OF INDUSTRIES. 69 



does. She will manufacture. And the colonial 

 exhibitions, by showing to the " colonists " what 

 they are able to do, and how they must do, are 

 only accelerating the day when each colony fara 

 da se in her turn. Canada and India already 

 impose protective duties on British goods. As 

 to the much-spoken-of markets on the Congo, 

 and Mr. Stanley's calculations and promises of a 

 trade amounting to 26,000,000 a year if the 

 Lancashire people supply the Africans with loin- 

 cloths, such promises belong to the same cate- 

 gory of fancies as the famous nightcaps of the 

 Chinese which were to enrich England after the 

 first Chinese war. The Chinese prefer their own 

 home-made nightcaps ; and as to the Congo 

 people, four countries at least are already com- 

 peting for supplying them with their poor dress : 

 Britain, Germany, the United States, and, last 

 but not least, India. 



There was a time when this country had almost 

 the monopoly in the cotton industries ; but 

 already in 1880 she possessed only 55 per cent, of 

 all the spindles at work in Europe, the United 

 States and India (40,000,000 out of 72,000,000), 

 and a little more than one-half of the looms 

 (550,000 out of 972,000). In 1893 the proportion 

 was further reduced to 49 per cent, of the spindles 

 (45,300,000 out of 91,340,000), and now the 

 United Kingdom has only 41 per cent, of all 



