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[Illustration: France, compared in size with the States of Illinois
and Texas.]

THE FRENCH A THRIFTY, FRUGAL PEOPLE

When France is compared with other countries in respect of commercial
development and progress, the results will in almost every particular
turn out unfavourable to France. For example, since the close of the
Napoleonic wars eighty-three years ago the national trade of Great
Britain has quadrupled, while that of France has only trebled. At the
close of the Franco-German war France was eighteen per cent. ahead of
Germany in the carrying power of her shipping. Now Germany is seventy
per cent. ahead of France in that respect. But it must be remembered
that the Franco-German war cost France in army expenses and in
indemnity no less a sum than $3,250,000,000. The effect of that
tremendous expenditure upon the prosperity of the nation can be
estimated by one comparison. Since that war the annual average savings
per inhabitant in France have been $17. For the same period the annual
average savings per inhabitant in Great Britain have been $19.50. Had
that war not occurred the average annual savings per inhabitant in
France would have been $21.50. In short, no people in Europe are
comparable with the working classes of the French people in frugality
and thrift, and because of this characteristic, if France were well
governed, its prosperity would be equal to that of any country in the
world, and this would be so in spite of the fact that France's
interest bill imposes a tax of $6.50 a year on every inhabitant of the
country.

[Illustration: Street scene in Paris, showing the Bourse.]

THE IMPORTANCE OF AGRICULTURE IN FRANCE

France has one element of stability, one characteristic inducive of
thriftiness, that most other countries of Europe lack. In most
other European countries the land is held by few proprietors. In
France it is held by many. In Great Britain and Ireland, for
example, the land that is devoted to agriculture is held by only
19,000 proprietors. In France it is held by 3,500,000 proprietors.
There are also 3,500,000 district farms in France, though only
sixty per cent. of the farm land of the country is cultivated by
the owners. It follows from this that agriculture has in France a
hold upon the affections and self-interest of the people that it
has in no other country in the world. About forty-two per cent. of
the total population of the country able to work are employed in
agricultural pursuits. Agriculture, therefore, is one of the most
important industries of France. One fifth of the total earnings of
her people are made in agriculture. It cannot be said, however,
that agriculture in France is pursued as successfully as it is in
some other countries--in Great Britain, for example. France, with
sometimes the exception of Russia, is the largest wheat-grower of
all the nations of Europe, but its production of grain per acre is
not more than four sevenths that of Great Britain, while its
production of grain per farming hand is only two thirds that of
Great Britain. But so much of the agricultural effort of France is
devoted to such industries as can be carried on in small farms or
holdings--potato-raising, for example, and fruit-raising and
poultry-raising--that the total money product per acre in France
is not far short of what it is in Great Britain. That is to say,
while agriculture is more profitably carried on in Great Britain
than in France, it proportionately supports a larger number of
people in France than in Great Britain.

FRANCE'S WATERWAYS AND RAILWAYS

France, like Germany, is well supplied with navigable rivers, and
these, with its canals, constitute a complete network of navigable
waterways that cover all the country and greatly promote the internal
commerce of the nation. These navigable rivers aggregate 5500 miles,
and the navigable canals over 3100 miles. The tonnage of goods carried
on these waterways compares quite favourably with that carried by the
railways. The railways aggregate 25,000 miles.

THE DISTINCTIVE AND IMPORTANT MANUFACTURES OF FRANCE

The most distinctive manufacture of France, the one in which she
surpasses all other countries of the world, is the SILK MANUFACTURE.
France's total production of silk is not far short of one third of the
total production of the world. LYONS (466,000), on the Rhone, is the
chief seat of the industry, having had this pre-eminence ever since
the Jacquard loom was invented there at the beginning of this century.
Its production is not far short of three fourths of the total
production of the country. The most important manufacture of France,
however, is her manufacture of WOOLLENS. In this manufacture she comes
next after Great Britain, her total production being a little ahead of
that of both Germany and the United States. Her woollen mills number
over 2000. Her consumption of wool for this industry is about three
fourths that of Great Britain, but the value of her production is only
two thirds that of Britain. LILLE (216,000) and RHEIMS (108,000) are
the chief seats of the woollen industry. Of about equal value with the
woollen manufacture of France is its HARDWARE manufacture, but the
importance of France's hardware manufacture is national rather than
international. Of next importance is the manufacture of COTTONS and
LINENS. The chief seats of these industries are, for cottons, ROUEN
(113,000), the "Manchester of France," and for linens, LILLE. Near
Lille is CAMBRAI, the chief place of manufacture for that finer class
of linens known as cambrics. A second distinctive manufacture of
France is that of GLASS and PORCELAIN. In this manufacture France
quite equals Great Britain in respect of value, and surpasses her in
respect of the artistic character of the wares. LIMOGES (77,000) and
ST. CLOUD (near Paris) are the chief seats of the French porcelain
manufacture. It is at St. Cloud that the celebrated "Sevres" porcelain
is made.

