, 1874-07-05


qros's yiews On the first national danger threat
eninG England, viz: tho political supremacy Of
the laboring claasos In the pfosont artlclo wo
intend to take brief survey OF his thoughts Oh
tho second national Danger, Rs giyon in tue Con-
temporary Reuie.o for June.
Tho second danger, or"roc1s ahead, !" Mr. Greg
considers to 10; The approaching industrial
exhaustion, or uoclino, Of Groat Dritain. Three
advantages thora aro which have given Great
Britain tta manufacturing supremacy, aud
enabled It to produce What every country in the
world wnnts botter, and cheaper, and moro
abundantly than any othor country. Theso
aro:
!. Abundant coal aud ron both chonp aud in
proximity.
3. Tho lndofatlgable Industry aud excellent
workmanBhip-i. C., tho blended skill and In
dustry--ot hor artisans.
8, Her enormous amount Of capital
In all these points Mr. Greg Bhows TINT
England Is losins Ner relative. and In some
rohpscts, hor positive, auprenaacy. England's
Goa, ls IN process Of exhaustion; her iron, Of
course, follows suit. English workmen labor
fewer llours, with lesa Bteadiuoas and coneclon~
tiousnesB, than they wero wont to- Foreign
skilled l4bor mud foreign enterprise arc improy-
ing, as compared ,Yith Eneiand's. The cost Of
production Of articles OF English manufacture
IL, therefore, increasing. It ID increasing both
aB compared with ~lat It has boen In England
aud what It. ia In ntltar eo1,ptttaa,
Tho prosont consumption Of coal In England
is about l2o 900 600 tons ycarly, Which, doluct~
ing tho amount exported, leaves 105 600, 900 tons
consumed in tho country itself. At this rate
tho total resasye OF coal III Great Britain would
bo exhausted In 1900 yeara. Tho quantity Of
coal existing in knoton English coal-aolds is
10000 million tons This includes ali that exlsts
down to a depth OF 1000 foot; and 1t Is
not yet demonstrated that shafts deepor than
5000 foot can 10 worked. Should tue
manufacturing p1odaotiyeness Of England
continue to advance at the same rate as hitherto,
ita annual consumption Of coal, instead Of re-
mainlug ut its present hguro (120 D00, 900 sons),
would be twice, thrice, or four times that
aulouut, and tue available coal-aolds Of Great
Britain would bo worked up III $685. aC0, or eyon
IN 100 years. Still, the question ia not how soon
will English coal be worked out, but how aoou
her cheap coal will be worked out not how
much GOAL she may raiae, but how much 1t toin
pay to raiso. England la now working ler rich
est aud most oasily-aceoasible yoins as ths
BhaftB 30 dseper tns cost Of working will In
orcaso, I. a. the cost Of producing tue coal Or. in
other woras lta natural price will Increase. Cheap
Goa! !s Indispensable to Engtana's productive
noss but cheap coal cannot long bo seouret1.
since every year 1t tocomos necessary to dive
deeper and doopcr Into the bowels OF tue earth
for 1t. aud, therefore, to pay hlghor wages to
obtain It. It ia, OF oourse, within the power Of
tho people to coonomiso the usa Of fuel, 10 AZ to
lowor the prco, but tten It is made question
whather that teure would allow sufficient wages
to men, or adequate prontp to mastnrB. But, no
mattor how tie evli day may DO postponed. Mr.
| Qrogs shows that It cannot lie avertol. England
is moving towards it III suro!y as fate. Iior snp-
ply Of coal is uot inexhaussible, and lts produo'
tion must become mors oostly all lilo time.
| Dut England Ia not only o1hanatlng hor coal
supply lLs uhArAatsr at lis u1lual latursr II