TEE COMPETITION OF TEE UNITED STATES. 517 



tion in America was fourteen million pounds, in 1900 it was six hun- 

 dred and seventy-eight million pounds, or in eight years the increase 

 in output has grown more than forty-eight times. Tin plate has actually 

 been landed in considerable quantity at Cardiff, the original home of 

 the industry. 



The figures given above for iron and steel refer to the unmanufac- 

 tured product; in machinery and other articles manufactured from 

 iron, the United States competes keenly with the United Kingdom. 

 In connection with iron and steel may be mentioned the competition 

 which America has offered in bridge building and similar work. Eng- 

 land has till very lately had a practical monopoly of railway building 

 in most of the British colonies. But the Atbara bridge in the Soudan 

 was constructed by America, the lowest British tender being £15, 15s. 

 (or $76.50) a ton, whereas the American tender was £10, 13s. 6d. 

 (or $51.60) a ton. The British contract was for twenty-six weeks, the 

 American for only fourteen. Afterwards came the construction of the 

 Gokteik Viaduct in Burma, which was completed by an American firm 

 in twelve months, and is the wonder of British engineers. The Amer- 

 ican tender was for fifteen pounds a ton, the lowest British tender was 

 for twenty-six pounds ten shillings a ton, and the time required was 

 three years. The Ugandy Viaduct is another instance in which the 

 American tender was twenty per cent, lower than the British, and the 

 time required slightly more than one third. 



In rolling stock for railroads, American competition is likewise 

 felt. New Zealand has taken locomotives from America, so has Cape 

 Colony, which not long since placed a million pounds worth of orders 

 including twenty-nine locomotives, in this country. Even the Midland 

 Railway Company in England in 1898 ordered twenty locomotives from 

 America. The Sanyo Company in Japan has been using American loco- 

 motives for six years and has lately ordered more from America, but not 

 from Britain. They have already thirty-three American and twenty- 

 four English engines. They say that the American engines are more 

 quickly provided and cost only two thirds as much. It is said that the 

 American design is the better, though it is admitted that the British 

 workmanship is superior. The English boilers are more carefully riv- 

 eted and are less liable to leak. The American wheels are, however, 

 said to have better tires and to last longer. 



As an example of how American machinery is being introduced into 

 England, the experience of the firm of Messrs. Charles Churchill & 

 Co. in London may be cited. Thirty-five years ago they commenced 

 to introduce American machinery into Britain and met with many dis- 

 couragements, but during the last five years they have sold four million 

 dollars' worth of machinery. The business of the past year has been 



