10 104 11 15 Page 174. London has spent £10,600,000 besides £5,000,000 on bridges. in constructing docks, Page 180. Imports of British Colonies. Imported into India . Straits and Ceylon Australia . Canada Mauritius . Hong Kong South Africa West Indies Guiana Gibraltar and Malta Palklands and Feejee 1S68. £47,481,000 11,964,000 31,566,000 16,200,000 2,200,000 3,200,000 3,352,000 4,638,000 1,618,000 8,223,000 20,000 1S77. £48,877,000 19,005,000 48,308,000 22,228,000 2,360,000 3,200,000 8,135,000 5,904,000 2,230,000 7,991,000 140,000 £130,462,000 £168,378,000 Less bullion 19,126,000 17,560,000 Increase. 3 per cent 58 „ 51 „ 143 28 38 600 £111,336,000 £150,818,000 36 APPENDIX. 5 Exports or British Colonies. [ported from 1868. 1877. Increase. India £52,446,000 £65,044,000 25 per cent Australia 33,256,000 45,384,000 36 Canada . 12,882,000 17,233,000 35 Singapore and Ceylon 10,873,000 17,934,000 65 Gibraltar and Malta 9,454,000 8,542,000 West Indies 5,082,000 6,087,000 20 South Africa . 3,767,000 5,996,000 57 Hong-Kong 1,560,000 2,042,000 32 Mauritius 2,339,000 4,201,000 81 Guiana . 2,232,000 3,049,000 36 Feejees and Falklanc s 13,000 143,000 1000 545 £133,904,000 £175,655,000 32 Gross Increase op Nine Years. Imports and Exports. Increase. India £100,000,000 £114,000,000 14 per cent Australia 65,000,000 94,000,000 45 ,, Canada . 29,000,000 40,000,000 38 „ Singapore and Ceylon 23,000,000 37,000,000 61 „ West Indies . 10,000,000 12,000,000 20 ,, South Africa . 7,000,000 14,000,000 100 „ Mauritius 4,500,000 6,500,000 45 „ Guiana 4,000,000 5,250,000 31 „ Other colonies 2,500,000 3,250,000 28 „ £245,000,000 £326,000,000 33 Page 187. In some of the colonies, sheep are boiled down in thousands for grease, and cattle are unsaleable ; but all kinds of stock must sooner or later rise. Page 214. This is for Canada proper, not including Nova Scotia, etc., and gives a ratio of 23 per cent of population. Page 225. India exported 13,000,000 bushels wheat in 1878, and has at present 19,300,000 acres under wheat. 2 N 546 APPENDIX. Page 226. In the year 1877 there were 19,695 persons killed in India by wild animals and venomous snakes, 46 being killed by ele- phants, 819 by tigers, 200 by leopards, 85 by bears, 564 by wolves, 24 by hyenas, 1180 by other wild beasts, and 16,777 by snakes. The numbers killed in the two preceding years were 19,273 and 21,391 respectively. Page 231. The number of slaves and sums paid for them to their masters in August 1838 were as follow : — Jamaica Barbadoes, etc. Guiana Mauritius . Cape Colony- Number. 311,000 276,400 82,600 66,613 33,842 Price. £6,150,000 6,122,000 4,295,000 1,670,000 1,763,000 770,455 £20,000,000 Per head. £20 22 52 25 50 £26 Page 261. Although France has almost doubled in wealth in the last fifty years, the number of paupers receiving public relief forms an increasing percentage. Paupers. 1833 to 1837 average, 751,000 per annum, or 2J p. u. of population. 1848 to 1852 „ 982,000 ,, 2f 1860 to 1870 „ 1,150,000 ,, 3 ,, The proportion is still relatively small, as the provident cha- racter of the people in a measure prevents poverty. Page 262. The rente-holders in France have increased as follows : — 1830 1840 1850 1860 1870 1877 Holders of rentes. 195,370 265,447 846,330 1,073,801 1,254,040 4,404,763 Average income. £41 each. 30 10 13 11 7 The depositors in savings banks on December 31, 1877, num- bered 2,863,300, and in December 1878 rose to 3,050,000. appendix. 547 Page 262. The value of state properties in France was in 1841 over .£512,000,000 sterling, and is still probably equal to half the National Debt. Page 313. " In the eighth century, when Englishmen knew no more than Kobin Hood about mechanical arts, the city of Ghent was famous for its manufactures, and Charlemagne sent a present of valuable textures from its looms to Haroun-al-Raschid." Page 321. The Stadtholder's Palace at Amsterdam is built on 13,000 piles. Page 329. The Old Dutch East India Company, founded in 1602, had a capital of only £650,000 ; but it grew so rapidly in wealth and power, that it conquered empires, and maintained 200 vessels in the Chinese trade. In 1621 was founded the West India Company, which in fifteen years fitted out no fewer than 800 vessels, took Brazil from the Portuguese, colonised the Cape of Good Hope, and captured 545 Spanish and Portuguese vessels, with booty worth £7,500,000. Page 362. The population includes that of Asiatic Russia. Page 417. The Italian report for Instruction shows as follows : — Pupils. Primary schools 1,307,000 Evening schools Regimental schools Latin schools 18 Universities 164,000 89,000 53,000 26,000 1,639,000 The vote for primary schools averages £670,000 per annum. 548 APPENDIX. Page 424. The number of Gypsies in Europe is set forth as follows :- Danubian Principalities . - . 200,000 Austria-Hungary .... 97,000 Spain 45,000 England 18,000 Norway," etc. etc. . . . 10,000 370,000 Page 438. Spain has ten banks, with an aggregate capital of £2,200,000. The Bank of Spain has sole right of emission, limit £4,000,000, with a paid-up capital of £1,200,000. Page 461. The Suez Canal returns during nine years summed up the Following total : — Number. Fees. British vessels . 8007 £6,032,000 French „ 741 710,000 Dutch „ 363 325,000 Austrian „ 482 267,000 Italian ,, 443 222,000 Various „ 952 486,000 10,988 £8,042,000 Page 491. The increase of population in the United States has been as follows : — Whites. Free coloured. Slaves. Tfital. 1810 . . . 5,862,000 186,000 1,192,000 7,240,000 1840 . . 14,196,000 386,000 2,487,000 17,069,000 1860 . . . 26,923,000 488,000 3,954,000 31,443,000 1870 . . . 33,589,000 4,880,000 Page 494. 38,558,000 The United States Government has granted, up to the present, 192,000,000 acres for railway concessions, and 70,000,000 acres for schools. appendix. 549 Page 512. The value of petroleum exported down to 1878 was £101,000,000. Page 513. The United States Government has expended since 1789 the sum of £89,300,000 on roads, docks,' canals, railway sub- sidies, lighthouses, and public buildings. Page 519. In December 1878 the banks of the Union showed thus : — Number. Capital. Deposits. National . . . 2056 £95,000,000 £134,000,000 Others .... 4400 41,000,000 250,000,000 Total . . 6456 £136,000,000 £384,000,000 RECORD OF PROGRESS. 1801. First railway bill passed; "Wandsworth and Croydon. 1802. Trevithick and Vivian's patent for running coaches by steam. 1803. Slavery abolished in the Danish West Indian islands. 1805. Life-buoy invented by John Edwards, London. 1807. First passenger steamboat ; between New York and Albany. 1808. National schools in England, founded by Bell and Lan- caster. 1809. Fire-escape ladder patented by Mr. Davies, England. 1810. Emancipation of serfs in Prussia ; Stein's measure. 1811. Abolition of slave trade, Wilberlbrce's Bill passed. 1812. London the first city lighted with gas. 1813. Howard's patent for refining sugar. 1814. Times newspaper printed by steam. 1815. Safety lamp invented by Sir Humphrey Davy. 1817. Hosking's steam pump for mines. 550 APPENDIX. 1818. Brunei's patent for subterranean or submarine tunnels. 1819. American steamer Savannah from New York, first to cross Atlantic. 1820. Buthven's lithographic press invented at Edinburgh. 1821. Eocket apparatus for saving life from shipwreck. 1822. Babbage's calculating machine patented. 1824. Mechanics' Institutes established in England.' 1825. First passenger railway in the world, Stockton and Darlington, opened. 1826. Fire brigade formed in London under Mr. Braidwood. 1827. Omnibuses tried in London. Emancipation of Greece. 1828. Neilson's hot-blast for smelting iron. 1829. Emancipation of Catholics in the United Kingdom. 1830. First overland mail from India, brought by Lieutenant Waghorn. 1831. First meeting of British Association of Science. 1832. Keform of the British Parliament. 1834. Parliament votes £21,000,000 to redeem 770,000 West India slaves. 1835. Overland Eoute opened by Eed Sea to India. 1836. Ericcson's propellor invented. Westley Bichard's per- cussion muskets invented. 1837. Cook and Wheatstone's patent for electric telegraphs. 1838. Daguerre invents photographs or sun-portraits. 1839. First settlement in New Zealand. 1840. Sir Bowland Hill's penny postage introduced. 1841. Artesian well bored at Grenelle, near Paris. 1843. China thrown open to foreign trade. 1844. Gutta-percha, a new product from Malacca. 1845. Howe's sewing-machines patented in United States. 1846. Bepeal of the Corn Laws. 1847. Chloroform introduced by Dr. Simpson. 1848. Gold found in California. 