M
H
24
A 896,365
FIFTY YEARS'
NATIONAL
PROGRESS

ARTES
LIBRARY
1837
SCIENTIA
VERITAS
OF THE
UNIVERSITY OF MICHIGAN
E-PLURIBUS UNUM
TUL BO
QUAERIS PENINSULAM AMOENAM
CIRCUMSPICE
i
·
HC
255
.M96
9/1

RED INDICATES 1840, BLUE 1886.
600
500
400
300
200
100
POPULATION.
WEALTH.
TRADE
MANUFACTURE. AGRICULTURE. INSTRUCTION
50 Years, National Progress.
13772 3,87.
29099
FIFTY YEARS
OF
NATIONAL PROGRESS
1837-1887
BY
MICHAEL George
MULHALL, F.S.S.
AUTHOR CF
THE "DICTIONARY OF STATISTICS," THE "HISTORY OF PRICES,"
THE "BALANCE-ȘIIEET OF THE WORLD," ETC,
LONDON
GEORGE ROUTLEDGE AND SONS
BROADWAY, LUDGATE HILL
GLASGOW AND NEW YORK
1887
6-1-33
Reclaso, MLP
NOTE.
THE only contraction used is when millions are em-
ployed; for example:
Millions.
20.2 signifies 20,200,000.
Wherever the term Great Britain occurs it stands
for the United Kingdom, and Austria for Austria-
Hungary.
A 2
CONTENTS.
INTRODUCTION: PERCENTAGE OF PROGRESS
I. POPULATION, EMIGRATION, VITAL STATISTICS
II. WEALTHI, ITS COMPONENTS AND INCREASE
111.
PAGE
7
9
16
•
27
TRADE, SHIPPING, CARRYING POWER, SEAMEN
IV. TEXTILE MANUFACTURES, COTTON, WOOL, FLAX,
V.
JUTE, SILK
MISCELLANEOUS MANUFACTURES: LEATHER, TIM-
BER, PAPER, ETC.
VI. METALS AND MINING: COAL, IRON, LEAD, COPPER,
TIN, ZINC
·
35
48
53
VII.
STEAM-POWER
AND ENERGY OF PRINCIPAL
NATIONS
59
VIII.
BANKING, RATES OF DISCOUNT, CONSOLS, SPECIE,
COINAGE
65
IX.
PUBLIC
EXPENDITURE, COMPARED WITH EARN-
INGS
71
X.
DECLINE OF AGRICULTURE: ITS BURTHENS AND
PRODUCT
•
76
XI TOOD-SUPPLY: QUANTITIES HOME-GROWN AND
IMPORTED
•
82
6
CONTENTS.
PAGE
XII.
PUBLIC HEALTH, IMPROVED DEATH RATES
•
87
XIII.
CRIME, DRUNKENNESS, DIVORCE, SUICIDE, ETC.
•
91
XIV.
INSTRUCTION, SCHOOLS, POST-OFFICE
95
XV., CONDITION OF THE MASSES
97
XVI. PROGRESS OF SCIENCE, SAVING OF HUMAN LIFE
XVII. LEGISLATIVE REFORMS : FREE TRADE, FRAN-
•
103
XVIII.
CHISE, ETC.
SCOTLAND, INCREASE OF WEALTH AND POPULA-
TION
107
•
I12
XIX.
·
IRELAND, FAMINE, EVICTION, ETC.-IRISH
-IRISH SET-
TLERS ABROAD
114
XX.
SURVEY OF CANADA, AUSTRALIA, SOUTH AFRICA,
AND INDIA
116
XXI.
PROGRESS OF UNITED STATES COMPARED WITH
OURS
·
·
•
125
FIFTY YEARS
OF
NATIONAL PROGRESS
INTRODUCTION.
THE progress made by the United Kingdom
during the last fifty years is wholly unprecedented
in our annals, and has not been approached by
any other nation of Europe. We may divide
the whole period into two almost equal portions,
the first terminating in 1860, the second coming
down to 1886, and a comparison of the statistics
bearing upon 12 principal points of national wel-
fare will show that the relative progress has been
as follows:-
8
CO
FIFTY YEARS OF NATIONAL PROGRESS.
1837-40.
1860.
1886.
Population
100
IIO
142
Wealth
100
134
...
224
Trade.
100
...
265
572
Shipping
ICO
175
...
683
Textile industry
100
·
...
203
306
Hardware
100
•
230
512
Mining
100
...
215
376
Steam-power
100
100
365
...
1,140
Agriculture.
100
115
94
Banking
100
...
344
672
Revenue
100
...
134
173
Instruction.
100
170
...
440
Total . 1,200
2,460
5,334
The only item which shows a positive decline is
agriculture, which is 6 per cent. lower than it was
50 years ago, and in reference to population 33
per cent. lower. When we proceed to study the
several items in detail we shall find some other
facts of more or less importance, such as these:
the National Debt has been reduced 7 per cent.,
food-supply per inhabitant has improved 60 per
cent., the ratio of paupers to population has
declined more than half, the criminal records show
POPULATION.
9
a diminution of 71 per cent., and the result of
sanitary improvements has been to lengthen the
span of life by 3 years, say 6 per cent. There
have been also legislative and social reforms of a
far-reaching character which hardly come within
the scope of statistical inquiry.
I. Population.
In 50 years the population of the United
Kingdom has risen from 26 to 37 millions, an
increase of 42 per cent. During the earlier part
of the reign the increase was so slow that the
country was in constant alarm of French invasion,
seeing that France considerably outnumbered our
population; so much so that the Duke of Wel-
lington for a time opposed Prince Albert's idea of
the Great Exhibition of 1851 on these grounds.
For many years after the Queen's accession the
annual increase did not exceed 5 per 1,000, or
one-third of what it had been from 1801 to 1831.
10
FIFTY YEARS OF NATIONAL PROGRESS.
The following table shows the rate of advance
before and since 1841-
Year.
1821.
Population.
20,984,000
Ratio of increase.
1841.
26,853,000
1861.
•
29,064,000
28 per cent.
8
1881.
1886
•
34,952,000
36,707,000
"2
20
...
""
5
""
The recoil after 1841 was mainly caused by the
Irish famine, which carried off 1,200,000 persons.
There have been since 1837 three visitations of
cholera, the aggregate number of victims reaching
95,000. The mortality caused by war has been
trifling, our greatest campaign, that of the Crimea,
having cost the lives of 23,800 men:—
Our losses from war and cholera in the half-
century have been much less than among some of
the Continental States, viz. :—
War.
Cholera.
Total.
United Kingdom.
52,000
95,000
147,000
France
•
215,000
387,000 602,000
Germany
Austria
•
57,000
331,000
388,000
44,000 1,019,000 1,063,000
POPULATION.
I I
There is a more terrible destroyer of human
life than war, namely suicide, which has occasioned
77,000 victims in the United Kingdom since 1837,
and 610,000 in the other three countries above-
mentioned,
By far the most disturbing element in our vital
statistics has been emigration, more than 9 million
persons having gone to try their fortunes abroad,
of whom, however, about 10 per cent. have
returned. The following table shows what the
gross increase would have been, the actual
number of British subjects who left our shores,
and the net increase of population, in 50 years,
viz. :-
Years.
Gross increase.
Emigration. Net increase.
1837-50
3,647,000
2,135,000
1,512,000
1851-60
3,602,000
2,054,000
1,548,000
1861-70 4,183,000
1,675,000
2,508,000
4,749,000 1,679,000
3,070,000
1871-80
1881-87 3,992,000 1,558,000 2,434,OCO
Total 20,173,000 9,101,000 11,072,000
If a kind and liberal policy had been adopted
I 2 FIFTY YEARS OF NATIONAL PROGRESS.
towards the emigrants we should have secured the
bulk of them for our Colonies, where the system
of homestead-grants, so happily initiated by the
United States, could have been applied to Crown-
lands, instead of letting them to squatters at a
shilling per square mile. Our Government seemed
glad to get rid of the emigrants, whose destinations
have been :
United States.
Australia.
Canada
Cape, &c.
Total
•
•
5,902,000
1,484,000
•
1,311,000
404,000
9,101,000
Most of those who went to the United States
were Irish; the bulk of whom went westward, to
open up the new Territories. In 30 years down
to 1880 the aggregate wealth of 11 Western
States multiplied 12 times, showing an increase of
2,654 millions sterling: at least one-fourth of this
amount, or a sum about equal to our National
Debt, was the result of the industry of Irish
POPULATION.
13
settlers. The United States Government valued
them at £200 per head, whereas we regarded
emigrants as a nuisance. The components of our
emigration since 1837 have been:
Irish
English.
Scotch
Total
4,186,000
•
4,045,000
870,000
·
9,101,OCO
At the same time there has been a constant
tide of immigration, the average in the last 10
years reaching 132,000 per annum, most of them
returned colonists. Some were disappointed emi-
grants, others men who returned home after years
of industry, to enjoy leisure and fortune in Great
Britain. The number of foreigners who settle in
the United Kingdom is about 10,000 yearly, and
against them a strong feeling of jealousy has
sprung up. This is most unjust and impolitic,
since no country is more indebted than England
to foreign settlers and refugees for the develop-
14 FIFTY YEARS OF NATIONAL PROGRESS.
ment of her industries. The Bessemers, Siemens,
Brunels, Peabodys, and others who claimed the
hospitality of our shores have returned onc-
hundredfold whatever benefit they received. It
is, indeed, surprising that foreigners constitute
such a small number of our people, viz. :-
Native-born persons in 1,000 inhabitants.
United Kingdom 996
Belgium. : 980
Germany
994
France
•
977
Italy
•
•
999
Switzerland
922
Holland
983
United States. 866
It is manifest that our population is essentially
our own, France having 6 times as many foreign
settlers.
The rise of the great towns is a striking
feature of the present reign in 1837 there
was no town or city but London with as
much as 300,000
300,000 souls, whereas there are
now 7, viz. -
POPULATION.
15
軍
​1841.
Population.
Increase
London
1,948,000
...
Manchester
298,000
...
Liverpool.
286,000
4,160,000
588,000
586,000
1886.
per cent.
108
97
...
105
Glasgow
260,000
522,000
...
ΙΟΙ
Birmingham
183,000
...
434,000
138
Dublin
242,000
353,000
45
Leeds
152,000
...
339,000
122
Sheffield
II1,000
...
311,000
180
8 Towns
3,480,000
...
7,293,000
108
The increase of the towns has been 3 times
more rapid than that of the general population.
The natural increase of the United Kingdom,
that is, the excess of births over deaths, has been
satisfactory since 1860, the annual average per
1,000 inhabitants showing:
Period.
Births.
Deaths.
Increase.
1861-70
• 33.4
...
21.4
12.0
1871-80
•
34.3
21.0
13.3
1881-85
•
32.0
19.2
12.8
...
No country in Europe has a higher rate of
increase, but it is to be observed that our rate
16
FIFTY YEARS OF NATIONAL PROGRESS.
is declining, apparently from the effects of emi-
gration. The rate of natural increase during 10
years ending 1880 averaged as follows :—
United Kingdom 13.3
Austria
8.7
Germany.
12.7
Italy.
·
7.2
Sweden
11.9
France
1.3
At present the surplus of births over deaths in the
United Kingdom is 1,500 daily, to which add 300
foreigners and Colonials. Our net increase, how-
ever, is only 1,100 souls, as 700 of our people
leave these shores daily, to carry our language
and traditions to the ends of the earth.
II. Wealth.
The increase of wealth has been 124 per cent.,
or three times greater than that of population.
The public fortune has risen from 4,100 to 9,210
millions sterling, being at present almost £250
per inhabitant, or £100 more than in 1840.
WEALTH.
17
The items are shown
shown thus, in millions £
sterling:
1840.
1860.
1887.
Railways
21
...
348
831
Houses
770
1,164
2,640
Furniture.
Lands
·
Cattle, &c.
Shipping.
385
1,680
380
23
...
•
582
...
1,320
1,840
1,542
460
414
...
44
130
Merchandise
70
...
190
321
Bullion
Sundries
61
710
...
105
...
143
827
...
1,869
Total. 4,100
5,560
...
9,210
The average annual accumulation was 73
*
millions before 1860, and 134 millions after that
year.
Railways at present constitute nearly one-tenth
of the wealth of the kingdom, without including
the capital invested in such enterprises abroad.
The growth of this form of industry in the United
Kingdom is shown thus :-
* Wilson estimated the accumulation in 1840-45 at 60
millions per annum.
B
18
FIFTY YEARS OF NATIONAL PROGRESS.
Year.
Miles.
Capital,
Millions of Gross earnings,
millions. passengers. millions £.
1840
840
24
18
3
1850
6,620
240
80
13
1860
10,430
348
180
28
1870
15,540
530
363
43
1880
17,930
728
664
63
1885
19,170
816
770
67
Mileage earnings have in the last five years
averaged £3,600 gross receipts per mile. Net
proceeds are about 33 millions, giving a fraction
over 4 per cent. on the paid-up capital.
Houses are the largest element of the public
fortune, being almost 30 per cent. of the total, the
value being taken at 20 years' rental capitalized.
Those built between 1840 and 1880 consumed
over 200 million bricks monthly for the whole
period. The following table shows the number
built in cach decade, and the increase of pro-
perty:-
Years.
Increase of value.
Millions £.
Houses built.
1841-50.
391,000
116
1851-60 .
491,000
278
1861-70 .
533,000
326
1871-80.
803,000
794
40 Years
2,218,000
...
