Part 27 (2/2)

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.

[Ill.u.s.tration: THE BRITISH EMPIRE]

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 lat.i.tude 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 lat.i.tude, are blocked nearly half the year.

The high lat.i.tude of the islands is an advantage so far as the production of food-stuffs is concerned. The summer days in the lat.i.tude 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, coa.r.s.e 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 surpa.s.sed 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 fis.h.i.+ng-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 s.h.i.+ps 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.

[Ill.u.s.tration: BRITISH ISLES]

Iron ores are fairly abundant, but the hemat.i.te 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, steams.h.i.+p 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.

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