PARIS AND THE GREAT SEAPORTS OF FRANCE

Paris (2,536,834) is, of course, the chief trade centre of all France,
but the trade interests of Paris are general rather than special. The
manufactures that are most localised in Paris are those of articles of
luxury, such as jewellery, perfumery, gloves, fancy wares, novelties,
and fashionable boots and shoes. Paris is also a great financial
centre. MARSEILLES (442,000), one of the oldest cities in Europe, is
the great seaport of France. Its trade amounts to over $350,000,000
annually, and it ranks next after Hamburg among the great seaports of
central Europe. Its specialty is its great trade with the
Mediterranean and the East. The opening of the Suez Canal has been of
incalculable advantage to Marseilles. Next as shipping port comes
HAVRE (119,000), at the mouth of the Seine, with a total trade not far
short of that of Marseilles. Havre is in reality the port or "haven"
of Paris. It is the great depot for French imports from North and
South America. These comprise principally cotton, tobacco, wheat,
animal produce, and wool. Its import of South American wool is
enormous, for three fourths of the wool used in France now comes from
the region of the La Plata. Recently the Seine has been deepened and
now both Rouen and Paris may be considered seaports. By this means
Paris has direct water communication with London, and is, indeed, the
third seaport in the country. Next comes BORDEAUX (257,000), the chief
place of export for French wines and brandies. About twenty years ago
the wine industry of France suffered tremendous loss from the ravages
of the insect phylloxera. Over 4,000,000 acres of vineyard,
representing a value of $1,000,000,000, were wholly or partially
ruined by this terrible pest. The plague, however, has now been
stamped out, but nearly 2,000,000 acres of vineyards have been
permanently destroyed and have been devoted to potatoes and the
sugar-beet root. The result is that the production of wine in France
is now less than what is needed for home consumption, and over fifty
per cent. more wine is imported than is exported. The remaining great
shipping ports are DUNKERQUE (40,000) and BOULOGNE (37,500). CALAIS
(57,000) has a great passenger trade with England.

III. THE TRADE FEATURES OF GERMANY

GERMANY THE MOST PROSPEROUS NATION IN CONTINENTAL EUROPE

The greatest and most prosperous commercial nation in the old world
after Great Britain is Germany. Its population is 52,000,000, as
against France's 38,500,000; and while France's population is scarcely
increasing at all, Germany's population is increasing the most rapidly
of any in Europe. Since the Franco-Prussian war France has gained in
population only a little over 2,000,000, while Germany in the same
time has gained 12,000,000. In the middle of the present century the
populations of Germany and France were equal, being each about
35,000,000. Since that date Germany's population has increased by
about fifty per cent. and France's by only about ten per cent.
Similarly, the commerce of Germany not only greatly exceeds that of
France, but is growing much faster than that of France. The total
exports and imports of Germany, exclusive of bullion, now foot up to
nearly $2,000,000,000 a year. The total exports and imports of France,
exclusive of bullion, foot up to only $1,500,000,000 a year. The total
commerce of Germany is therefore about one third more than that of
France. At the close of the Franco-Prussian war the total commerce of
France considerably exceeded that of Germany.

