'SELECT METHODS IN CHEMICAL ANALYSIS' A TREATISE ON BEET-ROOT SUGAR' ETC. ILLUSTRATED WITH THIRTY-ONE ENGRAVINGS LONDON LONGMANS, GREEN, AND CO. 1879 All rights reserved PREFACE ΤΟ THE ENGLISH EDITION, It is important that both England and France should be alive to the fact that the agricultural crisis from which both countries are now suffering, as well as the more serious troubles which threaten civilised nations, are only the prelude to the economic struggle between the Old World, bound in the trammels of tradition, and the New World, pressing onward free and unrestrained in the path of progress. Guided by a practical spirit, which the Americans appear to possess in an unrivalled degree, they have at their disposal natural resources superior to those of any other country, as well as the advantages assured to them by a constitution which renders the land accessible to all. What the outcome of this struggle will be it is difficult to foresee. We can only define the present state of affairs, and place the results of science at the service of our respective countries. English economists have taught us that free trade is a certain and unalloyed blessing to the future of nations; that under the stimulus of competition manufacturing operations would everywhere be brought to perfection, that one country would obtain an advantage over another only so far as the products for which its climate, natural richness, and native fitness give it a legitimate pre-eminence; and that cheapness of living, or, in other words, the interests of the people, would be the reward of this balance of competition. How little does the experience of to-day confirm these anticipations of future prosperity. After a civil war almost unparalleled in history, the United States of America found itself suddenly face to face with a debt whose weight few nations of old Europe could have thrown off. Obliged to provide immediate resources, they could not wait for the theories of classical economists. Without regard to existing opinions as to custom-house duties, they, without hesitation, and contrary to all expectation, levied an almost prohibitory tax on all foreign products. The effect of these measures was immediate. The new taxes enabled America to remain master of the situation and to fulfil her pecuniary engagements. Her manufactures, protected from foreign competition, have sprung up into life and vigour which have placed her at one stroke in the highest rank, as was shown by her display at the last Paris Exhibition. In short, the United States are not only ceasing to be tributory to the Old World, but are becoming its rivals, both in the far East and in our own markets; this is not only the case in manufactures but even in agriculture itself, thus affecting |