The sun. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1833-1916, 1897-11-21

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bowed enusively to feminine fashion, ana did
not grudRo the needful machinery. lie got the
trade. Is this action Of the hard'headed Ian
cashire man businesslikef
Another charge against tho EnRlishman is
parsimony in the way Of providing the latest
ana best mechanical appliances. And the toIow'
Ing paragraph must carry convictions:
THE manager OF q firm OF textile machinery
makers in Belfast told me that his best machines
went-not,a AZ q rule, TO the textile mills In Inc
same street. but to the rival mills on the Con.
tinent. A Manchester man told me q similar
tale. When the delegates Of the British Iron
Trade Association visited Belgium and dermany
they were astonished at the superiority OF tho
Continental plant; and their official report,
though 1t unpleasant home truths.
admitted, In respect to the Bessemer steel In
dustry the superiority of the Belgian and Ger
man works. The utterances of individual mem.
bers were moro pronounced. and one OF them
expressed a general sentiment when no ex'
claimed. W shall have to begin and learn
again. Is this pseudo-economy IN equipment
businesslikef
And when economy might DO practiced with
advantage 1t Is utterly neglected. Valuable
bye.products are generally wasted in England.
Aniline dye manufacture. invented by an Eng
hshman, is almost confined to Germany.
To parsimony and wastefulness Is added
greed. Tho British manufacturer grasps at in
ordinate profits and pays the natural penalty.
THE bicycle trade affords a melancholy ex-
ample OF the principle misapplied. The price OF
an English machine bears a marginal relation
to the cost Of production which comparison
with profits and expenses in no other manu-
features would warrant boing termed fair. An
easy test Of the unfairness IL to compare
say, Ia Singer machine with one made by o
small, unknown man. There will be several
pounds difference in the price; tho substantial
difference in the quality will need a lot OF ex-
PLANTATION. Yet the small mans manufacture
on a small scale renders his production moro
expensive. and, as his work consists chiefly of
putting together 'components' which he has to
buy. his outlay is again considerably en-.
HANGED. Yet he makes q profit. What is
the result of Coventry's extortion1 The
American and German machines, despite
the almost ineradicable prejudice entertained
against Thorn in this country, are gradually
making their way hither. When I wrote Made
in Germany tnot two years ago), statistics of
bicycle imports were not obtainable: the trade
was so small. Now the Custom House statisti.
clan incorporates cycles and parts thereof in
the monthly returns, which are only supposed
to detail the more important articles. Tho i'm
port in the first nine months of this year was
valued OF 2463, oS3. The export business shows
infinitely worse. All the world and his wife
rides now. 1t may not be quite from Green
lands icy mountains, but certainly on India's
coral strand, the bell Of the bike brings dismay
and bad language to pedestrians. Even the
Heather Chinee, prince Of conservatives, has
adopted the bicycle for fashionable recreation.
"Think of Ergland's chance, with her me-
chanical reputationl No other country should
have a look-in. Yet the reports OF Consuls the
world over tell of the progress of bicycle sales by
Germans and Americans; the English wheel
makes scarce any Roadway. The trade returns
confirm the tale. Our total export Of cycles and
parts thereof for the first nine months Of this
year only reached a value Of a76,2O7. The for
eigners and colonials will not stand the English
prices. Does this show your businesslike
spiritf'
But this castigator Of the British merchant
allows that there is some excuse for the evil
plight in which he finds British In
addition to his own faults tho manufacturer is
handicapped by the British Government, or
rather the British Constitution. Here We como
across the free trade question. and Williams. OF
course, cries for protection. Into this argument
there is no need to follow him; the subject is
too well known. But another grievance Of the
English merchant is worthy OF notlce-the cost
Of transport. English railway rates completely
XIII anything IKE small DuslnebS III AGRICULTURAL
produce, and what should DO a source of profit
to farmers, especially small mon. is absolutely
denied them. Fruit can be brought from
America to London cheaper than from the Eng
fish orchard districts. AS to shipping freights
Mr.. Williams points out, quoting from a Gov.
eminent report. that
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