On the Crises of i8^/, 184"/, and 1857 7 



manufactured cotton and woolen goods constituted almost one- 

 third of the gain in the value of exports for this period. 



In agriculture, France seems to have been gaining rather than 

 losing, although the introduction of improved farm machinery 

 appears to have been very slow. In 1812 Chaptal valued the 

 total agricultural product at three milliards of francs. In 1850 

 L. de Lavergne valued the product at five milliards, a gain of 60 

 per cent.^ For the same period the population increased from 

 29,000,000 to 35,000,000, an increase of about 20 per cent.- 

 While this computation is not accurate nor confined to the par- 

 ticular period under consideration, it nevertheless gives a clue 

 to the general trend of affairs. 



As to the nature of French permanent investments for this 

 period, we find them confined principally to enterprises connected 

 with literature. From 1826 to 1838, of the 1,106 companies 

 formed, 401 related to journals, periodicals, and books, 95 to 

 manufactures, 93 to coaches and modes of conveyance, and 40 to 

 banks.^ The conclusion, however, that there was a preponder- 

 ance of investment in literary enterprises must be modified be- 

 cause of the fact that each literature company requires a rela- 

 tively small amount of capital. 



Turning now to the United States, we find a state of afifairs 

 similar to that in England. The country was passing through a 

 stage of invention and permanent improvement. This movement 

 of advance was greatly aided by enormous investments of foreign 

 capital. The fact that from 1832 to 1835 our public debt had 

 been reduced from 24.3 millions to .037 millions had rendered 

 Europeans overconfident as to the soundness of American finance 

 and the stability of American industry.'* From 1832 to 1839 

 the railway mileage increased from 229 to 2,302.^ That there 

 was a large demand for rails is suggested by the rise of iron 

 prices in England. The opening up of western territory and 



^Lavisse et Rambaud, Histoire geiierale, X, 450. 

 "^ International Encyclopedia, VI, 204. 

 ^Journal of the Statistical Society of London, 1,85. 

 ^Sumner, History of American Currency, 128. 

 * United States Statistical Abstract, year ]902. 



149 