1849. Bepeal of British Navigation Laws. 1850. First submarine cable ; from Dover to Calais. 1851. Great Exhibition in Hyde Park, London. 1852. Gold found in Australia. 1853. Haarlem Lake pumped out. 1854. Commodore Perry, United States, opens Japan to trade. 1855. Bessemer's system of making steel. APPENDIX. 55 1 1856. East Indian Company territories annexed to British Empire. 1857. Emancipation of Jews in Great Britain. 1858. Sound dues abolished by Denmark. 1859. Oil-springs in Pennsylvania. 1860. Cobden's commercial treaty with France. 1861. Emancipation of 44,000,000 serfs in Eussia. 1862. Abolition of slavery in United States; 5,000,000 slaves liberated. 1863. Electric light first used at Havre lighthouse. 1864. Scheldt dues abolished. 1865. Zollverein removes obstacles to German trade. 1866. First Transatlantic cable, Ireland to Newfoundland. 1867. Mail-steamers commence running between San Francisco and China. 1868. Expulsion of the Tycoon. General reformation in Japan. 1869. Suez Canal opened. Pacific Eailway completed. 1870. Mont Cenis tunnel completed. 1871. Balloons used to carry mails from Paris (besieged). 1874. Telephones patented by Gray of Chicago and Lacour of Copenhagen. 1875. Plim soil's shipping reform. 1876. Graham Bell's speaking telephone. 1877. Phonograph invented by Professor Edison. 1878. Microphone invented by Professor Hughes. 1879. North-eastern passage made by Swedish steamer Vega. 1880. Dr. Siemens' electric railway proposed at Berlin. INDEX. Accumulation of wealth in nations, 43 in United Kingdom, 112 in United States, 524 in Germany, 288 Adelaide, capital of South Australia, 196 Adults able to read in all countries, 1830-1879, 88 Africa, increase of railways in, 72 electric telegraphs, mileage, traffic, 85 South, trade, products, population, 215 diamond-fields, product since 1867, 217 Age, average of all living, various na- tions, 7 Agriculture of all nations, area, crops, capital, 24 of Austria- Hungary, 386 of Belgium, 310 of Brazil, 475 of Denmark, 353 of France, 240 of Germany, 267, 292, 29S of Holland, 322 of Italy, 407 of Norway, 349 of Ottoman Empire, 462 of Portugal, 450 of Russia, 367 of Spain, 426 of Sweden, 339 of United Kingdom, 123 of United States, 493 Alaska, sold by Russia to United States, 491 Alcohol, increase of consumption in Great Britain, 137, 541 Algeria, agriculture of, 263 roads, railways, commerce, 264 Alkali, increased production in England, 543 Allen, bishop of Oxford, invented life insurance, 534 Almaden quicksilver mines in Spain, 433 Alpine travellers, 536 Alsace, cotton-factories of, 273 Amazon navigation, 22,000 miles, 84 America, progress of railways, 72 telegraphs, mileage, traffic, 85 America, South, balance of trade for ten years, 473 banks, loans, English capital, 472 debt and taxation, 472 paper money, total issue, 36 railways, telegraphs, population, 471 trade with England declining, 159 American war, 1861 - 1865, number of slain, 9 amount of expenditure, 40 Americans and English, best fed, best workmen, 12 Andes, Peruvian, railways in the, 485 proposed railway from Mendoza to Chile, 77 snow cable laid across, 536 Anglo-Saxon race and language, 1 Angora goats in South Africa, 219 Annecy, highest bridge in the world, 82 Argentine Republic, banks, debt, com- merce, 482 population, sheep-farms, etc., 479 Arkwright and Cartwright, machinery invented by, 145 Armaments, cost of, since 1848, 40 Arms, men for bearing, in various coun- tries, 9 Army and navy, reduction of mortality, 7 Arragon, canal of, 437 Asia, progress of railways, 72 telegraphs, traffic, mileage, 85 Atholl, the planting Duke, 129 Auckland, capital of New Zealand, 200 Australia, agriculture and cattle, 186 banks, paper money, deposits, 190 commerce, debt, revenue, 189 gold, production since 1852, 28, 184 grain, exports of, 186 lands sold by Crown, 188 life average, longest in world, 186 population, increase of, 185 railways, telegraphs, schools, 192 wines of, 186, 193 wool exports since 1830, 187 Australia, South, agriculture, cattle, 197 Western, progress since 1829, 195 Austria - Hungary, agriculture, crops, cattle, 3S6 banks and paper money, 35, 401 554 INDEX. Austria-Hungary, "births, deaths, in- crease, 385 canals and rivers, 83, 400 commerce since 1819, 397 debt and expenditure since 1840, * 403 forests and the chase, 387, 391 instruction, progress since 1837, 400 land-owners, classes, number, 337 libraries and learned societies, 401 manufactures iu 1834 and 1870, 391 minerals, increase since 1830, 394 navigation free, of Danube, 397 railways and highroads, 398 serfs, emancipation of, in 1849, 3S7 steamboat company, Lloyd's, 397 Baden, agriculture, landed estates, pro- ducts, 307 Balance of trade against United Kingdom sinee 1840, 156 of all nations for ten years, 47 Ballast entries, increase since steamers, 53 Baltimore tunnel for aqueduct, 79 and Pittsburg railway, 514 Bank, first in Europe, "by Venetian Jews, 32, 532 deposits, United Kingdom, increase since 1850, 113 Banking in Great BritaiD, 1850 and 1879, 115 power of all nations, 37 Banks and paper money of the world, 33 principal, of Europe, 532 of Austria- Hungary, 401 of Belgium, 319 of Brazil, La Plata, 36, 476, 482 of Denmark, 359 of France, 259 of Germany, 284 of Holland, 330 of Italy, 418 of Japan, 468 of Portugal, 455 of Russia, 380 of Spain and Cuba, 438, 442 of Sweden, 346 of United States, 518 Bankruptcy of Austrian Empire, 1810 and 1814, 403 of Russia, 1843, 34 of United States, 1836, 518 returns for various countries, 45, 534 Barbadoes, rainfall and sugar-crop, 26 trade, population, schools, 236 Barrack sanitary reform by Dr. Parr, 7 Basque journal, Irurac, 92 Batavia trade with Holland, 322 Bateman's project of London water- supply, 176 Battles, mortality in, 529 Baxter, Dudley, on income of British nation, 113 Bavaria, agriculture, land-owners, 298 Bavaria, breweries, railways, revenue, 297 Beck and Pulteny, on wealth of England, 110 Bees in Austria, 390 in France, 244 in Germany, 271 in Russia, 374 . Beer, consumption in all countries, 12, 18 Beet-root, effects in fattening cattle, 244 sugar, annual production in all coun- tries, 19 Belfast, excessive death-rate in, 106 Belgium, agriculture, crops, cattle, 310 banks, mint, savings banks, 319 crime and pauperism, decrease of, 309 debt and finances, 320 grain deficit, annual imports, 311 instruction, schools, libraries, 318 land, subdivision of, 311 manufactures, increase since 1836, 315 married people, increase of ratio, 309 minerals, increased production since 1836, 313 population, increase since 1830, 309 railways, canals, telegraphs, 317 Bell and Lancaster's schools, 166 Bell Rock light, 535 Belmez coalfields in Spain, 433 Bequests, charitable, in Great Britain, France, Italy, 98 Berlin, high death-rate at, 6 Bessarabia, tillage, products, 464 Bessemer steel, production of, 148 rails, saving effected by, 77 Bilbao, production and export of iron ore, 433 Bills maturing daily in U. Kingdom, 116 Birkenhead tunnel under Mersey, 79, 536 Birmingham, taxes, debt, valuation, 121 increase of population, 149 Birth and death rates of nations, 3 - of United Kingdom, ten years, 105 Black Sea, canal connecting with Cas- pian, 84 Blind, deaf, dumb, insane, of all nations, 100 Blindness in Spain, 425 Block's, M., Table of increase of nations, 2 Bohemian nobles, wealth of, 387 linen and glass factories, 392 Bokhara and Caspian railway project, 77 Bolivia, republic of, 486 Bondergods, tenant farms in Denmark, 353 Books, number annually printed in Europe, 91 English, increased export since 1830, 92 Boston, the Athens of America, 517 Boulton of Soho, on mechanical power, 62 Bower, Lieutenant, founds Tasmania, 1803, 194 INDEX. 