The Bridgeport times and evening farmer., 1918-12-27
TRANSPORTATION
 CHIEF FACTOR IN WORLD COMMERCE
Growth from Two Billion of Century Ago to 50 Billion
 Is Thus Explained.
DIVISION OF LABOR
 IS ALSO IMPORTANT
Growth of Population of the World Takes Part of Cred
 it for Expansion.

The chief causes of the growth of International Commerce from less than 5000, 900, GOO in 1913 to approxi- ssately $50,O00, ,00O, 900 in 1918 was the subject of a lecture delivered last week before the class in International Trade and Commercial Geography in the Educational Department of the National City Bank of New York. Growth in population, cheapening in transportation, and a division of labor among groups of men the world over were, in the opinion of the lecturer, the chief causes of this growth.
 We can scarcely realize" he said, that man, who has only been able to build up world triDi2 , of $2,O00,- O00OO0 a year in all the centuries of his life aIpon the globe, should have suddenly in one century increased it to $50, ,OG0, 900, 900. When Daniel Dod, a Virginia engine builder came in ISIS to New York, then a village of 60,0O0 people, filled with the idea that he could build an engine which would drive vessel across the Atlantic and persuaded Francis Fickel to build the ship for him, they jointly laid one section of the foundation for the tre- mendous growth of world commerce. The other sections of the foundation upon which world commerce has grown are the railroads, the tele- graphs, the telephones, and the finan- cial and banking systems"
 It was just one hundred years ago that the little steamer, "The Savan- nah" built in New York for the trans Atlantic experiment passed out of New York to Savannah, Ga., which port 1t left a few months later on its successful venture across the ocean to which the steamship was up to that time unknown. By 1850 world international trade had grown tC $4,00O OO0, GOO, by 1900 it was $20, ,000,- 100000, by 1913 $40OOO, 100000, and ir the year just ending aggregated prob ably $5O,0O0,0 100000 when measured ir the inflated currency of the present period. Meantime world railways had grown to 900 miles. It is difficult to realize, said the speaker, that only one hundred years ago the world ha6 no steamships crossing the ocean, no1 a mile of railway or a foot of tele. graph or ocean cable while, as fol telephones, wireless telegraphy or fly. ing machines, they are the product O. the present generation.
 During the century of power trans portation, 1918 to 1918, the world steamships grew to about 3O,OOO,0 900 ne tons, with a value at the beginning O the recent war of about $2, GOO, GOO, ,OO0 and the worlds railroads had growl to 72O,O0O miles with a value of prob ably $70,00O 100000. With the rapid in crease in gold production in the las quarter century the money of tn world had grown from $10,000 900, ,O0 in 1896 to about $15,OOO, 900 at tn beginning of the European Wal Then, with the necessity for read currency which faced each of the ma tions at war, came an enormous in flation, md the worlds money Gin cluding the uncovered paper") is no, about $36 900 900, 900. The bankin power of the world, which was est mated by accepted authorities at les than 5000, 900 in 184O, and $15 900 100000 in 1890, was probably S65, OOOO 900, 900 in 1914, and has, of cours
 enormously increased during the ws period, and banking power is an ez tremely important factor in worl