QUESTIONS FOR DISCUSSION

What part of the United States was formerly a possession of Mexico, and how did it become a possession of the United States?

From a cyclopedia learn the character of the political organization of Mexico and the Central American states.

From the report listed below find what commercial routes gain, and what ones lose in distance by the Nicaragua, as compared with the Panama canal.

From a good atlas make a list of the islands of the West Indies; name the country to which each belongs, and its exports to the United States.

FOR COLLATERAL READING AND REFERENCE

The Statesman's Year-Book.

Great Canals of the World—pp. 4058-4059.



CHAPTER XXIII

SOUTH AMERICA—THE ANDEAN STATES

In its general surface features South America resembles North America—that is, a central plain is bordered by low ranges on the east and by a high mountain system on the west. In the southern part, midsummer is in January and midwinter in July. The mineral-producing states are traversed by the ranges of the Andes and all of them except Chile are situated on both slopes of the mountains.

Colombia.—This republic borders both the Caribbean Sea and the Pacific Ocean. One port excepted, however, most of its commerce is confined to the shores of the Caribbean Sea. The lowlands east of the Andes are admirably adapted for grazing, and such cattle products as hides, horns, and tallow are articles of export. This region, however, even with the present facilities for transportation, produces only a small fraction of the products possible.

The intermontane valleys between the Andean ranges have the climate of the temperate zone; wheat and sheep are produced. The chief industrial development, however, is confined to the lands near the Caribbean coast. Coffee, cacao, and tobacco are grown for export, the business of cultivation being largely controlled by Americans and Europeans. Rubber, copaiba, tolu, and vegetable ivory[59] are gathered by Indians from the forests.



The montane region has long been famous for its mines of gold and silver. The salt mines near Bogota are a government monopoly and yield a considerable revenue. Near the same city are the famous Muzo emerald mines.

The rivers are the chief channels of internal trade. During the rainy season steamboats ascend the Orinoco to Cabugaro, about two hundred miles from Bogota. About fifty steamboats are in commission on the Magdalena and its tributary, the Cauca. Mule trains traversing wretched trails require from one to two weeks to transport the goods from the river landings to the chief centres of population. Improvements now under way in clearing and canalizing these rivers will add about five hundred miles of additional water-way. The railways consist of short lines mainly used as portages around obstructions of the rivers.

An unstable government and an onerous system of export taxes hamper trade. Coffee, a leading product, goes mainly to Europe. Cattle products, and balsam of tolu are purchased mainly in the United States. Great Britain purchases the gold and silver ores. The chief imports—textiles, flour, and petroleum—are purchased in the United States. Bogota and Medellin are the largest cities. The isolation of the region in which they are situated shapes the indifferent foreign policy of the government. Barranquilla, Sabanilla, and Cartagena are the chief ports.

Panama.—This state, formerly a part of Colombia, includes the isthmus of Panama. Geographically it belongs to North America, and practically it can be approached from Colombia by water only. The secession of Panama was brought about by the complications of the isthmian canal. A treaty with the United States gives the latter sovereign control over the canal and the strip of land ten miles wide bordering it. Panama and Colon are the two ports of the canal. The United States exercises police and sanitary regulations in these cities, but it has no sovereignty over them.

Peru.—Peru has great resources, both agricultural and mineral. Cotton is one of the chief products. The ordinary fibre is excelled only by the sea-island cotton of the United States; the long-staple fibre of the Piura is the best grown. The former is generally employed for mixing with wool in the manufacture of underwear, and is sold in the United States and Europe; the latter, used in the manufacture of thread and the web of pneumatic tires, goes mainly to Great Britain.

Cane-sugar is a very large export crop, Great Britain, the United States, and Chile being the principal customers. The area of coffee production is growing rapidly. Coca-growing has become an important industry, and the plantations aggregate about three million trees;[60] a large part of the product is sent to the chemical laboratories of the United States. A small crop of rice for export is grown on the coast.

The Amazon forest products yield a considerable revenue. Rubber and vegetable ivory are the most valuable. Cinchona, or Peruvian bark, however, is the one for which the state is best known; and there is probably not a drug-shop in the civilized world that does not carry it in stock.[61]

Cattle are grown for their hides, and of these the United States is the chief purchaser. The wool of the llama, alpaca, and vicuna is used in manufacture of the cloth known as alpaca, and the value of the shipments to Great Britain usually exceeds one million dollars a year. In the mining regions the llama is used as a pack-animal, and a large part of the mine products reach the markets by this means of transportation. The mines yield silver and copper; in the main the ores are exported to Great Britain to be smelted.

The products already named are the chief exports; the imports are cotton textiles, machinery, steel wares, and coal-oil. Great Britain has about one-half the foreign trade; the United States controls about one-fourth. Callao, the port of Lima, is the market through which most of the foreign trade is carried on. Steamship lines connect it with San Francisco and with British ports. Mollendo is the outlet of Bolivian trade. The railways are short lines extending from the coast.

Ecuador.—This state has but little commercial importance. The only cultivated products for export are cacao, coffee, and sugar. The first-named constitutes three-fourths of the exports, and most of it goes to France. The land is held in large estates, and most of the laboring people are in a condition of practical slavery. The bread-stuffs consumed by the foreign population and the land proprietors are imported. Animals are grown for their hides and these are sold to the United States.

Another manufacture that connects Ecuador with the rest of the world is the so-called "Panama" hat. The material used is toquilla straw, the mid-rib of the screw-pine (Carlodovica palmata). The prepared straw can be plaited only when the atmosphere is very moist, and much of the work is done at night. The hats are made by Indians, who are governed by their own ideas regarding style and shape. They bring from twenty-five to fifty dollars apiece in the American markets, where nearly all the product is sold.[62]

Mule-paths are the only means of inland communication. There is a considerable local traffic on the estuaries of the rivers, but this is confined to the rainy seasons. A railway built by an American company is in operation from Guayaquil, a short distance inland. This city is the chief market for foreign goods, and it is the only foreign port of the Pacific coast of South America in which the volume of trade of the United States approximates that of Germany and Great Britain.

Bolivia.—Bolivia lost much of its possible commercial possible future when, after a disastrous war, its Pacific coast frontage became a possession of Chile. The agricultural lands are unfortunately situated with reference to the mining population; as a result, a considerable amount of food-stuffs must be imported from Argentina. Coffee, cacao, and coca are the principal cultivated products. Rubber from the Amazon forest is the most valuable vegetable product, but a considerable amount of cinchona bark and ivory nuts are also exported.

The mines, however, are the chief wealth of the state and give it the only excuse for its political existence. They produce silver, tin, copper, gold, and borate of lime. Inasmuch as a large part of the ore and ore products must be transported by llamas and mules, only the richest mines can be profitably worked. With adequate means of transportation, the mines should make Bolivia one of the most powerful South American states.

Railways already connect Oruro with the sea-coast. A railway now under construction will connect La Paz (the pass) with the Pacific coast, and also Buenos Aires. Excellent roads to take the place of the pack-trains are under construction.

Practically all the imports, consisting of cotton and woollen textiles, machinery, and steel wares, are purchased in Great Britain. The exports are more than double the imports. Most of the goods pass through the Chilean port Antofagasto, or Mollendo, Peru. La Paz, Oruro, and Sucre are the chief cities.

The hypothetical state of Acre is situated in the angle where Bolivia, Peru, and Brazil join. The rubber forests, together with the absence of legal government, led to its existence. The government is wholly insurrectionary, but it at least uses its powers to encourage the rubber trade.

Chile.—This state comprises the narrow western slope of the Andes, extending from the tropic of Capricorn to Cape Horn, a distance of about three thousand miles. The resources of the state have been so skilfully handled, that with the drawback of a very small proportion of cultivable land, Chile is the foremost Andean state.

The cultivation of the ordinary crops is confined to the flood-plains of the short rivers. These, as a rule, are from twenty to fifty miles long and a mile or two in width. They are densely peopled and cultivated to the limit. Between the river-valleys are long stretches of unproductive land.

Within the valleys wheat, barley, fruit, and various food-stuffs are grown. Of these there are not only enough for home consumption, but considerable quantities are exported to Bolivia, Peru, and Ecuador. Much of the cultivable land requires to be watered, and the system of irrigation has been developed with extraordinary skill. The grazing lands are extensive. In the northern part an excellent quality of merino wool is produced; the greater part of the clip, however, is an ordinary fibre. The cattle furnish a considerable amount of leather for export.