1,514
WEALTH.
19
As the increase of value applies to all the
house property of the United Kingdom we may
assume that one-half corresponds to houses
already built, and that the actual value of the
houses newly constructed in the above 40 years
was 757 millions, say £340 per house. The
civilization and prosperity of a people may
generally be measured by the character of its
habitations, and in this respect the annals before
us are very cheering. There is, nevertheless,
much variety in the value of house property to
population, viz. :—
£ per inhabitant.
Millions £.
London .
•
648
156
Liverpool
Manchester
Glasgow.
Birmingham
68
114
бо
102
52
100
32
76
Dublin
•
15
44
The general average is £77 in England, £62
in Scotland, and £12 in Ireland, making up
altogether £71 per inhabitant of the United
Kingdom, against £30 in the year 1840.
B 2
20 FIFTY YEARS OF NATIONAL PROGRESS.
Furniture, as insurance agents inform us, always.
represents 50 per cent. of the value of the house,
this including also clothing, jewellery, pictures
and carriages. The increase under this item
since 1840 has been close upon 20 millions
sterling per annum.
Lands rose in value from 1840 to 1860 almost
10 per cent., and again in the decade ending
1870, the capital represented by them in the last-
mentioned year being 1,970 millions sterling, an
advance of 320 millions from the time of the
Queen's coronation, or about 10 millions yearly.
At present the official valuation shows a trifling
decline, but does not represent the real value,
most land-owners making reductions of 20 per
cent. in favour of their tenants; so that the actual
rental, instead of 65 millions, does not exceed 52
millions. The value of land has therefore fallen
430 millions since 1870, which might be in some
manner considered as so much addition to the
National Debt were it not that the increase of
WEALTH.
2 [
*
wealth under other items has more than counter-
balanced the loss.
Cattle and farm implements now represent little
over £8 an acre, against £10 in 1860, showing
a loss of public fortune, equal to about 4 months'
savings of the nation.
Shipping has multiplied 6-fold in value: some
of our large ocean steamers now cost £40
a ton, whereas the tonnage in 1840 averaged
only £10.
Merchandise is an item arbitrarily fixed at
6 months' imports and exports, equal at present
to £9 per inhabitant, against £3 in 1840.
Bullion has more than doubled in the same
interval.
Loans to foreign countries and the Colonies
constitute the bulk of the item sundries" in
the foregoing table: they were estimated at
165 millions in 1840 and 1,058 millions in
1882.
thus:
Sundries at present may be summed up
22 FIFTY YEARS OF NATIONAL PROGRESS.
Millions £.
115
Canals, docks, dockyards
Gas, waterworks, telegraphs
Colonial loans and railways
Australian mortgages
Foreign loans, railways, &c. .
Total.
•
178
•
432
330
· 814
1,869
An indirect method of arriving at the wealth of
the nation is afforded by the amount of property
passing yearly through the Probate Court, as
subject to Legacy or Succession duties. The
death-rate in the last ten years having been 20
per 1,000 we have only to multiply the amount
by 50 to ascertain the public fortune, viz. :—
Millions £.
Average to each
Probate,
Public
person dying.
Years.
Annual average.
fortune.
£
1837-40 .
55
2,750
93
1841-50.
60
3,000
...
99
1861-70 .
102
...
1871-So.
144
5,100
7,200
160
210
1881-85.
·
164
1.
8,200
•
235
The above figures, meantime, do not represent
WEALTH.
23
the total national wealth, as they omit all muni-
cipal, national or other public property, such as
the royal navy, dockyards, palaces, public build-
ings, artillery, museums and other institutions;
the public properties in 1880 summing up 550
millions. It is also to be observed that estates
under £100 escape the Probate Court; so that
the ultimate total comes out to be about 9,200
millions, as previously stated.
We find, therefore, that the accumulations
averaged 53 shillings yearly per inhabitant down
to 1860, and 82 shillings since that date. In a
word the ordinary accumulation is 150 millions
yearly or almost half-a-million daily. Nor does
this wealth become congested among a small
number of people: on the contrary, the rich grow
less rich and more numerous every year, the poor
fewer in ratio to population. The latest classifi-
cation of the Probate Court returns is that of
1877, which compares with that made in 1840
as follows:-
24 FIFTY YEARS OF NATIONAL PROGRESS.
Number.
Fortunes.
1840.
1877.
Ratio to deaths
of 100 male adults.
1840. 1877.
Over £5,000
1,989 4,478
...
1.7
3.4.
£100 to £5,000 17,936 36,438
...
15.2 27.3
Total. 19,925 40,916 ... 16.9 30.7
Thus the moneyed classes grew 105 per cent.
in 37 years, or 4 times faster than population,
and whereas 17 per cent. of the people were
above the reach of want in 1840 the ratio was
almost 31 per cent. in 1877. It may be
clearer to say that in 1840 there were 97,675
male adults who left no fortune or less than
£100 at their death, and in 1877 the number
was only 92,444, although population had in-
creased 26 per cent. in the interval. In fine,
the table of 1877 compared with that of 1840
shows that 14 per cent. of the people of the
United Kingdom had been lifted from the indigent
to the comfortable or affluent class.
Another proof of the diffusion of wealth is
afforded by the number of persons assessed by
WEALTII.
25
the Income Tax Commissioners as earning more
than £200 per annum, viz. :—
Year.
Numbers assessed.
Per 10,000
inhabitants.
1850
65,389
23
1860
85,530
...
30
1870
130,375
...
42
1880
210,430
63
1886*
250,000
70
This shows that the affluent and middle classes
have increased since 1850 no less than 270 per
cent., or 8 times faster than population, and just
twice as fast as the aggregate earnings, the
assessments to income-tax having increased only
133 per cent., viz. :-
Year.
Millions £.
1850
274
£ per inhabitant.
ΙΟ
...
1860
335
:
II
1870
445
...
14
1880
1885
578
631
17
18
* The exact number is not yet published for 1886, but a
recent statement showed 438,000 paying income-tax, over
and under £200 income,
26 FIFTY YEARS OF NATIONAL PROGRESS.
A third sign of the diffusion of wealth is the
ratio of persons living in houses assessed at or
over £20 a year, viz. :—
Year.
1840.
1850 .
1860.
1870 .
1880.
Houses over £20.
Ratio to all houses,
per cent.
244,300
5.4
434,000
:
8.8
•
519,200
9.6
754,100
12.8
1,002,400
14.5
The number of comfortable houses increased
310 per cent., or 9 times faster than population.
Finally the savings of the working-classes,
between Building and Provident Societies, and
deposits in Savings-banks, show that the increase
of wealth has been general:-
Millions £.
Year.
Savings-banks.
Societies.
Total.
1840
25
5
30
1860
41
ΙΟ
:
51
1875
67
20
41
87
1886
98
62
160
The savings of operatives averaged 1 million
TRADE AND SHIPPING.
27
yearly down to 1860, rising to 2 millions in the
subsequent period down to 1875, and in the last
II years averaging 7 millions.
III. Trade and Shipping.
The expansion of our foreign trade during the
present reign may be summed up in half-a-dozen
lines, thus:-
Yearly average, millions £.
Years.
Imports.
Exports.
Total.
1837-40
56
59
115
1841-50
83
75
158
1851-60
153
121
274
1861-70
•
270
...
213
483
278
:
649
•
395
291
686
1871-80
1881-86
• 371
The highest year on record is 1883, when the
gross trade reached 732 millions: since then
there has been a decline, chiefly the result of
a fall in prices. The price-levels have so much
influence on the apparent increase or diminution
*Including exports of foreign and colonial merchandise.
28
FIFTY YEARS OF NATIONAL PROGRESS,
of trade that it is important to compare them in
periods of years thus:-
British price-level.
Price-level of the world.
Years. Imports. Exports. General. Agricultural. Manufactures. Total.
1841-50 100
ΙΟΟ
100
100
100
100
1851-60 115
94
105
116
92
104
1861-70 130 121
125
121
100
III
1871-80 105 108
106
117
93
105
1881-84
85 90
87
III
76
94
1885
82
82
82
If we proceed to measure British commerce
by the price-level of 1841-50 we shall see that
its development has been much greater than is
represented in the Board of Trade returns pre-
viously quoted. Had prices suffered no change
after 1850 the imports and exports would have
been as follows:-
Millions £ yearly.
Years.
Imports.
Exports.
Total.
1841-50
83
75
158
1851-60
•
133
...
129
262
1861-70
1871-80
208
...
178
386
•
353
1881-86
↑
470
257
610
334
...
804
TRADE AND SHIPPING.
29
It appears that trade has really grown 5-fold
since 1850, and not 4-fold as the Board of Trade
figures would lead one to suppose.
And as there
are many indications of depression in business,
which have caused incorrect and exaggerated
notions, it may be well to give the actual trade
returns for 10 years, with the amounts that they
would have been, had prices sustained no change.
The following table does not include exports of
foreign and colonial merchandise :-
Board of Trade returns.
Millions £.
British commerce at price-level
of 1841-50. Millions £.
Imports. Exports. Total.
371 196 567
Year.
Imports. Exports. Total.
1876 375 201 576
1877 394 199
593
375
203
578
1878
369
193
562
380
202 582
1879
363
192
555
390
212
602
1880
411
223
634
423
239
662
1881
397
234
631
410
260
670
1882
413 242
655
435
260
695
1883 427 240
667
465
266
731
1884 390 233
623
459 259
718
1885 371 213
584
450 259 709
10 Years 3,910
2,170 6,080
4,158 2,356 6,514
30 FIFTY YEARS OF NATIONAL PROGRESS.
The amount which Great Britain paid for 10
years' imports was 3,910 millions; that is to say,
248 millions less than if prices had remained
unchanged on the other hand, she sold her
exports for 2,170 millions, being 186 millions
less than according to the prices of 1841–50.
It is, therefore, clear that she made a profit of
62 millions, or about 6 millions yearly, by the fall
of prices, which is so often regarded as a national
disaster.
The following table shows the distribution of
our trade
*
at various dates :--
Millions £.
Percentage.
With
1840.
1860. 1875. 1885.
1840. 1860. 1875. 1885.
Colonies
34
89 161
170
30 24
24 27
United States
23
68
95 118
20 18*
15 18
France.
6
31 74
59
6
8
ΙΙ 9
Germany
5 34 56 50
5
9
CO
8
8
Various.
45 153 270 245
39
41
42
38
100 100 100
100
Total 113 375 656 642
It appears that in the last 10 years the trade
* Including exports of foreign and colonial merchandise.
TRADE AND SHIPPING.
31
with our Colonies (including India) has grown in
much higher degree than with foreign countries.
To illustrate the preponderance of British
commerce, the subjoined table shows the aggre-
gate trade of various nations:-
Millions £.
United Kingdom .
642
£ per inhabitant.
18
France.
329
...
9
Germany
329
...
7
United States
275
5
British Colonies
392
Other Countries
1,363
3,330
If the trade of the Colonies were added to that of
the United Kingdom the amount would be almost
one-third of the trade of the world.
Wonderful as has been the growth of our
commerce during the present reign, it has been
greatly surpassed by that of our shipping. There
was a period of utter stagnation for 12 years after
the Queen's accession, until the repeal of the
Navigation Laws, in 1849, opened a new era of
32 FIFTY YEARS OF NATIONAL PROGRESS.
prosperity. The following table shows the nomi-
nal tonnage and the effective carrying-power, the
latter allowing steamers to count for 5 times their
nominal register :*-
Year.
1840
Nominal
tonnage.
3,068,000
Steam ratio
per cent.
Carrying power.
Tons.
3
3,430,000
Tons per
100 inhabitants.
13
1850 3,137,000
3
3,555,000
13
1860
4,360,000
9
5,950,000
21
1870
5,691,000
19
10,090,000
32
1880 6,345,000
4I
16,720,000
50
1885
7,210,000
54
22,770,000
63
Steamers are rapidly taking the place of sailing
vessels in the last 6 years, to Dec. 1886, there
has been an increase of 1,450,000 tons in our
steamers, and a diminution of 560,000 tons in
sailing vessels. The introduction of steamers has
caused a notable economy of hands, viz. :-
Tons per seainan.
Year.
Tons carried.
1850
14,110,000
Seamen.
151,430
...
93
1860
23,470,000
171,592
137
•
1871 42,923,000
199,738
215
1885 . 67,677,000
198,781
340
* The port entries of the world show that steamers make
15 trips, and sailing vessels only 3 trips, in 12 months.
TRADE AND SHIPPING.
33
Thus 3 seamen now carry as much as 5 did in
1871, or II in 1850. At the latter ratio we
should require 700,000 seamen to do our work,
and as we save the wages, food, &c., of half-a-
million men we are able to carry merchandise and
passengers cheaper. There is no other flag whose
sailors on the high seas carry 340 tons each per
annum, the next highest ratios being 308 for
American and 250 for French. Two remarkable
features call for notice in the shipping returns of
the ports of the United Kingdom since 1840.
Firstly, the ratio of foreign vessels is declining,
viz.:
Entries and cleared, tons.
Year.
British.
Foreign.
1840 6,505,000 3,010,000 9,515,000
Percentage.
Total.
British. Foreign
58 32
65
35
56
44
67
33
73
27
1850
9,412,000 5,100,000 14,512,000
1860 13,890,000 10,780,000 24,670,000
1875
30,940,000 15,330,000 46,270,000
1885 46,390,000 17,890,000 64,280,000
In the last 10 years especially the advance of
British shipping in our ports, and the corre-
C
34 FIFTY YEARS OF NATIONAL PROGRESS.
sponding decline of foreign flags, has been very
marked. Secondly, the ratio of ballast entries and
clearances is much higher with foreign than with
British vessels:—
Ballast entries and cleared, tons.
