620 



SCIEWCE. 



[Vol. VIU., No. 204 



tions." These seven reasons may not be distinct, 

 and we are inclined to believe that they are re- 

 ducible to fewer ; but, at all events, they form a 

 comprehensive summary the value of which is 

 not imisaired by elaboration. Mr. Atkinson also 

 negatives that foolish fallacy, now so widely held, 

 that the "rich are grovving richer, and the poor 

 poorer." Its main force lies in the euphony of its 

 expression. 



Impressed, as we well may be, with the phe- 

 nomenal development of the United States and 

 the magnificent possibilities that lie before it, yet 

 we must study development elsewhere as often as 

 we can find it. That Great Britain has not been 

 standing still for the past decade, Mr. Mulhall 

 conclusively proves in the Contemporary review. 

 Since 1875 the population of the United Kingdom 

 has increased 12 per cent ; wealth, 32 per cent ; 

 trade, 29 per cent ; shipping, 67 per cent ; and in- 

 struction, 68 per cent. During the ten years the 

 natural increase of the population has been 1,200 

 daily, and the outflow to the United States and 

 the colonies has averaged 600 daily. Besides this 

 natural increase, there has been an immigration 

 of 1,317,000 persons, consisting of returned colo- 

 nists and foreign settlers : 65 per cent of the emi- 

 gration came to the United States. Mr. Mulhall 

 wants the medical association to investigate the 

 fact, that, while the marriages have declined only 

 1.5 per cent, the births have fallen off 5.5 per cent. 

 He considers that this furnishes ground for grave 

 apprehensions of physical decadence. The con- 

 dition of the people at large has materially im- 

 proved in the ten years. Pauperism has declined 

 (the rate per thousand of population being 27 in 

 1885, as against 41 in 1870, and 48 in 1850), sav. 

 ings-bank deposits have increased, and there has 

 been increased consumption per capita of tea, 

 sugar, meat, and grain. The criminal statistics 

 show a large decrease in the number of commit- 

 tals, and the average number of children attend- 

 ing primary schools has risen 68 per cent in ten 

 years. The bankruptcies are fewer than in 1875, 

 and the consumption of alcoholic drinks has de- 

 creased. 



Mr. Mulhall's conclusions from his study of the 

 figures are very gratifying, the only two unfavor- 

 able items being the decline in the ratio of the 

 number of births per marriage, and the lamentable 

 condition of Ireland. The fall in the death-rate 

 is ascribed to sanitary improvements and the in- 



creased consumption of wholesome food. The 

 34-per-cent decline in the consumption of liquor is 

 especially to be noted, and considered in connec- 

 tion with the 82-per-cent increase in the savings 

 of the working-classes, the larger amount of 

 wheat and meat consumed, and the decrease of 

 36 per cent in crime and of 33 per cent in pauper- 

 ism. Mr. Mulhall's figures are confirmatory of 

 Mr. Atkinson's argument ; for Great Britain is 

 virtually a democracy, and, while subjected to a 

 large annual expense for her army and navy, this 

 is nothing like the drain upon her resources that 

 the cost of their military establishments is to the 

 great continental powers. Mr. Atkinson's further 

 contributions to this discussion will be awaited 

 with interest, and we shall expect some criticism 

 of his fundamental tenets from economists. 



Meanwhile Mr. Atkinson's position, that "high 

 wages, either in money or in what money will buy^ 

 are the correlative or reflex of a low cost of pro- 

 duction measured by labor or effort," receives an 

 indorsement in some statistics that the United 

 States consul at Tunstall has communicated to 

 the department of state. He says in regard to 

 silk, that, in a Macclesfield mill, 144 hands are 

 employed in throwing 500 pounds of Canton silk» 

 with average earnings of $2.25 a week ; while 

 in an American mill 80 hands throw from 1,000 

 to 1,200 pounds of Canton silk at an average wage 

 of $5.50 per week. So American average earnings 

 of $5.50 give far better results than the English 

 average earnings of $2.25. This instance frc n 

 the silk industry is supplemented by one from the 

 boot and shoe iodustry ; Frankfort-on-the-Main, 

 and Lynn, Mass., furnishing the data. The price 

 paid at a factory near Frankfort-on-the-Main for 

 making uppers for ladies' high-top button gaiters 

 is 21 cents a pair ; while the cost of the same 

 labor in Lynn, Mass., is 11 cents, or nearly 50 per 

 cent less than in Germany. The whole boot, 

 solid and finished, and laid in boxes, costs 33 

 cents in Lynn, which is far below what it is in 

 Germany. The actual earnings in Germany, taken 

 from the work accounts, are, on the average per 

 hand employed, $3.38, while in Lynn they are 

 not less than $9 per week. 



The fallacy contained in the common saying 

 that numbers cannot lie, is well shown in the re- 

 cent discussion of the statistics of insanity by Dr. 

 D. Hack Tuke. The statistics may be all right. 