The conditions which have made the northern part a desert have also given to the state its greatest resource—nitre.[63] The nitrate occurs in the northern desert region. The crude salt is crushed and partly refined at the mines, and carried by rail to the nearest port. The working of the nitrate beds is largely carried on by foreign companies. Nearly all the product is used as a fertilizer in Germany, France, and Great Britain. Nitrate constitutes about two-thirds of the exports. Iodine and bromine are also obtained from the nitrates, and the Chilean product yields nearly all the world's supply.

Copper is extensively mined and, next to the nitrates, is the most valuable product. Great Britain is the customer for the greater part. Coal occurs in the southern part of the state, and is mined for export to the various states of the Pacific coast. It is not a good coal for iron smelting, however, and about three times as much is imported as is exported. A considerable part of the imported coal comes from Australia, and with it structural steel is made from pig-iron that is also imported.

Chile is well equipped with railways, a part of which has been built and are operated by the state. The most important line traverses the valley between the Andes and the coast ranges, from Concepcion to Valparaiso. In this region are most of the manufacturing enterprises.

The imports are chiefly coal, machinery, textile goods, and sugar. The British control about two-thirds of the foreign trade; the Germans and the French have most of the remainder. The United States supplies the Chileans with a part of the textiles, a considerable quantity of Oregon pine, and practically all the coal-oil used.



Valparaiso is the chief business centre of the Pacific coast of South America. Most of the forwarding business is carried on by British and German merchants. The transandine railway, now about completed, will make it one of the most important ports of the world. Santiago is the capital. Concepcion and Talca are important centres of trade. Chillan is the principal cattle-market of the Pacific coast of South America. Copiapo is the focal point of the mining interests. Iquique is the port from which about all the nitrates are shipped. Punta Arenas, one of the "end towns" of the world, is an ocean post-office for vessels passing through the Straits of Magellan. It is about as far south as Calgary, B.C., is north.

QUESTIONS FOR DISCUSSION

What will be the probable effect of an interoceanic canal on the commerce of these states?

From the Abstract of Statistics make a list of the exports from the United States to these countries.

From the statistics of trade in the Statesman's Year-Book compare the trade of the United States with that of other countries in these states.

How have race characteristics affected the commerce and development of these states?

What is meant by peonage?

What cities of the tropical part of these states are in the climate of the temperate zone?

FOR COLLATERAL READING AND REFERENCE

Carpenter's South America.

Vincent's Around and About South America.

Fiske's Discovery of America—Chapters IX-X.

Procure, if possible, specimens of the following: Cacao and its products, ivory nuts, cinchona bark, crude nitrate, Panama straw, iodine (in a sealed vial), llama wool, alpaca cloth, Peruvian cotton.



CHAPTER XXIV

SOUTH AMERICA—THE LOWLAND STATES

The eastern countries of South America are mainly lowland plains. The llanos of the Orinoco and the pampas of Plate (La Plata) River are grazing lands. The silvas of the Amazon are forest-covered. In tropical regions the coast-plain is usually very unhealthful; the seaports excepted, most of the cities and towns are therefore built on higher land beyond the coast-plain.

Venezuela.—The greater part of Venezuela is a region of llanos, or grassy plains, shut off from the harbors of the Caribbean Sea, by mountain-ranges. On account of their pleasant climate the mountain-valleys constitute the chief region of habitation. The plains are flooded in the rainy season and sun-scorched during the period of drought; they are therefore unfit for human habitation.

Coffee is cultivated in the montane region; and cacao in the lower coast lands. Almost every part of the coast lowlands is fit for sugar cultivation, and in order to encourage this industry, the importation of sugar is forbidden. As is usual in similar cases, the domestic sugar is poor in quality and high in price. Among the forest products rubber, fustic, divi-divi,[64] and tonka beans, the last used as a perfume, are the only ones of value. The cattle of the llanos, the native long-horns, furnish a poor quality of hide, and poorer beef. A few thousand head are shipped yearly down the Orinoco to be sent to Cuba and Porto Rico.

The placer gold-mines of the Yuruari country, a region also claimed by Great Britain, have been very productive. Coal, iron ore, and asphaltum are abundant. Concessions for mining the two last-named have been granted to American companies. The pearl-fisheries around Margarita Island, also leased to a foreign company, have become productive under the new management.

The means of intercommunication are as primitive as those of Colombia. Short railways extend from several seaports to the regions of production, and from these coffee and cacao are the only exports of importance. The Orinoco River is the natural outlet for the cattle-region, but the commerce of this region is small. The lagoon of Maracaibo is becoming the centre of a rapidly growing commercial region.

Caracas, the capital and largest city, receives the imports of textiles, domestic wares, flour, and petroleum from the United States and Great Britain. The railway to its port, La Guaira, is a remarkable work of engineering. Puerto Cabello, the most important port, receives the trade of Valencia. From Maracaibo, the port on the lagoon of the same name, is shipped the Venezuelan coffee. Ciudad Bolivar is the river-port of the Orinoco and an important rubber-market.

The Guianas.—The surface conditions and climate of the Guianas resemble those of Venezuela. The native products are also much the same, but good business organization has made the countries bearing the general name highly productive. For the greater part, the coast-plain is the region of cultivation. Sugar is still the most important crop; but on account of the fierce competition of beet-sugar, on many of the plantations cane-sugar cultivation is unprofitable and has been abandoned for that of rice, cacao, and tobacco. Great Britain, Holland, and France possess the country. The divisions are known respectively as British Guiana, Surinam, and Cayenne, and the trade of each accrues to the mother-country. British Guiana is noted quite as much for its gold-fields on the Venezuelan border (Cuyuni River) as for its vegetable products. Georgetown, better known by the name of the surrounding district, Demerara, is the focal point of business. New Amsterdam is also a port of considerable trade. The gold-mining interests centre at Bartica.



Surinam, in addition to its export of vegetable products, contains rich gold-mines, and these contribute a considerable revenue. Paramaribo is the port and centre of trade. Phosphates and gold are among the important exports of Cayenne, whose port bears the same name.

Brazil.—This state, nearly the size of the United States, comprises about half the area of South America. Much of it, including the greater part of the Amazon River basin, is unfit for the growth of food-stuffs.

There are three regions of production. The Amazon forests yield the greater part of the world's rubber supply. The middle coast region has various agricultural products, of which cotton and cane-sugar are the most important. From the southern region comes two-thirds of the world's coffee-crop. There are productive gold-mines in the state of Minas Geraes, but this region is best known for the "old mine" diamonds, the finest produced.

The Amazon rubber-crop includes not only the crude gum obtained in Brazil, but a considerable part, if not the most, of the crop from the surrounding states. The bifurcating Cassiquiare, which flows both into Amazonian and Orinocan waters, drains a very large area of forest which yields the best rubber known. The yield of 1901 aggregated about one hundred and thirty million pounds, of which about one-half was sold in the United States, one-third in Liverpool, and the rest mainly in Antwerp and Le Havre. The price of rubber is fixed in New York and London.

The cotton and cane-sugar are grown in the middle coast region. The cotton industry bids fair to add materially to the prosperity of the state. A considerable part of the raw cotton is exported, but the reserve is sufficient to keep ten thousand looms busy. About three hundred and fifty million pounds of the raw sugar is purchased by the refineries of the United States, and much of the remainder by British dealers.

The seeds of a species of myrtle (Bertholletia excelsa) furnish the Brazil nuts of commerce, large quantities of which are shipped to Europe and the United States.[65] Manganese ore is also an important export, and Great Britain purchases nearly all of it.

The coffee-crop of the southern states is the largest in the world; and about eight hundred million pounds are landed yearly at the ports of the United States. The coffee-crop, more than any other factor, has made the great prosperity of the state; for while the rubber yield employs comparatively few men and yields but little public revenue, the coffee-crop has brought into Brazil an average of about fifty million dollars a year for three-quarters of a century.

Cattle products also afford a considerable profit in the vicinity of the coffee-region. The hides and tallow are shipped to the United States. For want of refrigerating facilities, most of the beef is "jerked" (or sun-dried), and shipped in this form to Cuba.

