Februaby 2, 1900.] 



SCIENCE. 



181 



generated an array of forces which already 

 test with severe strain the structure of 

 modern society. So radical a change in 

 the methods of distribution, and conse- 

 quently of production, was sure to be at- 

 tended with peril as well as beneficence, 

 and to entail a series of results, immense 

 and far-reaching. Passing by those acute 

 abuses which are incident to the process of 

 development, which are transitory and must 

 gradually disappear, we may well consider 

 the more profound and permanent effects, 

 what I venture to call the economic effects, 

 of present and future methods of trans- 

 portation and intercourse upon the whole 

 range of social activity. This brings into 

 view again the impressive fact mentioned 

 at the outset, and suggests some graver 

 consequences than those that appear on the 

 surface and appeal to ordinary observation. 

 When movement was measured by the 

 strength and endurance of animals, only a 

 limited area could be reached from a com- 

 mon center. Its slowness and expense con- 

 fined all inland distribution within narrow 

 bounds. Only eighty years ago it took a 

 week to send a letter, and cost $125 to 

 move a ton of freight, from Philadelphia 

 to Pittsburg; and the average price for 

 carrying the necessaries of life was not less 

 than twenty cents a ton for each mile of 

 distance.^ On such a basis most commodi- 

 ties were shut off from distant markets, 

 and farm products, for example, would 

 seldom permit of conveyance more than 

 100 or at most 150 miles. Only such ar- 

 ticles as were of small bulk and weight com- 

 pared with their value were moved to any 

 considerable distance from the place of 

 production. For this reason the require- 

 ments of an ordinary family were almost 

 wholly supplied from near-by sources. 

 And this means— without amplifying the 

 statement— that productive energy, for the 

 most part, was restricted by the consuming 

 capacity of the surrounding neighborhood. 



The forces outside each little circle were 

 but feebly felt and had slight influence 

 upon its separate affairs. Broadly speak- 

 ing, the business of each locality was ad- 

 justed to its own conditions and was prac- 

 tically undisturbed by like operations in 

 other places. What we call competition 

 was held in check by slow and costly means 

 of conveyance; its effects were moderate 

 and limited, its friction seldom severe. 



But the use of steam for motive power 

 and electricity for sending news inei'eased 

 enormously the range of accessible markets, 

 and at once intensified competition by the 

 celerity and cheapness of distribution. In- 

 dustrial strife has already become world- 

 wide in extent and distance an ineffectual 

 barrier against its destructive assaults. 

 For distance as a commercial factor is not 

 at all a matter of miles, it is merely a ques- 

 tion of time and money. So the effect of 

 cheap conveyance and quick communica- 

 tion is to bring remote places closer to- 

 gether. For all the practical needs or en- 

 joyments of life Manila is nearer New 

 York now than Montreal was a century 

 ago ; and the whole world could be easier 

 governed from Washington to-day than 

 could the United States when the capital 

 was located on the Potomac. 



Our grandparents got their supplies 

 mainly in the neighborhood where they 

 resided, and only a few persons ■were con- 

 cerned in their production. To-day it may 

 safely be said that five millions of people 

 and five hundred millions of capital are 

 directly or indirectly employed in furnish- 

 ing a family dinner. When merchandise 

 of every description is moved by the ton 

 at great speed from one end of the land to 

 the other, and at an average cost of less 

 than three quarters of a cent a mile, as is 

 now the ease, the expense of transport is 

 but a trifling impediment to the widest dis- 

 tribution. 



Nor should we forget that it was the 