Ballast ratio to total.
British,
Foreign,
Year.
Pritish.
Foreign.
per cent,
per cent.
1840
1,302,000
660,000
20
22
1850
1,411,000 1,120,000
15
22
1860
1,810,000 2,160,000
13
20
1875
3,640,000 3,190,000
12
21
188
5,760,000 3,550,000
12
29
This proves very clearly that foreign shipping
cannot compete successfully with British, but is
losing ground. The tonnage of vessels entered
and cleared shows that some ports of the United
Kingdom are progressing much more rapidly than
others. In the past 10 years, Liverpool has
advanced 13, Newcastle 21, London 36, Glasgow
75, and Cardiff 150 per cent,
TEXTILE MANUFACTURES.
35
IV. Textile Manufactures.
This branch of industry has trebled during the
present reign, as appears from the consumption of
fibre :-
Millions of lbs. yearly.
Lbs, fibre
Year.
Cotton. Wool. Flax & Hemp. Jute. Total.
per
inhabitant.
1840
448
129
277
854
33
1850
565
158
371
42
1,136
42
1860
I,140 224
306
86
1,756
61
1871-75 1,280 305 434
356 2,375
70
1876-80 1,268 326
1881-85 1,440 341
377
347 2,318
66
380
466 2,627 75
The output of our mills has grown 5 times faster
than population. The above table shows that
cotton received a check after 1875, but has since
risen higher than ever.
gressed, never falling back.
Wool has steadily pro-
Flax fell after 1850,
rose rapidly after 1871, and fell again in 1876,
showing little sign of recovery. Jute is a new
industry, which has grown II-fold since 1850:
there was a slight recoil after 1875, but the
C 2
36 FIFTY YEARS OF NATIONAL PROGRESS.
average since 1880 is 33 per cent. over that of
the preceding decade.
Although the consumption of raw material
affords the most exact measure of the activity of
our manufacturing industries, irrespective of the
money value, it will be interesting to compare
the sums paid for fibre with the value of the
manufactured goods, the difference representing
the money earned by the operatives and mill-
owners. Firstly, as regards the cotton industry,
the output (according to weight of fibre con-
sumed) has been :-
Millions of yards of cotton cloth yearly
Years.
1840
Made.
Exported.
Home use.
1,445
791
654
1841-50
•
1,666
965
701
1851-60
•
2,980
1,988
992
1861-70
1871-80
•
•
2,890
2,444
446
•
4,602
3,693
909
1881-85
•
5,244
4,492
752
The Customs returns give us the value of
cotton goods and yarn exported; and, as regards
TEXTILE MANUFACTURES.
37
home consumption, we may put on 33 per cent.
to the price per yard. The annual value of the
product of our cotton mills is thus shown to be:
Millions £.
Years.
Exports.
Home use.
•1841-50
24.2
1851-60
38.0
1861-70
•
59.6
...
1871-80
1881-85
•
71.9
15.6
20.I
11.8
19.5
•
74.3
...
13.5
Total.
...
39.8
58.1
...
71.4
91.4
87.8
If we deduct the cost of raw cotton, we find that
the net value of this industry to Great Britain
since 1840 represents a larger amount than all the
gold and silver produced by Peru and Mexico in
300 years.
The balance-sheet of the cotton
mills stands thus:-
Millions.
Years.
Raw cotton. Manufactures. Net result.
1841-50
IIO
1851-60
242
398
581
288
...
339
1861-70
431
:
714
283
1871-80
389
...
914
...
525
1881-85
•
191
...
439
...
248
45 Years
•
1,363 3,046
...
1,683
38
FIFTY YEARS OF NATIONAL PROGRESS.
The net result
result rose from 29 millions in the
decade ending 1850 to almost 52 millions per
annum in 15 years ending 1885.
The woollen industry shows the following
balance-sheet :-
Years.
Exports.
Annual value, millions L.
Home use.
Total.
1841-50
7.9
20.I
28.0
•
...
1851-60
·
13.1
20.6
#
33.7
1861-70
23.7
22.4
...
46.I
1871-80
26.0
•
24.4
50.4
1881-85
會
​22.4
20.2
...
...
42.6
Deducting the cost of raw material (British and
imported wool) we find the difference in favour
of manufacturers,
table :-
as shown in the subjoined
Millions L.
Years.
Wool.
Manufactures.
Net result.
1841-50 .
III
280
169
1851-60
•
135
337
...
1861-70 .
165
...
46I
1871-80
1881-85.
185
64
...
...
504
202
296
319
45 Years
213
...
149
•
660
...
1,795
1,135
TEXTILE MANUFACTURES.
39
Comparing these figures with those for the cotton
industry we find that the latter exceeds the
woollen by 50 per cent. in importance. The
net product of the cotton mills in 45 years
averaged 37 millions per annum, that of the
woollen mills 25 millions.
Linen occupies the third place among textile
manufactures and shows as follows:-
Millions of yards of linen cloth yearly
Years.
Made.
Exported.
Home use.
1841-50 .
•
315
104
211
1851-60 .
317
132
185
1861-70 .
352
185
167
1871-80.
362
201
161
1881-85. 1 295
•
...
163
...
132
The decline in home consumption is extraordi-
nary, for we use at present only 3 yards per
inhabitant yearly, against 8 yards in 1840,
although linen was then worth 9d. a yard, and
is now sold at 6d. The value of linen manu-
tures since 1840 has been thus:-
40
FIFTY YEARS OF NATIONAL PROGRESS.
Millions £ per annum.
Years.
Exports.
Home use.
Total.
1841-50 .
·
4.5
7.2
11.7
1851-60
•
5.7
6.4
12.1
1861-70
7.7
...
5.6
13.3
1871-80
8.2
5.2
13.4
1881-85 .
6.5
4.3
10.8
...
Deducting the value of raw material (British and
imported flax) the balance-sheet shows the net
result for mill-owners thus:-
Millions L
Years.
Flax.
Manufactures.
Net result.
1841-50
58
117
59
1851-60
47
121
74
1861-70
60
133
73
:
1871-80
•
57
...
134
77
1881-85
21
•
...
54.
33
45 Years
243
559
...
316
has
The net result for the manufacturer
averaged since 1840 only 7 millions yearly, or
about one-fourth of the product of our woollen
mills. Moreover, the industry shows a marked
TEXTILE MANUFACTURES.
41
decline, not only in money value, but in con-
sumption of fibre.
Jute stands fourth on the list of textiles, the
output of the mills showing thus:
Millions of yards yearly
Years.
Made.
Exported.
Home usc.
1851-60 .
118
ΙΟ
108
1
1861-70.
353
26
..
327
1871-80.
580
116
...
464
1881-85.
805
221
584
The balance-sheet of raw material and manu-
factures shows as follows:-
9
Millions £.
Years.
Raw jute. Manufactures.
Net result.
1851-60
2
14
12
1861-70
53
44
1871-80
85
59
1881-85
•
44
...
30
35 Years
196
TI
145
26
14
• 51
...
...
...
The annual net product for 35 years has
averaged 4 millions, but at present reaches 6
millions, and it is not hazardous to predict that
42
FIFTY YEARS OF NATIONAL PROGRESS.
before long this industry will leave that of linen
in the background.
Silk comes next, and shows, like linen, a down-
ward tendency, the net annual product at pre-
sent hardly reaching 3 millions sterling, or half
that of jute. The balance-sheet of silk manu-
factures since 1840 shows thus:-
Raw silk.
Millions £.
Manufactures. Net result.
Years.
1841-50
•
51
...
1851-60
1861-70
1871-80
32
...
62
53
...
...
104
88
65
1881-85
I I
45 Years
85
***
34
42
•
35
33
25
14
209
367
158
In the last 30 years the consumption of raw silk
has fallen from 6 million to 2 million lbs.
yearly. On the other hand, imported silk goods
have multiplied 5-fold, averaging since 1880 a
value of II millions sterling per annum.
Summing up the 5 foregoing industries we find
as follows:-
TEXTILE MANUFACTURES.
43
Millions £.
Manufactures.
Years.
Raw fibre.
Net result.
1841-50
330
880
...
...
550
1851-60
·
488
...
1,157
669
1861-70
1871-80
1881-85
•
718
...
1,449
...
731
689
1,702
...
1,013
301
**
775
474
45 Years
·
2,526
...
5,963
...
3,437
The highest net result was in the decade ending
1880, averaging 101 millions per annum, whereas
since 1881 it has been only 95 millions a year.
The consumption of fibre in 45 years has been
almost 700 million cwts., viz. :
Millions of cwts.
1841-70.
1871-85.
Total.
Cotton.
193
179
...
372
Wool.
•
54
44
Flax and Hemp .
92
...
Jute
26
54
54
...
1.
98
146
80
|
Total. 365
331
696
It appears that the consumption in the last 15
years was almost equal to that of 30 years
44
FIFTY YEARS OF NATIONAL PROGRESS.
down to 1870. The mills at present employ
nearly a million operatives, and such has been
the improvement of machinery during the pre-
sent reign that two operatives now produce
as much work as three did at the time of the
Queen's accession, as shown by the Factory
returns, viz. :-
Year.
Operatives.
Million lbs. fibre. Lbs. per operative.
1835
353,000
633
1,780
1850.
596,000
...
1,136
...
1,902
1880.
976,000
2,528
2,590
If we take the working year at 300 days it will
be seen that our mills turn out 23 million yards
of stuff daily, viz. :—
Millions of yards
Yearly.
Daily.
Cottons.
•
5,244
...
17.5
Woollens
Linen
520
•
295
...
Jute
805
Total
6,864
1.7
1.0
2.7
22.9
TEXTILE MANUFACTURES.
45
It is found that a girl 12 years old in
one of our Lancashire mills can turn out daily
35 yards of printed calico, her work in one
year sufficing to clothe 1,200 persons, and
representing as much benefit to mankind as
five able-bodied Russian peasants toiling the
whole year round. The annual product of
each operative is shown in the subjoined table,
the first column indicating the value of output,
the second the net result after paying for raw
material:-
Cotton
Gross, L.
178
Net, L.
ΙΟΙ
Woollen
•
155
108
Silk
161
+
99
Linen.
95
60
...
Jute
•
230
...
154.
Nor does our textile industry consist only in
turning out 23 million yards of stuffs daily, for
we also produce 1 million lbs. yarn daily for
exportation, the shipments of yarn to foreign
46
FIFTY YEARS OF NATIONAL PROGRESS.
countries having doubled since 1850, as shown in
the following table:-
Millions of lbs. yarn exported.
Year.
1841
Cotton. Woollen. Linen. Jute.
Total.
•
•
119
4
18
141
1851
144
14
19
177
1861
178
28
26
2
234
1871
194
44
36
14
288
1881
•
255
30. 18
18
321
1885
246 44
17 31 338
Many persons find fault with the export of
yarn, and say that it would be better if we
consumed every pound of what we spin in the
United Kingdom: they might as well object to
the exportation of pig-iron. The best proof
that it pays us to spin yarn for foreign factories
is the rapid increase of quantity exported in
recent years.
Before concluding these remarks on British
textile manufactures it may be well to observe
that this class of industry in the world has
risen 160 per cent. since 1840, the consump-
TEXTILE MANUFACTURES.
47
tion of fibre among all nations showing as
follows:
Millions of lbs.
1840.
1860.
1883.
Cotton
Wool
1,192
2,391
4,778
640
1,041
1,716
Flax.
•
1,080
1,190
960
Hemp
580
770
950
Jute.
20
I02
630
Total
3,512
5,494
9,034
In 1840 Great Britain consumed 24 per cent. of
the total, and in the years 1881-85 no less than
30 per cent. The consumption of fibre per
inhabitant is much greater with us than in any
other country, the ratio being 72 lbs. in the
United Kingdom, 26 in France, 25 in the United
States, and 18 in Germany. No country at all
approaches us in this branch of industry.
48
FIFTY YEARS OF NATIONAL PROGRESS.
V. Miscellaneous Manufactures.
1
Leather is an industry which shows a career of
steady prosperity in the last 45 years, the value of
manufactured goods having trebled: the subjoined
table shows the consumption of leather, from hides
British and imported, and the estimated value of
manufactures :-
Millions sterling.
Year.
Millions of lbs.
Manufacture.
Export.
1840
82
14.4
0.2
1850
120
20.3
0.6
1860
•
•
142
...
24.4
2.I
1870
1881
•
192
205
31.2
2.6
...
34.1
...
3.9
1885
221
41.8
4.0
The production of leather now averages 6 lbs.
per inhabitant, against 3 lbs. in 1840. We are
becoming each year more dependent on foreign
countries for hides, British constituting at present
only 30 per cent. of the total against 55 per cent.
in 1840.
MISCELLANEOUS MANUFACTURES.
49
Timber is another great staple, the consumption
of which has trebled since 1840, viz. :—
1'car.
British.
1840
115
1850
1860
1870
1881
•
120
120
Millions of cubic feet.
...
Imported.
4I
85
145
Total.
156
...
205
265
382
...
430
460
·
•
130
...
140
1885
•
•
144
:
252
290
316
The value of furniture manufactured since 1840,
according to the insurance estimates, represents a
sum larger than the National Debt, viz. :-
Years,
1841-60
1861-70
5
1871-80
1881-85
Millions L.
