XXX
AMERICAN PREFACE.
THE GREAT WEALTH OE FRANCE.
It is just here, in the application of skill and taste to in-
dustry, that we find one of the main causes of that vast wealth
of France, which is indeed a marvel wlien we consider that
she has been engaged in so many costly wars, that her national
debt is unequalled, and that her people are not excessively over-
worked, but, on the other hand, are the gayest in the world. Her
mannfactures have long bcen renowned for the skill and taste which
they embody; and it is these manufactures, not, as with us, bread-
stuffs and raw materials, that compose the great bulk of her
exports. 1 Her textile manufactures alone amount to some $700,-
000,000 annually, nearly double the textile manufactures of the
United States. Her exports of all kinds of manufactured pro-
ducts in 1874 amounted to $434,513,800. As was to be expectql,
agriculture flourishes no less than manufactures. In 1869 France,
with a domain smaller than that of Texas, produced 297,000,000
busheis of wheat, that being 67,000,000 busheis more than the
product of the United States as given in the census of 1870. She
also produced 275,000,000 busheis of potatoes, that being 155,-
000,000 in excess of the American yield. The value of the
natural alimentary products which she exported in 1874 was
$298,335,000, about the same as the value of similar exports from
the United States. Wine and brandy, cheaply transported, made
up $60,000,000 of the whole amount. These figures are enough to
sliows that the British Government realize the importance of having workmen
take pride and delight in their work : —
“What is the quality of the work executed by workmen? Are they gen-
erally competent in their several departments ? Do tlie artisaus take a pride
iil their work, and put their character into it? Wouhl they make a stand
against doing had work as tliey would against receiving had wages? Is
there any dass of artisans whose work can be depended upon as good from
the sense of honor they have in executing it ? What influence has the skill
and trustworthiness of the workmen in auy department of industry exercised
upon the rate of wages ? ”
1 Accordingto “ L’Economiste Framjais,” the total value of French exports
for 1874 was $775,550,600, grouped as follows: inanufactures, $434,513,800;
natural alimentary products, $298,335,000; other merchandise, $42,701,800. The
following are some of the items: silk tissues, $95,433,200; woollen tissues and
yarn, $78,218,400; cottou tissues and yarn, $15,859,400; linen goods, $12,941,000;
wines, $47,316,600; floss silk, $24,065,800; cereals, $28,291,400.
