OF INDUSTRIES. 75 



off when each nation of Europe, as well as the 

 United States, and even the most backward 

 nations of Asia and America, will themselves 

 manufacture nearly everything they are in need 

 of. Wars and several accidental causes may 

 check for some time the scattering of industries : 

 they will not stop it ; it is unavoidable. For 

 each new-comer the first steps only are difficult. 

 But, as soon as any industry has taken firm root, 

 it calls into existence hundreds of other trades ; 

 and as soon as the first steps have been made, 

 and the first obstacles have been overcome, the 

 industrial growth goes on at an accelerated rate. 

 The fact is so well felt, if not understood, that 

 the race for colonies has become the distinctive 

 feature of the last twenty years. Each nation 

 will have her own colonies. But colonies will not 

 help. There is not a second India in the world, 

 and the old conditions will be repeated no more. 

 Nay, some of the British colonies already threaten 

 to become serious competitors with their mother 

 country ; others, like Australia, will not fail 

 to follow the same lines. As to the yet neutral 

 markets, China will never be a serious customer 

 to Europe : she can produce much cheaper at 

 home ; and when she begins to feel a need for 

 goods of European patterns, she will produce them 

 herself. Woe to Europe, if on the day that the 

 steam engine invades China she is still relying on 



