CONSUMPTION OF EUROPEAN MANUFACTURES.
From the Memoirs of General Miller.
Second Edition.
The aboriginal inhabitants of Peru are gradually beginning to experience the benefit which has been conferred upon them, by the repeal of ancient oppressive laws. In the districts that produce gold, their exertions will be redoubled, for they now work for themselves. They can obtain this precious metal by merely scratching the earth, and, although the collection of each individual may be small, the aggregate quantity thus obtained will be far from inconsiderable. As the aborigines attain comparative wealth, they will acquire a taste for the minor comforts of life. The consumption of European manufactures will be increased to an incalculable degree, and the effect upon the general commerce of the world will be sensibly perceived. It is for the first and most active manufacturing country in Christendom to take a proper advantage of the opening thus afforded. Already, in those countries, British manufactures employ double the tonnage, and perhaps exceed twenty times the value, of the importations from all other foreign nations put together. The wines and tasteful bagatelles of France, and the flour and household furniture of the United States, will bear no comparison in value to the cottons of Manchester, the linens of Glasgow, the broadcloths of Leeds, or the hardware of Birmingham. All this is proved by the great proportion of precious metals sent to England, as compared with the remittances to other nations. The very watches sent by Messrs. Roskell and Co. of Liverpool, would out-balance the exports of some of the nations which trade to South America.