The facilities for transportation, the rivers excepted, are poor. The Amazon is navigable for ocean steamships nearly to the junction of the Ucayale. The Paraguay affords a navigable water-way to the mouth of Plate River. Rapids and falls obstruct most of the rivers at the junction of the Brazilian plateau and the low plains, but these streams afford several thousand miles of navigable waters both above and below the falls.

Nearly all the railways are plantation roads, extending from the various ports to regions of production a few miles inland. The most important railway development is that in the vicinity of Rio, where short local roads to the suburban settlements and the coffee-plantations converge at the harbor. About fourteen thousand miles of railway are completed and under actual construction. A considerable part of the mileage is owned and operated by the state, and it has become the policy of the latter to control its roads and to encourage immigration. One result of this policy is the increasing number of German and Italian colonies, that establish settlements in every district penetrated by a new road.

In 1900 the total foreign trade aggregated upward of two hundred and seventy-five million dollars. The imports consist of cotton and woollen manufactures, structural steel and machinery, preserved fish and meats, and coal-oil. Great Britain, Germany, the United States, and France have nearly all the trade. The United States sells to Brazil textiles and coal-oil to the amount of over eleven million dollars yearly, and buys of the country coffee and rubber to the amount of six times as much.

Rio de Janeiro, commonly called "Rio," is the capital and commercial centre. Its harbor is one of the best in South America. Formerly all the coffee was shipped from this port, but the greater part now goes from Santos. Porto Alegre, the port of the German colonies, has also a growing export trade.

Bahia, Pernambuco (or Recife), Maceio, Ceara are the markets for cotton, sugar, and tobacco, much of which is shipped to other Brazilian ports for home consumption. Para and Ceara monopolize nearly all the rubber trade. The position of Manaos, at the confluence of several rivers, makes it one of the most important markets of the Amazon basin, and most of the crude rubber is first collected there for shipment. Cuyaba is the commercial centre of the mining region; its outlet is the Paraguay River, and Buenos Aires profits by its trade.

Argentina and the Plate River Countries.—These states are situated in a latitude corresponding to that of the United States. The entire area from the coast to the slopes of the Andes is a vast prairie-region. As a result of position, climate, and surface the agricultural industries are the same as in the United States—grazing and wheat-growing.

Cattle-growing is the chief employment, and the cost per head of rearing stock is practically nothing. For want of better means of transportation the shipments of live beef are not very heavy; the quality of the beef is poor, and until recently there have been no adequate facilities for getting it to market.[66] A small amount of refrigerator beef and a large amount of jerked beef are exported, however. Near the markets, there are large plants in which the hides, horns, tallow, and meat are utilized—the last being converted to the famous "beef extract," which finds a market all over the world.

The sheep industry is on a much better business basis. Both the wool and the mutton have been improved by cross-breeding with good stock. As a result the trade in mutton and wool has increased by leaps and bounds; and nearly three million sheep carcasses are landed at the other ports of Brazil, at Cuba, and at various European states. The wool is bought mainly by Germany and France, but the United States is a heavy purchaser. The quality of the fibre, formerly very poor, year by year is improving.

Wheat, the staple product, is grown mainly within a radius of four hundred miles around the mouth of Plate River. The area of cultivation is increasing as the facilities for transportation are extended and, little by little, is encroaching on the grazing lands. The wheat industry is carried on very largely by German and Italian colonists. Flax, grown for the seed, is a very large export crop. Maize, partly for export and partly for home consumption, is also grown.

The timber resources, chiefly in Paraguay and the Gran Chaco, are very great, but for want of means of transportation the timber-trade cannot successfully compete with that of Central America and Mexico. Workable gold and silver ores are abundant along the Andean cordillera; gold, silver, and copper are exported to Europe. A poor quality of lignite occurs in several provinces, but there are no available mines yielding coal suitable for making steam. There are petroleum wells near Mendoza.

Most of the manufactures pertain to the preparation of cattle products, although a considerable amount of coarse textiles are made in the larger cities from the native cotton and wool. Hats, paper (made from grass), and leather goods are also made. In general, all manufactures are hampered by the difficulties of getting good fuel at a low price.

Transportation is carried on along Plate River and the lower parts of its tributaries. The railway has become the chief factor in the carriage of commodities, however, and the railways of Argentina have been developed on the plans of North American roads. About twelve thousand miles are in actual operation, one of which is a transcontinental line, about completed between Buenos Aires and Valparaiso. Electric railways have become very popular, and the mileage is rapidly increasing.

The import trade, consisting of textile goods, machinery, steel, and petroleum, is carried on with Great Britain, France, Germany, Belgium (mainly transit trade), the United States, and Italy. The competition between the European states for this trade is very strong, and not a little has been acquired at the expense of the United States, whose trade has not materially increased.



Buenos Aires is the financial centre of this part of South America. Among its industries is the largest meat-refrigerating plant in the world. The harbor at La Plata is excellent and has drawn a considerable part of the foreign trade from Buenos Aires. Rosario, Cordoba, Santa Fe, and Parana are the markets of extensive farming regions. Mendoza is the focal point of the mining interests.

Paraguay has a large forest area, but for want of means of transportation it is without value. Even the railway companies find it cheaper to buy their ties in the United States and Australia, rather than to procure them in Paraguay. In spite of the extent of good land, the wheat and much of the bread-stuffs are purchased from Argentina. Tobacco and mate are the only export crops, and they have but little value. The Parana and Paraguay Rivers are the only commercial outlet of the state.

Uruguay.—Owing to its foreign population Uruguay is becoming a rich country. The native cattle have been improved by cross-breeding with European stock, and the state has become one of the foremost cattle and sheep ranges of the world. The value of animal products is not far from forty million dollars yearly. These go mainly to Europe, and so also does the wheat-crop.

France and Argentina purchase most of the exports and Great Britain supplies most of the textiles and machinery imported. The trade of the United States is about one-fourth that of Great Britain. Montevideo is the chief market and port. At Fray Bentos is one of the largest plants in the world for the manufacture of cattle products.

QUESTIONS FOR DISCUSSION

What kind of commerce has led to the establishment of the various ports along the Spanish Main?

What advantages has the American fruit-shipper, trading at South American ports, over his European competitor?

What is meant by "horse latitudes," and what was the origin of the name?

In what way may the opening of an interoceanic canal affect the coffee-trade of Brazil?—the nitrate trade of Chile?

FOR COLLATERAL READING AND REFERENCE

From the Abstract of Statistics find the exports of the United States to each of these countries.

From the Statesman's Year-Book compare the trade of the United States in each of these countries with that of Great Britain, France, Germany, and Italy.

If possible, obtain specimens of the following: Crude rubber, pampas grass, Brazil nuts (in pod), and raw coffee of several grades for comparison with Java and Mocha coffees.



CHAPTER XXV

EUROPE—GREAT BRITAIN AND GERMANY

Almost all the commercial activity of Europe is south of the parallel and west of the meridian of St. Petersburg. Most of the great industries are controlled by Germanic and Latin peoples, and among these Great Britain and Germany stand first.

Great Britain and Ireland.—The United Kingdom, or Great Britain and Ireland, are commonly known as the British Isles. The British Empire consists of the United Kingdom and its colonial possessions; it includes also a large number of islands occupied as coaling stations and for strategic purposes. All told, the empire embraces about one-seventh of the land area of the world and about one-fourth its population.

The wonderful power and great commercial development is due not only to conditions of geographic environment but also to the intelligence of a people who have adjusted themselves to those conditions. The insular position of the United Kingdom has given it natural protection, and for more than eight hundred years there has been no successful invasion by a foreign power. Its commercial position is both natural and artificial. It has utilized the markets to the east and south, and has founded great countries which it supplies with manufactured products.



The position of the kingdom with respect to climate is fortunate. The movement of the Gulf Stream on the American coast carries a large volume of water into the latitude of the prevailing westerly winds, and these in turn carry warm water to every part of the coast of the islands. As a result, the harbors of the latter are never obstructed by ice; those of the Labrador coast, situated in the same latitude, are blocked nearly half the year.

The high latitude of the islands is an advantage so far as the production of food-stuffs is concerned. The summer days in the latitude of Liverpool are very nearly eighteen hours in length, and this fact together with the mild winters, adds very largely to the food-producing power of the islands.