THE CHARACTER OF GERMANY'S INDUSTRIES CHANGING

Germany, like England, is rapidly changing the character of her
industries and becoming a manufacturing and commercial nation instead
of an agricultural nation. This is the cause of her well-known anxiety
to secure control of territories in Africa, Asia, etc., as exclusive
markets for her manufactures, for, unlike England, Germany is at
present a believer in exclusion in trade, both at home and in her
colonies. Fifty years ago about four sevenths of the people of Germany
were engaged in agriculture; now only about one third of the people
are so employed. The growth of the great cities of Germany is eight
times faster than that of the rural districts, and in fifty years the
aggregate population of the six largest cities of the empire--Berlin,
Hamburg, Leipzig, Munich, Breslau, and Dresden--has grown sixfold,
namely, from 600,000 to 3,600,000. In fifty years, too, the
manufactures of Germany have nearly doubled, the commerce nearly
trebled, the shipping increased more than fivefold, and the mining
output more than sixfold. While all this is true, it nevertheless is
also true that the area of cultivated soil in Germany is double what
it was fifty years ago. But this is because much land, formerly waste
or in pasture, has been brought under cultivation. Yet even now only
one half of the land of Germany is cultivated, and thirty-three per
cent. of the total food consumption of the people has to be imported.
Fifty years ago only five per cent. of the total food consumption was
imported, and this small fraction consisted almost wholly of
luxuries.

GERMANY'S SUCCESS IN TECHNICAL EDUCATION

[Illustration: Approximate size of the German Empire.

NOTE.--The population of that part of the United States included
within the circle is about 10,000,000. The population of the German
Empire is about 52,000,000.]

Germany's prosperity and progress cannot wholly be measured by
statistics. No one can predict what it will be, for it is partly
based upon elements that unfortunately other countries have not
taken much account of. Germany pays greater attention to the
PRACTICAL EDUCATION of her people than any other nation in the
world. Her system of technical education extends over the whole
empire, and provides technical instruction for every class of the
people and for every occupation of the people--night schools for
those already engaged in life's work, agricultural schools, forestry
schools, commercial schools, mining schools, naval schools, and
schools in every branch of manufacturing industry, besides, of
course, schools for the education of those intending to follow the
learned professions. As a consequence of this very general provision
of technical education, there is engaged in German manufacturing
pursuits a class of workmen not found in the workshops of any other
country--men of industrial skill and experience, and at the same
time of the highest scientific technical attainments in the branches
of science that bear particularly upon their work. These men work at
salaries that in other countries would be considered absurdly low.
In almost all other countries the possession of a sound scientific
education is a passport to social distinction, and every profession
is open to him who is deserving to enter it. In Germany, however,
the learned professions, and especially the official positions of
the army and navy, are almost the exclusive preserves of those who
are born to social rank. The educated commoner, therefore, has to
betake himself to manufacture, trade, or commerce. It follows that
scientific skill and intelligence are more generally diffused in
German commercial industries than in those of all other nations. So
far, however, the German artisan has not been the equal in special
technical skill of his more rigidly specialised English competitor,
and as a consequence of this more than one sixth of Germany's total
imports consist of goods brought from England--principally the finer
sort of textile fabrics and articles of iron and steel. This
inferiority in specialisation in the German workmen cannot continue
long, and the successful rivalry of Germany with the manufacturing
pre-eminence of Great Britain may soon be a startling fact.

GERMANY'S MINES AND HARDWARE MANUFACTURES

It is in the development of her mines and of manufactures in which
MINERALS are employed that Germany has made most noticeable progress.
She produces four times as much coal as France, and she has over 1000
separate iron-mines. Her production of iron has increased tenfold in
fifty years. She employs over 400,000 men in her mines, and by the
use of labour-saving machinery one man can now produce as much as
three men could produce fifty years ago. Her HARDWARE manufactures
are one sixth of her total manufactures, and in the past half century
they have increased sixfold. They are now double those of France, and
are only one fourth less than those of Great Britain. She has 750
factories devoted to the making of machinery alone. Two of
these--Krupp's at Essen, and Borsig's at Berlin--are among the
largest in the world. Krupp's employs 20,000 men, has 310
steam-engines, and covers an area of 1000 acres. Borsig's employs
10,000 men, and in fifty years, starting from nothing, has turned out
nearly 4000 locomotives. One of Krupp's hammers (a fifty-ton hammer)
cost $500,000.

