GERMANY AND SCANDINAVIAN COUNTRIESGERMANY AND SCANDINAVIAN COUNTRIES
The sugar-beet is by far the most important export crop, and Germany produces yearly about one million, eight hundred thousand tons, or nearly as much as Austria-Hungary and France combined. This industry is encouraged by a bounty paid on all sugar exported.[68]A considerable amount of raw beet-sugar is sold to the refineries of the United States; Great Britain also is a heavy buyer. The home consumption is relatively small, being about one-third per capita that of the United States. Silesia, the Rhine Valley, and the lowlands of the Hartz Mountains are the most important centres of the sugar industry.
Germany is rich in minerals.[69]Zinc occurs in abundance, and the mines of Silesia furnish the world's chief supply. Most of the lithographic stone in use is obtained in Bavaria. Copper and silver are mined in the Erz and Hartz Mountains. During the sixteenth century the mines of the latter region brought the states then forming Germany into commercial prominence and thereby diverted the trade between the North and Mediterranean Seas to the valleys of the Rhine and Elbe Rivers.
These two metal products made Germany a great financial power. The Franco-Prussian War added to Germany the food-producing lands of the Rhine and Moselle, and the provinces of Alsace and Lorraine. At the same time it gave the Germans organization by welding the various German states into an empire. As a result there has been an industrial development that has placed Germany in the class with the United States and Great Britain.
By unifying the various interstate systems of commerce and transportation, the iron and steel industry has greatly expanded. The chief centre of this industry is the valley of the Ruhr River. Coal-measures underlie an area somewhat larger than the basin of the river. To the industrialcentres of this valley iron ore is brought by the Rhine and Moselle barges from Alsace-Lorraine and Luxemburg, and also from the Hartz Mountains.
In the importance and extent of manufactures, Germany ranks next to Great Britain among European states, and because of the extent of their coal-fields the Germans seem destined in time to surpass their rivals. The manufacture of textiles is one of the leading industries, and, next to Great Britain, Germany is the heaviest purchaser of raw cotton from the United States. The Rhine district is the chief centre of cotton textile manufacture. Raw cotton is delivered to the mills by the Rhine boats, and these carry the manufactured product to the seaboard. Central and South America are the chief purchasers.
Woollen goods are also extensively manufactured, the industry being in the region that produces Saxony wool. In Silesia and the lower Rhine provinces there are also extensive woollen textile manufactures, but the goods are made mainly from imported wool. Argentina and the other Plate River countries are the chief buyers of these goods. There is a considerable linen manufacture from German-grown flax, and silk-making, mainly from raw silk imported from Italy.
The great expansion and financial success of the manufacturing enterprises is due very largely to the admirable organization of the lines of transportation. The rivers, with their connecting canals, supplement the railways instead of competing with them. They are utilized mainly for slow freights, while the railways carry the traffic that demands speed. The possibilities of both inland water-ways and railway transportation have been utilized by the Germans to the utmost, with the result of a very low rate both for coal and ore, and for structural iron and steel. The latter is carried from the various steel-making plants in the Ruhr Valley to the seaboard at a rate of eighty to ninety cents per ton.[70]
LÜBECKLÜBECK
BREMENBREMEN
All this has resulted in a wonderful commercial expansion of the empire. In 1875 Germany was neither a maritime nor a naval power. At the close of the century it ranked about with the United States as a naval power, and far surpassed that country in the tonnage of merchant marine. The German steamship fleet includes the largest and fastest vessels afloat.
German trade may be summed up as an export of manufactured goods and an import of food-stuffs and raw materials. At the close of the century the annual movement of industrial products amounted to nearly two and one-half billion dollars. About one-half the trade of the empire is carried on with Great Britain, the United States, Austria-Hungary, and Russia. A large part of the foreign trade is carried on through the ports of Belgium and Holland.
Berlin, the capital, is one of the few cities having a population of more than one million. It is not only a great centre of trade, but it is one of the leading money-markets of Europe; it is also the chief railway centre.HamburgandBremenare important ports of German-American trade, the former being the largest seaport of continental Europe.Breslauis an important market, into which the raw materials of eastern Europe are received, and from which they are sent to the manufacturing districts. The art galleries ofDresdenhave had the effect of making that city a centre of art manufactures which are famous the world over.Lübeckis one of the free cities that was formerly in the Hanse League.
