in America, it is plainly a good business policy for the American to get his crops by the use of much land, with a minimum of labor. He is enabled by the use of better tools and more machinery to work an area three or four times as great as the European cultivates. The American uses machinery in farming as far as possible; the European scarcely at all.

The position of the United States in the field of manufacture is, in many respects, quite as strong as in agriculture. Of the cotton cloth of the world we make more than one fourth, being excelled by Great Britain only. Of the woolen cloth we make nearly one fifth, excelling in that respect the mother country. Of linen, we make 27 per cent of the world's product-more than twice as much as Germany, our nearest competitor. Of the paper of the world we manufacture no less than 46 per cent-not much less than one half that of the world, three times as much as Great Britain, and nearly four times as much as France. Of glass, we make nearly a third of the world's product, while France, our nearest competitor, makes less than one fourth.

It is, perhaps, in the manufacture of iron and steel that our pre-eminence over other nations is more decided than in any other commodity. The time was, and not so long ago as to be beyond the remembrance of most of the present generation, when, as ironmakers, we were in an infantile condition. It is only a few years since we became the leading nation of the earth in respect to this, the most important, branch of manufacture. Now 34 per cent of the iron ore of the world comes from our mines; 39 per cent of the pig iron comes from our furnaces; and 40 per cent of the steel is produced in our crucibles and converters. There is no other country on earth that approaches this production. Germany's share in the world's product of iron ore is less than one fourth, and of pig iron only a little more than one fifth. Her steel product is only about two thirds as large as ours. Great Britain produces half as much iron ore and pig iron as this country does, and her steel product is little more than one third of ours.

Of all the manufactured goods produced on earth, the United States contributes more than one third, or 34 per cent. Our production of manufactured goods is nearly seven times

as great as our proportion of population. Great Britain contributes 15 per cent of the manufactured goods of the earth, Germany 12 per cent, and France 11 per cent.

These figures suggest an extraordinary efficiency for the American artisan, which is borne out by examination of the figures of production and of occupations. The average gross manufactured product, per hand, in the United States has a value of $1,900 per annum. The French artisan, under the same definition, produces $650; the English artisan, $485; and the German $450. In other words, the product, per hand, of the United States artisan is nearly three times as great as that of his nearest competitor. Of course, it is understood that these figures, although comparable with one another, are not correct as representing the value of the manufacturing processes. The value of the raw material should have been subtracted from that of the gross product before dividing it by the number of hands. This would, naturally, reduce the figures, but it would reduce them practically in the same proportion.

This enormous difference in efficiency between the artisans of the United States, on the one hand, and those of Europe on the other, which is due mainly to the universal use in this country of the most modern machinery and methods, enables us not only to hold our own markets, but to invade successfully the home markets of other countries, to send coal to Newcastle, steel to Sheffield, and cotton to Lancashire.

In mining the showing is still more favorable to us. Of course, in this branch of industry we enjoy the abundance of ores easily mined and worked, which fact is our chief advantage. Of the coal of the earth we produce 35 per cent-more even than Great Britain, which is now producing 26 per cent. Of petroleum we produce 43 per cent, exceeding the product of Russia. Of gold we produce 23 per cent, and of silver 31 per cent. Of copper we produce 56 per cent; our nearest competitor being Spain, with less than one eighth of the world's production. Of lead we produce a fourth; again Spain follows with a little more than one fifth. Of quicksilver we produce 34 per cent. Here we exceed Spain, whose mine at Almaden produces nearly 30 per cent of the world's supply.

Of zinc we produce 27 per cent, and here we are exceeded by the zinc region of western Europe-the Rhine provinces, Belgium, and the Netherlands, from which come nearly two fifths of the world's supply. Tin is the only metal of importance in the arts which we do not produce in quantity. Of the total of all the mining products of the earth the United States produces not less than 39 per cent, which is a far greater proportion than that of any other country.

The business of transporting passengers and goods from place to place is one of vast magnitude. It is estimated that $6,000,000,000 are annually expended by the world in such transportation. Of the agencies in use the railroads have come to be the chief. For the last two generations the United States has been busily engaged in building up a railroad system and developing its management, so that it now possesses a most effective and thorough means of internal communication. With our area of 3,000,000 square miles we have over 200,000 miles of railroads. Our railroads comprise not less than 40 per cent of the earth, and exceed in mileage those of all Europe.

Our shipping stands in nominal tonnage next to that of Great Britain. The latter country possesses 38 per cent of the tonnage of the world; the United States has 22 per cent. After the United States comes Norway and Sweden, which, with Denmark, has 10 per cent of the shipping of the world, less than half of the amount which sails under the United States flag. The next is Germany, which possesses 8 per cent only. It will be seen from this that although our merchant fleet is little more than half that of Great Britain, it is very large compared with that of other nations.

Summing up the earnings of the various agencies of transportation, it appears that, of the total amount of such earnings in the world, the share of the United States is very nearly one third, or 32 per cent. This is considerably more than double that of Great Britain, with 14 per cent; more than two and a half times that of Germany, with 12 per cent; and nearly three times that of France, whose share is 11 per

cent.

The foreign commerce of this country does not bear as

high a proportion to its population as do its industries, for the reason that there are few commodities, either food materials, raw materials for manufactures, or manufactured goods, which are not produced in this country; so that there is little occasion for purchasing goods derived from foreign sources. Hence, our imports are small, being only 10 per cent of the total imports of all countries.

As to exports, we have first to supply our own people, and it is the surplus only which is sold to others. That surplus is, however, relatively large. It is far greater than the imports, the balance of trade being largely and continuously in our favor. Our exports are commonly 15 per cent of the total exports of all countries. Though only a small fraction of our products is sold abroad, perhaps not more than 10 per cent, still our exports are larger than those of any other country, exceeding even those of Great Britain.

THE PIONEERS OF AMERICAN INDUSTRY.

BY G. S. CALLENDER.

[Guy Stevens Callender, professor of political economy in Yale university; born Hart's Grove, O., Nov. 9, 1865; prepared for college at New Lynn institute; graduated from Oberlin, 1891, and Harvard, 1893, with graduate work at Harvard; instructor in economics Wells college, 1895-96; and in Harvard, 1897-1900; professor of economics in Bowdoin college, 1900-03, and since then in Yale university. The following article is published by special arrangement with the Quarterly Journal of Economics to which he is a contributor:] Copyright 1902 by George H. Ellis Company

It is a commonplace observation that the last century witnessed everywhere a great extension of the activities of the state into the field of industry. Americans are not accustomed to think of their own country as taking a very prominent part in this movement, much less as having ever occupied a leading position in it. To them, as to the rest of the world, America is the land of private enterprise par excellence; the place where "state interference" has played the smallest part, and individual enterprise has been given the largest scope, in industrial affairs; and it is commonly assumed that this was always so. It is true that even in colonial times the American people displayed an energy in their economic life which Burke declared was equalled by "neither the perseverance of Holland, nor the activity of France, nor the dexterous and firm sagacity of English enterprise." It is true, also, that for more than fifty years the federal government was in the hands of a party that professed to be afraid of strong government, that abolished the internal revenue system because it interfered too much with the private affairs of the citizens, and made the payment of the national debt a leading feature of its policy, lest its existence should breed extravagance and corruption in the government. Nevertheless, it is a fact that this country was one of the first to exhibit this modern tendency to extend the activity of the state into industry. And it advanced so rapidly and so far along this line that it became for a time almost as prominent an example of it as the Australian colonies are in our own time.

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