The highlands afford considerable grazing. Great care is taken in improving the stock, both of cattle and sheep. In the north the cattle are bred mainly as meat producers; in the south for dairy products. Durham, Alderney, and Jersey stock are exported to both Americas for breeding purposes. The sheep of the highlands produce the heavy, coarse wool of which the well known "cheviot" and "frieze" textiles are made. Elsewhere they are bred for mutton, of which the "South Down" variety is an example.

The lowland regions yield grain abundantly where cultivated. The average yield per acre is about double that of the United States, and is surpassed by that of Denmark only. Both Ireland and England are famous for fine dairy products. These are becoming the chief resource of the former country, which is practically without the coal necessary for extensive manufacture. The fishing-grounds form an important food resource.

The cultivated lands do not supply the food needed for consumption. The grain-crop lasts scarcely three months; the meat-crop but little longer. Bread-stuffs from the United States and India, and meats from the United States, Australia, and New Zealand make up the shortage. The annual import of food-stuffs amounts to more than fifty dollars per capita.

The growing of wool and flax for cloth-making became an industry of great importance just after the accession of Henry VII. With the advent of peace, it became possible to manufacture into cloth the fibres that before had been sent for that purpose to Flanders. The utilization of the coal and the iron ore years afterward brought about an economic revolution that was intensified by the invention of the steam-engine and the power-loom.

These quickly brought the country into the foremost rank as a manufacturing centre. Moreover, they also demanded the foreign markets that have made the country a maritime power as well—for an insular country must also have the ships with which to carry its merchandise to its markets.

The development of the manufactures, therefore, is inseparably connected with that of the mineral and metal industries. From very early times the metal deposits of the country have been a source of power. Copper and tin were used by the aboriginal Britons long before Caesar's reconnaissance of the islands, and it is not unlikely that the Bronze Period was the natural development that resulted from the discovery of these metals.

Coal occurs in various fields that extend from the River Clyde to the River Severn. The annual output of these mines at the close of the century was about two hundred and twenty-five million tons. In the past century the inroads upon the visible supply were so great that the output in the near future will be considerably lessened. Not far from one-sixth of the output is sold to consumers in Russia and the Mediterranean countries, but a growing sentiment to forbid any sale of coal to foreign buyers is taking shape.



Iron ores are fairly abundant, but the hematite required for the best Bessemer steel is limited to the region about Manchester and Birmingham. The shortage of this ore has become so apparent within recent years that Great Britain has become a heavy purchaser of ores in foreign markets. The coal in the Clyde basin is employed mainly in the manufacture of railway iron, steamship material, and rolling stock. The manufacture of Bessemer steel is gradually moving to the vicinity of South Wales, at the ports of which foreign pig-iron can be most cheaply landed. In west-central England the several coal-fields form a single centre of manufacture, where are located some of the largest woollen and cotton mills in Europe. It also includes the plants for the manufacture of machinery, cutlery, and pottery.

The import trade of Great Britain consists mainly of food-stuffs and raw materials.[67] Of the latter, cotton is by far the most important. Most of it comes from the United States, but the Nile delta, Brazil, the Dekkan of India, the Iran plateau, and the Piura Valley of Peru send portions, each region having fibre of specific qualities designed for specific uses. The native wool clip forms only a small part of the amount used in manufacture. The remainder, more than three million pounds, comes from Australia, New Zealand, and South Africa.

The supply of flax is small, and 100,000 tons are imported to meet the wants of the mills. The greater part is purchased in Russia, but the finer quality is imported from Belgium. Jute is purchased from India and manufactured into burlap and rugs.

But little available standing timber remains, and lumber must, therefore, be imported. The pine is purchased mainly in Sweden, Norway, Canada, and the United States. A considerable amount of wood-pulp is imported from Canada for paper-making. Mahogany for ornamental manufactures is obtained from Africa and British Honduras. Oak, and the woods for interior finish, are purchased largely from Canada and the United States.

The export trade of Great Britain consists almost wholly of the articles manufactured with British coal as the power. These are made from the raw materials purchased abroad, and the stamp of the British craftsman is a guarantee of excellence and honesty. Of the total export trade, amounting yearly to about one billion, two hundred million dollars, nearly one-third consists of cotton, woollen, linen, and jute textiles; one-fifth consists of iron and steel manufactured stuffs made from British ores. About one-third goes to the colonies of the mother-country, with whom she keeps in close touch; Germany, the United States, and the South American states are the chief foreign buyers.

For the handling and carriage of these goods there is an admirable system of railways reaching from every part of the interior to the numerous ports. The rolling stock and the locomotives are not nearly so heavy as those used in the United States; the railway beds and track equipment, on the whole, are probably the best in the world. Freight rates are considerably higher than on the corresponding classes of merchandise in the United States. The public highways are most excellent, but the means of street traffic in the cities are very poor.

The harbor facilities at the various ports are of the best. The docks and basins are usually arranged so that while the import goods are being landed the export stuffs are made ready to be loaded. The facilities for the rapid transfer of freights have been improved by the reconstruction of the various river estuaries so as to make them ship-channels. The estuaries of the Clyde, Tyne, and Mersey have been thus improved, while Manchester has been made a seaport by an artificial canal. The British merchant marine is the largest in the world, and about ninety per cent. of the vessels are steamships.

London is the capital; it is also one of the first commercial and financial centres of the world. The Thames has not a sufficient depth of water for the largest liners, and these dock usually about twenty miles below the city. The colonial commerce at London is very heavy, especially the India traffic, and it is mainly for this trade that the British acquired the control of the Suez Canal.

Liverpool is one of the most important ports of Europe, and receives most of the American traffic. The White Star and Cunard Lines have their terminals at this port.

Southampton is also a port which receives a large share of American traffic. The American and several foreign steamship lines discharge at that place. Hull and Shields have a considerable part of the European traffic. Glasgow is one of the foremost centres of steel ship-building. Cardiff and Swansea are ports connected with the coal and iron trade. Queenstown is a calling point for transatlantic liners.

Manchester is both a cotton port and a great market for the cotton textiles made in the nearby towns of the Lancashire coal-field. Leeds and Bradford and the towns about them are the chief centres of woollen manufacture. Wilton and Kidderminster are famous for carpets. Birmingham is the centre of the steel manufactures. Sheffield has a world-wide reputation for cutlery. In and near the Staffordshire district are the potteries that have made the names of Worcester, Coalport, Doulton, Copeland, and Jackfield famous. Belfast is noted for its linen textiles, and also for some of the largest steamships afloat that have been built in its yards. Dundee is the chief centre of jute manufacture.

The German Empire.—The German Empire consists of the kingdoms of Prussia, Bavaria, Saxony, and Wuertemburg, together with a number of small states. The "free" cities of Hamburg, Bremen, and Luebeck, whose independence was purchased in feudal times, are also incorporated within the empire. The present empire was formed in 1871, at the close of the war between Germany and France. The merging of the states into the empire was designed as a political step, but it proved a great industrial revolution as well.

The plain of Europe which slopes to the north and the Baltic Sea, the flood-plains of the rivers excepted, is feebly productive of grain. It is a fine grazing region, however, and the dairy products are of the best quality. Among European states Russia alone surpasses Germany in the number of cattle grown. The province of Schleswig-Holstein is famous the world over for its fine cattle. Cavalry horses are a special feature of the lowland plain, and the government is the chief buyer. The wool product has hitherto been important, but the sheep ranges are being turned into crop lands, on account of the increase of population in the industrial regions.

The midland belt, however, between the coast-plain and the mountains, is the chief food-producing part of Germany. Rye and wheat are grown wherever possible, but the entire grain-crop is consumed in about eight months. The United States, Argentina, and Russia supply the wheat and flour; Russia supplies the rye.



The sugar-beet is by far the most important export crop, and Germany produces yearly about one million, eight hundred thousand tons, or nearly as much as Austria-Hungary and France combined. This industry is encouraged by a bounty paid on all sugar exported.[68] A considerable amount of raw beet-sugar is sold to the refineries of the United States; Great Britain also is a heavy buyer. The home consumption is relatively small, being about one-third per capita that of the United States. Silesia, the Rhine Valley, and the lowlands of the Hartz Mountains are the most important centres of the sugar industry.