The twin cities,Barmen-Eberfeld, in the Ruhr coal-field, form one of the principal centres of cotton manufacture inthe world.Dortmundis a coal-market. AtEssenare the steel-works founded by Herr Krupp. They are the largest and one of the most complete plants in the world. The output includes arms, heavy and light ordnance, and about every kind of structural iron and steel used. About forty thousand men are employed.Chemnitzis an important point, not only of cotton manufacture, but also of Saxony wools, underwear and shawls being its most noteworthy products. AtStettin,Danzig, andKielare built the steamships that have given to Germany its great commercial power.
QUESTIONS FOR DISCUSSION
In what ways are Great Britain and Germany commercial rivals?What are the advantages of each with respect to position?—with respect to natural resources?From the Statesman's Year-Book make a list of the leading exports of each;—the leading imports of each. What exports have they in common?From the Abstract of Statistics find what commodities the United States sells to each.
In what ways are Great Britain and Germany commercial rivals?
What are the advantages of each with respect to position?—with respect to natural resources?
From the Statesman's Year-Book make a list of the leading exports of each;—the leading imports of each. What exports have they in common?
From the Abstract of Statistics find what commodities the United States sells to each.
FOR COLLATERAL READING AND REFERENCE
Adams's New Empire—Chapter III.Gibbins's History of Commerce—Book III, Chapters III-V.
Adams's New Empire—Chapter III.
Gibbins's History of Commerce—Book III, Chapters III-V.
These states, like Great Britain and Germany, belong to Germanic Europe, and their situation around the North and Baltic Seas makes their commercial interests much the same. From the stand-point of commerce Holland might be regarded as an integral part of Germany, inasmuch as a large part of the foreign commerce of Germany must reach the sea by crossing that state.
Sweden and Norway.—Sweden and Norway occupy the region best known as the Scandinavian peninsula. The western side faces the warm, moist winds of the Atlantic, but the surface is too rugged to be productive. The lands suitable for farming, on the other hand, are on the east side, where, owing to the high latitude, the winters are extremely cold.
The plateau lands are in the latitude of the great pine-forest belt that extends across the two continents. The forests of the Scandinavian peninsula are near the most densely peopled part of Europe, and they are also readily accessible. Moreover, the rugged surface offers unlimited water-power. As a result Norway and Sweden practically control the lumber-market of Europe, and their lumber products form one of the most important exports of the kingdom. Norway pine competes with California redwood in Australia. The "naval stores," tar and pitch, compete with those of Georgia and the Carolinas. The wood-pulp from this region is the chief supply of thepaper-makers of Europe. Next to Russia, Sweden has the largest lumber-trade in Europe. The Mediterranean states are the chief buyers.
The mineral products are a considerable source of income. Building stone is shipped to the nearby lowland countries. The famous Swedish manganese-iron ores, essential in steel manufacture, are shipped to the United States and Europe. For this purpose they compete with the ores of Spain and Cuba. The mines of the Gellivare iron district are probably the only iron-mines of consequence within the frigid zone. The ore is sent to German and British smelteries.
The fisheries are the most important of Europe, and this fact has had a great influence on the history of the people. Centuries ago the people living about thevigsor fjords of the west coast were compelled to depend almost wholly on the fisheries for their food-supplies. As a result they became the most famous sailors of the world. They established settlements in Iceland and Greenland; they also planted a colony in North America 500 years before the voyage of Columbus. Herring, salmon, and cod are the principal catch of the fisheries, and about four-fifths of the product is cured and exported to the Catholic European states and to South America.
South of Kristiania farming is the principal industry. Much of the land is suitable for wheat-growing, but the productive area is so small that a considerable amount of bread-stuffs must be imported from the United States. On account of the high latitude the winters are too long and severe for any but the hardiest grains. Dairy products are commercially the most important output of the farms, and they find a ready market in the popular centres of Europe—London, Hamburg, Paris, and Berlin.
The lumber, furniture, matches, fish, ores, and dairyproducts sold abroad do not pay for the bread-stuffs, coal, petroleum, clothing, and machinery. In part, this is made up by the carrying trade of Norwegian vessels; the rest of the deficit is more than met by the money which the throngs of tourists spend during the summer months.
The United States buys from these countries fish and ores to the amount of about three million dollars a year; it sells them cotton, petroleum, bread-stuffs, and machinery to the amount of about twelve million dollars.
Stockholm, the capital of Sweden, is the chief financial and distributing centre of the Scandinavian trade. Its railway system reaches about every area of production. Although having a good harbor of its own, it must depend onTrondhjem(Drontheim) for winter traffic, because the Baltic ports are closed by ice three or four months of the year.Kristiania, the capital of Norway, is the export market of the fish and lumber products.