555 Boyars, land-owners of Bessarabia, 464 Brain-power of all nations, in 1830 and 1880, 88 Brassey on English workmen, 142 Brazil, agriculture, coffee, sugar, 474 banks, commerce, finances, 476 railways, schools, charities, 477 yield of gold, 477, 531 Bremen, tobacco factories, 276 increase of trade, 280 Brenner Pass railway, elevation of, 78 Bridges, principal, built from 12th to 18th century, 80 iron, dimensions and cost of most notable, 81 Bridge water's, Duke of, canal, 153 Brighton, low death-rate at, 106 " Britannia," quickest voyage across At- lantic, 52 British colonies in 1S40 and 1880, 181 empire, increase since 1800, 104 Brown's suspension bridges in Scotland, 81 Brooklyn bridge, greatest in the world, 81 Brunei, constructor of Thames Tunnel, 79 Brunswick, first savings bank established at, 38 Buenos Ayres, sheep -farms, railways, settlers, 479 Building in Great Britain since 1805, 141 Bulgaria and Boumanra, improved agri- culture in, 463 Bullion, imports and exports of, in all countries, 31 of United Kingdom, amount esti- mated, 31 our transactions with other coun- tries, 157 Butter and cheese, native and imported, Great Britain, 136 production in all nations, 22, 530 Cables, submarine, date, length, cost, 85 Cabot's chimney, Maine, removal of, 86 Caird, Professor, on agriculture, 126 Calais and Dover, projected tunnel, 80 Calcutta, Madras, and Bombay, univer- sities of, 226 Caledonian Canal, "Neptune's Stair- case," 84 California annexed to United States, 491 canals for irrigation, 84 gold product of, 28 vineyards, yield of, 496 Camels for draught cattle, 374 Canada, agriculture, land-grants, grain- exports, 206 banking and wealth of colony, 212 commerce, increase in 40 years, 209 compared with Australia, 181 debt and taxes, increase since 1840, 212 emigration, British, to, since 1815, 204 fisheries, annual product of, 17 population, increase since 1810, 204 Canada, railways and canals, 73, 213 schools, newspapers, 214 Canal, Panama-, project of, 83 Suez, length, cost, traffic, 82, 461, 548 Canals and rivers of Europe, 83 of Canada, 213 of France, 256 of Germany, 282 of India, 224 of Low Countries, 317, 326 of Russia, 367, 379 of United Kingdom, 153 of United States, 512 Canary Islands, products, trade, 443 Cape Colony, agriculture, goats, ostrich- farming, 218 births, deaths, immigration, 216 commerce, increase in ten years, 219 diamonds, value since 1867, 217 revenue, debt, railways, 220 Capital and debt of all nations, 42 new, raised in Great Britain, 111 j of great banks of Europe, 533 rural, of all nations, 25 Cargoes, sea-borne, value per ton, 53 Carrier pigeons for telegrams, 91 Carrying trade of world, 51 Cartwright's loom, reward paid for, 145 Caspian Sea, fisheries of, 17 Catalan wine, exports of, 429 Catherine's, Empress, paper money, 33 Catherine of Lancaster's sheep, 431 Cattle of all nations, table of, 531 Great Britain, in 1869 and 1S79, 129 Ireland, increase since 1841, 132 Cavour canal in Lombardy, 418 Census of 1871, United Kingdom, ages and sexes, 109 Centenarians, more women than men, 8 Cerro Pasco silver mines, in Peru, 485 Ceylon, coffee-planting, cinchona, 227 Chadwick on preventible sickness, 8 Challey's bridge at Freyburg, 81 Charitable asylums of Great Britain, 170 bequests in England, France, Italy, 98 Charities, amount spent on, 169 Cheapness of money in England, 38 Cheese and butter, native and imported, Great Britain, 136 Chelsea Hospital, failure of silkworms, 148 Cheques and bills, 97 per cent of trade done by, 538 Cherbourg harbour and docks, 82 Cherokee tongue, newspaper in, 92 Chestnuts, consumption in France and Italy, 16 Chevalier Michel on British manufac- tures, 144 on gold and silver, 15th century, 27 Childbed, deaths in, average for Europe, 8 excessive rate in Russia, 371 Children, average to each marriage, various countries, 5 556 INDEX. Chile, trade, railways, schools, 483 China, canals, coal-fields, exports, 469 Chiucha Islands, guano, 485 Chinese Imperial library, 93 Cholera, deaths in Europe, in four epi- demics, 10 Cholos, a tribe in Bolivia, 21 Cinchona plantations in India, 227 Cincinnati, pork-packing and exporta- tion, 505 Cities of England, debt, taxation, 121 United Kingdom, death-rate in, 106 Clark's notes on Russia, 361 Clearing-house, London, increase since 1839, 116 New York, returns of, 538 "Clermont," first passenger steamer on the Hudson, 535 Cleveland, richest iron district in Eng- land, 69 Clock-making by steam, 456 Clyde dock-walls, cost of, 82 shipbuilding, tonnage, value, 63, 163 Coal, output per miner in all countries, 6S production of the world, 68 of Great Britain, 6S, 151, 543 Coalbrookdale, first iron bridge in Eng- land, SO Cobden's treaty, effect of, 252 Coburg-Saxe, agriculture, products, 308 Coca-leaves, stimulant used by Indians, 21 Cochineal, production in Canary Islands, 444 CockerilTs foundries in various countries, 61 Cocoa, increased consumption in Great Britain, 21 plantations in Trinidad, 234 Cod-fishery of Canada, annual product, 17 Coffee-planting in Brazil, 475 in Ceylon, 227 in Java, 332 in Manilla, 446 in Porto Rico, 442 in Venezuela, 489 Coffee, production and consumption in the world, 19, 21 Coinage in all countries since 1848, 29 Coleridge on education, 166 Colonies, British, and possessions, growth of, 180 shipping and commerce, increase of, 161, 181 debt and revenue, 41, 181 issue of paper money, 37 Commerce of all nations, 1SS0 and 1878, 45 of Austria-Hungary since 1819, 397 of Belgium since 1831, 316 of British Colonies since 1840, 181 of China, 469 of France since 1826, 252 of Germany since 1840, 280 of Holland since 1849, 328 of Italy since 1865, 416 Commerce of Portugal Bince 1S20, 449 of Russia since 1820, 364 of Scandinavia since 1850, 334 of South America, 472 of Spain since 1850, 434 of United Kingdom since 1816, 156 of United States, 502 Consols, British, prices since 1800, 120, 540 number of holders diminishing, 120 Cook and Wheatstone's telegraph, 84 Coolies in colonies, 228, 234, 237, 440 Co-operative societies in United King- dom, 118 in Germany, 288 Copper production in the world, 69 Cordoba, English lead-factory at, 70, 433 Cork, Ireland, high death-rate at, 106 Cornwall, tin and lead miues, 70 Cossacks, military land-grants to, 370 Cottiers in Belgium, 310 in Denmark, 356 in France, 241 in Germany, 293 in Ireland, 124 in Persia, 470 in Portugal, 452 in Turkey, 465 Cotton, consumption in the world, 57 factories of world, spiudles and operatives, 57 imports since 1810 into Great Brit- ain, 542 exports from United States, 495 manufactures of Austria-Hungary, 392 of Belgium, 315 of France since 1820, 247 of Germany, 273 of Great Britain, 145 of Holland, 320 of Italy, 413 of Russia, 377 of Spain, 432 of United States, 508 production in the world, 145 Cousins, intermarriage of, in G. Britain, 4 Credit Foncier of France, 259 Crimean war, cost of, 40 number of slain, 9 Crime and ignorance, decrease of, m England, 89, 167 in France, 240 in Italy, 407 in United States, 493 in all countries, 103 Crops, average in United Kingdom, ten years, 125 Crown forests. See Forests. Crown lands in Australia, 188 in Canada, 208 in Cape Colony, 218 in Ceylon, 227 in Egypt, 465 in Germany, 298, 298, 301, 305, 307 INDEX. 557 Crown lands in Greece, 459 in Jamaica, 233 in Natal, 221 in Russia, 370 Culm, sugar, tobacco, decline of indus- try, 440 Cyprus, agriculture, products, popula- tion, 230 Daimios of Japan, wealth of, 466 Dairy products of various countries, 22 of United Kingdom, 136 Dalrymple's wheat farm, Dakotali, 499 Danish West India Islands, 353 Danube, free navigation of, 397 Darby's bridge over Severn, 81 Darmstadt, agriculture, land-owners, 308 Davy's, Sir Humphrey, safety lamp, 549 Deaf, dumb, blind, and insane of all countries, 100 in United Kingdom, 173 Death-rate and price of wheat, 134 of countries of Europe, 3 of infants in various countries, 363 of United Kingdom, town and coun- try, 106 of working-classes, excessive, 8 of principal cities in Europe, 6 Debt of all nations, increasing, 40 compared with capital, 42 of Great Britain, reduction since 1817, 119 of United States, reduction since 1866, 522 Deepest coal-mines in the world, 68 Denmark, agriculture, land-tenure, 353 births, deaths, increase of popula- tion, 333 banks and finances, 359 commerce, balance of trade, 859 debt, revenue, national wealth, 335 emancipation of bondsmen, 353 land, high price of, 356 manufactures, railways, canals, 352 Deposits and discounts, banking, of Great Britain, 115 in savings banks of all countries, 38 Desmond, Countess of, longevity of, S Diamonds of South Africa, value pro- duced, 217 Dispensaries of Great Britain for the sick poor, 171 Dividends on banks in U. Kingdom, 115 on railways of all nations, 74 Docks and harbours of Great Britain, 82 Don flax-field, greatest in the world, 373 Douro, bridge over, 81 Dublin, highest death-rate in United Kingdom, 106 tonnage of entries, 165 water-supply, 175 " Dundas " steamer on the Clyde, 535 Dundee linen manufactures, 147 Dutch East India Company, 547 Dykes in Holland, cost, dimensions, 321 Eads's great bridge at St. Louis, U.S., 81 Earnings of British nation since 1820, 112 of railways of all nations, 74 East India Company, 222 Ecuador, republic of, 489 Edinburgh, low death-rate in, 106 to London in 14 days, 153 water and gas supply, 175, 177 Eddystone lighthouse, 535 Eggs, statistics respecting, 22, 271 Egypt, see Ottoman Empire, 460 Eiffel's bridge over the Douro, 81 