182 



SCIENCE. 



[N. S. Vol. XXIII. No. ^79. 



opening up of new and ever enlarging mar- 

 kets, by the cheapness of steam transporta- 

 tion, which gave the first opportunity for 

 the extensive use of machinery ; and this in 

 turn quadrapled the capacity of labor and 

 greatly reduced the cost of large scale pro- 

 duction. By this revolution in the methods 

 of manufacture — caused by the railroad 

 and steamship — the mechanic was sup- 

 planted by the operative, and the skilled 

 and independent craftsman of former days 

 found his occupation gone. For what 

 chance no,w have hand-made articles when 

 the factory-made product is carried across 

 the continent at nominal cost? But the 

 factory without the railroad would be only 

 a toy shop. If its wares had to be hauled 

 over country roads by mules and horses, 

 the points they could reach would be few 

 and near by, and thus contracted sales 

 would limit the size of the plant and the 

 volume of its business. It is simply be- 

 cause transportation is now so speedy, so 

 cheap and so abundant that great establish- 

 ments have become profitable and driven 

 their smaller rivals from the field. 



These facts — which might be multiplied 

 without limit — bear directly, as I think, 

 and with a force not fully perceived, upon 

 the M'hole problem of industrial competi- 

 tion. The argument runs this way : As 

 the means by which industrial products are 

 distributed become more convenient, quick- 

 er in action and less expensive, the area of 

 distribution rapidly enlarges, and as the 

 area of distribution enlarges the competi- 

 tion of industrial forces increases in some- 

 thing like geometrical ratio. The' move- 

 ment of property by rail in the United 

 States alone already exceeds four millions 

 of tons every twenty- four hours. Think of 

 the rivalry of products, the strife of labor, 

 the strain and struggle of trade, which such 

 a movement implies. With the constant 

 acceleration of that movement, which is 

 certain to happen, how long can the fric- 



tion be endured ? How soon will it become 

 unbearable ? 



The truth is that new conditions have 

 arisen and new methods must be adopted. 

 All the pressure of modern life impels to 

 the coordination of effort. We see that 

 discord and antagonism, to say nothing of 

 their moral bearing, have far less efficiency 

 than harmony and cooperation. The world 

 is searching for economies. It is intolerant 

 of needless expense. The way a thing can 

 be done the easiest and cheapest is the way 

 it is bound to be done and the way it ought 

 to be done. We want the best results and 

 find that they come from combination. 

 The old aphorism, 'in union there is 

 strength,' takes on a new meaning. It is 

 the law of growth and increase. It applies 

 to industries as well as to individuals. To 

 unite is to advance. The concentration of 

 process is the expansion of output. 



Thus the potent agencies by which distri- 

 bution is now so rapidly and cheaply ef- 

 fected, which so combine and intensify the 

 forces of production, are fast altering the 

 conditions and changing the character of 

 industrial development. And the end is 

 not yet; it outruns imagination. What 

 will be the ultimate effect of these meth- 

 ods of conveyance and intercourse when 

 brought to higher perfection and employed 

 with still greater efficiency? When these 

 agencies of commerce are increased in num- 

 ber and capacity, as they will be ; when cost 

 is still further and greatly reduced, as it 

 will be; when speed is doubled, as it will 

 be, and quadrupled, as it may be ; when the 

 whole United States shall have reached the 

 density of population now existing in 

 Great Britain — how can industrial compe- 

 tition possibly survive? 



When Adam Smith wrote 'The Wealth 

 of Nations,' it took two weeks to haul a 

 wagon-load of goods from London to Edin- 

 burgh, and such a thing as a business or 

 industrial corporation was virtually un- 