Göteborg, owing to recently completed railway and canal connections, is becoming an important port of trade. It is convenient to other European ports, and it is rarely closed by ice.Bergen,Trondhjem, andHammerfestderive a heavy income from their fisheries and likewise from the tourists who visit the coast during midsummer. The last-named port, although farther north than any town in the world, has an open harbor during the winter.
Denmark.—Denmark is essentially an agricultural state, and almost every square mile of available land is under cultivation. Even the sand-dunes have been reclaimed and converted into pasturage. The yield of wheat is greater per acre than in any other country, but as only a small area is sown, wheat and flour are imported.
About half the area of the state is used in growing fodder for horses and cattle. The dairy products, especially butter, are unrivalled elsewhere in Europe. The dairybusiness is largely controlled by a cooperative association of dairymen and farmers. Pastures, fodder, cattle, sheds, creameries, and all the processes involved are subject to a most rigid sanitary inspection.
Copenhagen, the capital, is the financial centre of the kingdom. Commercially it is one of the most important ports of Europe. Various shipments consigned to Baltic ports are landed at this city; here the cargoes break bulk and are again trans-shipped to their destination. In order to facilitate this forwarding business, the Crown has made Copenhagen a free port. Steamship lines connect it with New York, British ports, and the East Indies.
A great deal of farming and dairy machinery is manufactured; coal, cotton goods, and structural machinery are imported from the United States. Little, however, is exported to that country, almost all the dairy products being sold to Great Britain and other populous centres of western Europe.AalborgandAarhuusare dairy-markets.
Greenland and Iceland are colonies of Denmark, and the fishing industry of the kingdom is carried on mainly along the shores of these islands. The furs, seal-skins, seal-oil, and eider-down of Greenland are a government monopoly. The mineral cryolite occurs at Ivigtut and is mined by soda-making establishments in the United States. Iceland produces sheep, cattle, and fish; these are shipped fromReikiavik. The Faroe Islands produce but little save wool, feathers, and birds' eggs.
Belgium.—Probably in no other country of Europe has nature done so little and man so much to make a great state as in Belgium. The lowland region has been made so fertile by artificial means that it yields more wheat per acre than any other country except Denmark. The Ardennes highland in the southeast is naturally unproductive, but it has become one of the great manufacturingcentres of Europe. Less than one-twelfth of the area of the state is unproductive.
The coast, more than twoscore miles in extent, has not a single harbor for large vessels, and the two navigable rivers, the Scheldt and Meuse, flow into another state before reaching the sea.
HOLLAND AND BELGIUMHOLLAND AND BELGIUM
The low sand-barrens next the coast have been reclaimed by means of a grass that holds in place the sand that formerly shifted with each movement of the wind. This region is now cultivated pasture-land that produces the finest of horses, cattle, and dairy products. The dairy products go mainly to London. The Flemish horses, like those of the sand-barrens of Germany and France, are purchased in the large cities, where heavy draught-horses are required. Many of them are sold to the express companies of the United States.
Bordering the sand-barrens is a belt of land that produces grain and the sugar-beet. Flax is an important product, and its cultivation has had much to do with both the history and the political organization of the state. Before the advent of the cotton industry, woollen and linen were practically the only fibres used in cloth-making. Belgium was then the chief flax-growing and cloth-makingcountry, and all western Europe depended upon the Flemish looms for cloth. This industry, therefore, gave the country not only commercial prominence, but was largely responsible for its political independence as well. Flax is still an important product, and the linen textiles made in the state are without a superior. Much of the flax is grown in the valley of the River Lys.
One of the most productive coal-fields of Europe stretches across Belgium, and a few miles south of it are the iron-ore deposits that extend also into Luxemburg and Germany. In addition to these, the zinc-mines about Moresnet are among the richest in the world. Belgium is, therefore, one of the great metal-working centres of Europe. A small portion of the coal is exported to France, but most of it is required in the manufactures.
Liège,Seraing, andVerviersare the great centres of the metal industry. They were built at the eastern extremity of the coal-field, within easy reach of the iron ores. Firearms, railroad steel, and tool-making machinery are the chief products of the region, and because of the favorable situation, these products easily compete with the manufactures of Germany and France.
Ghentis the chief focal point for the flax product, which is converted into the finest of linen cloth and art fabrics. Much of the weaving and spinning machinery employed in Europe is made in this city.Mechlinand the villages near by are famous the world over for hand-worked laces.
Expensive porcelains, art tiles, glassware, and cheap crockery are made in the line of kilns that reaches almost from one end of the coal-field to the other; these products, moreover, are extensively exported.
