to nearly $40,250,000 (or more than 8,000,000l.). "The manufacture of gentlemen's shirts and collars, and of ladies' cloaks and mantillas (a new branch, which has received its principal impulse during the last ten years), and of ladies' and gentlemen's furnishing goods generally, form very large items in the general aggregate of this business." In Troy (State of New York) the value of the shirt collars annually manufactured alone approximates to $800,000.*

There are 2,800 establishments in the United States engaged in the manufacturing of men's and women's clothing, employing nearly 90,000 hands. We have already seen that the "tailors and tailoresses" in the United States are numbered at upwards of 100,000.

The engineering manufactures of the United States have also become of great magnitude. The great majority, if not all, of the locomotive and stationary steamengines, of the engines used in mines, factories, mills, forges, &c., are now made at home. A certain proportion of machinery is still imported-equal, perhaps, to about 50,000l. a year; but I imagine that these machines are those only of a finer description.

In the manufacture of Iron goods, however, the United States does not appear to make such great progress as in some other branches of manufacturing industry. The value of the production of her iron-foundries in 1860 is calculated at $27,970,193, or say, 5,400,000l.

*

But in

Troy appears devoting itself to the paper collar manufacture. I have before me accounts of two manufactories in that city, one of which turns out 100,000 and the other 30,000 paper collars a day.

that year, the United States imported from Great Britain alone "iron" to the extent of 3,136,000l., “hardwares" to the extent of 1,055,000l., and "iron in bars" to the extent of 34,400/.; or, making allowances for the differences in prices and calculations on either side, a quantity probably not far short of her production. Many of the lighter articles of hardware we know that America is making for herself to great advantage. "Colt's revolvers" and "Hobbs's locks" are now institutions in England as well as in America. Stoves are now extensively manufactured in the country, where coal is beginning to be more commonly employed than it once was for domestic purposes. Some edge-tool manufactories are also established, and I have before me the particulars of some file-manufactories that are said to be returning considerable profits. In respect, however, to most iron goods, and especially those of the heavier descriptions, England can supply them very much cheaper, at the present time, than Americans can produce them; and this especially applies to railroad-iron, which must inevitably form, for many years to come, so large a proportion of the iron used in the United States.

The entire value of the steam-engines and other machinery produced in America (exclusive of sewingmachines) was estimated, in 1860, at $47,000,000, or (say) 9,400,000l. sterling. This is an increase of more than 60 per cent. upon their production of 1850. But I cannot regard the total as a large one, especially considering all the articles included in the enumeration. The supply of steam-engines alone for such a

progressive country as America ought not to fall short of this amount. But we must regard the manufacture ol steam-machinery in America as, to a great extent, stilf in its infancy.

It is observable from the official returns, that the States which made the largest progress in the production of machinery between 1850 and 1860, were the distant States of Iowa, Mississippi, California, and Wisconsin. I infer that the articles classed as "machinery" include some very simple instruments, because it is not to be imagined that a very high class of "steam machinery" could be produced in any of these States; certainly not in the two last, which were settled before the commencement of the decade. Such instruments as butter-churns, cheese-presses, washing-machines, wringing-machines, and mangles, enter, no doubt, very largely into the computation of "machinery" made in the far West. Nor are these machines to be despised. They are all adapted to the one great end of economizing labour; and many of them do so most effectually. It is complained of the American washing-machines, that they very rapidly destroy the linen; but it is to be recollected, that in primitive countries, the ordinary mode of washing is to beat the clothes between two large stones in a flowing stream, a process which must be even more destructive. I am told that the American wringing-machines and mangles do not, according to the notions of our washerwomen, give a sufficient "gloss" to the clothes. But they are cheaper and more effective instruments than our heavy box-mangles: and the "gloss" required in Illinois and

Minnesota, is probably not so great as in Piccadilly or the Phoenix Park.

It is, however, greatly to be desired that the invention, ingenuity, and skill of the Americans should receive the fullest opportunities for development, whether at home or abroad. Every nation in the world is interested in the improvement of machinery; and when we reflect on the advantages afforded by such an instrument as the sewing-machine, it is impossible not to desire that machines which save so much labour, and afford such largely-increased employment, may be abundantly multiplied. England is above all countries interested in the improvement of machinery. With her manufacturing skill, her capital, her cheap supplies of iron and fuel, and her abundant labour, it is impossible but that she must maintain a superiority in the production of machinery where other circumstances are equal. It is for our interest to turn to the utmost advantage every improvement that may reach us from whatsoever source. If this is admitted in America, it will be also admitted that it adds to the strength of the argument with which I have concluded each of the chapters under this section. America may export her cheap machinery to Europe ;— Europe cannot but be glad to have it, in whatever form it may arrive. But in order to receive it, and to use it with advantage, America must consent to take back what we can produce from it with advantage to herself. We shall not ask her, nor would it be consistent with common sense to ask her, to receive any produce of that machinery which, by its means, or by any other means

whatever, she can produce more cheaply for herself. But, so long as she cannot convert her own raw materials, by the aid of her own machinery, as cheaply as they can be converted into manufactured articles in other countries, it is obvious that she is only imposing a penalty upon herself, and upon every one of her own citizens, by the imposition of duties which preclude the use of her own raw materials and machinery to the greatest advantage in other countries.

CHAPTER IV.

GENERAL MANUFACTURES.

In the preceding chapter I have mentioned the sewingmachine, and referred to some of the effects that that purely American instrument has had upon American manufactures. I should not do justice, however, to this invaluable invention, if I did not refer more at length to some of the results it has produced.

It has been observed that the production of men and women's made-up clothing is one of the most remarkable of the recent developments of America. But I must mention one important article not yet referred to which the sewing-machine has most materially assisted to develop in America. A quarter of a century ago, the Americans were large importers of all sorts of manufactured leather articles, and especially of boots and shoes. A new era has dawned upon the country. America now