GERMANY'S INTERNAL TRADE

Germany's commercial energies up to the present have been mainly
concentrated on her INTERNAL TRADE. The total amount of this trade
foots up to $7,000,000,000, against France's $6,000,000,000, and in
fifty years it has trebled, while that of France has scarcely
doubled. Germany has more miles of railway than any other country in
the world except the United States, her mileage being nearly 30,000,
against France's 25,000 and Great Britain's 21,000. Her natural and
artificial waterways are also the best in Europe, and her vast
production of mineral wealth is transported from mine to foundry and
factory, and her vast production of lumber and grain is transported
from forest and field to seaport, largely by means of water carriage.
The Rhine, the Elbe, the Oder, and the Vistula are all navigable
throughout their whole courses through German territory, while the
Weser and the Danube are also navigable throughout great parts of
their courses. All these navigable rivers are interconnected by
canals. The total length of possible river navigation is nearly 6000
miles, while the total length of canals and canalised rivers is 2700
miles. Besides, in 1895 there was completed the Kaiser Wilhelm Canal,
a lockless sea-going vessel canal, twenty-nine feet six inches deep
and sixty-one miles long, connecting the North Sea and the Baltic,
and constructed at a cost of nearly $40,000,000. This canal effects
a saving of almost one whole day for commercial steamers, and of
three days for all sailing-vessels, engaged in the Baltic and North
Sea trade.

GERMANY'S FOREIGN TRADE

But while it is true that Germany's internal trade is her most
important trade, it is also true that her FOREIGN TRADE has during the
last half century made more progress than that of any other European
country, and during the last three or four decades more progress than
even that of the United States. Since 1840 it has increased six and
two third times, while that of Great Britain has increased six times,
and France only four and one fifth times. It is now second in the
world, being more than half of that of Great Britain, ahead of that of
the United States,[1] and very considerably ahead of that of France,
while in 1860 it was much less than half of that of Great Britain,
less than that of the United States, and considerably less than that
of France. Germany, however, is not well favoured with respect to
seaports, for in its transmarine trade it is largely dependent on
foreign seaports--namely, ports in Belgium, Holland, France, Italy,
and Austria. Rotterdam in Holland and Antwerp in Belgium are much more
favourably situated with respect to the commerce of its chief mining
and manufacturing regions than any of its own ports. There are only
two German seaports with water of depth sufficient to accommodate the
deep-drawing vessels in which foreign commerce is now mainly carried
on--namely, CUXHAVEN, the outport of Hamburg, sixty-five miles from
Hamburg, and BREMERHAVEN, the outport of Bremen, thirty-five miles
from Bremen, though recent improvements in the navigation of the Elbe
allow vessels of even twenty-six feet draught to ascend the Elbe
wholly to Hamburg. But HAMBURG (625,000), for the reason that for
centuries it was a free port of entry, has built up a very large
foreign trade, being the fifth in the world in this respect, London,
New York, Liverpool, and Rotterdam, alone being ahead of it. Hamburg's
foreign trade is almost one half greater than the whole foreign trade
of all other German ports put together, while the foreign trade of
Bremen is about one fourth that of Hamburg. BREMEN, like Hamburg, was
for centuries a free port of entry, but in 1888 both Hamburg and
Bremen gave up in great part their free port privileges and entered
the general customs union of the empire. Both cities were extremely
loath to give up their ancient unique commercial privileges, for they
feared an immense loss of trade in doing so, but it was hoped that
what they lost in foreign commerce would be made up to them in
increased commerce with other parts of the empire. One reason for the
great development of Germany's foreign trade in late years is found in
the facilities that it possesses for rapid transit to and from Italy
by means of tunnels through the Alps.

[Illustration: North central Germany, showing the ship canal and the
leading commercial arteries.]

FOOTNOTE:

[1] During the last two or three years the foreign trade of the United
States has greatly expanded and has exceeded that of Germany, and is
making a close push upon that of Great Britain. The above statement
was intended to represent the situation as existing during a period of
some years.

THE SPECIAL TRADE CENTRES OF GERMANY

BERLIN (1,700,000), the capital of the empire, is a chief seat of
machinery manufacture. For many years FRANKFORT-ON-THE-MAIN enjoyed
the pre-eminence of being next to London the greatest money market in
the world; but since the establishment of the German Empire
Frankfort's financial business has been absorbed by Berlin. LEIPZIG
(400,000) has the distinction of being the seat of a book-publishing
trade that turns out over 60,000,000 volumes in a year, amounting in
value to $30,000,000. Leipzig has also the honour of being the
greatest fur market in the world. DANTZIG (120,000) is Germany's chief
port on the Baltic, and the chief seat of its great export trade in
timber, grain, flax, hemp, and potatoes. Its harbour, however, is
closed in winter because of ice. DRESDEN (330,000) is noted for its
porcelain manufacture, but the porcelain is not manufactured chiefly
in Dresden, but in MEISSEN, fifteen miles from Dresden. MUNICH
(407,000) manufactures largely the national beverage, beer. Finally,
NUREMBERG (162,000), in southern Germany, is remarkable for its
continuance into modern days of manufactures for centuries carried on
domestically. Of these the most noted are watches, clocks, pencils,
and toys.

