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* GKEAT BRITAIN. 172 GREAT BRITAIN. industrial advantage, and it has remained the largest wntre of tlie iron industry. When steam- )iux'r supiiUmtcd water-iiower in the textile in- dustries, the factories were no longer eonipellcd to locate upon the streams and along water- ■ courses. But as the coal-supply was in the same district, and the industry was otherwise favored there, as has been pointed out, it continued to develop in the north of England. The adoption of improved methods was, however, only gradual- ly accomplislied, these being applied first to maniifactures of cotton, and subsequently to voolens and linens. The value of the annual cotton product in the I'nited Kingdom was one hundred times greater at the end of the nineteenth century than at the beginning. Before the middle of the century it had surpassed wool in importance. The value of the annual woolen product was three, and lineu five, times as great at tlie end as at the begin- ning of the century. Some idea of the impor- tance of these two products may be gathered from the figures of the increase of their exporta- tion. (See under Commerce.) In 1890 there were 8,5S.2.)2 persons employed in the textile in- dustries in England and Wales, 1S4..'J91 in Scot- land, and 71.788 in Ireland. Lancashire is the largest centre of the cotton industry. Glasgow- is another important centre. The woolen indus- try is largely confined to western Yorkshire. Both Ireland and Scotland exceed England in the production of linen. (For a more detailed description and localization of these and other industries, see the articles Exgla^'d and ScoT- LAXD. ) The manufacture of machines and metal ware is centred principally in Northern England, the different branches of this industry being largely localized in special districts. ( See England.) The Clyde district of Scotland leads the world in the building of ships. (See Scot- land.) Scotland and Ireland are noted for the manufacture of whiskies, and England has a very large brewing industry. For a comparison of British and American manufactures, see par- agraph on Manufactures, in the article United States. A considerable part of the British history of the nineteenth century is the record of the ad- justment of the social and ])olitieal life to the modern industrial conditions. (See History. ) It covers, for instance, such subjects as the aboli- tion of child labor, the shortening of work hours, the improvement of sanitary conditions, the struggle over wages, the rise of trades unions, the adjustment of borough representation, the extension of sufTrage. Labor has demonstrated its power and enlarged its privileges, and in many respects improved its conditions. Trade union- ism, after a varied career, is stronger in all re- spects than ever before. These unions include the best element of the laboring classes, and their organizations are well protected by law. Accord- ing to an estimate made in 1890 for Great Brit- ain and Ireland, their membership w.as 1.801..')18. Another means which has been advocated in Great Britain for the amelioration of the labor- ing classes, and which has met with much favor, is the establishment of various forms of co- operative societies. The cooperative attempts have been in the field both of production and of distribution, the latter being the more successful. In 1899 the 1802 distributive and productive co- operative societies in the United Kingdom making returns (it is estimated that there were 1946 irt existence) contained a total nienUiership of 1,077,018, or more tlutn five times the member- ship for 1872. The ll.'i4 societies reporting for England and Wales had a capital of £10,411.202, and the 295 Scotch societies had a caintal of f2,.514.008. The sales for the United Kingdom in 1899 amounted to £e7,91,-),937. and 81,971 per- sons were directly employed by the societies. Friendly societies, which provide some sort of relief for their members, have secured an enor- mous following in the United Kingdom, the reg- istered societies and I heir branches in 1891> being 27.783, with 11.7.50,130 members and funds amounting to £39,487.019. Tran.sportation and Communication. Prior to the industrial revolution in Great Britain (see heading ilaiiKfact tires), the inland trans- portation facilities were much inferior to those of other European countries. As early as 1423 the English Government began the improvement of the Thames River for purposes of navigation, and also the improvement of natural water- courses. The constrviction of artificial water- ways followed from time to time. The latter part of the eighteenth century and the early part of the nineteenth century formed a period of re- markable development in canal construction, many parts of the country being covered with a network of canals, which played a leading role in that early period of industrial development. With the advent of railroads, the canals were superseded in a measure, and many of them now belong to the railroad companies. However, the ship canals in particular are of great importance, the largest and most famous of which, the Slan- ehester Ship Canal, was only completed in its present form in 1894. This canal is SSi/o miles in length, and has a minimum deptli of 26 feet and a miniminn width at the bottom of 120 feet, so that large ocean vessels are able to pass at any point. The Gloucester and Berkeley and the Exeter canals are also ship canals of some im- portance; and the Thames, Severn. Aire, and Weaver rivers are canalized. Bearing this and the insularity of Great Britain in mind, its in- land shipping facilities are remarkable. There are 142 miles of canals in Scotland and 2001 miles in England, and, in addition, in the latter country 093 miles of riverway have been im|)roved for purposes of transportation by the erection of locks along their courses. Another method of meeting the demands of a growing industry upon transportation was the construction of toll turnpikes. At the opening of the nine- teenth century Telford and Mac.-Vdam introduced their improved methods of road-making, the main point of difference in the two systems be- ing that Telford's system required a firm stone foundation under the less substantial surface, while Mac.4d<am considered a broken-stone sur- face sufficient. From this time on. British roads have been of a high order of excellence. The care of all highways is in the hands of the rural district councils, and toll is no longer collected on any of the roads of Great Britain. Tram- ways liave from the beginning of the eighteenth century been tised at the mines, and in the first years of the nineteenth century one was construct- ed from Wandsworth to Croyden and Reigate, and shorter ones ^vere completed in other parts of the coimtry. Finally, in 182.') a railway line that was ope-