CHAPTER XVI.

INCREASE OF WEALTH.

Increase of Wealth.-Amount Assessed to Income Tax in 1814-15 and 1876-77. --Increase of Capital in the Savings' Banks.-Progress of Science.-Literature of Commerce.-Use of Wealth in works of Benevolence.-True sources of British Prosperity.-Influence of Commerce on the Peace of the World. WHATEVER difficulty early writers on Economic Science may have had in arriving at the true source of wealth, and the relative value of Agriculture, Manufactures, and Commerce, here is a history of a nation, eminently commercial, which has become by her commerce and industry exceedingly wealthy. Britain has, indeed, great wealth in her land, in her mines, and in her geographical position; but commerce and navigation gave them a value greater than they would otherwise possess, and by their agency the resources of the nation have been developed to an enormous extent.

The two graphic tables we present of the amount of income from agriculture, professions, and industry, assessed to income tax under Schedule A, B, and D, in 1814-15 and in 1876-77, calculated per head of the population in every county in England, and also in Wales and Scotland, exhibit the result of trade in a remarkable manner.

During the last sixty years the assessable income of England and Wales has increased to the extent of 75 per cent. after taking account of increase of population, whilst the increase in the incomes from professions and trades amounted to 190 per cent. Upon examination of the table in the Appendix, and of the two graphic tables, it will be seen that the income of the manufacturing and industrial counties exhibits a much greater increase than that of the agricultural counties, and that the relative position of some counties, notably of Derby and Lancaster, has greatly changed in the period.

The income of the United Kingdom is still accumulating at a rapid pace. In 1843 the total annual value of property and profits assessed to income tax in Great Britain only was 251,000,000l. In 1877 the total value of property and profits assessed in the United Kingdom was 570,000,000l. The amount assessed under Schedule D for gains arising from any profession or trade in Great

Britain in 1843 was 71,000,000l., and in 1877, in the United Kingdom, 257,000,000l.

Nor is the increase of incomes confined among the higher classes. In 1841 the capital of the Savings' Banks in the United Kingdom amounted to 24,475,000l. In 1878, including the Post-office Savings' Banks, the total capital so held amounted to 74,705,000l., besides large amounts invested by the labouring and lower middle classes in building, friendly, and co-operative societies. And thankful we are that good use is often made of wealth to promote learning and to mitigate the sufferings of mankind. What country in the world possesses so many scientific societies, all free and self-supporting, the spontaneous creation of men of science, as Britain? These scientific societies have a high economic value. The Royal Mathematical Societies are labouring to evolve the principles of those sciences which govern alike the phenomena of the material universe and the practical problem of the law of probabilities. The Statistical Society subjects the real worth of economic doctrines to the close test of numbers, to the great correctives of experience and facts, using the inductive rather than the deductive method for the guidance of the philosopher and statesman. The Astronomical Society is expanding our knowledge of the meteorology and magnetism of the universe, as well as of the laws which govern the motion of the stars, to the immense benefit of navigation. The Chemical Society is ever analysing matter, finding new products, and enriching us with an extended knowledge of their wonderful capabilities. The Geographical is exploring for us unknown regions, and makes us acquainted with the habits and wants of distant races. The Geological maps out for us the very strata of the earth. And the British Association for the Advancement of Science and the National Association for the Promotion of Social Science propagate scientific truths all over the kingdom, and bring to light the latent powers of every corner of the state. The 50,000 men devoted to, or interested in, scientific pursuits in the United Kingdom are not only the ornaments but the very strength of the British empire. The arts also are cultivated and appreciated. The wealth contained in our private and public galleries is enormous, as was shown in the magnificent Exhibition of Art Treasures at Manchester; and the Science and Art Department as well as the Commissioners of the National Gallery are not sparing in their efforts to acquire for the nation any chef d'œuvre within their reach.'

Mr. Giffen, in his paper on the Recent Accumulations of Capital in the United Kingdom,' read at the Statistical Society, estimated the present capital at a minimum of 8,500 millions sterling. In ten years, from 1865 to 1875, the national estate increased from 6,100 millions to 8,500 millions, or at the rate of 240 millions per annum. (See Journal of the Statistical Society, vol. xli. p. 1.) In 1878 the value of property on which probate and administrations were sworn was 119,859,6197.

Many of our merchant princes are conspicuous for their benevolence. And brilliant examples have been given of a cosmopolitan charity, ever ready to answer to the call of humanity from whatever quarter it may come. Witness the effort made in 1847 to mitigate the sufferings and privations caused by the failure of the potato crop in Ireland; the sumptuous contributions given to the sufferers from the inundations in France in 1853; the patriotic fund of 1856; the large sum collected for Indian relief; the munificent sum granted by Mr. William Brown, of Liverpool, for a free library; the sumptuous gift of Mr. Peabody; the princely benefactions of the Baroness Coutts; the rich endowments of Sir David Baxter; the liberal foundation of scholarships of Sir William Whitworth; and the noble efforts now making by the city companies to promote technical education. It is from wealth drawn from commerce that churches, schools, and hospitals are scattered with profusion all over our cities, and most of our noblest institutions for the benefit of the poor and the relief of suffering derive constant sustenance. And it is from the same prolific source that the pioneer of civilisation, and the self-denying missionary-men such as Moffatt and Williams, Duff and Livingstone-are sent forth to the very ends of the earth to break the fallow ground, and to open a highway for the renovating influences of religion and charity.

Into the distant future we cannot penetrate. What revolutions may yet come to pass, what may be the course of trade as new communications open, what new marts of merchandise may yet flourish, whether some new race may yet come to the surface, possessing greater force of character, greater energy and skill than the Anglo-Saxon, we cannot say. Babylon, Thebes, Carthage, Athens, and Rome were probably as great and even as populous as London now is, and yet they are gone, And so it may be of Britain, should she ever be enervated by luxury and degraded in her morals, should virtue hide her face and rectitude depart from her streets. But we trust otherwise. We have faith in the moral influences at work. We have confidence in the strength of will, sober judgment, and untiring energy of the AngloSaxon race; and happy will it be if, realising the true source of her strength and success, Britain knows how to use her wealth, power, and influence towards the maintenance and the promotion of the true, the good, and the beautiful.'

Commerce has done much for Britain, and we trust it will do still more for nations-for the world. In the words of John Stuart Mill, commerce first taught nations to see with goodwill the wealth and prosperity of one another. Before, the patriot, unless sufficiently advanced in culture to feel the world his country, wished all countries weak, poor, and ill-governed but his own; he now sees in their wealth and progress a direct source of wealth

and progress to his own country. It is commerce which is rapidly rendering war obsolete, by strengthening and multiplying the personal interests which are in natural opposition to it. And it may be said, without exaggeration, that the great extent and rapid increase of international trade, in being the principal guarantee of the peace of the world, is of the greatest permanent security for the uninterrupted progress of the ideas, the institutions, and the character of the human race.'