Germany is rich in minerals.[69] Zinc occurs in abundance, and the mines of Silesia furnish the world's chief supply. Most of the lithographic stone in use is obtained in Bavaria. Copper and silver are mined in the Erz and Hartz Mountains. During the sixteenth century the mines of the latter region brought the states then forming Germany into commercial prominence and thereby diverted the trade between the North and Mediterranean Seas to the valleys of the Rhine and Elbe Rivers.

These two metal products made Germany a great financial power. The Franco-Prussian War added to Germany the food-producing lands of the Rhine and Moselle, and the provinces of Alsace and Lorraine. At the same time it gave the Germans organization by welding the various German states into an empire. As a result there has been an industrial development that has placed Germany in the class with the United States and Great Britain.

By unifying the various interstate systems of commerce and transportation, the iron and steel industry has greatly expanded. The chief centre of this industry is the valley of the Ruhr River. Coal-measures underlie an area somewhat larger than the basin of the river. To the industrial centres of this valley iron ore is brought by the Rhine and Moselle barges from Alsace-Lorraine and Luxemburg, and also from the Hartz Mountains.

In the importance and extent of manufactures, Germany ranks next to Great Britain among European states, and because of the extent of their coal-fields the Germans seem destined in time to surpass their rivals. The manufacture of textiles is one of the leading industries, and, next to Great Britain, Germany is the heaviest purchaser of raw cotton from the United States. The Rhine district is the chief centre of cotton textile manufacture. Raw cotton is delivered to the mills by the Rhine boats, and these carry the manufactured product to the seaboard. Central and South America are the chief purchasers.

Woollen goods are also extensively manufactured, the industry being in the region that produces Saxony wool. In Silesia and the lower Rhine provinces there are also extensive woollen textile manufactures, but the goods are made mainly from imported wool. Argentina and the other Plate River countries are the chief buyers of these goods. There is a considerable linen manufacture from German-grown flax, and silk-making, mainly from raw silk imported from Italy.

The great expansion and financial success of the manufacturing enterprises is due very largely to the admirable organization of the lines of transportation. The rivers, with their connecting canals, supplement the railways instead of competing with them. They are utilized mainly for slow freights, while the railways carry the traffic that demands speed. The possibilities of both inland water-ways and railway transportation have been utilized by the Germans to the utmost, with the result of a very low rate both for coal and ore, and for structural iron and steel. The latter is carried from the various steel-making plants in the Ruhr Valley to the seaboard at a rate of eighty to ninety cents per ton.[70]



All this has resulted in a wonderful commercial expansion of the empire. In 1875 Germany was neither a maritime nor a naval power. At the close of the century it ranked about with the United States as a naval power, and far surpassed that country in the tonnage of merchant marine. The German steamship fleet includes the largest and fastest vessels afloat.

German trade may be summed up as an export of manufactured goods and an import of food-stuffs and raw materials. At the close of the century the annual movement of industrial products amounted to nearly two and one-half billion dollars. About one-half the trade of the empire is carried on with Great Britain, the United States, Austria-Hungary, and Russia. A large part of the foreign trade is carried on through the ports of Belgium and Holland.

Berlin, the capital, is one of the few cities having a population of more than one million. It is not only a great centre of trade, but it is one of the leading money-markets of Europe; it is also the chief railway centre. Hamburg and Bremen are important ports of German-American trade, the former being the largest seaport of continental Europe. Breslau is an important market, into which the raw materials of eastern Europe are received, and from which they are sent to the manufacturing districts. The art galleries of Dresden have had the effect of making that city a centre of art manufactures which are famous the world over. Luebeck is one of the free cities that was formerly in the Hanse League.

The twin cities, Barmen-Eberfeld, in the Ruhr coal-field, form one of the principal centres of cotton manufacture in the world. Dortmund is a coal-market. At Essen are the steel-works founded by Herr Krupp. They are the largest and one of the most complete plants in the world. The output includes arms, heavy and light ordnance, and about every kind of structural iron and steel used. About forty thousand men are employed. Chemnitz is an important point, not only of cotton manufacture, but also of Saxony wools, underwear and shawls being its most noteworthy products. At Stettin, Danzig, and Kiel are built the steamships that have given to Germany its great commercial power.

QUESTIONS FOR DISCUSSION

In what ways are Great Britain and Germany commercial rivals?

What are the advantages of each with respect to position?—with respect to natural resources?

From the Statesman's Year-Book make a list of the leading exports of each;—the leading imports of each. What exports have they in common?

From the Abstract of Statistics find what commodities the United States sells to each.

FOR COLLATERAL READING AND REFERENCE

Adams's New Empire—Chapter III.

Gibbins's History of Commerce—Book III, Chapters III-V.



CHAPTER XXVI

EUROPE—THE BALTIC AND NORTH SEA STATES

These states, like Great Britain and Germany, belong to Germanic Europe, and their situation around the North and Baltic Seas makes their commercial interests much the same. From the stand-point of commerce Holland might be regarded as an integral part of Germany, inasmuch as a large part of the foreign commerce of Germany must reach the sea by crossing that state.

Sweden and Norway.—Sweden and Norway occupy the region best known as the Scandinavian peninsula. The western side faces the warm, moist winds of the Atlantic, but the surface is too rugged to be productive. The lands suitable for farming, on the other hand, are on the east side, where, owing to the high latitude, the winters are extremely cold.

The plateau lands are in the latitude of the great pine-forest belt that extends across the two continents. The forests of the Scandinavian peninsula are near the most densely peopled part of Europe, and they are also readily accessible. Moreover, the rugged surface offers unlimited water-power. As a result Norway and Sweden practically control the lumber-market of Europe, and their lumber products form one of the most important exports of the kingdom. Norway pine competes with California redwood in Australia. The "naval stores," tar and pitch, compete with those of Georgia and the Carolinas. The wood-pulp from this region is the chief supply of the paper-makers of Europe. Next to Russia, Sweden has the largest lumber-trade in Europe. The Mediterranean states are the chief buyers.

The mineral products are a considerable source of income. Building stone is shipped to the nearby lowland countries. The famous Swedish manganese-iron ores, essential in steel manufacture, are shipped to the United States and Europe. For this purpose they compete with the ores of Spain and Cuba. The mines of the Gellivare iron district are probably the only iron-mines of consequence within the frigid zone. The ore is sent to German and British smelteries.

The fisheries are the most important of Europe, and this fact has had a great influence on the history of the people. Centuries ago the people living about the vigs or fjords of the west coast were compelled to depend almost wholly on the fisheries for their food-supplies. As a result they became the most famous sailors of the world. They established settlements in Iceland and Greenland; they also planted a colony in North America 500 years before the voyage of Columbus. Herring, salmon, and cod are the principal catch of the fisheries, and about four-fifths of the product is cured and exported to the Catholic European states and to South America.

South of Kristiania farming is the principal industry. Much of the land is suitable for wheat-growing, but the productive area is so small that a considerable amount of bread-stuffs must be imported from the United States. On account of the high latitude the winters are too long and severe for any but the hardiest grains. Dairy products are commercially the most important output of the farms, and they find a ready market in the popular centres of Europe—London, Hamburg, Paris, and Berlin.

The lumber, furniture, matches, fish, ores, and dairy products sold abroad do not pay for the bread-stuffs, coal, petroleum, clothing, and machinery. In part, this is made up by the carrying trade of Norwegian vessels; the rest of the deficit is more than met by the money which the throngs of tourists spend during the summer months.

The United States buys from these countries fish and ores to the amount of about three million dollars a year; it sells them cotton, petroleum, bread-stuffs, and machinery to the amount of about twelve million dollars.

Stockholm, the capital of Sweden, is the chief financial and distributing centre of the Scandinavian trade. Its railway system reaches about every area of production. Although having a good harbor of its own, it must depend on Trondhjem (Drontheim) for winter traffic, because the Baltic ports are closed by ice three or four months of the year. Kristiania, the capital of Norway, is the export market of the fish and lumber products.

Goteborg, owing to recently completed railway and canal connections, is becoming an important port of trade. It is convenient to other European ports, and it is rarely closed by ice. Bergen, Trondhjem, and Hammerfest derive a heavy income from their fisheries and likewise from the tourists who visit the coast during midsummer. The last-named port, although farther north than any town in the world, has an open harbor during the winter.