Electric light at British Museum, 177 railway, proposed at Berlin, 78 telegraph, returns for all countries, 85 Elephants, price of, 223 Elevated railway of New York, 78 Emigrants from Europe since 1820, 10 from Germany to Brazil, 474 from Italy to S. America, 407 to British Colonies since 1815, 183 to United States, 491 Encumbered estates, Ireland, sales, 130 in Portugal, 454 in Prussia, 269 in Russia, 368 in Sweden, 340 Engel's returns of locomotives in the world, 76 England, Bank of, progress since 1 S50, 113 rates of interest since 1694, 116 English and Americans, best fed, best workmen, 12 English workmen, efficiency of, 66, 142 Enskilda banks of Sweden, 346 Entries of shipping in ports of world, 51 ratio of steamers, 52 ratio of vessels in ballast, 53 Epirus and Thessaly, agriculture of, 462 Erie canal, construction, cost, traffic, 512 Estates, number of, and area, in all coun- tries, 24 in United Kingdom, area, 123, 127 confiscated in .France, value of, 240 Eucalyptus plantations in Algeria, 264 Euphrates Valley railway project, 461 Europe, growth of railways in, 72 imports of grain, 14 navigable rivers and canals, 83 population of, 52S principal banks, capital, issue, 533 taxes and debt of all countries, 39, 41 trade returns, 1830 and 1878, 45 statistics of pauperism, 96 Expenses, working, on railways of all countries, 74 Exports and imports, British, 156, 161 of the world, 46 Famines and epidemics, losses by, 10 Farm-stock of all nations, 530 Farmers, failures of, since 1870, 541 558 INDEX. Fan, Dr., on death-rate and price of wheat, 134 reduction of mortality in harracks, 7 February, greatest number of births in, 3 Fellahs, tenant-farmers of Egypt, 465 Females, increase of ratio in Europe, 4 preponderance of, in Scotland, 105 Finances and debt of all countries, 39 of Austria-Hungary, 403 of Belgium, 319 of France, 261 of Germany, 287 of Greece, 458 of Holland, 331 of Italy, 419 of Japan, 46S of Portugal, 454 of Russia, 382 of Scandinavia, 335, 348, 360 of South America, 471 of Spain, 437 of Turkey and Egypt, 462 of the United Kingdom, 119 of United States, 521 Fire brigades of various cities, 177 Fires in Paris and London, 178 in Russia, 371 Fire* insurance. See Insurance. Fisheries of all nations, 17 of Canada, 210 of France, 253 of Great Britain, 165 of Norway and Sweden, 338, 349 Fixity of tenure in Russia, 24 Flax cultivation in Russia, 373 crop in Ireland, 542 production and consumption of the world, 59 Florida annexed to the United States, 491 Food and wages in Great Britain, 142 compared in all countries, 65 Food supply of Great Britain, 133 of all nations, 11 Forests of the world, extent, products, 26 of France, 244 of Germany, 296, 299, 303, 305 of Great Britain, 129 of Russia, 367, 374 of Sweden and Norway, 340, 349 Foundries British, in other countries, 61 France, agriculture, crops, 240 banks, coin, paper money, 31, 34, 259 best cultivated country in Europe, 23 birth-rate declining since 1817, 239 canals, mileage, cost, traffic, 256 coal, production and imports, 250 colonies (see Algeria), 263 commerce, increase since 1S26, 252 crime, decrease of, 240 crops, increase since 1800, 242 debt, taxes, increase since 1830, 261 estates confiscated, value of, 240 fishery returns in 1850 and 1878, 254 food, increased consumption of, 14 grain deficits and importation, 242 France, insanity and suicide, increase of, 239 instruction, progress since 1830, 257 interest, bank rate of, 33 years, 38 iron, production since 1820, 251 libraries, learned societies, press, 258 landed proprietors, classes, area held by, 241 male population compared with Ger- many, 9 manufactures, increase since 1842, 246 minerals and metals, 250 navy, mercantile, decline of, 253 phylloxera, ravages of, 243 railways, roads, bridges, 254 rural population, decline since 1850, 241 rural property, increase since 1824, 245 silk, cotton, woollen, linen indus- tries, 246 state properties, value of, 547 sugar-mills, distilleries, breweries, 249 taxation and debt, general and local, 261 telegraphs, mileage and traffic, 86 war, Franco-German, cost of, 261 war indemnity loan, how subscribed, 262 waste lands reclaimed since 1848, 244 wealth and earnings of nation, 261 wine-crops since 1820, 243 Free-trade, its effects on commerce, 534 Friendly Societies of all nations, 67. Fulton's steamer on the Hudson, 535 Gaelic newspaper published in Canada, 92 Game statistics in various countries, 272, 33S, 374, 3S7, 391 Garay invented steamboat, 16th cen- tury, 535 Gas statistics of chief cities in world, 177 German colonists in Brazil, 474 Germany, agriculture, area, crops, 267, 292, 298, 301, 305 banks and paper money, 35, 284 births, deaths, increase of popula- tion, 265 canals and rivers, 282 cattle, increase since 1S40, 271 coal, production since 1S05, 27S commerce, increase since 1840, 2S0 debt and taxation, 289 emancipation of serfs, 1S10, 267 emigration since 1S40, 265 encumbered estates, sale of, 269 foundries, iron, Krupp's factory, 277 grain deficit, importation, 275 interest, bank-rate for 33 years, 38 land-owners, number, area held by 267 manufactures, operatives, product, 273 INDEX. 559 Germany, mining industries, increase since 1846, 279 railways, traffic increase in, 281 schools, libraries, societies, 283 silver demonetised, amount sold, 30 sugar-mills, 'breweries, 275 tonnage of entries and mercantile navy, 280 trade witbG. Britain, increase of, 159 Ghent, ancient manufacturing centre, 547 Gbilan, silk industries of, in Persia, 470 Gitfen on wealth of Britain, 110, 538 Gilbert, Dr., on intemperance and insan- ity, 139 Gillot's steel pens at Birmingham, 62 Glasgow, high death-rate at, 106 water and gas supply, 175, 177 Glove-making in France, 248 Gold and silver, coined and uncoined, 1848-1878, 29 fall in value since 1848; 29 Imports and exports, all countries, 31 increase since 15th century, 27 production in all countries, 28, 532 wear and tear, annual, 30 Gold-diggers' earnings in California and Australia, 28 Goods traffic on railways of the world, 74 Gotha canal, in Sweden,. 338 Grain, bushels per acre, in all countries, 24 consumption in all nations, per head, 12 crops of the world, 24 increased consumption since 1S20, 14 prices since 1820, 529, 541 imports of Belgium, 312 of France since 1800, 242 of Germany, 275 of Great Britain since 1811, 126 of Greece, 459 of Holland, 324 of Italy, 409 of Portugal, 450 exports of Algeria, 263 of Australia, 186 of Austria-Hungary, 389, 394 of Buenos Ayres, 480 of Canada, 208 of Chile, 13 of Denmark, 357 of India, 225, 545 of Japan, 467 of Russia, 372 of Spain, 427 of Turkey and Egypt, 460 of United States, 496 Grand Trunk Railway, Canada, 213 Grattoni, constructor of Mont Cenis tunnel, 79 Great Britain, agriculture of. See Agri- culture- 1 1 In like manner for banks, commerce, etc "Great Eastern," largest vessel afloat, 64 * Greece, agriculture, land-owners, 459 balance of trade for ten years, 458 Greenbacks, United States, amount and value, 1862-1880, 34 Guano, Peru, shipments since 1840, 485 Guardia Civil, rural police of Spain, 424 Guiana, sugar-plantations, trade of, 237 Gustavus Adolphus a collector of books, 338 Gypsies, number in Europe, 548 Haahlem Lake drained by English Com- pany, 327 Hafiz' poems in Persian schools, 470 Hamburg, increase of trade, 280 harbour and light charges at, 54 Hancock on Irish wealth, 133 Harbour charges on vessels at various ports, 54 Harbours and docks of Great Britain, 82 Hardware industry, British, 1820 and 1878, 148 Hausmann's works at Paris, 261 Havana, trade of, 440 Hay, Sir Hector, on precious metals, 531 Heathcote, inventor of machinery for lace, 59 Helder canal, in Holland, 326 Herrings, number taken yearly, 17 Hian-Tsung, inventor of paper money, 532 Hidalgos of Spain, number of, 423 Highroads of Algeria, 263 of Austria-Hungary, 399 of Canada, 214 of France, 255 of Germany, 282 of India, 224 of Turkey, 465 of United Kingdom, length and cost, 155 of United States, 512 Ho's Chinese version of Shakespeare, 92 Hobart-town, capital of Tasmania, 195 Hogs killed in United States, 497 Holland, agriculture, cattle, cheese, grain, 322 banks and finances, 330 births, deaths, increase, 321 canals, cost, traffic, Trekshuyts, 326 commerce, increase in thirty years, 328 colony of Java, products of, 332 debt, taxation, foreign loans, 331 dykes or polders, cost, dimensions, 321 entries, Dutch and foreign, 329 fisheries, decline of, 325 flowers, value of exports of, 324 grain deficit, importation, 324 instruction, progress since 1835, 330 manufactures, sugar, gin. textiles, 325 railways, roads, dykes, 