IV. TRADE FEATURES OF SPAIN AND ITALY

ITALY, TURKEY, AND SPAIN, THE THREE DECADENT NATIONS OF EUROPE

The Mediterranean from the very earliest epochs of civilisation has
been a chief highway of trade, and along its shores every sort of
commercial activity has been prosecuted. For centuries and centuries
the nations upon the borders, especially those upon its northern
borders, were the leading nations of the world, and their empire,
indeed, comprised the empire of the world. But during the last two or
three centuries, and especially during the nineteenth century,
commercial pre-eminence and pre-eminence in empire have departed from
the Mediterranean. Italy, the ruler of the whole ancient world, and
even in modern times a ruler of almost equal potency; Turkey, during
the middle ages a chief power both in Europe and in Asia; Spain, for
two centuries at the beginning of our modern epoch a chief power in
Europe and the mistress of almost the whole Western world as
well,--these countries have all sunk to positions of comparative
insignificance, and Italy alone shows signs of effectual regeneration.
And yet on the whole earth's surface there are no lands more richly
endowed by nature as abodes for man than Italy, Turkey, and Spain.

SPAIN: ITS TRADE AND ITS SPECIAL TRADE CENTRES

Spain, because of the varied climate of her several parts, is capable
of producing almost all the edible fruits and grains known to both
temperate and tropical regions. Though there are some desert areas, a
great portion of the soil is abundantly productive, and were
agriculture pursued with the same skill as it is in other
countries--in England and Scotland, for example--Spain would be one of
the richest agricultural regions on the globe. But not only is
agriculture very inefficiently pursued, but the country is also
sparsely inhabited (only 90 to the square mile, as compared with 270
to the square mile in Italy) and only one fourth of it is cultivated.
As a consequence only those products are raised in Spain in which,
because of her advantages of climate, etc., she has least competition.
The principal commercial agricultural product is WINE, the vine being
cultivated in every province in the kingdom. Six hundred million
gallons of wine are raised annually, which is more in value than the
total quantity of grain raised. Only one fifth of this, however, is
exported (principally to France), and even of this the greater portion
is wine of inferior grade, used for mixing. The remaining agricultural
products of Spain exported are chiefly oranges, lemons, grapes,
raisins, nuts, olives, and onions. Of these over $15,000,000 worth go
to England annually. England and France, indeed, enjoy the great bulk
of Spain's foreign trade, but of late years Germany and the United
States are taking a small share of it. The MINERAL WEALTH of Spain is
enormous, and as the mines are often controlled by foreign capital
they are worked with energy. The iron ore of the Basque provinces of
the north and the copper ore of the district about Cadiz have been
renowned for ages. Thirty-five million dollars' worth of copper, iron,
lead, silver, and quicksilver are exported to Great Britain annually.
There are manufactures of cottons, woollens, linens, and silks, but
none of these can be said to be very prosperous, although during the
last twenty-five years, owing to a high protective tariff, the
quantity of raw material used in textile manufacture in Spain has
doubled. Spain produces excellent wool, but her woollen manufacture is
unable to use it all and one fourth is exported. Similarly, although
Spain is especially rich in iron-fields, she gets about one third of
the hardware she needs for her own consumption from England. The total
area of Spain's COAL-FIELDS is estimated at 5500 miles, but hitherto
little coal has been mined, partly because it is somewhat
inaccessible. Four million dollars' worth of coal is annually imported
from England. Whole mountains of ROCK SALT exist, but little is mined
and none is exported, although bay salt obtained in the south is
exported to the fishermen of Cornwall. Another important export is
ESPARTO GRASS, which is sent to England to be used in paper-making.
And still another is CORK, although Portugal, which adjoins Spain, is
the chief seat of the cork-producing industry. MADRID (470,000) is the
capital and largest city. BARCELONA (250,000) is the chief seaport of
Spain and the chief manufacturing centre. VALENCIA (145,000), in the
southeast, and SEVILLE (135,000) and MALAGA (115,000), in the south,
are the principal seats of the fruit export trade of the country.
CADIZ (65,000), Spain's principal naval seaport, has a famous export
trade in sherry wines. The total population of Spain is 17,500,000.

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