10 ASSETS OF A NATION 



with* regard to certain 'portions of the empire, and the reports 

 which the Commissioners have issued from time to time 

 within the last few years have given us much valuable infor- 

 mation. 



It is evident that in estimating the wealth of a nation 

 one of the first considerations is the amount of food which 

 it can produce. ' Can you grow enough wheat to supply your 

 children with bread ? ' ' How rich are your fishing- grounds ? ' 

 are some of the questions which at once occur to us. 



Next we must consider the raw materials available for 

 manufactures. ' How much wool do your sheep produce ? 

 Are you dependent on other countries for cotton and flax ? 



And then we go on to coal and iron, tin and copper, and so 

 on through a never-ending list of commodities, which are 

 usually summed up as food, raw materials, and the produce 

 of mines. 



But all this is only the beginning. In studying the resources 

 of a nation we are very soon brought face to face with the 

 question of labour. Fertile though the soil may be, and 

 favourable the climate, still the seed must be sown and 

 the crops reaped before we can obtain a supply of food, and 

 for this labour is necessary, so that after we have considered 

 the extent of land available, and the suitability of its climate 

 and soil, we must go on to inquire how many men there are 

 and whether they are willing to work. Coal, too, and iron 

 may lie buried in the earth, but unless men are willing to dig 

 them out and bring them to the surface they are useless. 



There is another point. While the land is being ploughed 

 and the crops reaped, no profit is being obtained, yet the 

 labourers must be fed ; and so, too, in the case of mines, 

 expensive machinery has to be bought and carried a long 

 distance, and numbers of men have to work for many months, 

 before the mine begins to pay, and in almost every other 

 enterprise money has to be spent and work done before any 

 result can be obtained ; we must, therefore, have a store 

 of money saved up for this kind of outlay before we can 



