AND ON THE CONTINENT.

85

culties in individual cases. Without successors, especially on theHeld of commercial organisation, competition in open markets iaapt to be impossible.

But the comparison with German conditions just shows how theEnglish development, which we have followed, is nothing excep-tional, but is rather the consequential improvement of the exist-ence of centralised industry itself under the pressure of the world’smarket. A concentrated industry with division in labour is, inthe world’s mart, plainly supreme over one decentralised and splitup.

As the first developing tendency of centralised industry, onecan set up the following: Striving after concentration and divisionof labour (Integration and Differentiality).

II.—Replacement of Raw Materials and Labour b;j Capital.

A.—Spinning.

If we look at raw materials, labour, and capital as the mostimportant producing elements, the progress of skill in every in-dustry develops itself first in that wherein the material element iseclipsed by labour and capital, as already described by JosiahTucker (1). This shows itself in several directions. On the onehand we learn to use inferior material, and then to produce the ob-ject desired with a less quantity of given material. Eor both of theseassertions cotton spinning provides proofs. At the present timethere are spun, on an average, qualities inferior to those spun in the“thirties,” notably East Indian cotton, whilst formerly only thebetter American was used. Especially was this tendency in-fluenced by the American Civil War, which also taught us how totreat shorter staple with success (2). We have also', in addition,made progress in the more minute using-up of the material. Thusin 1831 waste formed one-seventh of the raw material; to-day itonly counts for one-tenth (3). Besides this, a great portion of thewaste is now successfully utilised by mixing with better cotton, or

1. “ Four Tracts on Political ami Commercial Subjects.”

2. S. Andrew: “ Fifty Years’Cotton Trade,” p. G.

3. This is, of course, only a surmise based upon the particulars of Ure andAndrew ; as a matter of fact, the percentage varies considerably according tothe class of cotton spun, the counts of yarn, etc. Germany appears to haverather more waBte. Compare Protokollc of the “ Iteichsonquete,” p. 9.