328 I shipping, increase since 1837, 329 560 INDEX. Holland, trading companies of, 547 transit trade with Germany, 329 Homestead land-grants in Canada, 207 in United States, 493 in Algeria, 263 Honduras, colony of, decline of, 236 Hong-Kong, trade increase since 1867, 227 Hops, cultivation in France, 244 in Bavaria, 270 in United States, 495 Horses, number in United Kingdom, 128 returns for all countries, 531 Hospitals, death-rate of, English and foreign, 170 of Great Britain, 171, 544 of all countries, 97 House property of United Kingdom, 537 Howard's improvements in hospitals, 170 Hovedgards, estates in Denmark, 353 Howell on labour and capital, 143 Hudson and Erie canal, United States, 512 first passenger steamer upon, 535 Humboldt on precious metals, 531 Hungary. See Austria, 384 Husbands under age, commonest in Eng- land, 6 Hygiene in hospitals, 97 Iceland, habits of people, 335 Idle persons, snia.U number in Great Britain, 109 Idria quicksilver mines in Austria, 395 Ignorance aud crime, connection of. 89, • 167 Illegitimate births, of all nations, 527 declining in Great Britain, 108 increasing in France and Sweden, 3 Illinois Railway, freight of grain, 14 Imports of Great Britain, surplus, 156 of the world, over exports, 46 Imports and exports of Great Brit in, summary of, 156, 160 of all nations, ten years, 47 Imports of wheat, since 1810, 134 Income and capital of all nations, 42 of France. See Finances. 1 of United Kingdom, 110 Income-tax returns, United Kingdom, since 1815, 110 Increase of nations, Block's Table of, 2 of commerce since 1830, 45 of shipping, 50 of gold and silver, 28 of paper money, 33 of debts and taxes, 39 of lighthouses, 54 of iron and steel, 61 of coal, 68 of suicide, 102 of railways since 1830, 72 of schools since 1830, 88 of newspapers since 1840, 90 of British colonies since 1840, 181 1 In like manner for Germany, Russia, etc. Increase of wealth of all nations, 43 Independence, "War of, cost to United States, 491 India, agricultural products, increase of, 225 annexations since 1830, 223 banks and paper money, 37, 225 bullion, amount absorbed since 1840, 30 canals of Bengal, Jumna, etc., 224 commerce, increase since 1815, 225 debt and taxes, increase since 1814, 226 exportation of grain, 545 garrison, British, strength, cost, 226 irrigation works, sum expended on, 224 imports and exports, summary of, 225 railways, mileage, cost, traffic, 73, 224 roads and public works, since 1830, 224 wild beasts, number of persons killed by, 546 Indiarubber, export from Brazil, 474 Indian tribes in Canada, schools, etc., 205 population in United States, of all Industries of all nations, 533 Infant mortality in various countries, 363 in United Kingdom, 108 Insanity, causes of, and ratio in all countries, 100 highest rate in Ireland, 101 Instruction, adults able to read, 1830- 1878, 87 costs less than pauperism, 122 diminishes crime and pauperism, 89 expenditure in all countries, 89 progress in United Kingdom since 1835, 166 ratio of school children in all coun- tries, SS Insurance, fire, in Great Britain, returns since 1S15, 111 fire and life, in Canada, 212 life, returns for principal nations, 45 Intemperance increasing in G. Britain, 139 principal cause of insanity, 101 reduces span of life, 139 Interest, Bank of England rates for 182 years, 116 in England, France, Germany, 33 years, 38 Ireland, absentee landlords, area of estates, 131 agricultural deeline since 1S68, 132 bank accumulations since 1860, 133 births, deaths, rate of increase, 105 cattle, increase since 1840, 132 charities, income of, 170 emigrants, average for ten years, 107 encumbered estates, sale of, 130 famincof 1847, number of victims, 10 farmers-tenant ana landlords, 131 INDEX. 561 Ireland, grain, annual importation of, 132 hospitals, lowest death-rate in world, 171 improved condition since 1841, 130 income, average per inhabitant, 122 insane and blind, excessive ratio of, 100 instruction, progress since 1830, 87 lands reclaimed since 1841, 131 landed proprietors, number, income, 127, 131 linen trade, causes of decline, 59, 146 mortality in principal cities, 106 savings banks, increase of deposits, 117 taxation, incidence of, 122 wealth, annual increase of, since 1860, 133 Iron, increased production in all coun- tries, 61 Iron, production in Austria-Hungary, 394 in Belgium since 1836, 314 in France since 1820, 251 in Germany since 1830, 278 in Great Britain since 1800, 152 in Italy, 414 in Russia since 1842, 376 in Spain, 433 in Sweden since 1812, 344 in United States since 1840, 511 Iron vessels, number built, cost per ton, 63 bridgeB, list of principal, 81 ratio per inhabitant in all countries, 69 Italy, agriculture, crops, rural popula- tion, 407 banks, paper money, savings banks, 36, 418 births, deaths, emigration, 406 charitable bequests, 98 canals of Ticino, Cavour, etc., 418 cheese, production in Lombardy, 410 commerce, increase since 1835, 415 debt and taxes, increase since 1820, 420 fanning profits, Ridolfi's estimates, 409 grain imports during ten years, 409 instruction, libraries, museums, 410 irrigation, Po valley, value of land, 410 landed proprietors, number, area held by, 40S manufactures, revival since 1850, 412 minerals, sulphur, iron, marble, 413 railways, traffic, increase of, 417 * shipping, increase of ten years, 416 silk, annual production, 414 vineyards, wine, and oil crops, 410 war of 1859, number slain, 9 ■war of 1865, cost of, 36 Jamaica, sugar, negroes, revenue, 232 2 o January, month of greatest mortality, 8 Japan, agriculture, rice crop, 466 commerce, railways, telegraphs, 467 paper money, banks, debt, news- papers, 468 Java, products of, 332 Jessop, constructor of first London docks, 82 Jewellers, consumption of gold and silver by, 30 Jews, first bankers in Europe, 32 great surplus of male births among, 3 small rate of illegitimacy among, 4 total number of, 527 Joint-stock banks in Great Britain, 114 Jonkoping wooden matches, Sweden, 343 Junnan, first iron bridge constructed, 80 Kaffir industry and products, Natal, 221 Kane, Sir R., on Irish agriculture, 132 Khal-Khals, highlanders of Persia, 470 Khedive's estates in Egypt, 465 Kilsby tunnel, length and cost, 79 Knight, George, on paper duties, 168 Kolb on vital statistics, 529 Kongsberg, Sweden, silver mine, 344 Kremnitz gold mine, in Austria, 394 Krupp's factory at Essen, 277 Laboor, waste of, in small farms, 23, 312 Lagrange on wheat-growing in France, 14 Lambert coal mine, Belgium, deepest in world, 68 Lancaster and Bell's national schools, 166 Lancaster's, Catherine of, dowry of sheep, 431 Land crisis in G. Britain, causes of, 127 cost of transfer, 5S0 dearest in Holland and Belgium, 25 proprietors of in all countries, 24 rise of, in England since 1801, 127 value of, in various countries, 25 value in United Kingdom, 541 Land-owners in Australia, 188, 201 in Austria- Hungary, 387 in Belgium, 310 in Canada, 207 in Denmark, 354 in France, 241 in Germany, 267, 270, 293 in Greece, 459 in Holland, 322 in Italy, 408 in Portugal, 450 in Russia, 370 in South Africa, 218 in Spain, 429 in Sweden and Norway, 340, 349 in Turkey, 463, 465 in U. Kingdom, 123, 127, 131 in United States, 498 Languages spoken in 1800 and 1880, 2 562 INDEX. Languedoc canal, coat and details, 256 Lapland, herds of reindeer, 351 Lead, consumption of the world, 70 production in Great Britain, 152, 543 Learned societies of all countries, 94 of United Kingdom, 1803-1850, 168 Lease-holders of United Kingdom, 128 Leeds, taxes, debt, valuation, 121 Legacy returns in France and England, 43 since 1811 in England, 111 Leipzig fair, amount sold at, 304 Leroy Beaulieu on debt of G. Britain, 110 Lesseps, Baron, constructor of canals, 83, 461 Letters to each inhabitant, in all coun- tries, 94 Levi, Professor, on wealth of Great Britain, 110 on earnings of working classes, 538 Liabilities of banks of Great Britain, 117 Libraries of all countries, increase since 1848, 92 of United Kingdom, increase since 1848, 167 of United States, 516 Library of Emper-or of China, 93 Liege faetories of fire-arms, 314 Life assurance, invented by Bishop of Oxford, 534 returns for principal countries, 45 Life, average of, in Europe, 7 Lifeboat association in Great Britain, 165 Lighthouses of the world in 1840 and 1878, 54, 535 Linen manufactures of Europe, 59 in United Kingdom, 146 damasks in Ireland, 542 Liquor, increased consumption in Great Britain, 137, 541 Live cattle from United States, 506 Liverpool, death-rate very high, 106 debt, taxes, valuation, 121 docks, area of, 82 shipping entries, tonnage of, 165 water and gas