Daily Democrat and news. [volume] (Davenport, Iowa) 1859-1864, 1860-04-09

At the present moment the island Of
Great Britain is the richest 10 the world.
People from almost every quarter of the
habltsble globe resort to London 10
raise the means necessary to build rail-
roads, construct ships, sink mines, and to
carry out other engineering projects
where vast OUTLAWS OF money are re-
CURED. This is strange spectacle, tru-
ly; and how can we account for it
The island is Insignificant in extent; the
population is small in comparison with
many other countries, and the climate
is well known to be capricious. It's IN
creased riches are not owing to tie nuu-
Der Of its inhabitants, its extent OF terri
tory, the richness Of its soil, or the Sc
rcni,y of its climate; the source OF Its
treat wealth lies beneath its surface, in
the deep and dark coal mine, where the
Author of Creation has stored up the &C
cumulatcd vegetation of bygone ages, for
the development and use OF this age OF
steam, iron and manufactures. The skies
of Italy and France are sunny aud
bright, and the purple vine covers the
slopes of Burgundy and Piedmont :;
while the skies of England are murky,
and the sunlight, even in flowcry De-
vonshire, is too cold for the grape to
Weld its fruitage. Yet, with all these
disadvantages on the part of England,
Italy is poorer, and France less wealthy;
for with the products Of her mines and
minerals other countries have become
her tributaries.
From an article in the last number Of
the Euinburg Revie,c, on Prof. Rogers
essays on the coal formations of North
America and Great Britain, we obtain a
more exalted view of the power of coal
than We ever entertained before. We
derive from Goa! our artificial light and
Heart it is the latent force which gives
life to the steam engine and it is the
concentrated energy which propels our
countless forms OF mechanism. 1t is a
subject of intense wonder that perlsha-
BILE vegetable formations which flourish
ed long before man appeared on the
globe, should have been covered up for
centuries beneath the rocks, and now
rendered subservient to the latest appli-
cations of human skill, for increasing the
productive powers of man to an extent
which almost battles the mind to calcu
late. The mechanical power of Eng
land, represented by 100000 tons OF
coal devoted to steam engines, is equal
to the labor of 66,OOO,OOO of strong men
per annum. Is it any wonder that such
d stupendous power should have given
England the mastery in commerce and
manufactures The possession of coal
mineslis momentous in its consequences,
and the annual product Of England for
all purposes is no less than 66,O0O,0OO
tons.
In the middle ages, France and Ger
many supplied England with all kinds Of
manufactures but the tide Of commerce
is changed, and ali owing to the natural
possession of great coal mines, Of which
there are no less than 5000 in the is
land. A commission Of French manu-
facturers who visited Manchester three
years ago, made a report on their re-
turn, and declared that although English
operatives were paid higher wages, yet,
owing to cheap fuel and machinery,
they could produce cotton goods at about
one half the price of the French. Such
is the power of coal.
We may take it for settled fact, that
the country which possesses the great
eft deposits of coal contains the great
est resources of mechanical and indus
trial powers. Were the coal fields OF
England to cease being productive in
1870, the wealth and power of Great
Britain, which are enveloped in her
steamships and countless manufactures,
would be annihilated, and the kingdom
would sink into diminutive power in a
few years. The coal fields of the world
are distributed as follows limited
States, 10000 square miles of area
British North American provinces,
1880; Great Britain, $500; France,
9s4; Prussia, 964; Belgium, $40; b.
hemia, 400; Spain, 200; Russia, 100.
The extent of tue Pacific and Atlantic
coal fields is unknown. From these
geological coal statistics it is not difficult
to predict what country is destined to
be the future mistress of the world 10
wealth and power. Owing to the vast
amount of coal raised in England annu-
ally, many of the mines will be worked
out in 800 years; and at the present
rate they will all be extinguished in about
1000 years.
Long bef,re that date, the "Court OF
St. James, may be transferred to Nova
Scotia or New Brunswick, where the
coal fields are rich and extensive; but
whether such result ever takes place
or not, the future superlative greatness
of the United States is just rs certain as
that the sun shines. On the other hand,
it is equally evident that Russia never
can become great Power; she may
have the muscle, but she never can have
the steam to become IN industrial giant.
According to the operations Of natural
laws our wealth must increase with the
Development of our coal power, of
which We have natural treasury thirty
four times more extensive than that of
England. 1t is only question of tine,
for the United States to become the
mistress of the world, and her coronal