PRESIDENTIAL ADDRESS. 623 



we relapsed into natioiicil ease at the end of the Boer War, it hehoves every 

 man who can do so to take his share in making ready for the terrific struggle 

 Germany is certain to put up in the arts and manufactures. I might give 

 evidence of tliis from a number of sources, but I will only take one emanating 

 from a body of Professors of the great Universities of Germany. These 

 gentlemen have published a voluminous manifesto containing amongst other 

 gems the following : ' Once the Russians are driven back beyond their 

 new Frontier we sliall not forget the war which England has made on the 

 maritime and Colonial commerce of Germany. That must be the guide of our 

 action and we must supplant the world trade of Great Britain. By her 

 blockade of Germany, England has instructed us in the art of being a European 

 Power, militarily, industrially independent of others. We must immediately 

 seek to create for ourselves apart from the Empire of the Seas a Continental 

 commercial enceinte as extensive as possible. . . . With regard to war indem- 

 nities we shall demand an indemnity which as much as possible shall cover war 

 expenditure, the repair of damage, and pensions for the disabled men widows, 

 and orphans. We know that the question has been examined by the Govern- 

 ■merit according to the financial rapacities of our emmies. From England which 

 Ms been so niggardly in men, we can never demand enough money, because 

 England raised the world against us with gold. It is our duty to crush the 

 insatiable cupidity of this nation.' It does not, however, want such pubb'shed 

 •evidence to convince any practical person of the folly of thinking that a keen 

 •and virile nation having more tlian 100 million inhabitants is going to be 

 crushed out of fierce and vengeful competition, whatever the end of the war 

 may be We shall better appreciate what this competition will mean if we con- 

 :sider the marvellous progress made by Germany during the last half-centm'y in 

 4,he arts and manufactures. Although we cannot say that this is absolutely 

 measured by progress in the production of iron and steel, or even say that the 

 corresponding rate of increase in production during that period by this country 

 directly measures our progress relatively to Germany, still it does afford some 

 indication m the case of the engineering industry. Probably few of us have ever 

 realised what I can show you by means of graphic curves of production of iron 

 and steel For these curves I am indebted to the kindness of the Secretary of 

 the I anil Commission, who was good enough to prepare them specially for my 

 Address, ajthough I do not, of course, put them forward here as a tariff ai-gument 

 I he four diagrams, figs. 1, 2, 3, and 4, represent annual production in ordinates" 

 and the corresponding years by abscissae, the production of the United Kin- 

 dom being shown throughout in full lines and that of Germany by dotted line! 

 laking farst fig. 1, we have the actual production of pig iron for the last fifty 

 years, and we can see at a glance the much more rapid rate of comparativi 

 production in Germany m recent years. When we come to the percentage 

 relatively to the worlds production, we see that while Germany is steadily 

 Ef ."g- ^en in comparison with whole world output, the production of the 

 United Kingdom is falling at an even more rapid rate than that of Germany is 

 rising ; for whereas fifty years ago it was more than half the production of the 

 whole world, it is now only 13 per cent., whereas Germany's percentage, which 

 tifty years ago was only 10 per cent., has now risen to 25 per cent, of the whole 

 world production. 



Figs. 3 and 4 tell the same tale, except that the relative production in steel 

 of this country is now only 10 per cent.. Germany keeping for many years the 

 satisfactory figure of a quarter of the whole world's production; and it is of 

 course quite familiar matter that, as far as science and discovery go, Germany 

 ailhonX fn"7r '" ^t^l production largely to the discoveries in this country, 

 although in the case of the Bessemer steel process, she evaded the payment of 

 royalties in making use of the invention. We know that the same ta^le^lT to be 

 and Z ^H % industries, such, for instance, as the chemical industry, 

 i'nin /[ suffering severely from the want of the very dyes which were 



invented by one of our own countrymen. 



The above curves are quite sufficient to illustrate the marvellous progress of 



Inf™ "l''ch/as been repeated ad nauseam by German statesmen soldiers, 

 professors, and the whole German press generally, is that the War is caused 