supply, 175, 177 Living, average age of all, in various countries, 7 Lloyd's Austrian Steamboat Co., 397 shipping register, summary extracted from, 54 Loans, British, to foreign countries, 537 Dutch, to European powers, 331, 882 British to South America, 472 raised in London since 1874, 114 French, to pay Germany, 262 Local taxation in Great Britain, increase of, 121 Locomotives, number of, in all countries, 62,76 Lombardy, cheese, silk, irrigated lands of, 410, 414 London, banks, increase of, since 1850, 113 charitable institutions, cost of, 178 death-rate, steady decline of, 106, 174 London, docks of, 82, 174, 544 entries of shipping, 1801-1878, 174 food consumption of, 174 gas and water supply, 175 insurance returns, increase, 178 police and fire brigade, 177 taxes, debt, valuation, 121, 540 Longevity in England and other coun tries, 8 Losses in wars of nineteenth century, 9 in bankruptcy and bad loans, 45 Louisiana annexed to U. States, 491 Lowell, cotton factories, U.S., 509 Lubbock, Sir John, on bills, 538 Lunacy commissioners, report of, 172 Luxuries, consumption of, in all coun- tries, 19 imports of, into Great Britain, 137 Lying-in hospitals, 171 Lyons, silk factories of, 247 Machinery and steam power of the world, 62 Madeira wine, utility of beet-root for, 312 Madison's protection - tariff in United States, 503 Madrid, enormous death-rate at, 6 Magdala gold-mine, depth of, 184 Magyar population in Hungary, 385 Mail-coaches of sixty years ago, 153, 155 Maize, average yield of, 15 Males, capable of bearing arms ; various countries, 9 ratio of, declining in Europe, 4, 528 births of, surplus over females, 3, 527 Malt, consumption in U. Kingdom, 138 Manchester, high death-rate at, 106 taxes, debt, valuation, 121 water and gas supply, 175, 177 Mandeville on Chinese currency, 32 Mandioca, consumption in South Ame- rica, 15 Manilla, trade, products, population, 446 Manitoba, prairies for wheat farming, 207 Mantals, divisions of land in Sweden, 341 Manufactures of Austria-Hungary, 391 of Belgium, 313 of France, 245 of Germany, 272 of Great Britain, 143 of Holland, 325 of Italy, 412 of Portugal, 448 of Russia, 375 of Spain, 431 of Sweden, 342 of United States, 506 of the world, general summary, 55 British supremacy in, 144 Maori race declining in New Zealand, 199 language, newspaper printed in, 92 Maple sugar in United States, 20 Marine insurance and losses, 166 Marriage-rate in Europe, 4, 527 in United Kingdom, 107 INDEX. 563 Married of various countries, 6 life longer than single, 8 life, average duration of, 5 Marrying, age for, in various countries, 5 Mauritius, trade, industry, 228 Mayr on crime and pauperism, 103 Meat, consumption in all countries, 12, 16 importation into Belgium, 312 into France, 243 into Great Britain, 136 exportation from Austria-Hungary, 391 from Canada, 209 from Denmark, 358 from Holland, 325 from Norway, 351 from Portugal, 452 from Sweden, 342 from United States, 497 Melbourne, city of, 202 Meldrum's notes on sun-spots, 26 Men, able-bodied, in United States, 9 Menai, great bridges at, 81 Mennonite colonies in Canada, 207 Merinoes in Australia, 188 in Russia, 374 in Saxony, 306 Messages, telegraphic, in all countries, 85 Metayer. See Cottiers. Metropolitan railway of London, 78 Mexico, yield of silver, 531 Mikado's improvements in Japan, 466 Milch cows, number in U. Kingdom, 128 Minerals of the world, 67 of France. See France. 1 of Great Britain, 150 Miners in all countries, product, output, death-rate, 71 in Great Britain, 152 Ming, Emperor- of China, invented sus- pension bridges, 80 Minho valley, garden of Portugal, 451 Mints of various countries since 1S48, 29, 116 Misericordia hospital, Rio Janeiro, 478 Mississippi steamboat traffic, 502 wheat-fields, 513 Missouri, lead-mines of, 70, 536 Mitchell's wheat farm, California, 498 Money, gold and silver coin, 29 paper-currency of all nations, 33 Mont Cenis tunnel, 79 railway, 78 Montevideo, trade and population of, 488 Montreal, increase since 1852, 205 facilities for sea-going ships, 213 Moorish coast, Spanish forts on, 439 Mortality on English railways, 154 on railways of all countries, 75 Mortgages, burthen of, in all countries, 27 1 In like manner, for Germany and other countries. See also Coal and Iron, under their respective titles. Moscow rebuilt, described in 1824, 361 Moujiks, Russian, condition of, 371 Mundella on England's greatness, 538 Murabas, tenant-farmers in Turkey, 465 Murder, ratio in various countries, 103 Myddelton's water-supply of London, 175 Napoleon wars, cost to G. Britain, 104 Natal, agriculture and population of, 221 Navigation, inland, of all countries, 83 Laws, injurious effect of, 161 Negro sugar-planters in West Indies, 20 Neilson's hot>blast, invented in 1828, 151 Neison's life-average for various coun- tries, 7 for habitual drunkards, 139 Neuilly, bridge over Seine, 80 Nevada silver-mines, yield since 1862, 28 New Grenada, republic of, 489 New South Wales, progress since 1788, 192 New York clearing-house returns, 538 gas, water supply, police, fire brigade, 175, 177 elevated railway, 78 New Zealand, trade, finances, population, 198 Newspapers of the world, 1840 and 1880, 90 Niagara, remarkable bridges at, 81 Nijui-Novgorod, great annual fair, 377 North Sea canal, 327 Norway, agriculture, crops, cattle, 349 births, deaths, rate of increase, 333 commerce and shipping, 351 fisheries, annual yield of, 349 manufactures and minerals, 352 population, increase of, since 1830, 833 taxes and debt, lightness of, 352 wealth and income of people, 335 Nottingham lace manufacture, 59 Nugget, largest found in Australia, 28 Oatmeal, food of Manchester merchants, 153 Ocean cables, list of principal, 85 Oil, olive, production in Europe, 21 Ontario, agricultural progress of, 208 Operatives, British, superior skill of, 66 of all countries, statistics of, 55 hours of work in various countries-, 66 food and wages of, 65 Opium exports from India, 225 Orange groves of Seville, 430 Oregon territory ceded to U. States, 491 OrlofTs, Count, best horses in Russia, 374 Oroya railway, Peru, highest in the world, 78 Osoka-Nippo, chief newspaper in Japan, 92 Ostrich-farming in South Africa, 219 Ottawa, seat of Canadian legislature, 205 564 INDEX. Pacific railway of Canada, 214 of United States, 72, 78, 514 Palm and maple sugar, 20 Palmstruck founds Bank of Sweden, 37 Pampas, cattle farms of the, 16 Panama canal, project of Lesseps, 83 Paper money of all nations, 32 duties repealed in 1861, 90 printing, consumption of, 90 Pari and Amazon steam-navigation, 84 Paraguay, republic of, 487 births of males preponderate, 3 yerba-mate or Jesuits' tea, 20 Paris, gas, water-supply, 175, 177 death-rate very low, 6 jewellers, consumption of gold, 30 Parr, Thomas, aet. 152, cause of his death, 8 Passenger traffic on railways of all coun- tries, 74 death-rate on railways of all coun- tries, 75 traffic in Great Britain in 1834 and 1873, 155 Pastoral industry of United Kingdom, 128 of Prance. See Agriculture. 1 returns of all nations, 25 riches of America and Australia, 16 Patagonia, Welsh colony of Chubut, 481 Patterson founds Bank of England, 532 Pauperism and crime related, 103 Paupers in United Kingdom, 89, 103, 540 increase of, in France, 546 number of, in all countries, 96 on horseback in South, America, 97 land-owners in France, 25 with firelocks in Spain, Italy, 96 Peabody's homes for working-classes, 173 Pearl-fishery of West Australia, 196 Pedro Segundo railway, Brazil, 78, 477 Pekin journal, ninth century, 537 Pelham hotel, Boston, removal of, 86 ' Perry's, Comm., treaty with Japan, 4G6 Persia, people, trade, silk-culture, 470 provinces ceded to Russia, 362 Perth, capital of Western Australia, 196 Peru, republic of, 484 yield of silver, 531 Pesth, bridge over Danube, 81 Petroleum, production and exportation, '512, 549 Petty on Dutch shipping, 329 Philadelphia, fire-brigade, police, 177 first bank in United States, 518 Philip, Captain, first Australian settler, 183 Philippine Islands, trade, products, population, 445 Phylloxera, ravages of, in France, 243 Pigs, number of, in United Kingdom, 128 Pins, manufacture of, 149 Plate, River and tributaries, 84 i In like manner for Germany, Russia, etc. Ploughs, spade tillage, 23, 311, 451, 530 Plymouth breakwater, 82 Po valley, system of irrigation, 410 Poland, redemption of serfs, cost of, 370 cotton, woollen, linen factories, 378 revenue and expenditure, 383 Police of great cities, cost of, 178 in England and Wales, 121 of United Kingdom, 540 Population of British empire, increase of, 104, 539 of Europe in 1880, 528 rate of