The railways are owned and operated by the state. They are managed so judiciously, moreover, that the rates of carriage are lower than in most European states. TheScheldt is navigable for large ocean steamers toAntwerp, and this city is the great Belgian port for ocean traffic. The city owes its importance to its position. One branch of the Scheldt leads toward the Rhine; the other is connected by a canal with the rivers of France; the main stem of the river points toward London. It is therefore the meeting of three ways. It is the terminal of the steamships of American, and of various other lines. It is also the depot of the Kongo trade. Ship-canals deep enough for coasters and freighters connectGhent,Bruges, andBrusselswith tide-water. These are about to be converted to deep-water ship-canals.
The foreign commerce of Belgium is much like that of other European states. Wheat, meat, maize, cotton, and petroleum are imported mainly from the United States; iron ore is purchased from Luxemburg and Germany, and various raw materials are brought from France. In exchange there are exported fine machinery, linen fabrics, porcelains, fire-arms, glassware, and beet-sugar. From the Kongo state, at the head of which is the King of the Belgians, are obtained rubber and ivory. The rubber is sold mainly to the United States.
Brusselsis the capital and financial centre. On account of the state control of the railways, it is also the directive centre of all the industries pertaining to commerce and transportation.
Holland.—The names Holland and Netherlands mean "lowland," and the state itself has a lower surface than any other country of Europe. Nearly half the area is at high-tide level or else below it. A large part, mainly the region about the Zuider[71]Sea, has been reclaimed from the sea.
In the reclamation of these lands stone dikes are builtto enclose a given area, and from the basin thus constructed the water is pumped. The reclaimed lands, or "polders," include not only the sea-bottom, but the coast marshes as well; even the rivers are bordered with levees in order to prevent overflows. Windmills are the machinery by which the water is pumped from the polders into the sea. In no other part of the world is wind-power so extensively used. Almost every acre of the polders is under cultivation, and these lands grow a very large part of the vegetables and flowers consumed in the great cities of England, France, and Belgium.
The coast sand-barrens have been converted into pasture-lands that produce draught-horses, beef cattle, and dairy cattle. The horses find a ready market in the United States and the large European cities; the dairy cattle not needed at home are exported, the United States being a heavy purchaser. The beef cattle are grown mainly for the markets of London. Dutch butter is used far beyond the boundaries of the state, and Edam cheese reaches nearly every large city of Europe and America.
The sugar-beet is extensively cultivated, in spite of the great trade resulting from the cane-sugar industry of the East Indies. It is more profitable to import wheat from the United States and rye from Russia in order to use the land for the sugar-beet.
Practically no timber suitable for lumber manufacture exists, and building material therefore must be imported. Pine is purchased from Russia, Scandinavia, and the United States. Stone is purchased wherever it may be obtained as return freight, or as ballast. The coast fisheries yield oysters, herrings, and "anchovies," which are not anchovies, but sprats.
For want of coal and iron there are few manufactures, and the garden and dairy products are about the onlyexport articles. There is an abundance of clay, and of this brick for road-making, tiles for building purposes, and porcelains are made. But little of the raw sugar is refined; most of it is sold to foreign refiners, and the United States is one of the chief customers.
Holland is a great commercial country, and for more than five hundred years the Dutch flag has been found in almost every large port of the world. Much of the commerce is derived from the tobacco, sugar, and coffee plantations of the Dutch East Indies.
A very large part of the commerce, however, is neither import or export trade, but a "transit" commerce. Thus, American coal-oil is transferred from the great ocean tank-steamers to smaller tank-boats, and is then carried across the state into Germany, France, and Belgium, through the numerous canals.
This trade applies also to many of the products of the German industries which will not bear a heavy freight tariff, such as coal, ores, etc. It reaches the Rhine and Rhone river-basins and extends even to the Danube. Both Switzerland and Austria-Hungary send much of their exports through Holland. All trade at the various ports and through the canals is free, it being the policy to encourage and not to obstruct commerce.
Amsterdam, the constitutional capital, is one of the great financial and banking centres of Europe. The completion of the Nord Holland canal makes the docks and basins accessible to the largest steamships. Diamond-cutting is one of the unique industries of the city. Since the discovery of the African mines its former trade in diamonds has been largely absorbed by London.
More than half the carrying trade of the state centres atRotterdam. By the improvement of the river estuaries and canals this city has become one of the best ports ofEurope, and the tonnage of goods handled at the docks is enormously increasing.Vlissingen(Flushing) and theHookare railway terminals that handle much of the local freights consigned to London.Delftis famous the world over for the beautiful porcelain made at its potteries.
