Year: 1876

In a letter to the London Times, "a
Practical Man" states that he has come
home from visit to the Philadelphia Ex-
hibition more deeply impressed than ever
with the change that has occurred in the
the prospects of England as a msnufactur-
ing country. He says


Iperfectly agree with the writer of the
letter which appeared in the Times OF the
31st ultimo over the signature of "a Manu-
facturer," that the Americans are on the
point Of becoming our most dangerous ri
walls, and l indorse every statement that he
makes in support of this view. l have
watched closely during the past few years
their rapid progress as a manufacturing
people. Their spirit and enterprise are
>bouncless. They have imported the very
newes5 and best machinery of England,
Belgium, Germany and Frsis5e they
nave tempted away, through agents sent
over for the purpose, skilled wolkmen from
each Of these countries, giving prefer
ence, however, TO those of England and
they are rapidly raining an army Of killed
workmen for themselves i eau say, from
my ewn knowledge as a practical man, and
from the statements of friends upon whom
/ can rely, that ip the departments of iron,
wool, cotton, and certain class of silk they
can produce work which in quality is fully
equal to our OVID. That the cost of pro-
duction il greater than with us is very little
to the point. That is difficulty that will
right itself. The great matter for us to
note is that they can produce the article re-
quired. We may depend upon it the rest
will follow in due time. Out of their pres-
ent commercial chaos order will surely
come, and fear in form for which We
are quite unprepared. marvel that so
few of our leading manufacturers have as
yet been over to Philadelphia, and / cannot
too strongly urge those who are interested
in the branches of industry just named to
go and Judge whether the alarm that is at
last being sounded is a false one. No
descriptions, however graphic, no reports,
official or otherwise, ought to be allowed to
stand in place of q personal inspection. Nor
is America the only country to be thus
critically observed. France, Belgium, and
Germany are old rivals, and have long been
formidable; but countries hitherto almost
unthought of as manufacturing centres are
now taking very respectable position, and
are producing work which, if not equal to
our own, is, at any rate, of sufficient excel
lence to shut out our goods from these mar
kete. There are the woollen and porcelain
as well as the wrought iron Of Sweden, the
hosiery, cotton, and woolens of Spain, the
silks Of Russia. the machinery and woolens
of Canada, and the porcelain and metal
work of Japan,-all OF which are excellent
and make formidable list of addenda to
our catalogue Of difficulties. Only very
small number of English manufacturers
visited the exhibition at Vienna, and the
mistake is being repeated at Philadelphia
II will be serious misfortune if the two
months which still remain are not better
improved. The situation is so new and
strange that nothing but personal inspec-
tion Of what the world is producing will
convince our manufacturers of the true
staUe of the case, and brace them up to
make the extraordinary efforts which have
now become necessary if we are to retain
the position which still remains to us.