increase injvarious countries, 2 Porter's estimate of public wealth, 110 of silk-trade in 1835, 148 of travellers, 155 of food-supply of England, 133 Porto Rico, population, exports, 442 Ports, British, entries of all flags, 165 of all nations, tonnage entries, 51 Portugal, agriculture, crops, cattle, 451 banks and finances of, 455 colonial possessions of, 450 commerce, increase since 1820, 449 encumbered estates, sale of, 454 land-owners, number, area, 450 manufactures and minerals, 448 wine, annual product and exports, 451 Postal returns for all nations, 94 Potatoes, average crop in all countries, 15 nutrition compared with grain, 12 introduced into Russia, 373 into Germany, 303 Prague, great bridge at, 80 Press of all nations, 90 of United Kingdom, 168 Proprietors, landed. See Land-owners. Protection tariffs in United States, 503 Prussia,! agriculture, crops, 292 area and population in 1809 and 1876, 290 births, deaths, rate of increase, 3 cattle, increase of, 295 crown lands, cottiers, farmers, 293 debt and taxation, 2S9 encumbered estates, sale of, 269 forests, area and product, 297 franchise, number of voters, 292 grain-crops, increase since 1841, 295 land-owners, number, area held by. 293 manufactures and minerals, 291 military system, effects of, 290 mortgages on rural property, 297 railways, mileage, and traffic, 281 rural banks and societies, 293, 297 serfs, cost, and mode of redemption 293 * treaty of Tilsit, result of, 290 Public works, expenditure in England 1 See Germany. INDEX. 565 Public works in India, 224 in Australia, 193 in United States. 549 in various countries. See Railways, Canals. Quebec, increase since 1852, 205 Queen's speech telegraphed to Liverpool, 84 Queensland, colony of, 203 Quetelet on vital statistics, 6 Quicksilver, production in the world, 70 mines of Almaden, Spain, 433 of Idria, Austria, 395 Quinn's linen damasks, Ireland, 542 Raffeisen's co-operative farmers' so- cieties, 297 Railways, mortality, in all countries, 75 death-rate, rising in England, 154 most remarkable in world, 72, 78 of Australia, 192 of Austria-Hungary, 399 of Belgium, 317 of Canada, 213 of Denmark, 353 of France, 254 of Germany, 280 of Holland, 328 of India, 224 of Italy, 417 of Japan, 467 of Russia, 378 of South Africa, 220 of South America, 472, 477, 481 of Spain, 435 of Sweden, 338 of Switzerland, 457 of Turkey, 460 of United Kingdom, 73, 154 of United States, 514 of all nations, mileage, cost, 72 receipts and expenses, 74 Rainfall and sugar-crop in Barbadoes, 26 in relation to timber and sunspots, 26 Ratisbon, bridge over Danube, 80 Rawson, Sir R., on U. States schools, 515 on rainfall, 26 Reclaimed lands in United Kingdom since 1800, 124 Red River, freight of grain to New York, 14 Redgrave on English operatives, 143 Rennie's chief engineering works, 81, 82 Rent-charge banks in Germany, 269 Rentes, French, number of holders, 262, 546 Reserve bullion of all banks in world, 31 Rice crop compared with wheat, 15 exports from India, 225 Rideau canal, Canada, 213 Ridolfi on Italian agriculture, 409 Righi railway, peculiar construction of, 78 Riksbanks of Sweden and Denmark, 347, 359 Rio Janeiro, libraries, hospitals, 478 Rivers and canals of Europe, 83 Roads, connection with price of grain, 11, 14, 427, 459, 465 " Rob Roy," first steamer on high seas, 51 Rochdale co-operative society, 118 Roebling, great bridges built by, 81 Rome, high death-rate at, 6 Ronald's telegraph at Hammersmith, 84 Rosebridge, deepest coal-mine in Great Britain, 68 Roumania, improved agriculture in, 463 Russia^ agricultural area, products, 367 banking statistics of, 34, 380 births, marriages, deaths, 1831-1876, 362 canals, complete system of, 379 cattle, increase since 1848, 374 childbed, excessive death-rate in, 371 commerce, increase since 1820, 364 debts and taxes, since 1810, 382 export of grain, flax, cattle, 365 fair of Nijni-Novgorod, 377 female police and tax-collectors, 363 fixity of tenure till 1901, 368 flax plantations of the Don, 373 forests, area and product, etc., 26, 374 gold production in Siberia, 377 infant mortality enormous, 363 landed estates, number, area, 370 loss from annexed territories, 383 manufactures, increase since 1808, 375 merchant classes, capital of, 365 mining industry and products, 376 paper money, inflation of, 34 population, increase since 1835, 362 railways, construction, traffic, 378 schools, libraries, printing-offices, 3S0 serfs, redemption of, 368 sheep, camels, Tartar flocks, 374 tobacco, beet-root, vineyards, 373 wars of conquest, result of, 362, 382 Rye crop of the world, returns of, 15 Sadowa, ratio of slain at, 529 Safety lamp of Sir H. Davy, 549 Sailing vessels of all flags, 48 Sailors, ratio to tonnage, 162 Sake-beer, production in Japan, 467 Salt, exports from Portugal, 449 mines of "Wieliezka, Austria, 395 production in Great Britain, 152 production in France, 252 production in Germany, 279 Sangatte tunnel project, Calais to Dover, 80 Sanitary improvements, effect on rife- average, 106 expenditure in Great Britain, 122 San Jaan del Rey mines, 477 Santos and S. Paulo railway, 477 Sarawak, trade, population, products, 471 forests and rainfall, 26 566 INDEX. Savannah, first Atlantic steamer, 52 Savings banks of all countries, 38 increase of deposits, 44, 533 of United Kingdom, increase 117 Sawdust for making bread in Sweden, 340 Saxony, kingdom of, 303 various statistics. See Germany, 265 Scandinavia, births, deaths, 333 commerce, increase since 1850, 334 forest area and product, 26 paper money and banks, 36 wealth and finances, 335 Schiedem gin distilleries, 326 Schools of all nations, increase, 88 cheaper than workhouses, 112 gross annual expenditure, 89 Schultz-Delitsch co-operative societies, Germany, 288 Scotland, agricultural returns, 124, 540 banking, increase since 1S50, 113 births, marriages, deaths, 105, 107 crime, decrease of, 143 death-rate, urban and rural, 106 emigration, average for ten years, 107 female population, excess of, 105 income and taxation, per head, 112 insane, deaf, dumb, blind, 173 instruction, advanced rate of, 87, 167 landed estates, number, area, 123, 540 local expenditure, lightDess of, 121 roads and bridges by Telford, 155 societies, learned, number of, 168 taxation, incidence of, 112, 122 water-supply of chief cities, 175 Seamen, increased efficiency of, 162 Seehandlung founded by Frederic, 279 Serfs, emancipation of, in Austria-Hun- gary, 387 in Denmark, 353 in Germany, 267, 292, 298, 301, 307 in Russia, 368 Severn tunnel at Bristol, 79, 87 Sewing-machines, manufacture of, 62, 511 Sexes, ratio of, in various countries, 3 ratio in suicide and insanity, 102, 172 Sheep, number of, in all countries, 531 increase in Great Britain, 129 increase in Ireland since 1841, 132 weight in France and England, 129 Sheep-farming in Australia, 187 in Austria- Hungary, 390 in Buenos Ayres, 480 in Germany, 271, 296, 306 in Russia, 374 in South Africa, 219 in Spain, 431 in United States, 498 Shipbuilding in all countries, 63 in Canada, 210 in Genoa, 413 in Norway, 352 in United Kingdom, increase of, 65 in United States, decline of, 65 Shipping of all flags, 48 increase, since 1868, 50 Shipping, British, in foreign seas* 163 of British Empire since 1810, 161 of all nations, ratio for population, 53 Shipwrecks, decline In ratio of, 54 lives saved by lifeboat association, 5ft Siberia, product of gold mines, 28, 377 Sicily, high rate of assassination, 407 wine and oil crops, 411 Silk crop of the world, 58 cultivation in Italy, 414 in France, 247 in Persia, 470 in United States, 506 manufactures in Great Britain, 148 in all countries, 59 Silver, amount of, coin existing, 29 coinage in G. Britain since 1840, 116 consumption by Paris jewellers, 30 decline in value, causes of, 30 demonetised and sold in Germany, 30 production in the world since 1492, 28, 531 quantity absorbed by India, 30 Simplon, St. Gothard, and Splugen, traffic over, 536 Slav population in Austria-Hungary, 384 Slave labour for growing sugar, 20 Slavery abolished in British Colonies, 231, 546 in Brazil, 473 in Danish Colonies, 353 in Dutch Colonies, 331 in the United States, 551 Slave-owners in West Indies, sums paid to, 231 in Guiana, 237 in Mauritius, sums paid to, 228 Snow-cable over the Andes, 536 Societies, learned, of G. Britain, 168, 543 of all countries, 94 of Austria-Hungary, 401 of Brazil, 477 of France, 258 of Germany, 2S4 of United States, 517 Soldiers, annual growth in France and Germany, 9 British in India, cost per head, 226 reduced mortality in barracks, 7 Sound dues in Denmark, abolition of, 334 South Africa. See Cape Colony. South Australia, colony of, 196 South America. See America. Spain, agricultural area and products, 426 banking and finances, 438 births, deaths, rate of increase, 422 blind, deaf, dumb, insane, 100 canal of Castille, 437 colonies of, their products, 439 debt, increase since 1830, 437 grandees, number of, 423 Gypsies, numbers, occupation, 424 instruction, progress since 1848, 435 landed estates, number, area, 429 manufactures and minerals, 431 INDEX. 