818 report— 1884. 



by the native bankers of India, amounting to many millions sterling, of which the 

 sum cannot be precisely stated. On the whole it seems that considerably more 

 than one-third of the banking business of the world is done within the British 

 Empire. The same proportion is shown by the sum total of capital and deposits 

 of the banks. From this it follows that the average per inhabitant in the United 

 Kingdom is 251., the average for the Continent of Europe being 41., and that of 

 the United States being 10/. The only country to be compared with the United 

 Kingdom is Australia, where the average is 30/. 



The manufactures of the United Kingdom are valued at 818 millions sterling 

 annually. Those of the Colonies are estimated at 59 millions. The value of the 

 Indian manufactures cannot be stated, but must be large. The significance of 

 this will be understood from the fact that a similar total for the rest of Europe 

 gives 2,600 millions. In general terms it may be stated that British manufacture- 

 form one-third of those for all Europe put together. The great competitor is of 

 course the United States, where the value appears to exceed that of the United 

 Kingdom. The American manufactures are indeed wonderful, not only in their 

 present magnitude, but in the rapidity of their progress, and in the prospect of 

 their extension. Still it is difficult to> institute a precise comparison, because sonn 

 items are included in their total which are not reckoned in the United Kingdom. 



Another test is that of factory steam power ; this power in the world is 

 represented by 7k millions of horse-power. Of that total, 2{ millions, or about 

 30 percent., are British. 



Again, it has been computed that if the main elements of national industry be 

 taken together, namely, commerce, manufactures, mining, agriculture, carrying 

 trade, and banking, the total, 2,000 millions sterling and upwards annually, is 

 about the same for the United Kingdom and the United States. 1 But the United 

 States are advancing the fastest, and are already passing ahead. Their population, 

 however — 55 millions of souls— is greater by 19 millions than the British 36 

 millions. The aggregate of industries shows an average of 51/. per head in the 

 United Kingdom, against 42/. in the United States. The fact, then, that the 

 United Kingdom, despite disparity of population, is still able to do nearly as much 

 as its giant offspring, affords striking proof of sustained vitality in the mother 

 country. 



It is inferrible from this computation that the average of earnings per head in 

 the United Kingdom is 35/. 4s., and exceeds that in the United States (27/. 4#.) and 

 that in Canada (26/. 18s.) But it is actually exceeded by the average in Australia, 

 which reaches apparently the amount of 43/. 4s. per head, and is the highest in the 

 world. Still the rate of earnings in the new countries founded by the Anglo- 

 Saxon race approximates to that of the mother land, but the average rate for the 

 Continent of Europe is only 18/. Is. In other words, the British rate is more than 

 double. France is the only large European country which at all approaches the 

 United Kingdom in this respect, and together with France may be classed the 

 little countries of Belgium, Holland, and Denmark. 



It follows from these facts that the wealth of the United Kingdom in land, 

 cattle, railways, and public works, houses and furniture, merchandise, bullion, 

 shipping, and sundries, valued at 8,720 millions sterling, exceeds that of any 

 European State, and is just double that of Russia. But it is exceeded by the 

 corresponding figure for the United States, namely, 9,495 millions sterling^ 



For the British Empire, however, must be added 1,240 millions for Canada and 

 Australia, precisely computed on similar terms ; and at least 2,500 millions for 

 India, and other dependencies which cannot be precisely computed, and which may 

 be below the reality. Thus the wealth of the British Empire apparently stands 

 at the truly grand total of 12,460 millions sterling ; which justifies the old 

 expression that this empire is the richest State on the face of the earth. 



1 See Mulhall's Balance Sheet of the World, and Dictionary of Statistics. Theae 

 figures have been largely adopted in the American Census Keport of 1880. 



2 See Contemporary Review, December 1881, and British Association Report, 

 1883, p. 624. This figure is the most recent, but the amount has sometimes been 

 put as high as 10,000 millions. 



