The Bridgeport evening farmer. [volume] (Bridgeport, Conn.) 1866-1917, 1911-08-26

years no less than 73 firms or corpo-
rations have secured sites for the erec-
ton of great industrial plants.
The Trafford Park estate is only one
of number of great tracts of land on
which similar developments are TAX
ing place along lines as diverse as
the baking of biscuits and the build
ing of ships, the crushing of seeds for
oil and the construction of railway
cars the saving of timber and the
making of electrical machinery. The
British works Of the Westinghouse
Company and the American Car and
Foundry Company are located at Man
pecially to Birmingham, is the fact
that a tract of 80 acres has been So
cured on which the construction of a
great iron and steel works has been
begun.
The addition of scores of great fac
tories carries with it a growth in pop
ulation, for not only must there be
tens Of thousands of workmen to op-
crate these plants, but they and their
families must be fed and clothed and
housed and their other wants supplied
and other thousands of people must
come for that purpose When the
proposed consolidation of Manchester
and the adjoining town of Stafford is
carried out the city so formed will
have a population of 100000 souls.
The contrast in conditions is certain
ly striking enough to command at
tention, but the important thing is to
find the cause of the difference. What
is the matter with Birmingham? The
trouble was not due to a general de-
preston of business, for the foreign,
commerce of Great Britain in 1910
was greater by more than s516, 600 600
than in 1909, reaching the colossal to-
tai of IS, 397, 600 900. Exports of iron
and steel contributed a fair share
toward the general increase.
To quote again from Consul Hal
stead: "According to a British tech
meal paper the generally accepted ex-
PLANTATION of the unsatisfactory condi-
ton of the sheet-iron trade is the I'M
fortunate geographical position of
Staffordshire in relation to the execu-
ton of orders for export 1t is COM
planned that the railways charge ex-
cessively for carrying iron to the coast
after it is rolled and galvanized, es-
pecially to the Mersey."
It seems strange to hear Of 'the I'M
fortunate geographical position of
Staffordshire'' and it's chief and it's
chief city, Birmingham when the
nearest seaport, Gloucester, is less
than so miles away. While Gloucester
does not rank as a irst-class seaport,
the distance to Bristol is only 70 miles.
Bristol was a port before Birmingham
was born. 1t was from the foot of
her main street that John and Sebas-
tan Cabot sailed in 1897 to discover
North America, and that, in 1888, the
first steamship to cross the Atlantic
started OF Its voyage. The new docks
at Avonmouth can take the largest
ships that float and in desig n and
equipment are equal to any in the
United Kingdom: And Liverpool, one
of the greatest ports in all the world
is but IS or 80 miles from Birmingham
We have here another Illustration
of the truth of the statement that"not
mileage but cost of transportation
constitutes the true commercial meas
ure of distance" 1t is costly trans
portation that, like a hidden cancer,
is eating out the industrial life Of
Birmingham; and it is cheap trans