The Montgomery advertiser., 1901-12-25
ENGLAND OUTSTRIPPED ANNUAL REPORT OF CONSUL BOYLE AT LIVERPOOL. The United Kingdom, He Says, May Soon Take Third Rank in
 the Worlds Trade and
 Commerce.

Washington, Dec. 24.-There is a large and ever increasing number of thought full and well informed people in Great Britain who express the serious belief that if radical changes do not come about in the near future, the United Kingdom will be relegated to the third position in the ranks of the worlds trade and com merce.
 This statement is made by United annual report. extracts from which were made public today by the State Depart ment. It is conceded. says Consul Boyle, that in manufactures Great Britain, within the last few years, has failed to meet the competition of the United States and Germany. MT. Boyle says the enthusiastically inclined plead exceptional and marvellous natural advantages as far as the United States is concerned, while as to Germany's fierce competition the unsatisfactory financial and commercial situation now prevailing in that empire is cited as an instance of country booming itself too rapidly.
 The cry of something must be done, says the consul, is going up from com mercial bodies, political speakers, eco homie writers and from the newspapers. There are fears expressed, says Mir. Boyle, that even in the carrying trade, the supremacy of Great Britain is threat ened. When the war in South Africa is oyer, he says, there is certain to be a popular demand for legislative action and the indications are that the British gov ernment will be compelled to give more earnest consideration to matters relating to trade and commerce. There is strong sentiment among the masses or Great Britain and one which appears to be gaining strength as time goes on. In favor of bringing about what has be- come pOpuiarly known as fair trade, " and which says Mir. Boyle. is nothing but reciprocity. Protection per SC, he says, is not very much advocated, but it is significant that many of the most widely circulated paperS of Great Brit ain now are boldly advocating policy of .faiI trade" or do to others as they do to you" Against this sentiment, how ever, the consul says, must be set the national dislike to change established Institutions, of which Tree trade Is one of the fundamental
 In regard to the educational reforms in the Uait,d Kingdom MT. Boyle says that the universally acknowledged in feriority of Great Britain to most of the leading nations, particularly the United States and Germany, is given frequently as one of the chief reasons why Great Britain is being outstripped in her manu- tartuTes The subject of education, he says. is a very thoIny one in England, owing princip lily to the fact that there are two systt ms of managemcnt-One, the board school management similar to the 2,., dcnominatiunal manag- uent. Efforts are now making by the respective authorities to secure uniformity of methods and re- suits, while raising the stand Ird at the same time.
 A particularly interesting portion of CUnyul BoNlCss r. port is that wherein he places the American and British work man side by side in comparison, which places the American far to the fore. Eng fish manufacturers, he says, find it al- most impossible to gat the same amount of product from machines as is obtained in America. There are two reasons for this. says Mir Boyle. First the average British workman is not as adaptable as the American and does not s0 readily get command oi new appliances; and, second, that it is not the custom of the country for an Englishman. whether me- Charic, clerk or labOTer to work as hard as an American. Then, too. states Mr. Boyle the English workman is inclined to split very fine hairs-he wil' often re- fuse to do anything outside of the certain line rigidly laid down by the custom of his craft gene rally and by his trade union in particular. As an example of this trait MT. Boyle cites a number of in- stances when strikes have been brought on by such an apparently trivial dispute as to whether engineers or Shipwrights should place an electric dynamo in posi- tton Quite recently, in seaside town, there was a strike of teamsters, because their employer refused to discharge an entorprising driver, who had whipped up his horse and made journey to a neigh boring town three hours quicker than they themselves mad been accustomed tC do the same distance.
 The small extent to which up-to-date labor-saving machinery is used in Great Britain as compared with America, and even Germany. MT Boyle says, is just now a fruitful topic of discussion. Eng fish manufacturers he says, are handi- capped by reason of their employment of untiquated plants. The rule in England says the Consul is not for plant or ma chine to he replaced until it is absolutely worn out. In the meantime" saysSthe Consul, now is the time for American manufacturers to get a stronger foothold in this country.