Denmark.—Denmark is essentially an agricultural state, and almost every square mile of available land is under cultivation. Even the sand-dunes have been reclaimed and converted into pasturage. The yield of wheat is greater per acre than in any other country, but as only a small area is sown, wheat and flour are imported.

About half the area of the state is used in growing fodder for horses and cattle. The dairy products, especially butter, are unrivalled elsewhere in Europe. The dairy business is largely controlled by a cooperative association of dairymen and farmers. Pastures, fodder, cattle, sheds, creameries, and all the processes involved are subject to a most rigid sanitary inspection.

Copenhagen, the capital, is the financial centre of the kingdom. Commercially it is one of the most important ports of Europe. Various shipments consigned to Baltic ports are landed at this city; here the cargoes break bulk and are again trans-shipped to their destination. In order to facilitate this forwarding business, the Crown has made Copenhagen a free port. Steamship lines connect it with New York, British ports, and the East Indies.

A great deal of farming and dairy machinery is manufactured; coal, cotton goods, and structural machinery are imported from the United States. Little, however, is exported to that country, almost all the dairy products being sold to Great Britain and other populous centres of western Europe. Aalborg and Aarhuus are dairy-markets.

Greenland and Iceland are colonies of Denmark, and the fishing industry of the kingdom is carried on mainly along the shores of these islands. The furs, seal-skins, seal-oil, and eider-down of Greenland are a government monopoly. The mineral cryolite occurs at Ivigtut and is mined by soda-making establishments in the United States. Iceland produces sheep, cattle, and fish; these are shipped from Reikiavik. The Faroe Islands produce but little save wool, feathers, and birds' eggs.

Belgium.—Probably in no other country of Europe has nature done so little and man so much to make a great state as in Belgium. The lowland region has been made so fertile by artificial means that it yields more wheat per acre than any other country except Denmark. The Ardennes highland in the southeast is naturally unproductive, but it has become one of the great manufacturing centres of Europe. Less than one-twelfth of the area of the state is unproductive.

The coast, more than twoscore miles in extent, has not a single harbor for large vessels, and the two navigable rivers, the Scheldt and Meuse, flow into another state before reaching the sea.



The low sand-barrens next the coast have been reclaimed by means of a grass that holds in place the sand that formerly shifted with each movement of the wind. This region is now cultivated pasture-land that produces the finest of horses, cattle, and dairy products. The dairy products go mainly to London. The Flemish horses, like those of the sand-barrens of Germany and France, are purchased in the large cities, where heavy draught-horses are required. Many of them are sold to the express companies of the United States.

Bordering the sand-barrens is a belt of land that produces grain and the sugar-beet. Flax is an important product, and its cultivation has had much to do with both the history and the political organization of the state. Before the advent of the cotton industry, woollen and linen were practically the only fibres used in cloth-making. Belgium was then the chief flax-growing and cloth-making country, and all western Europe depended upon the Flemish looms for cloth. This industry, therefore, gave the country not only commercial prominence, but was largely responsible for its political independence as well. Flax is still an important product, and the linen textiles made in the state are without a superior. Much of the flax is grown in the valley of the River Lys.

One of the most productive coal-fields of Europe stretches across Belgium, and a few miles south of it are the iron-ore deposits that extend also into Luxemburg and Germany. In addition to these, the zinc-mines about Moresnet are among the richest in the world. Belgium is, therefore, one of the great metal-working centres of Europe. A small portion of the coal is exported to France, but most of it is required in the manufactures.

Liege, Seraing, and Verviers are the great centres of the metal industry. They were built at the eastern extremity of the coal-field, within easy reach of the iron ores. Firearms, railroad steel, and tool-making machinery are the chief products of the region, and because of the favorable situation, these products easily compete with the manufactures of Germany and France.

Ghent is the chief focal point for the flax product, which is converted into the finest of linen cloth and art fabrics. Much of the weaving and spinning machinery employed in Europe is made in this city. Mechlin and the villages near by are famous the world over for hand-worked laces.

Expensive porcelains, art tiles, glassware, and cheap crockery are made in the line of kilns that reaches almost from one end of the coal-field to the other; these products, moreover, are extensively exported.

The railways are owned and operated by the state. They are managed so judiciously, moreover, that the rates of carriage are lower than in most European states. The Scheldt is navigable for large ocean steamers to Antwerp, and this city is the great Belgian port for ocean traffic. The city owes its importance to its position. One branch of the Scheldt leads toward the Rhine; the other is connected by a canal with the rivers of France; the main stem of the river points toward London. It is therefore the meeting of three ways. It is the terminal of the steamships of American, and of various other lines. It is also the depot of the Kongo trade. Ship-canals deep enough for coasters and freighters connect Ghent, Bruges, and Brussels with tide-water. These are about to be converted to deep-water ship-canals.

The foreign commerce of Belgium is much like that of other European states. Wheat, meat, maize, cotton, and petroleum are imported mainly from the United States; iron ore is purchased from Luxemburg and Germany, and various raw materials are brought from France. In exchange there are exported fine machinery, linen fabrics, porcelains, fire-arms, glassware, and beet-sugar. From the Kongo state, at the head of which is the King of the Belgians, are obtained rubber and ivory. The rubber is sold mainly to the United States.

Brussels is the capital and financial centre. On account of the state control of the railways, it is also the directive centre of all the industries pertaining to commerce and transportation.

Holland.—The names Holland and Netherlands mean "lowland," and the state itself has a lower surface than any other country of Europe. Nearly half the area is at high-tide level or else below it. A large part, mainly the region about the Zuider[71] Sea, has been reclaimed from the sea.

In the reclamation of these lands stone dikes are built to enclose a given area, and from the basin thus constructed the water is pumped. The reclaimed lands, or "polders," include not only the sea-bottom, but the coast marshes as well; even the rivers are bordered with levees in order to prevent overflows. Windmills are the machinery by which the water is pumped from the polders into the sea. In no other part of the world is wind-power so extensively used. Almost every acre of the polders is under cultivation, and these lands grow a very large part of the vegetables and flowers consumed in the great cities of England, France, and Belgium.

The coast sand-barrens have been converted into pasture-lands that produce draught-horses, beef cattle, and dairy cattle. The horses find a ready market in the United States and the large European cities; the dairy cattle not needed at home are exported, the United States being a heavy purchaser. The beef cattle are grown mainly for the markets of London. Dutch butter is used far beyond the boundaries of the state, and Edam cheese reaches nearly every large city of Europe and America.

The sugar-beet is extensively cultivated, in spite of the great trade resulting from the cane-sugar industry of the East Indies. It is more profitable to import wheat from the United States and rye from Russia in order to use the land for the sugar-beet.

Practically no timber suitable for lumber manufacture exists, and building material therefore must be imported. Pine is purchased from Russia, Scandinavia, and the United States. Stone is purchased wherever it may be obtained as return freight, or as ballast. The coast fisheries yield oysters, herrings, and "anchovies," which are not anchovies, but sprats.

For want of coal and iron there are few manufactures, and the garden and dairy products are about the only export articles. There is an abundance of clay, and of this brick for road-making, tiles for building purposes, and porcelains are made. But little of the raw sugar is refined; most of it is sold to foreign refiners, and the United States is one of the chief customers.

Holland is a great commercial country, and for more than five hundred years the Dutch flag has been found in almost every large port of the world. Much of the commerce is derived from the tobacco, sugar, and coffee plantations of the Dutch East Indies.

A very large part of the commerce, however, is neither import or export trade, but a "transit" commerce. Thus, American coal-oil is transferred from the great ocean tank-steamers to smaller tank-boats, and is then carried across the state into Germany, France, and Belgium, through the numerous canals.

This trade applies also to many of the products of the German industries which will not bear a heavy freight tariff, such as coal, ores, etc. It reaches the Rhine and Rhone river-basins and extends even to the Danube. Both Switzerland and Austria-Hungary send much of their exports through Holland. All trade at the various ports and through the canals is free, it being the policy to encourage and not to obstruct commerce.