197
163
•
397
201
45 Years
958
The consumption per inhabitant averages £12 for
a term of 10 years, that is 24 shillings per annum,
which is just 5 times as much as in 1840.
Breweries are one of our most flourishing
D
50 FIFTY YEARS OF NATIONAL PROGRESS.
industries, the beer being mostly for home
consumption, viz. :--
Millions of gallons
Year.
Brewed. Exported.
Value of beer
brewed.
Millions £.
Gallons
consumed
per inhabitant.
1840
646
3
...
40.4
24
1860
1871
•
770
16
48.I
27
•
996
17
62.2
30
1885
•
991
16
62.0
27
...
The consumption per inhabitant has fallen 10
per cent. since 1871, but is still excessive, as 15
gallons would be enough.
Distilleries are likewise a thriving form of
manufacture, which has multiplied 8-fold in value
since 1840, viz. :-
Millions of gallons
Year.
Distilled.
Exported.
Value of spirits made.
Millions L.
1840
16.5
3.I
1850
17.8
2.2
...
1.2
1.3
1860
20.3
2.I
:
1870
26.2
:
1881
·
32.1
1885
•
30.I
1.8
1.6
3.3
2.8
9.2
2.8
9.5
The consumption of spirits, between British and
MISCELLANEOUS MANUFACTURES.
51
imported, has of late years been declining, in
relation to the number of inhabitants, being now
less than a gallon per head, viz. :—
Millions of gallons
consumed.
Gallons per 100
inhabitants.
84
92
98
1841-50
22.8
1851-60
25.5
1861-70
29.3
1871-75
38.6
120
...
1876-80
•
39.8
118
...
37.1
104
•
35.4
97
1881-84
1885
The consumption is still enormous, fully 5 times
what it ought to be, and still more prejudicial
than the excess in beer, causing a greater amount
of crime and outrage.
Soap and tallow are kindred industries. The
production of soap is increasing, at present
200,000 tons, against 90,000 in 1840, the
consumption averaging 10 lbs. yearly per head.
Tallow, on the contrary, is declining, since the
discovery of petroleum: the consumption has been
as follows:-
D 2
52
FIFTY YEARS OF NATIONAL PROGRESS.
Tons.
Year.
British.
Imported.
Total.
1840
35,000
56,000
91,000
1850
37,000
62,000
99,000
1860
43,000
72,000
115,000
1871
47,000
68,000
115,000
1885
50,000
42,000
92,000
The consumption is no greater than it was 40
years ago.
Glass and earthenware have made wonderful
progress in the present reign, not so much in the
quantity produced as in the superior workmanship.
There is no means
means to ascertain the value of
the annual output, which exceeds 10 millions ster-
ling, the exports in the last 15 years averaging
3 millions.
Drugs and chemicals represent an estimated
value of 12 millions, of which one-third is ex-
ported.
Paper is a manufacture that has grown up
rapidly in late years, the actual output being
200,000 tons, worth 8 millions sterling. The
consumption has grown 12-fold since 1840, the
METALS AND MINING.
53
repeal of the duties, in 1861, having given an
extraordinary impulse to the daily journals.
Millions of lbs..paper consumed.
.:
Sundries.
29
Year.
Press.
Total.
1840
6
...
35
1864
71
...
117
188
1885
•
214
218
:
432
The average is 12 lbs. per inhabitant, against
IO in the United States, 9 in Germany, 8 in
10
France, and 4 in Italy.
VI. Metals and Mining.
The product of British mines has quadrupled
in the present reign, judged merely by the money
value, thus:-
Millions £.
Year.
Coal. Iron. Copper. Lead.
Tin
& Zinc.
Total.
1840 13.8 4.4
I.4 I.I
0.3
21.0
1850 19.3 7.7
1.5
1.4
07 30.6
1860 30.1 10.3
I.2
1.2
Ι.Ο 43.8
1870 36.2 15.6 0.5
1880 62.4 19.4 0.2
1885 68.6 17.3 O.I 0.5
1.5 1.6
55.4
I.I
0.9
84.0
1.0 87.5
54 FIFTY YEARS OF NATIONAL PROGRESS.
Coal and iron are the only minerals of any note
in Great Britain, and their supply is practically
inexhaustible. According to the Parliamentary
report of 1874 we have still 90,000 million tons,
which is enough for 600 years at our present rate
of consumption, The use of petroleum and elec-
tricity is already beginning to be felt, the extrac-
tion of coal in 1886 falling 5 million tons below
1883.
The product of our coal-fields in 50 years has
been
Years.
Millions of tons.
Value millions L.
1837-50
472
173
1851-60
640
...
235
1861-70
973
...
388
1871-80
•
1,280
...
640
1881-85
955
...
355
50 Years
4,320
1,791
In 1885 we produced exactly 40 per cent. of
the coal of the world, against 60 per cent. in
1860. We are still 60 million tons ahead of the
METALS AND MINING.
55
United States, and our production is more than
double that of Germany.
Iron, the raw material of most of our hardware
industries, is produced cheaper here than else-
where, owing to the abundance of coal. British
ironstone is, meantime, far from rich, giving only 41
per cent. of iron, against 43 in the United States,
52 in Sweden, and 60 in Canada. Scientific im-
provements have introduced a notable economy
of coal in our ironworks, for whereas it took 31
tons to produce a ton of pig-iron in 1840, it now
takes little more than two tons (2.2): in other
words, the same quantity of coal is now used
to produce 5 tons of iron as formerly required
for 3 tons. These two industries of coal and
iron have kept pace very singularly since 1840,
viz.:
Production yearly.
Period.
Coal, million tons.
Iron, million cwts.
1837-50
•
34
34
•
1851-70
1871-80
•
So
128
...
77
132
1881-85
•
159
162
...
56
FIFTY YEARS OF NATIONAL PROGRESS.
The production of iron in other countries has
had extraordinary development in recent years,
which has led to a general outcry that the best
days of British iron industry have passed. In the
midst of national mourning and humiliation we
may find a grain of comfort in the fact that
Great Britain still produces 45 per cent. of the iron
of the world, against 50 per cent. in 1840. The
latest complete tables published are for 1884, and
compare with the returns for 1840 for iron and
1870 for steel as follows:-
Iron, tons.
Steel, tons.
1840.
1884.
1870.
1884.
United Kingdom 1,450,000 7,530,000 245,000 1,780,000
United States
360,000 4,090,000 64,000 1,540,000
Germany
260,000 1,450,000 170,000 860,000
France
255,000 1,855,000 94,000 510,000
Belgium
•
Austria
135,000 490,000 10,000 180,000
110,000 690,000 22,000
200,000
Russia
170,000 500,000 9,000
250,000
Sweden
115,000 415,000 6,000 70,000
Total. 2,855,000 17,020,000 620,000 5,390,000
Two-thirds of all the steel now made is for
METALS AND MINING.
57
railways, American lines absorbing no less than
2 million tons yearly.
Copper is largely used in British manufactures,
so much so that we consume 60 per cent. of all
that the world produces.
1840 has been :—
The consumption since
Tons yearly.
Period.
British.
Imported.
Total.
1841-50
12,500
25,000
37,500
1851-70
•
12,300
63,000
75,300
1871-85
=
4,400
75,000 79,400
The value of our copper manufactures cannot
fall short of 15 millions sterling, of which one-
fourth is exported.
Lead is an industry of increasing importance,
the great fall of price appearing to stimulate trade.
The consumption has been as follows:-
Tons yearly.
Years.
British.
Imported. Total.
1841-50
1851-60
·
51,000 10,000
61,000
•
54,000
13,000
67,000
1861-70
·
52,000
33,000
85,000
1871-80
59,000 81,000
140,000
1881-85
44,000
101,000
145,000
We consume one-third of the lead of the world.
58 FIFTY YEARS OF NATIONAL PROGRESS.
Tin, the earliest industry of Britain, still holds
its own after 2,000 years, as if our supply were
The consumption of this metal in
inexhaustible.
our factories has been:
Tons yearly.
Period.
1841-60
British.
Imported.
Total.
•
D
5,900
2,400
8,300
1861-80
9,400
6,600
16,000
1881-85
•
9,200 I1,500
20,700
Our consumption is 55 per cent. of the world's
production.
Zinc has likewise made great progress, as
appears from the consumption :-
Tons yearly.
Period.
British.
Imported.
Total.
1841-60
3,600
17,000
20,600
1861-80
5,200
22,000
27,200
1881-85
13,100 46,200
59,300
We consume one-third of the zinc of the world,
the largest producer being Prussia.
The value of our metallic manufactures may be
estimated as follows:-
STEAM-POWER.
59
Millions £.
1840.
1860.
1884.
Iron and steel
23
51
...
127
Copper .
ΙΟ
Lead, tin, &c.
7
22
12
...
15
:
:
15
...
157
Total. 40
85
The value of our textile industries has been
already shown to have averaged 155 millions in
the years 1881-85, so that it would appear the
amount of hardware manufactures is almost
equal.
VII. Steam-power.
The development of our manufactures has been
materially aided by the growth of steam-power,
which has cheapened the cost of production, and
thus extended our markets in all parts of
the world. The steam-power of all nations
has grown 15-fold, that of Great Britain nearly
12-fold, since 1840, viz.:
60
FIFTY YEARS OF NATIONAL PROGRESS.
Horse-power,
British
Year.
United Kingdom.
The World. percentage.
1840
850,000
2,356,000
36
1860
3,100,000
I 1,400,000
27
1885
•
9,700,000
35,100,000
28
The annual increase of British horse-power was
110,000 down to 1860, and 266,000 after that
year. Steam does its work so quickly and cheaply
that it gives Great Britain an advantage over other
nations, less endowed in this respect. Hand-
labour, as a rule, costs 10 times dearer than what
is done by horse, and steam is 3 times cheaper
than horse, so that I million foot-tons of energy
by hand costs as much as 30 millions by steam.
The proportions in which the work of the United
Kingdom has been done at different dates were
as follows:
1840.
1860.
1885.
Hand.
14.5
8.5
...
4.7
Horse.
57.3
35.8
17.5
Steam.
28.2
55.7
...
77.8
100.0
100.0
100.0
The effective energy or working-power of the
STEAM-POWER.
61
United Kingdom is now almost 50,000 million
foot-tons daily, having quadrupled since 1840:-
Millions of foot-tons daily.
1840.
1860.
1885.
Hand
1,750
1,900
2,370
Horse
7,000
8,000
8,700
Steam
3,420
12,400
38,800
Total
12,170
22,300
49,870
Thus it comes to pass that the collective energy
of the nation is now equal to 1,380 foot-tons daily
per inhabitant, against 770 in 1860 and 464 in
1840. In other words, an Englishman of to-day
can do as much work in 3 hours as would have
taken 9 hours in the year 1840, or reckoning on
the basis of the latter year, we should require now
a population of 107 millions to do our work.
The steam-power used in our textile factories
multiplied 5-fold in 30 years, viz. :-
1850
1880
108,000 horse-power.
570,000 ""
وو
In the same interval the number of spindles rose
62
FIFTY YEARS OF NATIONAL PROGRESS.
from 24 to 53 millions, the average of spindles
to an operative being now 90, against 29 in the
year 1840. In the following table are shown
the working-power of the nation at the close of
cach decade, the daily cost of work,* and the price
of 1,000 foot-tons of energy :-
Year.
Millions of
foot-tons daily.
Cost L
daily.
Per 1,000 foot-tons.
Pencc.
1840
12,170
1,043,000
20.5
1850
18,560
1,155,000
15.0
1860
22,300
1,260,000
13.7
1870
29,570
1,420,000
11.4
1880
42,090
1,680,000
9.6
1885
49,870
1,817,000
8.4
The work that is performed daily in the United
Kingdom would cost 4 millions sterling at the
rate of 1840, since 400 foot-tons then cost as
much as 1,000 at present.
This is the same as
to say that there is a saving of 60 per cent. in
* Calculated at 30 pence daily per head on the whole
male population from 20 to 60 years, two shillings a day for
each horse, and one shilling for steam per horse-power.
STEAM-POWER.
63
the cost of labour or workmanship. It is worthy
of note that no country in the world obtains
energy so cheap as we do.
Millions of
Foot-tons Cost of 1,000 foot.
foot-tons daily. per inhabitant. tons. Pencc.
United Kingdom.
49,870
1,380
8.4
United States
77,740
1,430
9.8
Germany
•
33,230
716
11.6
France
•
27,620
720
14.2
Austria
•
19,950
520
16.1
Italy.
6,420
230
17.8
Belgium
4,680
880
10. I
The only country that surpasses Great Britain in
energy to population is the United States, which
averages 50 foot-tons more per inhabitant daily.
The cause of this is, that the Americans have 4
times as many horses as in the United Kingdom.
On the other hand we have more steam-power
per inhabitant, and thus our energy, as shown
in the preceding table, comes to cost 14 per cent.
less. The ratios of work done by hand, horse
and steam in the principal countries in 1885 were
as follows:-
64 FIFTY YEARS OF NATIONAL PROGRESS.
United United
Kingdom.
States. Germany. France.
Italy. Belgium.
Hand
4.7 4.5
10.0 10.8
33.2
9.0
Horse
17.5 41.4
30.3
30.9
32.I
18.5
Steam
77.8
54.I
59.7
58.3
34.7
72.5
100.0 100.0
100.0
100.0 100.0 100.0
In the ratio of work done by steam Belgium
most nearly approaches us, her steam-power
representing 8 times the amount of energy
possessed by her whole male population. The
steam-power of Great Britain is equal to the
energy of 16 times her population.
