418. Statistics of the growth of commerce, 1800-1850.—The period of most rapid growth was the second half of the nineteenth century, and this period will be reserved for special consideration a little later. The development in the first half of the century is set forth in the accompanying table, which gives the figures for imports retained in the country, and for the exports of home produce, according to the system of valuation in use in this period, with the sum of these items.
As the population doubled in this period it is apparent that foreign commerce, which more than doubled in value, was taking a more important place in the national economy than before. In the first quarter of the century, when England was passing through the struggle of the Napoleonic wars and was recovering from their effects, trade was nearly stagnant, but it made up in the twenty-five years that followed for the time that had been lost before. If we measure commerce not by the value of the wares, but by their physical quantity, the increase was far more striking; prices of many articles, especially of the manufactures exported, fell during this period, and consequently the same bulk of trade would be represented by much smaller figures in pounds sterling. If we returned to the old method of measuring trade, which retained “official” values that did not change with the movement of market prices, and which therefore affords a means of measuring an increase in the bulk of trade, we should find, comparing the two years, 1800 and 1849, that exports grew from 24 million to 190 million pounds sterling, giving the enormous increase of 682 per cent.
| Annual Average Trade of the United Kingdom. (Millions of Pounds and Dollars) | ||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Imports | Exports | Total | ||||
| 1801-05 | £28 | $140 | £33 | $165 | £61 | $305 |
| 1806-10 | 30 | 150 | 37 | 185 | 67 | 335 |
| 1811-15 | 29 | 145 | 45 | 225 | 74 | 370 |
| 1816-20 | 20 | 100 | 40 | 200 | 60 | 300 |
| 1821-25 | 26 | 130 | 37 | 185 | 63 | 315 |
| 1826-30 | 33 | 165 | 35 | 175 | 69 | 345 |
| 1831-35 | 36 | 180 | 40 | 200 | 76 | 380 |
| 1836-40 | 47 | 235 | 50 | 250 | 97 | 485 |
| 1841-45 | 57 | 285 | 54 | 270 | 111 | 555 |
| 1846-50 | 72 | 360 | 60 | 300 | 133 | 665 |
419. Change in the relative importance of different exports.—We can expect, by studying the details of exports in this period, to find the branches of production in which the English were strong enough to enable them to supply other people and to extend their commerce. Taking the figures for 1850, we find the evidence of some important changes. The old staple of the English export trade, woolen manufactures and yarn, had increased since 1800 in value, and still more in quantity. It had ceased, however, to be the standby of the English exporter; this item formed now less than one seventh of the exports instead of over one fourth. It had been thrust into the second place by the rival textile cotton, which had become, as it was destined to remain throughout the century, the leading item among English exports. Cotton yarn and manufactures made up 28 out of a total of 71 million pounds sterling. Among other changes in the list we note the growth of the iron and steel, the hardware and the coal exports. Some items are interesting because they are still so small; among those which remained below the million-pound mark were steam-engines and machinery, pottery, and tin plate.
420. Development of English manufactures.—It is apparent that this period was marked by a rapid development of English manufactures. Taking two manufactures, typical of an advanced industrial state, iron and cotton, we find that the increase in production is estimated at over tenfold or more than 1000 per cent; as the quantity of population had merely doubled it is apparent that its quality, or the character of its occupations, underwent a revolutionary change. It is, in fact, in this first half of the nineteenth century that the enormous possibilities latent in the inventions of the eighteenth century became apparent and were realized. The great inventions were not enough, in themselves, to transform industry. They needed to be developed by practical business men, who could secure the necessary capital to utilize them to the best advantage, who had the talent for organization enabling them to build up an efficient force of laborers, who could stimulate further technical improvements necessary to supplement the great inventions, and who could develop a mercantile system enabling them to buy and sell large quantities to good advantage. Some English manufactures remained “domestic” industries carried on in the home of the workman, but the most important advanced to the factory system, and were thus enabled to get the full advantage from technical improvements.