Amsterdam, the constitutional capital, is one of the great financial and banking centres of Europe. The completion of the Nord Holland canal makes the docks and basins accessible to the largest steamships. Diamond-cutting is one of the unique industries of the city. Since the discovery of the African mines its former trade in diamonds has been largely absorbed by London.

More than half the carrying trade of the state centres at Rotterdam. By the improvement of the river estuaries and canals this city has become one of the best ports of Europe, and the tonnage of goods handled at the docks is enormously increasing. Vlissingen (Flushing) and the Hook are railway terminals that handle much of the local freights consigned to London. Delft is famous the world over for the beautiful porcelain made at its potteries.

QUESTIONS FOR DISCUSSION

How has the topography of each of these states affected its commerce?

How is their commerce affected by latitude and climate?

How has the cultivation of the sugar-beet affected the cane-sugar industry in the British West Indies?

From the Statesman's Year-Book make a list of the leading exports and imports of each country.

From the Abstract of Statistics find the trade of the United States with each of these countries.

FOR COLLATERAL READING AND REFERENCE

Adams's New Empire—pp. 153-159.

Gibbins's History of Commerce—Book III, Chapters I and VIII.



CHAPTER XXVII

EUROPE—THE MEDITERRANEAN STATES AND SWITZERLAND

The Mediterranean states are peopled mainly by races whose social and economic development was moulded largely by the Roman occupation of the Mediterranean basin for a period of more than one thousand years. The occupations of the people have been shaped to a great extent by the slope of the land and by the mountain-ranges that long isolated them from the Germanic peoples north of the Alps.

France.—The position of France with respect to industrial development is fortunate. The North Sea coast faces the ports of Great Britain; the Atlantic ports are easily accessible to American centres of commerce; the Mediterranean ports command a very large part of the trade of that sea.

The easily travelled overland routes between the Mediterranean and North Seas in very early times gave the country a commercial prominence that ever since has been retained. Even before the time of Caesar it was a famous trading-ground for Mediterranean merchants, and the conquest of the country was not so much for the spoils of war as for the extension of Roman commercial influence.

The greater part of France is an agricultural region, and nowhere is the soil cultivated with greater skill. Although the state is not quite as large as Texas, there are more farms than in all the United States, their small size making thorough cultivation a necessity. Much of the land is too valuable for wheat-farming, and so the eastern manufacturing districts depend upon the Russian wheat-farms for their supply. Northwestern France, however, has a surplus of wheat, and this is sold to Great Britain.



The sugar-beet is the most profitable crop, and its cultivation is aided indirectly by the government, which gives a bounty on all exported sugar. The area of sugar-beet cultivation will probably increase to its limit for this reason.

The French farmer is an artist in the cultivation of small fruits, and the latter form an important source of revenue. Of the fruit-crop, the grape is by far the most important commercially. French wines, especially the champagnes, are exported to a greater extent than the wines of any other country.[72] Most of the wine is sold in Great Britain and the countries north of the grape belt; a considerable part is sold in the United States and the eastern countries. Champagne, Bordeaux, the Loire, and the Rhone Valleys are famous wine districts. Wine is also imported, to be refined or to be made into brandy.

Cattle-breeding, both for meat and for dairy purposes, is extensively carried on. The meat is consumed at home. Butter is an important export, especially in the northwest, where a large amount is made for London consumers. This region produces Camembert and Neufchatel cheese, both of which are largely exported; Brie cheese is made chiefly along the German border. The Roquefort product, made of ewe's milk, is fermented in limestone caves and cellars. All these varieties have a large sale, the United States and Great Britain being heavy purchasers.

The Percheron draught-horse is raised for export as well as for home use; mules are extensively raised for the army wagon-trains of Great Britain and Germany. Sheep are grown for the finer grades of wool, but so much of the sheep pasture has been given to the cultivation of the sugar-beet, that a considerable part of the woollen textiles are now made of wool imported from Argentina. A large part of the eggs and table poultry consumed in London are products of northwestern France.

The coal-fields of the north produce nearly two-thirds of the total amount consumed. Iron ores are found near the German border; they are sent to coal-fields in the neighborhood of St. Etienne and Le Creuzot to be manufactured into steel. Both coal and iron ore are deficient. To meet the requirements of consumption, the former is imported from Great Britain, Germany, and Belgium; the latter, mainly from Germany and Spain.

The manufactures of France have a wide influence. From the coal and iron are derived the intricate machinery that has made the country famous, the railways, the powerful navy, and the merchant marine that has made the country a great commercial nation. Because of the great creative skill and taste of the people, French textiles are standards of good taste, and they find a ready market in all parts of the world. In textile manufactures more than one million people and upward of one hundred thousand looms are employed.

The United States is a heavy buyer of the woollen cloths and the finer qualities of dress goods. Inasmuch as these goods have not been successfully imitated elsewhere, the French trade does not suffer from competition. The best goods are made from the fleeces of French merino sheep, and are manufactured mainly in the northern towns. The Gobelin tapestries of Paris are famous the world over.

The cotton manufactures depend mainly on American cotton. About two-thirds of the cotton is purchased in the United States, a part of which returns in the form of fine goods that may be classed as muslins, tulles, and art textiles. The market for such goods is also general. In the manufacture of fine laces, such as the Point d'Alencon fabrics, the French have few equals and no superiors. The flax is imported mainly from Belgium.

Silk culture is aided by the government, and is carried on mainly in the south. The amount grown, however, is insufficient to keep the factories busy, and more than four-fifths of the raw silk and cocoons are imported from Italy and other southern countries.

The chief imports to France are coal, raw textile fibres, wine, wheat, and lumber. The last two products excepted, they are again exported in the form of manufactured products. The great bulk of the imports comes from Great Britain, the United States, Germany, Belgium, Russia, and Argentina. In 1900 the import trade from these countries aggregated about five hundred million dollars. The total export trade during the same year was about eight hundred million dollars; it consisted mainly of high-priced articles of luxury.

The foreign trade is supported by a navy, which ranks second among the world's navies, and a merchant marine of more than fifteen thousand vessels. Aside from the subsidies given to mail steamships, government encouragement is given for the construction and equipment of home-built vessels. It is a settled policy that French vessels shall carry French traffic.

Of the 24,000 miles of railway, about 2,000 miles are owned by the state. The rivers are connected by canals, and these furnish about 7,000 miles of navigable waters. As in Germany, the water-routes supplement the railway lines. Practically all lines of transportation converge at Paris.

Paris, the capital, is a great centre of finance, art, science, and literature, whose influence in these features has been felt all over the world. The character of fine textiles, and also the fashions in the United States and Europe, are regulated largely in this city. Marseille is the chief seaport, and practically all the trade between France and the Mediterranean countries is landed at this port; it is also the focal point of the trade between France and her African colonies, and a landing-place for the cotton brought from Egypt and Brazil.

Havre, the port receiving most of the trade from the United States, is the port of Paris. Rouen is the chief seat of cotton manufacture. Paris and Rheims are noted for shawls. Lille and Roubaix are centres of woollen manufacture. Lyons is the great seat of silk manufacture.

Italy.—Italy is a spur of the Alps extending into the Mediterranean Sea. From its earliest history it has been an agricultural state, and, excepting the periods when it has been rent by wars, it has been one of the most productive countries in the world.

Wheat is extensively grown, but the crop is insufficient for home consumption, and the deficit is imported from Russia and Hungary. A large part of the wheat-crop is grown in the valley of the Po River. Flax and hemp are grown for export in this region; and corn for home consumption is a general product. Cotton is a good crop in Sicily and the south, but the amount is insufficient for use and must be made up by imports from the United States and Egypt.

Silk, fruit, and vegetables are the staple products that connect Italy commercially with the rest of the world. About a million people are concerned in the silk industry, and Italy is one of the foremost countries in the world in the production of raw silk. Most of the crop is produced in northern Italy; western Europe and the United States are the chief buyers. The silk of the Piedmont region is the best in quality.

Fruit is the crop next in value to raw silk. Sicilian oranges and lemons, from about twenty millions of trees, find a ready market in Europe; the oranges come into competition with the California and Florida oranges of the United States, in spite of the tariff imposed against them by the latter country. Olives are probably the most important fruit-crop. Both the preserved fruit and the oil are exported to nearly every civilized people. Much of the oil is consumed at home, very largely taking the place of meat and butter. Lucca-oil is regarded as the best.