567 Spain, population, increase since 1833, 422 pottery works at Seville, 433 quicksilver mines of Almaden, 433 railways, mileage, traffic, 435 sheep-farming, mode of, 431 vineyards, export of wines, 429 Specie. See Bullion. Speed of railway trains in various coun- tries, 76 Spindles, cotton of all nations, 57 in woollen and linen factories, 53 Spirits, consumption in all nations, 18 in United Kingdom since 1840, 137 Sponge fishery of Cyprus, 230 Squatters* runs in Australia, 183, 201 in South Africa, 218 St. Esprit, bridge over the Rhone, 80 St. Gothard, tunnel of, length, cost, 79 hospice of, 536 St. Lawrence, navigation of, 213 Steam Locomotion on land and water, 1802, 71 pumps, most powerful used, 87, 327 power of all nations, 62 Steamers, greatest speed yet attained, 64 invention of, 535 increase since Suez Canal, 49 largest built since 1840, 64 ■ of all flags, tonnage of, 48, 53 remarkable voyages of, 52, 535 Steel, Bessemer's improvements in, 77, 148 pens made at Birmingham, 62 production, annual, in all countries, 61 Stein emancipates Prussian serfs, 267 Stephenson, great bridges built by, SI Sterility in noble families, cause of, 4 Stewart diamond, 217 Still-births, ratio of, 3 Stockton and Darlington, first railway, 71 Stolberg emancipates Danish serfs, 353 Styria, sheep-farms of, 391 quality of iron found in, 395 Submarine cables, 85 Succession duty in United Kingdom, 112 Suez Canal, cost, traffic of, 82, 461, 548 its effect on navigation, 48 Sugar, consumption in all countries, 19 increased consumption in Great Britain, 137 production, annual, in the world, 20 beet, production in Austria, 393 - in France, 249 in Germany, 275 in Russia, 373 cane, production in Brazil, 475 in Cuba, 440 in Guiana, 237 in Java, 332 in Mauritius, 229 in Peru, 486 in West Indies, 232 made from palm and maple, 20 Suicide, increase of, in Europe, 102 Sun-spots, connection with rainfall, 26 Sun-spots, connection with shipwrecks, 531 Superior, Lake, copper-fields, 69 Susa and Zahara canal project, 83 Suspension bridges, first use of, 80 Sweden, agricultural area and products, 339 banks and finances, 347 bears and wolves killed, 338 births, marriages, and deaths, 333 canals of Gotha and Meier, 338 cattle, increase since 1837, 342 commerce, returns since 1801, 344 debt and taxes, lightness of, 348 farms and forests, area, 340 farmers, condition of, 341 fisheries, value of, 338 instruction, high grade of, 334 iron, production since 1814, 344 landed estates, number, area, 340 manufactures and minerals, 342 sawdust for making bread, 340 Switzerland, banks of issue in, 33, 37 agriculture and manufactures, 456 Sydney, first colony in Australia, 192 Symington and Miller's steamboat, 535 Szegedin, floating flour-mills at, 394 steam-pumps used at, 87 Tacna railway into Bolivia, 487 Taine, M., on English workmen, 142 Tait, Dr., on hospitals, 544 Tartar sheep-farmers in Russia, 374 trade with Russia, 366 Tasmania, colony of, 194 Taurida breed of Russian merinoes, 374 Taxes, British, lighter than in 1811, 119 incidence of, in all countries, 42 increase since 1820, 39 local, in Great Britain, 121 Tea, consumption in all countries, 19 exports from India, 225 increased consumption in Great Britain, 137 production, annual, in the world, 20 Telegraph, electric, first patent for, 84 land lines and cables, 85 messages of United Kingdom, 537 mileage, etc. , for all countries, 86 Telford, his tunnels and bridges, 78, 81 his works in Scotland, 155 Temple, Sir W., on Dutch loans, 330 Tenant-farmers in Argentine Republic, 481 in Belgium, 310 in Canada, 208 in Denmark, 355 in France, 241 in Germany, 294, 302 in Holland, 322 in Italy, 408 in Portugal, 452 in Spain, 429 in Sweden, 341 in Turkey, 463 568 INDEX. Tenant-farmers in United. Kingdom, 131 Teneriffe, island of, 443 Texas, annexation to United States, 491 cattle-farms in, 498 Textile industries, summary of, 56 of Great Britain, 144 Thames tunnel, made by Brunei, 79 Thessaly and Epirus, agriculture of, 462 Thier's loan of indemnity, 262 Ticino canal, in Italy, 418 Tillage, ratio of, in all countries, 23 'Timber, yield of all forests, 26 Tin, production in the world, 70 of Cornwall, since 1806, 149, 152 Tobacco, production, consumption, 21 increased use of in Great Britain, 137 Toledo sword-factory, 432 Tonnage of shipping of all nations, 48 increase of, since 1868, 50 of railway freight of world, 74 Toronto, increase since 1852, 205 i Trade of world since 1830, 45 for ten years, 47 Trade of United Kingdom since 1316, 156 Transfer of land, cost of, 530 Transvaal, colony of, 215 Traveller's expenditure in Switzerland, 456 Trevithick's patent for locomotives, 71 Trinidad, colony of, 234 Tulips, cultivation of, 324 Tunnels, length and cost of, 79 Turkey, population, debt, railways, 460 agriculture, land-tenure in, 463 Twins, remarks upon, 4 Union Pacific railway, 78, 514 United States, agricultural progress, 493 balance of trade since 1801, 502 banks and paper money, 518 bankruptcies in six years, 520 canals, length and cost, 512 cattle, increase since 1840, 497 cotton, production since 1830, 495 crops, increase since 1840, 494 commerce, imports and exports, 502 debt and revenue since 1800, 521 farms, number, area, 1850-1870, 498 flour mills, product of, 510 gold and silver production, 28, 521 grain exports, increase of, 496, 504 greenbacks, 1862-1879, 519 immigrants, from 1820, 491 land-grants, homestead do., 493 libraries and learned societies, 516 live cattle, shipment of, 506 manufactures and minerals, 507 mint, issue since 1840, 521 paper money, 51S petroleum, production, export, 512 population, increase since 1800, 491 pork-packing and exportation, 497 i See Commerce. United States, protective tariffs since 1816, 503 railways, traffic, mileage, increase, 514 schools, statistics of, 515 shipping, entries, tonnage, 501 steam-power, operatives, etc., 507 sugar-planting, decline of, 506 timber, quantity felled, 510 tobacco, production and consump- tion, 21, 494 vineyards and wines, 496 war for the Union, 9, 40, 492 war of Independence, 491 Unmarried ratio, 6, 107 Uruguay or Banda Oriental, 488 ValdepeSas, good for longevity, 8 Venezuela, republic of, 489 Venice, first bank founded at, 32 Victoria, colony of, 200 Vineyards of the world, 17, 529 of Algeria, 264 of Australia, 106, 193 of Austria, 390 of France, 243 of Germany, 269 of Italy, 408, 411 of Portugal, 451 of Russia, 373 of South Africa, 217 of Spain, 429 of United States, 496 Voters in United Kingdom, number of, 142 in various countries, 542 Wages and food in all countries, 65 in Great Britain since 1840, 142 "Waggons of eighteenth century, charges by, 153 Wagner's census of Europe, 4, 528 Wakefield Gibbon, founder of Adelaide, 196 Wakefield, Mrs., founder of savings- banks, 117 Wars, cost of, to Great Britain, 539 of nineteenth century, numbers slain, 9 Washington, Gen-, emits paper money, 518 Watchmaking in Switzerland, 456 in France, 249 Water-power for factories, 456, 507 Water-supply of cities, 175 i Wealth, of all nations, 42 " Welcome " nugget of Ballarat, 28 Wellington, first colony in New Zealand, 198 Welsh colony in Patagonia, 481 West Indies, trade, product, etc, 231 Western Australia, colony of, 195 Wheat. See Grain. I 1 See Finances. INDEX. 569 Widows of all nations, 6 Wild - cat banks of the United States, 518 William III., bounties for Irish linen, 146 duties on coal, 150 Windmills in Holland, 328 Wine. See Vineyards and Agriculture. Wives under twenty years of age, 6 Wolves. See Game. Women self-supporting in England, 141 Wool clip of the world, 57 imports into Great Britain, 542 imports into Europe, 535 Woollen manufactures of all nations, 56, 5S Working-classes, all countries. See Wages. of Great Britain, income of, 113 condition: of, 142 Working-expenses on railways, 74 Works, public, in England, 121 Wrecks compared with tonnage, 54 Wurtemburg, kingdom of, 300 Xerez, vineyards of, 429 Yerba-mate or Paraguayan tea, 20 Young's, Arthur, agricultural returns, 126 notes on turnpike roads, 155 Yungas coffee, best in the world, 486 , 536 Zegedin. 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