Science a soitrce of employment. 37 



Britain, besides those who were engaged in their 

 construction ; and in the postal department alone of 

 the telegraph service of this country more than 

 fifteen thousand operatives are employed. Chemical 

 works also find employment for twenty-six thousand, 

 and gasworks for ten thousand work people. The 

 telegraphs of the United States of America alone, 

 provide employment for about 7,000 persons ; and \ 

 the railways of the world employ about 1,900,000 

 men. 



It may be objected that the extension of science 

 in this country, instead of increasing employment 

 for workmen has produced an opposite effect, by so 

 increasing the production of goods by machinery, 

 and by physical and chemical processes, that we 

 have glutted the markets of the world in years gone 

 by, and are now suffering the results of over-produc- 

 tion. This is a very limited view of the case ; over- \ 

 production is only true of particular manufactures, 

 and is a result of ill-directed commercial energy, to 

 which manufacturing- skill is only a servant. The 

 objection also contains its own reply; that it is 

 certainly much greater to our advantage to have 

 supplied other nations with manufactured commodi- 

 ties, than that other nations should have supplied us, 

 as they would have done had they the manufacturing 

 skill. At present, however, continental nations are 

 gradually supplanting us in manufactures ; and 

 gradually supplying us with the goods which we 



