AND ON THE CONTINENT.
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gather. Building labour in England , in spite of the higher weeklywages of the workmen, is also cheaper than on the Continent. Weare reminded in this respect of the particulars given by LordBrassey (2). According to his experience, English bricklayers andnavvies generally work cheaper than Continental or Indian work-men, who receive far less wages.
The greater becomes the advantage of England the more we turnfrom natural materials, such as land, bricks, and iron, to those inwhose production labour and capital take an important position.The advantage of England in this respect is tremendous. Thecentralisation of the cotton industry in Lancashire has caused theconcentration of corresponding machine-making establishments,with thousands of workpeople. Such works as Platt’s, of Oldham,Dobson and Barlow’s, of Bolton, and others, which furnish for themost part machines for a special branch of trade, can only arise inthe centre of a large industry of the foremost rank. The makingof machinery also enjoys therewith all the advantages of divisionof labour in producing on a large scale. The same progress whichwe have observed in the cotton industry led also in the making ofmachinery, in spite of a continual advancement of the weeklywages of the workmen, to a progressive cheapening of the pro-duction. What importance in this respect the displacement ofhand-work by machines has had is shown, for instance, by theremark of Sir Joseph Whitworth , according to which the planing ofa square foot of cast iron in 1826 cost 12s. by hand, against which,to day it costs by machinery only 1 s.
Machine works have also arisen in Germany wherever a textilecentre has been formed—thus, in Alsace. German machine-making is, however, still beliind the specialisation attained inEngland. Just as the German textile industry is wanting in con-centration, so does the corresponding machine-making also lackthe advantages of that division of labour attendant upon concen-trated industry. To make machinery for the cotton industry nowand then alongside with other machinery is unprofitable. At thetime of the German Enquete machinery for spinning was stillmostly, that for weaving almost generally, obtained from England ,although the charges for packing, duty, carriage, etc., amounted tofrom 30 to 50 per cent. (3). Even into Alsace itself -was English