The Irish standard., 1905-01-14

The Boston Pilot publishes portion
of a most interesting article from the
pen of Professor James c. Monaghan
in the Catholic World for january:
Professor Monaghan, who has spent
twelve years in Germany in the Ameri-
can Consular Service, declares that It's
public school education is ahead Of
ours in its advantages to the Empire
not only because Of its practical char
acter, but because it is not divorced
from religion.
We do not as yet produce the world s
fine grade goods. We import them.
If we are rising to the first place
among the worlds iron and steel
workers, it is simply because we pos
sess land richest in the raw mate
rails that make iron production on a
large scale possible. He compares the
production and consumption of iron
ore and pig iron and the production
of steel in the United States, Great
Britain and Germany for the years
1900, 1901 and 1902:
"a brief review of these figures re-
veals the singular fact that whereas
the United States, twenty-five or thirty
years ago. was behind Germany or
England in iron ore, pig iron and steel.
it's production today Is nearly rs large
in each class as is the combined pro-
duction of the countries named. 1t is
actually more than the total Of both
in pig iron and steel. 1t is not Mt once
apparent that 1t is our cheaper coal,
iron and limestone rather than any
greater skill, that has made our prog
rcss possible?
Reverse the facts, give Germany,
France, Belgium, Holland or Italy the
marvellous mines Of coal, iron and
lime that have been given to us, and
we would sec a success fully equal to
say the least, to any recorded in Penn
sylvanna, Ohio or Alabama. 1t is
doubtful whether Essen and the
Krupps have been equalled by Pitts
burg and Carnegie. A curious fact in
this connection, however, must not es-
cape us-Gcrmany's proportonate in
crease in the production Of steel, in
1902, was greater than that Of either
the United States or the United King
dom. The iron yield of the Mesaba
range increased from 4,245 tons, in
1892, to 1892 $40, in 1902, and 1892
542 tons, in 1908. 1t must be rcmem-
bered that this is the iron that is
scoped into cars by means Of steam
shovcls, is carried, or can be carried
to the lakes by gravity alone as the
roads from the mines to the lake at
Duluth and Two Harbors are short
and on descending grades 1t must be
remembered also that the lake trans
portntion is the cheapest in the world
per ton mile.
"Europc's total coal area is only 49,
1876 miles; that Of the United States is
225,OOO. Europe's mines are, many Of
them ut least, particularly those Of
England, nearing exhaustion. The
coal area Of single section Of this
country is far larger than the total
area Of Europe. Pennsylvania and
Ohio together have a greater area than
Europe, for they have 1880 and 49,
600 square miles respectively; Mis-
souri, alone has $4,000; our Northern
Appalachian region has 57,74O; the
Southern Appalachian, 1867; the
Northern Interior coal fields cover H.
300 square miles; the Eastern Interior,
$4,000; the Western Interior, 6G,2OO;
the Southwestern, 27,s76; the Rocky
Mountain area, 43,G1O. The other
square miles are divided up among
other parts of the country.
incidentally may point out here,
in passing, as pertinent to the discus
sion Of national capacity, 80 often mis-
represented by careless writer's, that
much If not most Of Italy's difficulties
those that led to her so-called decline
were due to the absence of just these
two great raw material factors Of in
dustrial life-coal and iron. Now that
we have entered upon an era Of cleo