Comparing 1885 with 1840 we find that
the power of fixed engines in all nations grew
8-fold, that of locomotives 22-fold. The increase
as regards Great Britain and the world may be
seen at a glance thus:-
•
Horse-power, United Kingdom.
Engines.
1840.
1885.
Fixed.* 580,000 3,100,000
Railway 180,000 3,500,000
Steam-boat 90,000 3,140,000
Total 850,000 9,740,000
Horse power, the World.
1840.
1,276,000
1885.
10,500,000
960,000
19,400,000
120,000 5,200,000
2,356,000 35,100,000
BANKING.
65
No country rivals us in the amount of steam-
power to population, our ratio being 27 horse-
power per 100 inhabitants, against 19 in the
United States, 16 in Belgium, II in France and
11 in Germany.
VIII. Banking.
The banking-power of the United Kingdom-
that is, the aggregate of capital and deposits-has
risen very rapidly, being now 7 times as much as
in 1840, viz. :-
Year.
1840
1850
1850
1874
1884
•
Millions £.
125
£ per inhabitant.
5
260
IO
430
...
15
•
•
780
:
25
840
23
There are 140 joint-stock banks of the United
Kingdom, with an aggregate paid-up capital
•
and reserve of 100 millions, held by 90,000
shareholders, the ordinary value of the stock
E
66 FIFTY YEARS OF NATIONAL PROGRESS.
being 160 millions: this does not include 47
Colonial banks, with boards of directors in Great
Britain, whose capital and reserve reach 55
millions.
*
The following table shows the average amount
of Bills of Exchange in circulation since 1850 in
the United Kingdom, and the Bank of England
rate of interest :-
Period.
1851-60
Bills, millions.
Discount, per cent.
240
4.17
1861-70
•
350
4.23
•
450
3.28
•
500
...
342
1871-80
1881-85
English banks discount 240 millions, Scotch,
Irish and others, 120, and private discounters
140; the bills maturing daily average 4 millions
sterling. The mean rate of interest during 30
years ending 1880 was lower in Great Britain
than in most European countries, viz. :-
Per cent.
Per cent.
Great Britain
3.89
France.
3.93
Austria..
Italy
4.94
5.30
Germany
4.30
Holland
·
3:07
BANKING.
67
The European average for 10 years ending 1880
was 3.71, against 4.30 in the preceding decade,
and there is a decided tendency to cheaper
money, caused by the accumulation of banking
capital and deposits, which have trebled since
1850, viz. :-
United Kingdom
Continent.
United States
•
Colonies
•
Millions.
1850.
1885.
265
840
•
330
...
1,052
212
530
20
175
2,597
Total
822
The Bank of England averages for 35 years show
as follows:
Millions L.
Years.
Issue,
Specie.
Deposits.
1851-60.
21.3
15.3
18.5
1861-70.
22.6
16.7
21.7
1871-80.
27.3
25.4
29.5
1881-85.
26.0
•
23.I
31.0
In 1879 the issue reached 31 millions, the
highest recorded the deposits being then 37
E 2
68 FIFTY YEARS OF NATIONAL PROGRESS.
millions.
The year of lowest bank-rate was
1852, varying between 2 and 2 per cent. the
highest 1864, the average for which year was 71
per cent.
There have been 5 great crises since
the Queen's accession: in 1839, when the Bank
of England was saved by the Bank of France;
in 1844, when the Government lent money to
sundry merchants; in 1847, when the failures
exceeded 20 millions sterling, and discount
reached 13 per cent. ; in 1857, when a reper-
cussion was felt from the United States, where
7,000 houses failed, for III millions sterling;
and lastly the Overend Gurney crisis of 1866,
when failures reached 100 millions.
The price of Consols since 1840 is shown
thus:
Years.
Averagt.
1841-50
92
Highest.
98
Lowest.
...
79
1851-60
•
¿
95
102
85
1861-70
1871-80.
1881-85
92
96
84
95
ΙΟΙ
...
91
•
ΙΟΙ
102
96
BANKING.
69
Imports and exports of specie have been as
follows:
Millions £.
Gold.
Years.
Imports. Exports.
Silver.
Imports. Exports.
Total.
Imports. Exports.
1861-70
•
171
I12
...
93 91
264
...
203
1871-80. 185
171
128
123
313
294
1881-86 . 69
70
51
51
120
121
26 Years 425 353
1.
272
265 ... 697 618
Since 1860 there has been an excess of 79
millions in the importation of precious metals
over the exportation, that is 3 millions yearly.
One of the remarkable features of the present
reign has been the decline in the value of silver,
as shown in the following table :--
Years.
Pence per oz.
Ounces silver
to 1 oz. gold.
1841-70
61
15.5
1871-80
56
16.7
1881-84
51
18.5
1885-86
46
...
20.3
In the earlier part of 1886 it fell to 42 pence,
the lowest price on record, being as 22 oz. to
70 FIFTY YEARS OF NATIONAL PROGRESS.
an ounce of gold, but the price has since risen
to 47 pence.
The British Mint has turned out since 1837
more coined money than the aggregate from
William the Conqueror down to that date :-
Millions coined.
Period.
Gold.
Silver.
Total.
1066-1837
164
42
206
1837-1886 .
254
21
275
The above is irrespective of coinage in the
Colonies and India, which has amounted since
1837 to 65 millions £ in gold and 173 millions
in silver. Thus the total coinage of the Vic-
torian reign to the present sums up 513 millions
sterling, about 60 per cent. of same being coin
re-minted.
The coinage of the world during the last 50
years has been :
Millions sterling.
Gold.
Silver.
Total.
319
194
513
635
...
245
880
...
266
...
82
521
...
1,741
348
British Empire
European Continent
United States
Total.
•
1,220
FINANCES.
71
The amount of existing coined money is 673
millions gold, 455 silver, the preceding table
including what was re-minted.
IX. Finances.
The growth of public expenditure since 1840
has outstripped that of population, and even of
wealth, due principally to the increase of local
taxation and sanitary works.
Expenditure, millions £.
Year.
National.
Local.
Total.
Shillings
per inhabitant.
1840
52.9
10.2
...
63.1
48
1850
55.2
t
13.0
1860
71.1
1870
•
1880
70.4
82.2
...
...
14.9
36.1
61.2
...
...
...
...
68.2
86.0
106.5
143.4
51
1886
•
92.2
64.I
60
...
68
...
83
156.3
...
87
But for the great increase of wealth this rise in
taxation would be severely felt. In reality the
public burthens are less onerous now than they
were 20 years ago, and much less than our
72 FIFTY YEARS OF NATIONAL PROGRESS.
fathers felt them in 1840. Some exception must.
be made as regards tenant-farmers in England,
who are impoverished by tithes, rates and taxes.
If we compare expenditure with the estimated
earnings of the United Kingdom since 1840
the account stands thus:
620
760
980
...
...
Ratio of
expenditure.
11.6
II.O
11.3
Millions £.
Year,
Expenditure.
Earnings.
1840
63
540
1850
68
1860
86
...
1870
106
•
1880
143
1,170
1886 • 156
1,260
10.8
12.2
12.4
There is little reason to hope for a diminution of
expenditure, as local requirements are growing
year by year. Before long the local expenditure
will surpass that of the Government. Meantime,
it is worthy of remark that the cost of govern-
ment is not so great per inhabitant as in France,
though greater than in the United States or
Germany.
FINANCES.
73
The national revenue since 1837 has been
in millions sterling as follows:---
Years.
1837-50
•
1851-60
1861-70
Customs.
322
237
221
1871-80 199
1881-86
•
Excise.
Sundrics.
Total.
...
217.
...
248
787
181
...
260
678
204
268
...
286
332
...
711
799
118
•
158
241
...
1,028
1,367
50 Years 1,097
..
517
3,492
At the beginning of the reign Customs-dues
were very oppressive, averaging 41 per cent. on
the value of all imported merchandise: successive
reductions have taken place, until the dues come
now to be less than 5 per cent. of the value of
our imports. The revival of the Income-tax by
Sir Robert Peel has given a distinct financial
feature to the present reign, the tax having
produced in 44 years about 360 millions, viz. :
Period. Average,
pence.
Product,
millions £.
Product,
per penny
1843-51 . 7.0
49.2
£.
782,000
1852-61. 9.8
102.2
1,041,000
1862-71 . 5.5
1872-81. 3.8
1882-86. 6.0
77.6
1,408,000
70.6
...
1,868,000
59.7
...
2,006,000
74 FIFTY YEARS OF NATIONAL PROGRESS.
Taking the product per penny as a criterion it
appears that the earnings of the people have
risen 154 per cent. since 1851, the increase of
taxation and public expenditure having been 130
per cent. in the same interval.
National expenditure since the Queen's acces-
sion is shown in millions sterling as follows:-
Period. Government.
Debt. Army and Navy. Total.
1837-50
1851-60.
136
1861-70 164
•
1871-80 . 233
...
...
265
281
1881-86 . 166 ... 172
132
...
401
285
220
...
753
...
288
263
280
...
...
...
709
692
794
181
...
519
50 Years 831
1,404
...
1,232 3,467
...
The expenditure for administration on Govern-
ment has risen from 7 to 15 shillings per
inhabitant, and the cost of the Army and
Navy has almost doubled. Our military power
in the same period has been greatly augmented,
viz. :-
FINANCES.
75
1850.
1870.
1886.
Army
139,000
193,000
198,000
Militia, &c.
20,000
...
122,000
155,000
Volunteers
...
193,000
...
254,000
Navy
48,000
55,000
60,000
Total • 207,000
563,000
667,000
The above is exclusive of the Anglo-Indian army
or the Royal Irish Constabulary, both available
and in a highly effective condition.
National debt, compared with the collective
wealth of the nation at various dates, is shown in
millions
thus:-
Year.
1837 ·
1840
1850
Debt.
Wealth.
Debt ratio.
796
4,000
19.9
•
793
4,100
19.3
787
4,7Co
16.8
1856
836
5, ICO
:
:
16.4
1860
826
•
5,560
:
14.9
1870
801
•
7,080
1880
772
8,370
:
:
11.3
9.2
1886
•
•
742
9,210
8.1
In 13 years after the Queen's accession, the debt
was reduced by 9 millions, but the Crimean War
76 FIFTY YEARS OF NATIONAL PROGRESS.
again drove it up to the figure at which it had
stood after Waterloo. There has been a steady
reduction since 1856, nearly 100 millions having
been redeemed. In March, 1886, it was 742
millions, including 86 millions for terminable
annuities and 18 millions unfunded. The actual
debt is only 8 per cent. of the national wealth. In
recent years, however, local debts have been
created, at present reaching 180 millions, for
docks, waterworks, schools, and sanitary improve-
ments, thus raising the total public indebtedness.
to 922 millions, or just 10 per cent. of the. public
fortune, against 20 per cent. in 1837.
>
X. Agriculture.
This industry has declined so considerably during
the present reign, notwithstanding the reclama-
tion of 4 million acres of waste land, that the
production of grain is now only 8 bushels per
AGRICULTURE.
77
inhabitant, against 13 in the years following the
Queen's accession. The breadth of land under
tillage and pasture at different dates is shown
thus:-
Acres, millions.
1840. 1870. 1885.
Per 100 inhabitants.
1840. 1870. 1885.
·
Arable 19.8 24.1 22.3
...
76 77 62
Pasture. 24.3 22.2 25.6
92 72 71
Total. 44.1 46.3 47.9
168 149 133
The growth of tillage between 1840 and 1870
was very striking, no less than 2 million acres
of pasture having been turned into plough-land,
besides an equal area of waste land. In most
cases the capital expended in reclamation has
been money thrown away; lands, for example in
the Weald of Sussex, that have been laid down
under oats would be better devoted to timber and
game, as cultivation involves a heavy loss yearly.
Capital having an irresistible tendency to run
out of losing trades, and seek those which are
profitable, it is not surprising to see that grain-
78 FIFTY YEARS OF NATIONAL PROGRESS.
growing is rapidly diminishing in the United
Kingdom, viz. :-
Millions of bushels, yearly.
Value of crops.
Period.
Wheat.
Other grain.
Total.
Millions £.
1841-50
•
115
...
230
...
345
...
74.3
1851-60 IIO
•
1861-70. 109
1871-80. 184
...
240
250
350
77.7
...
240
...
1881-85 76
•
230
359
324
76.6
...
70.1
306
**
51.7
The average value of our grain crops during
30 years was 76 millions, which has declined 33
The fall of prices in the past 10 years,
per cent.
has seriously affected the farmers, the averages
since 1840 showing as follows:—
Pence per bushel.
Price-level.
Period.
1841-60 . 81 51 34
Wheat. Barley. Oats.
Wheat. Barley. Oats.
100
100
ΙΟΟ
1861-75 79
•
56
37
98
ΙΙΟ
IIO
1876-80 . 71
55
36
88
108
106
1881-86 . 59
46 31
73
90
90
The fall in oats and barley is 10 per cent., that in
wheat 27 per cent. There has not been a corre-
AGRICULTURE.
79
sponding reduction in rent: on the contrary the
official rental valuation of the United Kingdom,
for lands, has risen as follows:-
Shillings
Period.
Valuation, L.
per acre.
1841-50
56,364,000
25
1851-60
•
57,540,000
25
1861-80
62,940,000
27
1881.
1885.
69,290,000
65,040,000
...