QUESTIONS FOR DISCUSSION
How has the topography of each of these states affected its commerce?How is their commerce affected by latitude and climate?How has the cultivation of the sugar-beet affected the cane-sugar industry in the British West Indies?From the Statesman's Year-Book make a list of the leading exports and imports of each country.From the Abstract of Statistics find the trade of the United States with each of these countries.
How has the topography of each of these states affected its commerce?
How is their commerce affected by latitude and climate?
How has the cultivation of the sugar-beet affected the cane-sugar industry in the British West Indies?
From the Statesman's Year-Book make a list of the leading exports and imports of each country.
From the Abstract of Statistics find the trade of the United States with each of these countries.
FOR COLLATERAL READING AND REFERENCE
Adams's New Empire—pp. 153–159.Gibbins's History of Commerce—Book III, Chapters I and VIII.
Adams's New Empire—pp. 153–159.
Gibbins's History of Commerce—Book III, Chapters I and VIII.
The Mediterranean states are peopled mainly by races whose social and economic development was moulded largely by the Roman occupation of the Mediterranean basin for a period of more than one thousand years. The occupations of the people have been shaped to a great extent by the slope of the land and by the mountain-ranges that long isolated them from the Germanic peoples north of the Alps.
France.—The position of France with respect to industrial development is fortunate. The North Sea coast faces the ports of Great Britain; the Atlantic ports are easily accessible to American centres of commerce; the Mediterranean ports command a very large part of the trade of that sea.
The easily travelled overland routes between the Mediterranean and North Seas in very early times gave the country a commercial prominence that ever since has been retained. Even before the time of Cæsar it was a famous trading-ground for Mediterranean merchants, and the conquest of the country was not so much for the spoils of war as for the extension of Roman commercial influence.
The greater part of France is an agricultural region, and nowhere is the soil cultivated with greater skill. Although the state is not quite as large as Texas, there are more farms than in all the United States, their small size making thorough cultivation a necessity. Much of the land istoo valuable for wheat-farming, and so the eastern manufacturing districts depend upon the Russian wheat-farms for their supply. Northwestern France, however, has a surplus of wheat, and this is sold to Great Britain.
FRANCEFRANCE
The sugar-beet is the most profitable crop, and its cultivation is aided indirectly by the government, which gives a bounty on all exported sugar. The area of sugar-beet cultivation will probably increase to its limit for this reason.
The French farmer is an artist in the cultivation of small fruits, and the latter form an important source ofrevenue. Of the fruit-crop, the grape is by far the most important commercially. French wines, especially the champagnes, are exported to a greater extent than the wines of any other country.[72]Most of the wine is sold in Great Britain and the countries north of the grape belt; a considerable part is sold in the United States and the eastern countries. Champagne, Bordeaux, the Loire, and the Rhone Valleys are famous wine districts. Wine is also imported, to be refined or to be made into brandy.
Cattle-breeding, both for meat and for dairy purposes, is extensively carried on. The meat is consumed at home. Butter is an important export, especially in the northwest, where a large amount is made for London consumers. This region produces Camembert and Neufchatel cheese, both of which are largely exported; Brie cheese is made chiefly along the German border. The Roquefort product, made of ewe's milk, is fermented in limestone caves and cellars. All these varieties have a large sale, the United States and Great Britain being heavy purchasers.
The Percheron draught-horse is raised for export as well as for home use; mules are extensively raised for the army wagon-trains of Great Britain and Germany. Sheep are grown for the finer grades of wool, but so much of the sheep pasture has been given to the cultivation of the sugar-beet, that a considerable part of the woollen textiles are now made of wool imported from Argentina. A large part of the eggs and table poultry consumed in London are products of northwestern France.
The coal-fields of the north produce nearly two-thirds of the total amount consumed. Iron ores are found near the German border; they are sent to coal-fields in the neighborhood of St. Étienne and Le Creuzôt to be manufactured into steel. Both coal and iron ore are deficient. To meet the requirements of consumption, the former is imported from Great Britain, Germany, and Belgium; the latter, mainly from Germany and Spain.
The manufactures of France have a wide influence. From the coal and iron are derived the intricate machinery that has made the country famous, the railways, the powerful navy, and the merchant marine that has made the country a great commercial nation. Because of the great creative skill and taste of the people, French textiles are standards of good taste, and they find a ready market in all parts of the world. In textile manufactures more than one million people and upward of one hundred thousand looms are employed.
The United States is a heavy buyer of the woollen cloths and the finer qualities of dress goods. Inasmuch as these goods have not been successfully imitated elsewhere, the French trade does not suffer from competition. The best goods are made from the fleeces of French merino sheep, and are manufactured mainly in the northern towns. The Gobelin tapestries of Paris are famous the world over.