The grape-crop is enormous, and the fruit itself is exported. Some of the fruit sold as "Malaga" grapes throughout the United States during winter months comes from Italy. Chianti wine, from the vineyards around Florence, has hitherto been regarded as an inferior product, but the foreign demand for it is steadily increasing. The Marsala wines of Sicily are largely exported.

Among mineral products the iron deposits in the island of Elba are undoubtedly the most valuable, but they are yet undeveloped to any great extent. The quarries at Carrara produce a fine marble that has made Italy famous in sculpture and architecture. Much of the boracic acid used in the arts comes from Tuscany, and the world's chief supply of sulphur comes from the neighborhood of Mount Etna in Sicily. Of this Americans buy about one-third.

On account of the lack of coal, the manufactures are restricted mainly to art wares, such as jewelry, silk textiles, and fine glassware. The Venetian glassware, the Florentine and mosaic jewelry, and the pink coral ornaments are famous the world over. Within recent years, however, imported coal, together with native lignite, have given steel manufacture an impetus. Steel ships and rails made at home are meeting the demands of commerce. Goods of American cotton are made for export to Turkey and South American countries.

Raw silk, wine, olive-oil, straw goods, sulphur, and art goods are exported. Cotton, wheat, tobacco, and farm machinery from the United States, and coal, woollen textiles, and steel goods from Great Britain are the chief imports. Most of the foreign trade is with the nearby states. The raw silk goes to France.

Since the unification of Italy the railways have been readjusted to the needs of commerce. Before that time the lines were wholly local in character; with the readjustment they were organized into trunk lines. They enter France through the Mont Cenis tunnel; they reach Switzerland and Germany by way of St. Gotthard Pass; they cross the Austrian border through Brenner Pass.

Rome, the capital, is a political rather than an industrial centre. Milan, the Chicago of the kingdom, is the chief market for the crops of northern Italy and a great railway centre. It is also the market for raw silk. Genoa, the principal port, is the one at which most of the trade of the United States is landed. Naples monopolizes most of the marine traffic between Italy and Great Britain. Leghorn is famous for its manufacture and trade in straw goods. A considerable part of the grain harvested in the Po Valley is stored for shipment at Venice—not in elevators, but in pits. Palermo is the trading centre of Sicily. Most of the sulphur is shipped from Catania. Brindisi and Ancona are shipping-points for the Suez Canal route.

Spain and Portugal.—The surface of these states is too rugged and the climate too arid for any great agricultural development. Less than half the area is under cultivation; nevertheless, they are famous for several agricultural products—merino wool, wine, and fruit. The merino wool of the Iberian peninsula has no equal for fine dress goods; it is imported into almost every other country having woollen manufactures. A considerable amount of ordinary wool is grown, but not enough for home needs.

The fruit industry is an important source of income. Oranges, limes, and lemons are extensively grown for exports; among these products is the bitter orange, from which the famous liqueur curacao, a Dutch manufacture, is made. The heavy, sweet port wine, now famous the world over, was first made prominent in the vineyards of Spain and Portugal. Malaga raisins are sold in nearly every part of England and America. The olive is more extensively cultivated than in any other state, but both the fruit and the oil are mainly consumed at home—the latter taking the place of butter. Raw silk is grown for export to France.

Although a larger part of the peninsula must depend on the American and Scandinavian forests for lumber, there is one tree product that is in demand wherever bottles are used—namely, cork. The cork is prepared from the bark of a tree (Quercus suber) commonly known as the cork oak,[73] which grows freely in the Iberian peninsula and northern Africa.



Metals and minerals of economic use are abundant. Iron ore is sold to Great Britain, France, and Germany. Since the Spanish-American War, however, there have been extensive developments in utilizing the coal and the ore which before that time had been sold to other countries.

The undeveloped coal and iron resources are very great, and must figure in the payment of a national debt that is near the limit of bankruptcy. The state, however, is entering a period of industrial prosperity.

The most available metal resource is quicksilver. Of this metal the mines in Almaden produce about one-half the world's supply. The working of these mines is practically a government monopoly, and the income was mortgaged for many years ahead when Spain was at war with her rebellious colonies.

Both Spain and Portugal are poorly equipped with means for transportation. The railways lack organization, and freight rates are excessive. Not a little of the transportation still depends on the ox-cart and the pack-train. The merchant marine has scarcely more than a name; the foreign commerce is carried almost wholly in British or French bottoms. The imports are mainly cotton, coal, lumber, and food-stuffs—these in spite of the fact that every one save lumber might be produced at home.

Wine and fruit products, iron ore, and quicksilver are leading exports. Of these the United States purchases wine and raisins for home consumption and lace and filigree work for the trade with Mexico. Spain has a considerable trade in cotton goods with her colonies, the Canary Islands, and the African provinces of Rio de Oro and Adrar.

Portugal likewise supplies her foreign possessions—Goa (India), Macao (China), and the Cape Verde and Azores Islands—with home products. The chief Portuguese trade, however, is with Great Britain and Brazil.

Madrid is the capital of Spain. Barcelona is the chief commercial centre. Valencia, Alicante, Cartagena, and Malaga, are all ports of fruit and wine trade. Oporto has been made famous for the port wine that bears its name. Probably not one per cent. of the port now used, however, comes from Oporto, and not many Malaga raisins come from Malaga.

Switzerland.—This state is situated in the heart of the highest Alps. The southeastern half is above the altitude in which food-stuffs can be produced, and probably no other inhabited country has a greater proportion of its area above the limits of perpetual snow. A considerable area of the mountain-slopes affords grazing. The valley-lands of the lake-region produce a limited amount of food-stuffs, but not enough for the sparse population.

Politically, Switzerland is a republic, having the position of a "buffer" state between Germany, Italy, France, and Austria-Hungary. Racially, the state is divided among Italians, French, and Germans; as a matter of fact, however, the old Helvetian spirit, which not even Caesar could destroy, is still a great factor in dominating the people; this, with their montane environment, gives the Swiss a very positive nationality.

The agricultural interests of the state are developed to their utmost; two-thirds of the bread-stuffs, however, are purchased from the United States, the plains of Bohemia, and Russia. Cherries, apples, grapes, and other fruit are cultivated in every possible place, and as these can be delivered to any part of western and central Europe within a day, the fruit industry is a profitable one.

Cattle are bred for dairy purposes, but those for beef must be very largely imported, Austria-Hungary and Italy selling the needed supply. Goats are raised for their hides, and the latter are converted into Morocco leather. Of the dairy products, cheese is in many respects the most important; Gruyere cheese is exported to nearly every country. On account of the long distance from populous centres milk cannot be transported; much of it is, therefore, condensed, and in that form exported.

A peculiar feature of the dairy industry is the fact that it is constantly moving. The dairy herds begin to pasture in the lowlands as soon as the snow melts, and as fast as the snow line recedes up the mountains the cattle follow. The milk is converted into butter and cheese wherever the herds may be, and the second crop of grass below them is cut and cured for winter forage.

In spite of the fact that Switzerland has no available coal,[74] manufacture is pre-eminently the industry of the state. During the long winters the Alpine herdsman and his family whittle out wooden toys from the stock of rough lumber laid by for the purpose. Farther down in the valley-lands the exquisite brocades and muslins are made on hand-looms, or by the aid of the abundant water-power. Each industrial district has its special line of manufacture, so that there is scarcely an idle day in the year.

In the cities and towns of the lowland district, watches, clocks, music-boxes, and fine machinery are manufactured. For many years Swiss watches were about the only ones used in the United States, but on account of the competition of American watches this trade has fallen off. The mechanical music-player, operated by perforated paper, has also interfered with the trade in music-boxes.

Switzerland is provided with excellent facilities for transportation, and this has done about as much for the commercial welfare of the state as all other industrial enterprises. In proportion to its area, the railway mileage is greater than that of the surrounding states. The roads are well built and the rates of transportation are low.

In addition to the ordinary trip-tickets, monthly time-tickets are issued to travellers, allowing the holders to travel when and where they please within the limits of the state on all roads and lake-steamers. These are sold to the traveller for about two-thirds the price of the 1,000-mile book of the American railway. The carriage roads have no superiors, and they penetrate about every part of the state below the snow line; they also cross the main passes of the Alps.