30
27
The present valuation is merely nominal, the
actual rental not exceeding 52 millions, the same
amount as 50 years ago. With rising rents and
falling markets, the tenant-farmers have been
reduced to great straits: a steady rise in wages,
from 9 shillings a week in 1840 to 15 shillings at
present, has added to the pressure, although the
use of machinery has permitted a certain economy
of labour.
Cattle-farming has progressed, the annual pro-
duction of meat having increased 35 per cent. since.
1850, viz.:-
80
FIFTY YEARS OF NATIONAL PROGRESS.
Period.
Tons.
Price,
£ per ton.
Value,
millions.
1841-50
880,000
...
53
46.6
1851-70
1,048,000
...
55
57.7
1871-80
1,146,000
...
69
...
79.1
1886
1,192,000
56
66.7
The number of horned cattle is greater now than
ever before recorded, the returns for 1885 showing
10,870,000, an increase of 12 per cent. since 1878.
Sheep have fluctuated very much, having num-
bered 35 millions in 1874, after which they
steadily declined to 27 millions in 1882, then
again rising to their present number, 30 millions.
Pigs were over 4 millions in 1872, but fell
to 3 millions in 1880, and are now over 3
millions.
The combined value of grain and meat produced
yearly is less now than it was 40 years ago, but
rent and taxes have increased 36 per cent., thus
causing the margin in favour of the farmers
to diminish in an alarming degree, as shown
thus-
AGRICULTURE.
81
Millions sterling per annum.
Taxes and
Value of meat
Period.
Rent.
Total.
Balance.
Tithes.
and grain.
1841-50 56.4
10.2
66.6
120.9
54.3
1851-60 57.5
11.0
68.5
124.7
56.2
1861-70 61.2
15.3
76.5
140.7
64.2
1871-80 64.7
23.I
87.8
149.2
61.4
1881-85 67.3
25.3
92.6
127 5
34.9
1886
65.1
25.4
90.5
118.4
27.9
Thus the farmer's margin is now only half what
it was in the earlier years of the present reign,
being reduced to II shillings an acre, against 25
shillings in 1837-40. The above does not include
dairy products, poultry, green crops, timber, hides
and wool, the aggregate value of which in 10 years.
ending 1880 amounted to half the combined
product of meat and grain: that is to say, these
minor items make up 33 per cent. of the whole
farming income.
It is gratifying to observe that however agri-
culture may have declined, and must still
further decline, the gross product compared
with the number of persons engaged shows in
F
82 FIFTY YEARS OF NATIONAL PROGRESS.
•
each decade a constantly increasing ratio per
head, viz. :-
Value, millions £ yearly.
Period.
Grain. Meat.
Dairy,
&c.
Persons
Product
Total.
engaged.
per head, £.
1841-50
74 47 60
181
3,820,000
47
1851-60 78 47 62
187
3,690,000
51
1861-70 77 64
1871-80 70 79 75
1881-86 52 75
70
211
3,310,000
63
224
2,880,000
78
64 191 2,420,000
79
Judged by the money product the present
method of agriculture is much more beneficial to
the kingdom than at any previous time, since the
labour of 3 persons now produces as much value
as that of 4 persons in the decade ending 1870,
or 5 persons in the years 1841-50.
XI. Food-supply.
The food-supply of the United Kingdom has
grown much more rapidly than population, thanks
to the increasing importation of grain and meat,
FOOD-SUPPLY.
83
and thus our people are better fed than in years
gone by, as appears from the following table of
consumption per inhabitant, yearly :—
Period.
1837-40
Meat, lbs. Wheat, lbs. Sugar, lbs. Tea, ozs.
66 ... 255
18
19
1841-50
72
260
20
24
1851-60
81
301
29
...
35
1861-70
91
321
51
1871-80
96
...
1881-86
106
356
...
325
...
4I
...
60 .. 67
70
...
75
Two persons now consume as much meat as 3 did
in the earlier years of the present reign, while the
consumption of wheat per inhabitant has likewise
risen 40 per cent. As for tea and sugar the
increase is 4-fold. The annual expenditure on
the above 4 articles of food is now 88 shillings
per inhabitant, against 70 in the years 1837-40,
but the people are better able to pay more now,
because the wealth and earnings of the nation
have augmented so much in the interval. The
following table shows the sums paid for the afore-
F 2
84
FIFTY YEARS OF NATIONAL PROGRESS,
said items of food, side by side with the national
earnings:-
Millions yearly.
Tea and
Food
Period.
Meat. Wheat.
Sugar.
Total. Earnings.
percentage.
1837-40 44
41
8
93
540
17.1
1841-50.47
40
9 -96
580
16.5
1851-60 52 51
3
15. 118
:
690
17.1
1861-70 74
57
26
157
870
18.0
#
1871-80 ΙΟΙ 58
32
191
•1,080
17.7
1881-85 IIO. 55
30
195
-1,220
16.0
3
1886
95
47
•
26
168 1,260
...
13.3
Not only are the people much better fed than at
any former period of English history, but the sum
which they expend on food is relatively less, as
compared with earnings. If we take the working-
year as 300 days we find that in 44 years down
to 1880 it took 52 days of each year to pay for
food, whereas the ratio now is only 40 days.
Moreover, the work of 51 days in 1840 provided
but a scanty supply per inhabitant, but now we
have a plentiful supply with much less labour.
How much we are indebted to our Colonies and
FOOD-SUPPLY.
85
to foreign countries for the food-supply of our
people appears from the following table, showing
the annual value of all food,* for man and beast,
consumed in the United Kingdom during 10 years
ending December, 1885 :—
Millions sterling.
Home-grown.
Imported.
Total.
Grain
68
59
127
Meat
79
25
104
Dairy products
39
16
...
55
Sundries.
69
Tea, Sugar, &c.
1
18
40
...
87
40
Total . 255
...
158
413
With the increase of population (1,100 souls
daily) the ratio of imported food must rise year
by year, our acreage under grain steadily decreas-
ing: we have at present 2 million acres less
under grain than in 1871. But if there were
need we could double the area under crops, a
contingency not likely to occur even in case of
* Wines, liquors, beer, tobacco, are not included.
86 FIFTY YEARS OF NATIONAL PROGRESS.
war. It must be remembered that when Buona-
parte had closed all European ports against us, a
great portion of the wheat consumed in England
was grown in France. At present, of every 100 lbs.
of wheat eaten in the United Kingdom, 30 are
grown at home, 35 in the United States, 15 in the
British Colonies (chiefly India), 8 in Russia, and
12 in other countries,
The following table of consumption shows the
respective quantities of wheat and meat, British
and imported, since 1840, per annum :-
Wheat, millions of bushels.
Meat, millions of cwts.
Period. British Imported. Total.
British.
Imported. Total.
1841-50 108
14 122
17.6
17.6
1851-60 103
1861-70 102
1871-80 77 114
1881-86
47
150
....
19.8
0.9
20.7
73 175
22.I
2.6
...
24.7
191
...
23.2
5.8
29.0
70 154
224
...
23.2
IO. I
33.3
No country in Europe approaches us in the
consumption of meat, our ratio being 106 lbs.
yearly per inhabitant, against 74 in France and
69 in Germany.
PUBLIC HEALTH.
87
XII. Public Health.
We have expended in the last 30 years
more than 100 millions sterling on water-
supply, drainage, and other sanitary works, the
result of which has been a decrease of death-rate,
viz. :-
Period.
Deaths yearly, per 1,000 inhabitants.
England. Scotland. Ireland. United Kingdom.
1837-60
22.5
1861-70
22.6 22.0 16.7
21.4
1871-80
1881-85
21.3 21.8 18.1
19.3 19.4 18.0
21.0
19.2
The death-rate in Ireland has unhappily in-
creased, partly due to neglect on the part of
municipal authorities in matters of public health,
partly to the sufferings, exposure and hardships
undergone by many thousands of people, evicted
under circumstances of extreme cruelty. But if we
regard the whole of the United Kingdom, we find
that the rate has declined 10 per cent. since 1870,
which is equal to a saving of 70,000 lives yearly.
88
FIFTY YEARS OF NATIONAL PROGRESS.
This is the more remarkable in view of the extra-
ordinary increase of urban population, subject to a
heavier death-rate than rural: the collective rate
last year for 30 principal cities was 23 per thou-
sand, that is about 20 per cent. higher than for
the kingdom in general. In 1886 the death-rates
of 8 principal cities were:-
London.
20.7
Glasgow
24.8
Liverpool
•
23.7
Edinburgh
19.1
Manchester 25.9
Dublin.
27.0
Birmingham. 20.0
Leeds
20.8
•
One of the most fatal enemies to human life is
phthisis, or consumption, which carries off yearly
21 per 10,000 inhabitants in Ireland, 22 in
England, 23 in Scotland, 25 in London. It is,
however, gratifying to observe a steady decline in
this cause of death in England, viz. :—
Period.
Per 100,000 inhabitants,
1851-60
1861-70
1871-80
•
•
yearly.
273
255
221
PUBLIC HEALTH.
89
This shows that phthisis is now 20 per cent. less
deadly than in the years 1851-60. Still more
notable is the improvement in Scotland as regards
zymotic diseases, deaths from small-pox in the last
10 years not exceeding a yearly average of 30
per million inhabitants, against 302 in the 15
years 1850-64.
The immediate effect of reduced death-rate in
England has been to add 3 years to the span of
life, viz. :-
Expectation, years.
Agc.
1838-54.
1876-85.
5
50.0
53.0
20
39.9
41.5
The principal improvement is the reduction of
zymotic diseases, which caused 22 per cent. of all
deaths in the first period, and only 15 per cent. in
recent years.
If we compare 12 of the chief
causes of death in the decade ending 1880, with
the same items in the decade ending 1860,
the account stands thus, per million inhabitants
yearly :-
90 FIFTY YEARS OF NATIONAL PROGRESS.
Consumption
1851-60.
2,730
1871-80.
2,205
Bronchitis
•
1,185
...
2,295
Pneumonia.
...
1,025
Heart-disease
Diarrhoea
1,265
703
853
...
Scarlatina
•
996
:
:
Fever.
945
...
Violent deaths
744
1,242
895
805
410
750
Dropsy
501
187
Paralysis
452
515
Apoplexy
•
451
540
Cancer
315
...
470
Although we have to record so many favourable
indications regarding public health, we cannot shut
our eyes to the marked increase of insanity, the
number of insane paupers per 1,000 inhabitants
having risen as follows:-
Period.
1861-65.
1871-75 ·
1880.
England.
Scotland.
2.08
•
...
2.05
2.58
2.79
...
2.29
2.58
Ingenious arguments have been advanced, to ex-
PUBLIC MORALITY
91
plain away this increase of insanity, but the fact
deserves studious examination.
XIII. Public Morality.
The decrease of crime in the last fifty years has
been very remarkable, official returns showing the
annual average of committals thus:-
Per annum.
Per 100,000
inhabitants.
Period.
1840-49
57,175
204
1850-59
41,424
...
151
1860-69
27,605
92
1870-79
22,812
69
1880-85
20,763
...
59
Here is a decline of 70 per cent., partly due to
the spread of public instruction, partly to the
cheaper price of bread, partly to the action of
Reformatories and Industrial Schools. Juvenile
crime, for example, has fallen 53 per cent. since
1869, when this class of offenders numbered 458
per million inhabitants, the ratio being now only
92 FIFTY YEARS OF NATIONAL PROGRESS.
215.
Reformatories cost the State £10 per child
yearly, or little more than half the total expense,
the rest being defrayed by donations.
We can
still make further progress in this direction, since
the prison returns show that 6,000 of the criminals
now in detention are under 21 years of age: we
have but to rescue the children in time from
vicious ways. Habitual criminals are the imme-
diate result of evil training in youth: the French
returns show that 48 per cent. of all crime in
France is perpetrated by Recidivistes or profes-
sional criminals, and according to our own records.
10 per cent. of male and 33 per cent. of female
prisoners in England have been convicted 10
times or upwards. In 10 years ending 1885 the
annual average of committals per 100,000 of the
population was 60 in England, 71 in Scotland,
77 in Ireland.
Although the poor are certainly not less vir-
tuous than the rich, there is apparently some
relation between crime and pauperism, from a
PUBLIC MORALITY.
93
statistical point of view. Thus we find that in
1843 the number of paupers receiving relief in
England was 1,546,000, or 9 per cent. of
population, that is, 3 times the present ratio, and
in that year crime, according to committals, was 31
times more numerous than at present. Taking the
whole number of paupers in the United Kingdom
at various dates, we find as follows:-
Year.
Paupers,
Per thousand
inhabitants.
Price of wheat.
Pence per bushel,
1850
1,308,000
48
60
1860
973,000
34
80
1870
•
1,279,000
41
70
1880.
1,016,000
29
66
1885
982,000
27
49
The price of wheat seems to have no immediate
connection with the number of paupers, which is
doubtless affected in the first instance by the
general condition of trade and the number of
hands unemployed.
Drunkenness has unfortunately been more pre-
valent in the second part of this reign than in the
94 FIFTY YEARS OF NATIONAL PROGRESS,
first, the number of drunkards to population being
now 50 per cent. higher than in
number of persons fined for this
England and Wales has been:
1860: the
offence in
Per thousand
inhabitants.
Year.
Fined.
1860 .
88,410
4.4
1870
137,200
6.0
1881-84
188,900
...
7.I
1885..
