MATCHES. 421 



greatest care and economy, secures but a small margin on his sales. 

 A heavy tax of this kind is liable to defeat its own object, as is exem- 

 plified by numerous facts. Thus, in 1865, matches were imported into 

 the United States from New Brunswick, and sold in packages suitable 

 for the retail trade without paying any tax under the internal-revenue 

 law. When, a few years ago in England, a stamp-duty was put upon 

 matches, the opposition was so violent that the attempt had to be 

 abandoned. 



In 1872 the French Government, desiring an additional source of 

 revenue, determined to extract it from their matches. They therefore 

 let to a single great company the sole right of making them for 

 twenty years, and agreed to buy up all the old factories and furnish 

 the company with new ones. In return the latter was to pay a fixed 

 rent of $3,200,000 per annum. It was furthermore stipulated that the 

 price of the matches should not be raised, but the company is already 

 accused of treating this as a dead letter. The matches are said to be 

 so bad that they will hardly light, and the peasants, instead of buying 

 them, use a match of home-manufacture, made by steeping hemp in 

 sulphur. Great trouble and expense have been incurred by the state; 

 the company has been despotic and unable to fulfill its obligations ; a 

 proposition has been made and rejected on the part of the Government 

 to reduce the rent one-half ; and the probabilities are, that the lease 

 will expire before the time agreed upon. 



The extent to which the manufacture of matches is carried can be 

 but faintly indicated by means of figures. The demand for them in 

 Great Britain is, on an average, eight daily for each individual ; in 

 Belgium, nine per head; and, for Europe and North America, the en- 

 tire average is six for every inhabitant. To meet this demand matches 

 are produced by the million, and the waxed taper, before division into 

 small pieces, is measured by the mile. It is stated that one pound of 

 phosphorus is sufficient for 1,000,000 matches, though the proportion 

 varies greatly. In France there are consumed for this purpose 70,000 

 pounds of phosphorus every year. The largest makers are in Austria, 

 two of whom use twenty tons of phosphorus per annum, and produce 

 nearly 45,000,000,000 matches. One firm in New York uses annually 

 700,000 feet of choice white-pine timber, 100,000 pounds of sulphur, 

 and 150 tons of straw-board for their boxes. Large quantities are ex- 

 ported from the United States to the East and West Indies, China, 

 South America, and other countries. At the census taken here in 

 1870 there were found to be 75 establishments engaged in the busi- 

 ness, and the value of the products for that year was $3,540,000. 