421. Introduction of machinery.—It is in this period that the knowledge and experience necessary to the proper handling of machinery spread from narrow circles to broad groups of men. The market for machinery was thus established, and the manufacture of tools and machines underwent a corresponding development; in 1836 it was “difficult to point out any leading mechanical process, the details of which have not been, by this means, simplified, and the article produced brought nearer to perfection.” Inventors from other countries sought British shops to perfect their devices, and British factories in which to introduce them. Some of the best textile machinery of this period was invented in the United States and other countries, but was first put to practical use in England.
422. Steam power and railroad transportation.—It is in this period, also, that the steam-engine became a practical force in English manufactures. The steam-engine had been introduced in Birmingham in 1780, but the number of engines in that rising center of manufactures was in 1815 only 42 and in 1830 still only 120, while in the nine years following the number rose to 240, or doubled. In 1835 the textile factories of England employed only a little over 50,000 mechanical horse-power, and of this total nearly a quarter was still obtained from water-wheels. The beginnings of transportation by steam railroads can be dated, as said before, from about 1830.
423. Gradual development of the cotton manufacture.—The statement in a previous paragraph, that time was needed to develop the inventions before they could be made to serve the interests of manufacturers and merchants, is borne out by the history of the most important manufacture, that of cotton. Most of the basic inventions in cotton machinery were made in the last quarter of the eighteenth century. As early as 1812 a man, using the improved appliances, could produce 200 times as much as could be got from the old spinning-wheel. Yet it was not until 1820 or 1830 that cotton-spinning machinery had been practically developed and introduced on such a scale that the yarn exports began to show the full strength of this new force; while power weaving came even later, and the exports of cloth increased most rapidly in the second quarter of the century. Other processes connected with the textile manufacture present the same history. Cotton printing, for instance, had been practised in the eighteenth century, but in 1800 only 32 million yards a year were printed, while in 1830 the figure had risen to 347. The growth of the cotton manufacture was reflected in the development of towns like Manchester, Bolton, and Liverpool, which increased immensely in population.
424. Character of the import trade.—It will be instructive to glance now at the other side of England’s commercial balance sheet, and observe the wares imported about the middle of the century. In 1854 the values were as follows, in round millions of pounds sterling: total 152.3, of which the chief items were grain 21.7, raw cotton 20.1, timber 10, sugar 9.6, raw wool 6.4, tea 5.5, raw silk 5.3. While it is not safe to make a direct comparison between these values and those given previously to show conditions about 1800, a striking change is apparent in the relative rank of the items. A great growth in the importance of the imports of breadstuffs is noticeable. We shall see a little later that the English in this period gave up the attempt to produce their food at home, and resigned themselves to depending on foreign countries for supplies which they could purchase with their manufactures. Wares like sugar, tea, coffee, and tobacco had declined in relative importance. The actual amount of these commodities imported for consumption at home had increased much more than would appear from a comparison of the figures, and their use was constantly extending among the common people; but they were now overshadowed in trade by other items. The chief group of imports was formed of raw materials for the English textile manufacture. The cotton imports, had, of course, grown immensely; the home supply of wool, which had been almost sufficient for manufactures in 1800, needed now to be supplemented by large imports from abroad; silk had taken the third place on the list of textiles away from flax and hemp.
425. Increase in importance of trade with distant continents.—If we attempt to trace the changes in the direction of English trade in the first half of the nineteenth century, we find, in the maze of figures presented for study, some facts standing out as evident and important. The trade with other countries in Europe grew steadily, but grew slowly as a rule, and did not keep pace with the progress which English trade was making in other parts of the world. Most of the continental states looked with jealousy on England’s industrial development, and checked the free exchange of commodities by severe restrictions. We must look outside of Europe for the field of expansion of English trade. Africa still remained unimportant from the commercial standpoint, but America, Asia, and Australia dealt in increasing measure with the British merchant.