183,000
6.7
This vice is far more prevalent in cities than
among rural population, the number of persons
fined in large towns being 19 per thousand
inhabitants in England, 38 in Scotland, and 39 in
Ireland. The ratio is highest in Cork, which has
56 drunkards per thousand souls.
Illegitimacy is declining, the percentage of
bastards in England having fallen from 7 per
cent. in 1840 to 4 per cent. since 1880. The
ratio is 2 per cent. in Ireland, and close on
9 per cent. in Scotland.
Suicide is increasing in England, the annual
INSTRUCTION.
95
ratio being now 67 per million inhabitants against
65 in the years 1855-60: in Scotland it is 40, in
Ireland only 17, per million souls. Divorces are
increasing in England and Scotland :-
England
Scotland
Total.
1870.
1880.
184
390
27
75
211
465
In Ireland there are no divorces; hence the low
rate of suicide.
XIV. Instruction.
Except in Scotland public instruction was in a
very backward condition in the earlier years of the
Queen's reign: the percentage of persons able to
write their name in the marriage-register has been
at 3 different periods as follows:—
1836.
1850.
1881.
England. · 57
64
84
•
Scotland.
78
83
88
Ireland
48
55
67
96 FIFTY YEARS OF NATIONAL PROGRESS.
The actual percentage of adults who can write is,
82 in the United Kingdom, 78 in France, 90 in the
United States, and 94 in Germany. As regards
the number of children attending school we have
made more progress in the past 10 years than in
40 preceding
Year.
School-children.
1850
1,598,000
...
1875
•
2,565,000
1885
•
•
4,330,000
Ratio to population
6.0
7.8
12.0
The increase of school-children since 1875 has
been 70 per cent., or 7 times faster than that
of population. The preceding figures show not
the number of children on the books, but the
average attendance, existing schools having
accommodation for 6 millions, that is 50 per
cent. more than the actual attendance. Parlia-
mentary expenditure last year averaged 21
shillings per scholar.
An indirect measure of the spread of education
is found in the Post-office returns:-
CONDITION OF THE MASSES.
97
Period.
1841-50
Millions of letters.
277
:
Per inhabitant.
10
1851-60
466
17
1861-70
724
24
1871-80
982
30
1881-85
1,319
37
Another evidence is the consumption of paper,
which now averages 12 lbs. per inhabitant, against
1 lb. in 1837. We spend at present 9 shillings
per head on books and newspapers, yearly, against
2 shillings in 1840. The exportation of books,
chiefly to our Colonies, reaches 6,000 tons yearly,
an increase of 40 per cent, since 1875.
XV. Condition of the Masses.
In whatever direction we turn our eyes, to
compare the present condition of the masses.
with what it was 40 or 50 years ago, we find,
with a few exceptions, the utmost reason for
satisfaction.
G
98
FIFTY YEARS OF NATIONAL PROGRESS.
1. The Probate Court returns show that 31 per
cent. of persons who now die belong to a class
above the reach of want, against 17 per cent. in
1840; that is to say, 14 per cent. of our population
have been lifted out of a position of indigence to
one of absolute or comparative affluence.
2. At present 15 per cent. of the people of the
3 kingdoms reside in houses valued at or over
£20 a year, against 5 per cent. in 1840, which
means that 10 per cent. of the population who
formerly lived in poor dwellings are now in the
cnjoyment of comfortable healthy habitations.
No wonder that deaths from consumption have
been 20 per cent. fewer since 1880 than before
the year 1860.
3. The general increase of wealth has been
extensive to the working-classes, since the
depositors in Savings-banks and members of
Friendly Societies numbered last year 10 million
persons, whose savings amounted to 160 millions
sterling, or £16 per head. These accumulations
CONDITION OF THE MASSES.
9.9
since 1840 have grown 14 times faster than
population, the annual increase since 1875 having
been 7 millions sterling.
4. There was an increase of wages averaging
50 per cent. from 1840 to 1880, but since the
latter year much of that advance has been lost.
Wages are nominally as high now as in 1880,
but the number of men working full time is
less. The actual earnings may be stated thus:
Shillings per week.
1840.
1880.
1886.
Blacksmith
21
32
27
Mason
23
35
29
Carpenter
20
30
25
Plumber.
22
35
29
Average.
22
33
...
27
After making all deductions we find the work-
ing-man earns 20 or 25 per cent. more than in
1840, and the prices of necessaries have mostly
fallen. These advantages are counterbalanced by
the rise in rent for whereas house-property in
•
G 2
100
FIFTY YEARS OF NATIONAL PROGRESS.
1840 averaged a value of £30 per inhabitant it
now stands for £75, a proof that rents have risen
exactly 150 per cent.
5. The spread of instruction and diminution of
crime have gone hand-in-hand, although the effect
of educating the masses was at one time viewed
with the utmost suspicion. The first who called.
public attention to the connection between crime
and ignorance was Judge Coleridge, in 1838, who e
words were echoed by the Special Committee of
the House of Commons-"We find that the
neglect of education causes much crime and
expenditure that might be avoided." In spite of
the abuses of the School Board and the urgent
necessity for reforming the Act, so as to make all
schools denominational, as in Canada, the work of
education in the last 15 years has improved the
tone of the people. Instead of building new
prisons we have recently seen II sold by auction.
Meantime the condition of our people is not
one of unmixed advancement. We cannot ignore
Maou
CONDITION OF THE MASSES.
ΙΟΙ
the fact that convictions for drunkenness, com-
pared with population, were 50 per cent. higher
in 1885 than in 1860. Happily the consumption
of liquor is declining, and the cases of drunkenness
in 1885 were 6,000 fewer than the average in
4 preceding years. The spread of insanity is
another unpromising feature, and the increase of
nervous diseases is no less marked in the bills of
mortality. Suicide and divorce are likewise
increasing, except in Ireland, where both are
almost unknown.
The overcrowding of population in large towns
and the want of suitable hospital accommodation
for the sick poor are two matters of transcendent
interest. Much of the drunkenness that threatens
to sap the nation is directly due to the "slums,”
where the poor are caged up in a manner that we
should think unfit for horses.
horses. As Professor
Huxley says, "The inhabitants of the poorer
quarters of London and other large towns are
condemned to a mode of life far more degraded
102 FIFTY YEARS OF NATIONAL PROGRESS.
and uncivilized than that of any tribe of Western
Africa." Mr. Peabody's example has elicited
some worthy imitators, such as Miss Octavia Hill,
but it is to be deplored that their efforts are not
seconded by the parochial authorities. Buildings
of this kind cost from 6 to 8 pence per cubic foot,
and the necessary sites from 2 to 5 shillings
per square foot. The average expenditure is
found to be £36 per head of persons lodged.
Thus at an outlay of 9 millions sterling all the
estimated population of the "slums" of London,
say 250,000 souls, could be decently housed,
in rooms at an average rent of 2 shillings a
week.
Hospital accommodation is one of the first
requirements in a Christian and civilized com-
munity. We have in the United Kingdom only
16,400 beds, in 496 hospitals, capable of admit-
ting yearly 145,000 patients or exactly one-tenth
of the number for which provision should be made,
according to Dr. Farr's and Mr. Edmonds' esti-
SCIENTIFIC PROGRESS.
103
mate. France, with an equal population, has
72,000 beds, and admits 438,000 patients
yearly.
It is to be lamented that the enormous increase
of wealth since 1840 has not been accompanied
by a greater attention to the wants of poor and
suffering humanity. However laudable it may be
to get up subscriptions for sufferers in Bulgaria,
missions in Patagonia, floods in Andalusia, earth-
quakes in Guatemala and foreign adventurers of
strictly moral antecedents, there is a duty that
every Englishman owes his country, to remove
the stigma which Professor Huxley held up to
public notice in the words above quoted.
XVI. Scientific Progress.
The march of Science since 1837 has been so
vast that it is only possible to recall some of the
most important events. The year of the Queen's
104 FIFTY YEARS OF NATIONAL PROGRESS.
accession was marked by the first two steamers
that crossed the Atlantic,* the Great Western from
Bristol and the Sirius from Cork, and by Messrs.
Cook and Wheatstone's invention of the Electric
Telegraph. In 1843 the Thames Tunnel was
completed, the initial step in a fresh path of engi-
neering enterprise. A submarine electric cable
was first laid, from Dover to Calais, in 1850,
since which date 124,000 miles of cable have
been put down. Bessemer's steel was patented in
1855, an invention of such utility that it saves
Great Britain 9 millions sterling per annum. The
year 1863 brought with it the Electric Light,
followed in later years by the Telephone and
other kindred discoveries.
It is the fate of most inventions that the more
useful they are the greater opposition do they
encounter, especially among the better classes.
* In 1819 the American steamer Savannah, from New
York, crossed the Atlantic, but steamed only a part of the
way.
SCIENTIFIC PROGRESS.
105
Gas-lighting was not admitted into Grosvenor
Square, London, until 1842. In the face of
numerous obstacles and an excessive "vis inertiæ,"
gas-lighting, drainage, and water-supply have been
introduced into most of the towns of the United
Kingdom.
The increase of steam-power has been already
mentioned, giving our people an average of 1,380
foot-tons of energy daily, or 3 times as much per
head as in 1840. Magnificent engineering works
have been from time to time carried out in
different parts of the kingdom, such
as the
deepening of the Clyde, the harbour at Holyhead,
the port of Cardiff, the Mersey and Severn tun-
nels, the new docks at London and Liverpool, &c.
Improvements in machinery have occupied so
much attention that great success is to be re-
corded. The newest kind of steamboat engines
consume about one-fourth of the fuel they would
have required 40 years ago, since we now get
as much energy from 2 lbs. of coal as formerly
Hor M
106 FIFTY YEARS OF NATIONAL PROGRESS.
from 7 lbs. As regards textile machinery, we
have seen that an operative now manages 90
spindles, against 29 in 1840.
But it is especially in the efforts for saving
life that Science has played so admirable a rôle in
the present reign. Dr. Simpson's invention of
Chloroform, in 1847, has been of great service in
midwifery and surgical operations. Deaths of
mothers in childbirth in London have fallen from
93 to 48 per million inhabitants since 1860: this
is equal to saving 1,300 mothers yearly in Eng-
land and Wales. Professor Lister's antiseptic
treatment has caused a reduction of 50 per cent,
in mortality after amputations.
There has been a great diminution in deaths of
miners, the annual averages having been as
follows:-
Period.
No. of miners.
Killed.
Per 10,000.
1851-60
245,000
1,002
4I
1861-70
·
319,000
1,063
33
1871-80
482,000
1,135
23
1881-84
•
542,000
1,080
20
...
LEGISLATIVE PROGRESS.
107
The reduction, as compared with 1860, is equiva-
lent to saving the lives of 1,000 miners yearly.
On
A considerable saving of life at sea has resulted
from the multiplication of lighthouses and lifeboats
at exposed points of our coast. There are now 556
lighthouses, against 317 in 1840, and this is one
of the causes why the loss of life on our shores
does not rise with the increase of shipping.
the contrary, the 7 years ending 1884 showed an
average loss between passengers and seamen of
2,064 per annum, against 2,211 in the 7 years
preceding. The Lifeboat Association, with its
12,000 volunteer boatmen, has saved 31,000
lives during the present reign.
XVII. Legislative Progress.
Our whole system of legislation has undergone
a complete reform during the present reign. In
1837 there were 13 kinds of crime subject to
108 FIFTY YEARS OF NATIONAL PROGRESS.
capital punishment, no fewer than 671 persons
having been condemned to death in 12 months;
but the accession of the young Queen was coinci-
dent with a more humane code, and the abolition
of the pillory. Since then only 840 criminals have
been executed, and these mostly for murder, being
an average of 17 executions yearly. In 1840 an
Act was passed for the protection of chimney-
sweeping boys, among whom death from suffoca-
tion had been frequent. At the same time came
into force the Vaccination Act, which has reduced
small-pox mortality 75 per cent., saving 12,000
lives yearly. The adoption of Sir Rowland Hill's
penny postage dates from the same year. In
1842 was passed a law against permitting women
and children to work in mines, the Factory Act
of 1844 going still further, in the cause of
humanity, to prevent overwork or ill-treatment
of operatives, especially as regards women and
children.
The Free-trade policy, which has made Great
LEGISLATIVE PROGRESS.
109
Britain what she is, was begun with Sir Robert
Peel's abolition of the Corn Laws, in 1846. The
repeal of the Navigation Laws, in 1849, was
another great stride, for such was the ignorance of
the time that the Liverpool shipowners subse-
quently petitioned Parliament to re-impose them.
Penalties on light and cleanliness had long
existed in the form of Window Tax and Soap
Dues, which were removed in 1851-53. A
better treatment of the insane was introduced,
and a check put to the brutality so common
in private asylums. The year 1857 was remark-
able for the creation of the Divorce Court, a
national calamity.
The ensuing decade began well (1861) by
abolishing imprisonment for debt, and a new
phase was marked in our domestic trade by the
commencement of Co-operative Stores (invented
by some Rochdale operatives in 1844) on a large
scale the progress made by the system is shown
as follows :-
110 FIFTY YEARS OF NATIONAL PROGRESS.
Year.
Members.
Capital, L.
Sales, £.
1861
38,000
365,000
1,100,000
1871
•
249,000
2,530,000
8,200,000
1884 898,000
...
