Modern Geography

by Marion I. Newbigin

When coal became supremely important the small industries, previously scattered over the localities where some specially favourable conditions presented themselves, began to concentrate near the coalfields. With the cheap power they developed out of all proportion to their old state, and new industries were added to the old. Thus began that process which made the great manufacturing nations seek markets far beyond their own shores, and produce far in excess of their own needs. This, again, has led to enormous improvements in the means of communication. It must itself, however, be necessarily a more or less temporary phenomenon, to be replaced sooner or later by other conditions, as the new nations become manufacturers in their turn, and cease to offer unlimited markets to the old.

In regard to the localisation of industries, it is interesting to note that though the industries are attracted towards coal, local conditions generally determine which industry or industries shall prosper round a particular coalfield. The moist climate of Lancashire, with the relative proximity of the cotton supplies of the Southern United States, has determined the cotton industry of Lancashire. Once established the advantages associated with a going concern make it very difficult for other districts to capture trade, even when they have greater natural advantages, e. g. the Southern States themselves are now manufacturing areas, but cannot compete on equal terms with Lancashire.

It is indeed remarkable that the proximity of raw material, except in cases when this is very bulky, as with ores, seems often to be of minor importance in localising industries. Thus, though Belfast may be said to owe its linen industry primarily to local supplies of flax, it is noticeable that the local supply is very limited, and several towns on the east coast of Scotland, as Dunfermline, Montrose, Arbroath, etc., have a flourishing linen industry maintained entirely by imported raw material. A whole host of facts of this kind emphasise the importance of power in the case of a modern industry, as contrasted with the supreme importance of abundant raw material in the old days when man himself chiefly supplied the motive force.

In other words, modern industry has been very closely associated with improved means of communication, which alone make it possible to carry cheap raw material over great distances, without excessive expense for freight. The study of the development of the means of communication is therefore a problem well worth the attention of the geographer, and is one which has many interesting facts to disclose.

Man himself is an animal relatively ill-adapted for continuous rapid movement or for the transport of goods. As a transport animal he is the costliest and most inefficient known, and were it not for the intelligence which enabled him first to utilise other animals for his own purposes, and later to find mechanical means, the progress of civilisation would have been impossible. Progress in Africa has been greatly checked by the fact that over a large area man is the only transport animal available, a fact which brings in its train the slave trade, and many other serious evils.

Except in certain special localities the surface of the earth is so uneven that progression, especially for a loaded man or animal, is very difficult except on a prepared surface. On the other hand, the diminution of friction over a water surface makes transport over it relatively easy. It has been pointed out that, as a result of this fact, the great civilisations have developed in regions where water transport was possible, and have involved the progressive utilisation of larger and larger masses of water.

The first civilisations developed in river valleys, where water transport in one direction at least is very easy. The next stage was that which saw man settled on the shores of the great inland sea, and witnessed his gradual acquisition of greater and greater skill in navigation. As we have seen, he was soon not content with that sea alone, but launched out into the open, and, hugging the coastline, found his way to far Britain.

Only at a very much later date, however, did he conquer the vast Atlantic outside, which, as Prof. Myres points out, has now become a mere inland sea in its turn, when compared with the greater oceans beyond. To this day, however, the part which water transport plays in human life is reflected in the way in which the denser masses of mankind cluster round the shores of the seas and oceans, as any map of the distribution of population will show.

In water transport the method of propelling the vessel employed is of great importance. In river navigation it is natural to allow the boat to drift with the current, and the use of a pole to steer with would naturally suggest its use as a paddle or oar in order to move against the current. In North America up till the appearance of the white man, the aborigines had not got past the paddle stage, in spite of the fact that they were very skilful navigators, and had a considerable variety of vessels.

The next stage is of course the sail, used by most races who venture on open water, as contrasted with flowing streams and rivers. Although before its virtual replacement by steam, the civilised races had carried the development of the sail to a very high pitch, yet the difficulties associated with it militated against bold navigation, more especially in the early days when there was no science of meteorology. Thus it has been pointed out that the reason why the effective discovery of America was delayed so long was largely due to two meteorological facts. The first of these is that to the north, the place where the crossing is narrowest, the ice which streams down the west coast of Greenland, and even to this day presents difficulties to navigation off the coasts of Newfoundland, formed an effective barrier to early navigators. To the south the great difficulty was the constant north-east trade wind. What ship dare set out towards the unknown blown by a constant wind against which she could not return home again? To Columbus first, says Mr. Mackinder, came the brilliant inspiration that, while travelling outwards with the trade, it would be possible to return with the westerly breezes of more northern latitudes.