The cotton manufactures depend mainly on American cotton. About two-thirds of the cotton is purchased in the United States, a part of which returns in the form of fine goods that may be classed as muslins, tulles, and art textiles. The market for such goods is also general. In the manufacture of fine laces, such as the Point d'Alençon fabrics, the French have few equals and no superiors. The flax is imported mainly from Belgium.
Silk culture is aided by the government, and is carriedon mainly in the south. The amount grown, however, is insufficient to keep the factories busy, and more than four-fifths of the raw silk and cocoons are imported from Italy and other southern countries.
The chief imports to France are coal, raw textile fibres, wine, wheat, and lumber. The last two products excepted, they are again exported in the form of manufactured products. The great bulk of the imports comes from Great Britain, the United States, Germany, Belgium, Russia, and Argentina. In 1900 the import trade from these countries aggregated about five hundred million dollars. The total export trade during the same year was about eight hundred million dollars; it consisted mainly of high-priced articles of luxury.
The foreign trade is supported by a navy, which ranks second among the world's navies, and a merchant marine of more than fifteen thousand vessels. Aside from the subsidies given to mail steamships, government encouragement is given for the construction and equipment of home-built vessels. It is a settled policy that French vessels shall carry French traffic.
Of the 24,000 miles of railway, about 2,000 miles are owned by the state. The rivers are connected by canals, and these furnish about 7,000 miles of navigable waters. As in Germany, the water-routes supplement the railway lines. Practically all lines of transportation converge at Paris.
Paris, the capital, is a great centre of finance, art, science, and literature, whose influence in these features has been felt all over the world. The character of fine textiles, and also the fashions in the United States and Europe, are regulated largely in this city.Marseilleis the chief seaport, and practically all the trade between France and the Mediterranean countries is landed at this port; itis also the focal point of the trade between France and her African colonies, and a landing-place for the cotton brought from Egypt and Brazil.
Havre, the port receiving most of the trade from the United States, is the port of Paris.Rouenis the chief seat of cotton manufacture.ParisandRheimsare noted for shawls.LilleandRoubaixare centres of woollen manufacture.Lyonsis the great seat of silk manufacture.
Italy.—Italy is a spur of the Alps extending into the Mediterranean Sea. From its earliest history it has been an agricultural state, and, excepting the periods when it has been rent by wars, it has been one of the most productive countries in the world.
Wheat is extensively grown, but the crop is insufficient for home consumption, and the deficit is imported from Russia and Hungary. A large part of the wheat-crop is grown in the valley of the Po River. Flax and hemp are grown for export in this region; and corn for home consumption is a general product. Cotton is a good crop in Sicily and the south, but the amount is insufficient for use and must be made up by imports from the United States and Egypt.
Silk, fruit, and vegetables are the staple products that connect Italy commercially with the rest of the world. About a million people are concerned in the silk industry, and Italy is one of the foremost countries in the world in the production of raw silk. Most of the crop is produced in northern Italy; western Europe and the United States are the chief buyers. The silk of the Piedmont region is the best in quality.
Fruit is the crop next in value to raw silk. Sicilian oranges and lemons, from about twenty millions of trees, find a ready market in Europe; the oranges come into competition with the California and Florida oranges of theUnited States, in spite of the tariff imposed against them by the latter country. Olives are probably the most important fruit-crop. Both the preserved fruit and the oil are exported to nearly every civilized people. Much of the oil is consumed at home, very largely taking the place of meat and butter. Lucca-oil is regarded as the best.
ITALYITALY
The grape-crop is enormous, and the fruit itself is exported. Some of the fruit sold as "Malaga" grapes throughout the United States during winter months comes from Italy. Chianti wine, from the vineyards aroundFlorence, has hitherto been regarded as an inferior product, but the foreign demand for it is steadily increasing. The Marsala wines of Sicily are largely exported.
Among mineral products the iron deposits in the island of Elba are undoubtedly the most valuable, but they are yet undeveloped to any great extent. The quarries at Carrara produce a fine marble that has made Italy famous in sculpture and architecture. Much of the boracic acid used in the arts comes from Tuscany, and the world's chief supply of sulphur comes from the neighborhood of Mount Etna in Sicily. Of this Americans buy about one-third.
On account of the lack of coal, the manufactures are restricted mainly to art wares, such as jewelry, silk textiles, and fine glassware. The Venetian glassware, the Florentine and mosaic jewelry, and the pink coral ornaments are famous the world over. Within recent years, however, imported coal, together with native lignite, have given steel manufacture an impetus. Steel ships and rails made at home are meeting the demands of commerce. Goods of American cotton are made for export to Turkey and South American countries.