10,480,000
30,400,000
Competitive examination was introduced in
1870, throwing open the Civil Service to persons
of all ranks in society. The Education Act of the
same year created the School Boards, which have
now so large a share in public instruction. Army
reform came with 1871, whereby the old method
of purchasing commissions was abolished. The
Plimsoll Law against overloading vessels was
passed in 1875. The Artisans' Dwellings Act
of the following year had for object to pull
down unhealthy tenements and construct suitable
buildings for the working-classes on the Pea-
body system.
No legislation produced more direct benefit to
the masses of the people than the continuous reduc-
tion of Customs dues from 41 per cent. to 5 per
cent. The abolition of taxes on knowledge took
place in 1861, with the removal of the Paper Duties,
LEGISLATIVE PROGRESS.
I I I
""
which were so oppressive that they amounted to
£20,000 on Charles Knight's "Encyclopædia ;
and the effect of their abolition was such that the
newspaper circulation, which averaged 800,000
copies weekly at the time of the Queen's accession
rose to 10 millions in 1864, and is now 32
millions. Cheap editions of the best English
authors have found their way into every cottage
in the three kingdoms.
Finally, the spirit of legislation in the Victorian
epoch has been to extend the franchise to all
classes, the number of electors in the United
Kingdom having risen as follows:-
Electors.
839,000
Year,
Per thousand inhabitants.
1835
33
1871.
$
•
2,553,000
81
·
1881.
1885 .
3,077,000
88
•
5,716,000
160
Civil and religious liberty has made such
advancement in the last 50 years that the
foundations of the State rest on a broader
basis.
I i2
FIFTY YEARS OF NATIONAL PROGRESS.
XVIII. Scotland.
The increase of population since 1837 has
been 56 per cent., or 14 per cent. more than
the increase of the United Kingdom in general.
The mean rates for births, deaths and marriages
in 25 years compare with those of England
as follows, per thousand inhabitants :-
Births
Deaths
Marriages.
England.
Scotland.
•
35.0
34.7
21.5
21.4
8.1
...
7.I
Birth and death rates are almost identical in
the two kingdoms, but the marriage-rate offers a
striking difference, being 14 per cent. higher in
England than in Scotland. Births might be
expected to present a similar difference, but for
two facts: the rate of bastardy in Scotland
(9 per cent.) is double that of England, and the
Scotch race is more prolific. After deducting
SCOTLAND.
113
illegitimacy we find that the ratio of lawful
births to each marriage in 25 years ending
1885 was:
In England
4.10
In Scotland
4.43
that is to say, 14 married couples in Scotland
will have as many children as 15 in England.
The growth of wealth in Scotland since 1837
has been relatively greater than in England, the
Income-tax returns showing that Scotland has
now almost 10 per cent. (9.7) of the wealth of
the United Kingdom, against 8 per cent. in
1850. The relative increase of public fortune,
according to the said returns, was:
1850. 1860, 1870. 1880. 1885.
121 163 209 230
England
Scotland
100
100
•
130 170
243 265
Thus while the population of Scotland rose
40 per cent. between 1850 and 1885 the increase
of wealth was 165 per cent., or 4 times faster
than that of population. Scotland has a heavier
H
I 14 FIFTY YEARS OF NATIONAL PROGRESS.
incidence of taxation than England, for she
pays 12 per cent. of the revenue of the
United Kingdom, while possessing only 10 per
cent, of the wealth.
XIX. Ireland.
The present reign has been the most disastrous
since that of Elizabeth, as the following statistics
show:
Died of famine.
Persons evicted
Number of emigrants
Evictions
were most
•
1,225,000
3,668,000
•
4,186,000
numerous immediately
after the Famine, the landlords availing them-
selves of the period of greatest calamity to
enforce their "rights." Official returns give the
number of families, and these averaging 7 per-
sons we ascertain the actual number of persons
evicted :-
IRELAND.
115
Years.
Families.
1849-51
1852-60
263,000
•
110,000
1861-70
47,000
1871-86
104,000
Total
524,000
::.
:
::
Persons.
1,841,000
770,000
329,000
728,000
3,668,000
The number of persons evicted is equal to 75
per cent. of the actual population. No country,
either in Europe or elsewhere, has suffered such
wholesale extermination.
Emigration since 1837 has amounted to a
number equal to 84 per cent. of the present
population:
1837-50
1851-60
1861-70
1871-86
Total
1,085,000
1,231,000
867,000
•
1,003,000
4,186,000
Existing Irish settlements abroad and the
estimated wealth in their possession show that
the bulk of the emigrants were good citizens, of
thrifty and industrious habits, viz. :—
II 2
116 FIFTY YEARS OF NATIONAL PROGRESS.
United States
•
Wealth, millions £.
388
Number.
2,040,000
...
Canada
1,053,000
III
Australia.
666,000
132
Buenos Ayres
27,000
18
Cape Colony, &c.
25,000
6
Total
·
3,811,000
17
655
In one generation 4 million emigrants, who
left home penniless, have become possessed of
real and personal property to the amount of 655
millions sterling, besides having sent home to
their friends since 1851 a sum of 32 millions.
This shows
shows an average accumulation of 14
millions yearly, or £7 per head on the medium
number of exiles since 1837.
XX. The Colonies.
This has been essentially a Colonial epoch,
as will appear on taking a summary view of the
progress of our 3 principal Colonies and the
Indian Empire.
THE COLONIES.
117
Canada has grown in population as follows:-
1837 .
1871.
1885
•
1,480,000
•
3,833,000
•
4,775,000
There has been a steady increase of 70,000
souls per annum.
The growth of trade and
revenue has been
11-fold and 14-fold respec-
tively:
Annual trade, £or
Annual revenue, £.
1840-45 .
1865-67
4,200,000
31,700,000
510,000
1871-73 •
1883-85.
3,420,000
40,800,000
#
4,440,000
•
44,300,000
7,170,000
Canada possesses the most perfect school-system
in the world, on the Denominational plan, the
ratio of school-children to population being higher
than in the United States or Germany: there
are 13,000 schools, attended by 920,000 children,
and maintained at a cost of 22 shillings per
pupil or 5 shillings per inhabitant.
The mer-
chant fleet is one of the largest, reaching
118 FIFTY YEARS OF NATIONAL PROGRESS.
1,400,000 tons. There are 10,800 miles of
railway, representing a cost of 130 millions
sterling, carrying yearly 10 million passengers
and 15 million tons of merchandise, but the net
product is only 1 per cent. on capital. Canals
represent an outlay of 12 millions sterling.
Public debt 41 millions, or 6 per cent. of the
estimated public wealth.
Australia has seen her population multiply
10-fold in this reign, viz. :-
1837 ·
1850
1860
1875
1885
•
·
&
•
·
•
345,000
•
446,000
1,264,000
2,296,000
3,233,000
The city of Melbourne, with 365,000 inhabi-
tants, is typical of Australian progress: in 1837
it consisted of "a wooden church, two wooden
inns, three wooden shops, twenty wooden huts
and a market supplied with kangaroo meat."
It is now the most splendid city of the Southern
THE COLONIES.
119
hemisphere.
The trade and revenue of Australia
have grown as follows:
Millions £.
Year.
'Trade.
1850
9.4
Revenue.
1.0
Debt.
1860
50.0
...
5.8
10.7
1875
91.7
14.I
54.8
1885
114.8
24.0
141.0
The trade now exceeds that of Great Britain
at the Queen's accession. The revenue is 3 times
more than that of George III. during the
American War. The value of gold extracted
in 35 years has been:
Years.
1851-60
1861-70
1871-80
1881-85
Millions L.
•
104
82
72
27
285
35 Years
The value of wool produced during the same
period has been 50 per cent. more than that of
gold, viz. :-
120
FIFTY YEARS OF NATIONAL PROGRESS.
Period.
Million lbs. wool.
Value, millions £.
1851-60
560
48
1861-70
•
1,350
1871-80
3,060
1881-85
·
2,040
102
184
102
...
35 Years. 7,010
436
The annual product of wool has risen from
43 to 420 million lbs., the number of sheep
having increased from 10 millions in 1850 to 78
millions at present. Statistics for 1885 show 8
million horned cattle and 8 million acres of tiled
land, an increase since 1875 of 18 per cent. in
cattle and 100 per cent. in tillage. Australia
possesses 8,000 miles of railway and lays down
600 miles yearly, besides 36,000 miles of tele-
graph. Public debt is 20 per cent. of public
wealth. The increase of wealth between 1870
and 1882 was 270 millions sterling, being almost
£10
per annum per inhabitant.
per inhabitant. Thus five years
of present accumulation would suffice to redeem
the whole public debt, of which, meantime, nearly
THE COLONIES.
121
80 per cent. is represented by Government rail-
ways, which earn 4 per cent. net on cost of con-
struction. Australia, however, owes 320 millions
on mortgage to English capitalists and banks,
representing more than 50 per cent. of the value
of her sheep-farms.
South Africa, including Cape Colony and Natal,
has advanced in population as follows:-
1840.
1860.
1885.
Whites
110,000
029
270,000
555,000
Coloured
33,000
150,000
2
1,140,000
Total
•
143,000
420,000
1,695,000
The increase has been chiefly caused by the con-
quest and annexation of native territories.
The
growth of trade and revenue in the last 25 years
has been as follows:
Millions £.
Year.
1860.
Trade.
Revenue.
Debt.
5.1
0.8
0.4
1875
•
•
12.3
1.9
3.P
1885
•
1 13.6
4.0
25.4
122 FIFTY YEARS OF NATIONAL PROGRESS.
In the last 20 years the production of diamonds
has reached a value of 42 millions sterling, the
highest yield having been in 1872, when it
exceeded 4 millions: the average since 1878 has
been over 3 millions yearly. The Stewart
diamond weighed 288 carats and was sold for
£11,000 sterling.
Summing up the 3 great Colonies, Canada,
Australia and South Africa, we find their increase
since 1860 has been thus:
1860.
1885.
Increase.
Population.
5,041,000
9.703,000
94 per cent.
Trade, £
77,700,000
172,700,000
122
35,180,000 308
")
Revenue, £. 8,650,000
Trade and population doubled, and revenue quad-
rupled, in 25 years.
Our Indian empire has made great strides in
half-a-century. In 1837, the ordinary price of
an elephant was £45: at present it ranges from
£150 to £800. The first high road was begun in
1836, to connect Calcutta and Delhi; the second
THE COLONIES.
123
in 1842, from Calcutta to Bombay, and shortly
afterwards a third, to Agra. Within ten years no
less than 7,000 miles of roads were completed, at
an average cost of £500 per mile. Then came
an era of canals, for traffic and irrigation, of which
8,000 miles were made, involving an outlay of
17 millions sterling, the Bengal, Jumna and
Punjab being the three most remarkable. Lastly,
railways were introduced, with a grand trunk line
from Calcutta to Delhi: since then Indian railways.
have advanced 500 miles yearly, viz. :
Year.
1860
1865
1875
1885
Miles open.
841
3,186
6,520
12,380
These lines have cost 162 millions sterling, or
£13,000 a mile they carry 80 million passengers
and 20 million tons of goods yearly, giving a net
return of 5 per cent. on capital, the highest
obtained in any country of the world. Importa-
124
FIFTY YEARS OF NATIONAL PROGRESS.
tion of bullion, chiefly silver, has been close on
450 millions sterling since 1841, an average of 10
millions yearly, viz. :—
Period.
1841-50
1851-60
1861-70
1871-80
1881-86
·
Millions £.
22
I12
•
•
151
89
75
449
45 Years.
Trade and finances have advanced in an amazing
degree, especially since 1875, thus:-
Millions L.
Revenue.
Year.
Trade.
Debt,
1840
24
20
41 $
38
1860
70
...
40
98
1875
104
59
125
1885
•
155
...
71
174
Education has progressed in the same marvellous
manner, the number of schools and of pupils
having doubled since 1878. There are 4 uni-
CONCLUSION.
125
versities and 141,000 public schools, the latter
attended by 3 million scholars. There are 600
newspapers in native languages and 40 in English.
XXI. Conclusion.
The growth of the United Kingdom in the
last 50 years is unprecedented in Europe, but
much less than that of the United States. A
comparison of the principal statistics shows as
follows for the latter country :-
1850,
1880.
Population.
17,070,000
50,156,000
Increase
of 30 years.
195 per cent.
Wealth, millions £
1,686
9,495
458 ""
Trade
64
309
383
Steam, horse-power 2,020,000
10,600,000
425
Banking, millions £
212
530 150
Except in banking the United States can show a
much higher rate of progress than the United
Kingdom, which is mainly the result of the enor-
mous influx of immigration. If we compare the
126 FIFTY YEARS OF NATIONAL PROGRESS.
various items with population, we find the respec-
tive ratios for the two countries, per inhabitant, as
follows:-
United States,
per head.
United Kingdom,
Increase,
per head.
per cent.
United United
1850.
1880.
1850.
1880.
States. Kingdom.
Wealth, £
99
188
174
240
89
38
Trade, £
4
6
6
18
50
200
Steam, horse
0.12
0.16
0.09
0.22 33
144
Banking, £. 13
II
IO
23
130
The only item, counting per head, wherein the
Americans have surpassed us in 30 years is the
increment of wealth, caused in great measure by
the enhanced value of western lands, opened up
by German and Irish settlers, Our individual
progress as regards trade, shipping, steam-power
and banking has left the Americans behind.
A. M. D. G.
PRINTED BY BALLANTYNE, HANSON AND CO.
LONDON AND EDINBURGH
BY THE SAME AUTHOR.
In Crown 8vo, price 6s.
MULHALL'S
DICTIONARY OF STATISTICS.
Second Edition, Enlarged.

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