5i8 POPULAR SCIENCE MONTHLY. 



the largest they have had, and it promises to be still better during the 

 coming year. 



The competition of the United States has not been confined to iron 

 goods, to locomotives, bridges and heavy machinery, but has extended 

 to many departments. America has taken away a large part of Britain's 

 colonial trade in boots and shoes; she has a practical monopoly of the 

 boot and shoe trade of West Australia and Africa. The boots have a 

 better appearance and a better fit than English boots, and they wear as 

 well. A good deal of the leather is identical in kind in the two coun- 

 tries, but the Americans tan better than the British. A very consider- 

 able quantity of the leather used in Britain is imported from the United 

 States and costs less than it does at home, but though wages are smaller 

 in Britain, American boots can be sold in the British market. 



"Americans have a practical control of the match making industry 

 in Britain, also of the tobacco industry ; half of the English newspapers 

 are printed on American presses or upon presses built on American 

 models in English shops that are branches of American manufactories, 

 and the paper of most of the newspapers is American." So says Mr. 

 Frank Vanderlip, formerly assistant secretary of the Treasury. 



It appears that British shipping even is to be invaded by Amer- 

 ica. In the days of wooden vessels the United States led the world in 

 shipping, but since iron and steel have been used in shipbuilding Britain 

 has been without a rival. At the present time, however, quite apart 

 from the American ownership of foreign-built vessels, the tonnage of 

 vessels built in the United States has reached a very respectable figure, 

 being in 1901 as much as 483,489, while in February of this year it is 

 stated that there were on the stocks twenty-two ships, averaging ten 

 thousand tons each. 



The causes that account for the position of the United States as a 

 competitor of the United Kingdom may be grouped under two heads — 

 the nature of the two countries and the characteristics of the two 

 peoples. America is a large country, with immense resources and a 

 population nearly double that of Britain. Hence, the home market is 

 larger, and a larger home market permits of a cheaper production for 

 the foreign market. The accessibility and abundance of some raw 

 materials, such as coal and iron ore, gives America a great advantage. 

 Britain can never hope again to reach America in the output of iron. 

 Iron ore is much more easily obtained in this country, occurring in some 

 places in large quantity of so soft a nature that it can be scooped out 

 with steam shovels ; and since it is on the surface it is possible to load 

 it directly on cars, ready to be transported to the furnace. In Britain 

 the ore must be mined, usually from great depths, or must be imported 

 from other countries. 