Raw silk, wine, olive-oil, straw goods, sulphur, and art goods are exported. Cotton, wheat, tobacco, and farm machinery from the United States, and coal, woollen textiles, and steel goods from Great Britain are the chief imports. Most of the foreign trade is with the nearby states. The raw silk goes to France.
Since the unification of Italy the railways have been readjusted to the needs of commerce. Before that time the lines were wholly local in character; with the readjustment they were organized into trunk lines. They enter France through the Mont Cenis tunnel; they reach Switzerland and Germany by way of St. Gotthard Pass; they cross the Austrian border through Brenner Pass.
Rome, the capital, is a political rather than an industrial centre.Milan, the Chicago of the kingdom, is the chief market for the crops of northern Italy and a great railway centre. It is also the market for raw silk.Genoa, the principal port, is the one at which most of the trade of the United States is landed.Naplesmonopolizes most of the marine traffic between Italy and Great Britain.Leghornis famous for its manufacture and trade in straw goods. A considerable part of the grain harvested in the Po Valley is stored for shipment atVenice—not in elevators, but in pits.Palermois the trading centre of Sicily. Most of the sulphur is shipped fromCatania.BrindisiandAnconaare shipping-points for the Suez Canal route.
Spain and Portugal.—The surface of these states is too rugged and the climate too arid for any great agricultural development. Less than half the area is under cultivation; nevertheless, they are famous for several agricultural products—merino wool, wine, and fruit. The merino wool of the Iberian peninsula has no equal for fine dress goods; it is imported into almost every other country having woollen manufactures. A considerable amount of ordinary wool is grown, but not enough for home needs.
The fruit industry is an important source of income. Oranges, limes, and lemons are extensively grown for exports; among these products is the bitter orange, from which the famous liqueur curaçao, a Dutch manufacture, is made. The heavy, sweet port wine, now famous the world over, was first made prominent in the vineyards of Spain and Portugal. Malaga raisins are sold in nearly every part of England and America. The olive is more extensively cultivated than in any other state, but both the fruit and the oil are mainly consumed at home—the latter taking the place of butter. Raw silk is grown for export to France.
Although a larger part of the peninsula must depend onthe American and Scandinavian forests for lumber, there is one tree product that is in demand wherever bottles are used—namely, cork. The cork is prepared from the bark of a tree (Quercus suber) commonly known as the cork oak,[73]which grows freely in the Iberian peninsula and northern Africa.
SPAIN AND PORTUGALSPAIN AND PORTUGAL
Metals and minerals of economic use are abundant. Iron ore is sold to Great Britain, France, and Germany. Since the Spanish-American War, however, there have been extensive developments in utilizing the coal and the ore which before that time had been sold to other countries.
The undeveloped coal and iron resources are very great, and must figure in the payment of a national debt that is near the limit of bankruptcy. The state, however, is entering a period of industrial prosperity.
The most available metal resource is quicksilver. Of this metal the mines in Almaden produce about one-half the world's supply. The working of these mines is practically a government monopoly, and the income was mortgaged for many years ahead when Spain was at war with her rebellious colonies.
Both Spain and Portugal are poorly equipped with means for transportation. The railways lack organization, and freight rates are excessive. Not a little of the transportation still depends on the ox-cart and the pack-train. The merchant marine has scarcely more than a name; the foreign commerce is carried almost wholly in British or French bottoms. The imports are mainly cotton, coal, lumber, and food-stuffs—these in spite of the fact that every one save lumber might be produced at home.
Wine and fruit products, iron ore, and quicksilver are leading exports. Of these the United States purchases wine and raisins for home consumption and lace and filigree work for the trade with Mexico. Spain has a considerable trade in cotton goods with her colonies, the Canary Islands, and the African provinces of Rio de Oro and Adrar.
Portugal likewise supplies her foreign possessions—Goa (India), Macao (China), and the Cape Verde and Azores Islands—with home products. The chief Portuguese trade, however, is with Great Britain and Brazil.
Madridis the capital of Spain.Barcelonais the chief commercial centre.Valencia,Alicante,Cartagena, andMalaga, are all ports of fruit and wine trade.Oportohas been made famous for the port wine that bears its name. Probably not one per cent. of the port now used,however, comes from Oporto, and not many Malaga raisins come from Malaga.
