Page:Science (journal) Volume 47 New Series 1918.djvu/14

 put of the United States was more than twice that of the rest of the world; and wool was also produced in large quantities; but for this textile, we were both exporters and importers.

Of the most essential mineral products, we were leaders of the world. More iron ore and its products, iron and steel, were produced in the United States than by our two chief competitors combined—Great Britain and Germany.

Similarly the production of copper was more than half that of the world. For lead and zinc we led the world. The petroleum production again was more than half that of the world.

Fundamental to all industry is power; and power is mainly produced by coal and falling water. The coal production of the United States previous to the war was greater than that of Great Britain, Germany and France combined; and water power was developed on a more extensive scale than in any other country.

Also the forests of the United States originally surpassed those of any other country; indeed wood was so abundant that except in the cities we are a nation of wooden houses. Finally the transportation system of the United States has developed far beyond that of any other country. The railroad mileage of the United States for 100,000,000 people is 40,000 miles greater than for Europe with 450,000,000 people; and, aside from Europe, is much greater than for the more than 1,000,000,000 people inhabiting all the rest of the world. Our transportational system furnished rapid movement of commodities at a lower rate than that of any other nation.

It is not so many years ago that the American people thought that all of their natural resources would last forever. It was frequently said that the deposits of iron ore, copper and petroleum are inexhaustible. While, before the war, we had developed beyond this simple primitive faith in our bigness, at least so far as scientific men were concerned, we still took it as a matter of course that each year there would be enough of every essential commodity—food, clothing, metals, oil, fuel—to meet without limitation any demands that might be made. While there might be local want in the cities, this was not due to lack of an insufficient quantity of essentials in the country, but to our imperfect economic system. Famine was unknown. From childhood the great majority of our people regarded an abundance of essential commodities as the natural order of our planet; whereas, those who consider the globe as a whole know that a considerable fraction of the people of the world go to bed each night, if not absolutely hungry, at least insufficiently nourished. From time to time, since the dawn of history and doubtless millenniums before, famine has swept over the densely populated portions of the earth carrying away the people by hundreds of thousands or by millions.

Control by Supply and Demand Under the conditions of abundance in this country, we depended upon the law of supply and demand and competition to control the prices and distribution of commodities. Indeed these doctrines were a faith with both the great political parties, and without being formulated have been unquestioningly accepted by the people for a hundred years.

The Antitrust Laws.—When the period of concentration in industry came with modern transportation, and it become possible by combination and cooperation to control the market and thus unduly enhance prices, a remedy for the trusts was demanded by the people. Congress decided upon prohibition with penalties.