1887.] on the Work of the Imperial Institute. 103 



United States of America received from Great Britain nearly one- 

 fiftli of its total produce of pig iron ; but from 1875 all importation 

 of British iron ceased for over three years, and it was only in con- 

 sequence of requirements in the States exceeding the capabilities of 

 production, that some small demands arose in 1879, which were for 

 some time maintained. 



But while, in 1879, the pig iron produced in the United States 

 amounted to little over 3,000,000 tons, in 1882 the make had increased 

 by 70 per cent., viz. to over 5,100,000 tons. Since that time the 

 actual make has not increased (in 1885 it amounted to 4,529,869 tons 

 of 2000 lb.), but the caijacity of production, which vitally interests the 

 iron trade of this country, has risen enormously, the present capacity 

 of all the American pig-iron works being estimated at over 8,900,000 

 tons, or nearly 300 per cent, greater than it was in 1879. So much 

 regarding the United States ; looking nearer home, we find that the 

 iron of France, Belgium, and Germany not only competes with ours 

 in the open market, but that Belgian and German iron is actually 

 imported into this country to a moderate extent. 



As an instructive illustration of the advance and influence of the 

 improvements which have been made in intercommunication upon 

 the value of our natural products and their importance even in our 

 own industries, I may, on the authority of Sir Lowthian Bell, state 

 the astounding fact that in the opinion of competent authorities, 

 the ore (haematite) especially suitable for steel manufacture by the 

 Bessemer process can be brought over sea a distance of 1000 miles, 

 landed close to mines furnishing the cheapest made pig iron of Great 

 Britain, and converted into steel rails at a lower cost than the native 

 ironstone of Cleveland can furnish similar rails in iron. 



From time to time the ground which we have lost through the 

 development of the resources of other countries has been more than 

 retrieved temporarily by improvements effected through the more 

 thorough comprehension and consequent better application of the scien- 

 tific principles underlying processes of manufactui-e. Thus the quantity 

 of fuel consumed in producing wrought-iron rails has been gradually 

 reduced by improvements in the construction and working of furnaces, 

 until less than one-half the amount is now required per ton of such 

 rails than was employed fifty years ago ; but, remarkable as it may 

 seem, the ultimate effect of an advance of this importance is actually 

 to improve the position, in relation to this manufacture, of other 

 Nations less favourably circumstanced than Great Britain in the 

 matter of coal, for, instead of having to multiply any difference in our 

 favour in the cost of fuel required to produce a ton of rails by twelve, 

 that difference has now only to be multiplied by three in order to 

 arrive at the extent of our advantage. 



The history of the development of steel manufacture during the 

 last twenty-five years affords a most instructive illustration of the 

 fluctuations which may ensue in the value of our natui'al resources, and 

 the consequent condition of one or other of our important industries. 