Switzerland.—This state is situated in the heart of the highest Alps. The southeastern half is above the altitude in which food-stuffs can be produced, and probably no other inhabited country has a greater proportion of its area above the limits of perpetual snow. A considerable area of the mountain-slopes affords grazing. The valley-lands of the lake-region produce a limited amount of food-stuffs, but not enough for the sparse population.
Politically, Switzerland is a republic, having the position of a "buffer" state between Germany, Italy, France, and Austria-Hungary. Racially, the state is divided among Italians, French, and Germans; as a matter of fact, however, the old Helvetian spirit, which not even Cæsar could destroy, is still a great factor in dominating the people; this, with their montane environment, gives the Swiss a very positive nationality.
The agricultural interests of the state are developed to their utmost; two-thirds of the bread-stuffs, however, are purchased from the United States, the plains of Bohemia, and Russia. Cherries, apples, grapes, and other fruit are cultivated in every possible place, and as these can be delivered to any part of western and central Europe within a day, the fruit industry is a profitable one.
Cattle are bred for dairy purposes, but those for beef must be very largely imported, Austria-Hungary and Italy selling the needed supply. Goats are raised for their hides, and the latter are converted into Morocco leather. Of the dairy products, cheese is in many respects the most important; Gruyère cheese is exported to nearly every country. On account of the long distance from populous centres milk cannot be transported; much of it is, therefore, condensed, and in that form exported.
A peculiar feature of the dairy industry is the fact that it is constantly moving. The dairy herds begin to pasture in the lowlands as soon as the snow melts, and as fast as the snow line recedes up the mountains the cattle follow. The milk is converted into butter and cheese wherever the herds may be, and the second crop of grass below them is cut and cured for winter forage.
In spite of the fact that Switzerland has no available coal,[74]manufacture is pre-eminently the industry of the state. During the long winters the Alpine herdsman and his family whittle out wooden toys from the stock of rough lumber laid by for the purpose. Farther down in the valley-lands the exquisite brocades and muslins are made on hand-looms, or by the aid of the abundant water-power. Each industrial district has its special line of manufacture, so that there is scarcely an idle day in the year.
In the cities and towns of the lowland district, watches, clocks, music-boxes, and fine machinery are manufactured. For many years Swiss watches were about the only ones used in the United States, but on account of the competition of American watches this trade has fallen off. The mechanical music-player, operated by perforated paper, has also interfered with the trade in music-boxes.
Switzerland is provided with excellent facilities for transportation, and this has done about as much for the commercial welfare of the state as all other industrial enterprises. In proportion to its area, the railway mileage is greater than that of the surrounding states. The roads are well built and the rates of transportation are low.
In addition to the ordinary trip-tickets, monthly time-tickets are issued to travellers, allowing the holders to travel when and where they please within the limits of the state on all roads and lake-steamers. These are soldto the traveller for about two-thirds the price of the 1,000-mile book of the American railway. The carriage roads have no superiors, and they penetrate about every part of the state below the snow line; they also cross the main passes of the Alps.
Through one or another of these passes most of the foreign traffic of the state must be carried. To Genoa and Milan it crosses the Alps via the St. Gotthard tunnel, or the Simplon Pass;[75]to Paris it goes by the Rhone Valley; between Vienna and Switzerland, by the Arlberg tunnel; and to Germany or to Amsterdam through the valley of the Main.
As a result of this most excellent system of transportation, Switzerland is thronged with visiting tourists at all times of the year; moreover, it has always been the policy of the Swiss Government not only to provide for them, but also to make the country attractive to them. The result has shown the wisdom of the policy. Indeed, the foreign tourist has become one of the chief sources of income of the Swiss people, and the latter profit by the transaction to the amount of about forty million dollars a year.
About all the raw material used in manufacture must be imported. The cotton is purchased mainly from the United States, and enters by way of Marseille. The raw silk is purchased from Italy, China, and Japan. Coal, sugar, food-stuffs, and steel are purchased from Germany, and this state supplies about half the imports. From the United States are purchased wheat, cotton, and coal-oil.
The manufactures are intended for export. The finecotton textiles sold to the United States are worth far more than the raw cotton purchased therefrom. Silk textiles, straw wares, toys, watches, jewelry, and dairy products are leading exports. The surrounding states are the chief buyers, and none of them competes with Switzerland to any extent in the character of the exports.
Geneva, situated at the head of the Rhone Valley, is the chief trade depot; it is noted especially for the manufacture of watches, of which many hundred thousand are made yearly.Zurichis the centre of manufactures of textiles and fine machinery. The silk-brocade industry is centred chiefly in this city andBasel.
QUESTIONS FOR DISCUSSION