Page:Readings in European History Vol 2.djvu/649

 Europe of To-day 611 Great, however, as has been the revolution in respect to Transporta- economy and efficiency in the carrying trade upon the ocean, tion on Iand - the revolution in the carrying trade on land during the same period has been even greater and more remarkable. Taking the American railroads in general as representative of the railroad system of the world, the average charge for moving one ton of freight per mile has been reduced from about two and one-half cents in 1869 to about a cent in 1887. To grasp fully the meaning and significance of these figures, their method of presentation may be varied by say- ing that two thousand pounds of coal, iron, wheat, cotton, or other commodities can now be carried on the best- managed railways for a distance of one mile for a sum so small that, outside of China, it would be difficult to find a coin of equivalent value to give to a boy as a reward for carrying an ounce package across the street, even if a man or boy could be found in Europe or the United States will- ing either to give or accept so small a compensation for such a service. The history of this industrial movement would embrace, directly or indirectly, an account of all that chiefly distin- guished the nineteenth century from the eighteenth, the old re'gime from the new. It would include an account of the origin and rise of the factory system of industry, replacing the home work or the small and scattered workshops of the old time by the aggregation of men and machinery at industrial centers. It would be much concerned with the discovery and perfection of the steam engine, the mighty prime mover in these changes, and after that with the dis- covery and development of its chief modes of application to the spindle, the weaving frame, the forge, the printing press, the mill, and innumerable other instruments of pro- duction; to the railway, the steamship, and other means of transportation and communication. But only in its origin is the revolution exclusively indus- trial, and in the next stage are seen its immediate effects upon human life, of which perhaps the most important 499. Eco- nomic effects of the revo- lution in the means of communi- cation. (From The United States of America, edited by Professor Shaler.) Aggregation of industries in cities. /