of raw and thrown silk exported is about $57,500,000 annually
The most distinctive natural product of Italy is SILK, and the amount
of raw and thrown silk exported is about $57,500,000 annually. Silk
culture is carried on all over the kingdom, though the industry
flourishes most extensively in Piedmont and Lombardy, in the north.
Over 550,000 people are engaged in rearing silkworms, and the annual
cocoon harvest approximates 100,000,000 pounds. Silk-’throwing,’
or-spinning, is the principal manufacturing industry, and the amount
of silk spun and exported is about 45,000 tons, most of which goes to
France. After silk the products of the country that constitute the
principal exports are OLIVE OIL, FRUIT (oranges, lemons, grapes,
almonds, figs, dates, and pistachio nuts), and WINE (in casks). The
olive-oil export and the fruit export are each about a fifth of the
export of silk, and the wine export about a sixth. Other important and
characteristic exports are raw hemp and flax, sulphur, eggs,
manufactured coral, woods and roots used for dyeing and tanning, rice,
marble, and straw-plaiting. The principal import is WHEAT, for
agriculture, though generally pursued, is still in a backward state
of efficiency, and the average grain crop is only one third what it is
in Great Britain. One eighth the total amount of wheat needed to
support the people has to be imported. In fact, the total amount of
food-stuffs raised in the kingdom is much less than the amount
required, being, for example, per inhabitant, not more than one half
of what is raised in France. In particular, there is a deficiency of
meat, and the amount of meat raised per inhabitant is the lowest in
Europe. As a consequence the Italians are poorly fed, and it is
estimated that four per cent. of the annual death loss is occasioned
by impoverishment of blood due to insufficiency of wholesome food.
After wheat and raw cotton, the next principal import is COAL, for
Italy has no workable coal-fields. As far as possible water power is
used as a motive power instead of coal, especially in the iron
industries. An important import also is FISH, for, owing to the great
number of fast days which the Italian people observe, and to the
dearness and scarcity of meat, fish is a very general article of
consumption. Six million dollars” worth is imported annually, and
perhaps an equal amount is obtained from local fisheries, for there
are over 22,000 vessels and boats and over 70,000 men engaged in this
industry. After silk-throwing, the most characteristic Italian
manufacturing industries are those which are of an artistic or
semi-artistic nature, such as the making of fine earthenware,
porcelain, glassware, mosaics, and lace. VENICE (154,000) and GENOA
(225,000) are still the principal seaports and trade centres of Italy,
but in commercial importance these famous cities are only the mere
shadows of what they once were. NAPLES (529,000), the largest city, is
a place of little enterprise, for its imports, principally cereals,
are three or four times the value of its exports, which are mainly
cheap country produce. MILAN (457,000) and TURIN (348,000) are the
great trade centres of the north interior, and the most prosperous
places in the kingdom, being the chief seats of the silk-throwing
industry. Milan is also the chief seat of the Italian cutlery
manufacture. PALERMO (284,000) and MESSINA (150,000), in Sicily, are
the chief ports for the export of Italian fruits, and also of Italian
fish (anchovies, tunnies, etc.). ROME (474,000) and FLORENCE (207,000)
owe their chief importance to their art interest and to their historic
associations, but Florence has an important manufacture of fine
earthenware and mosaics. Rome is the chief seat of government. CATANIA
(127,000), in Sicily, is the chief seat of the Italian sulphur export
trade. LEGHORN (104,000), the port of Florence, is the chief seat of
the export straw-plaiting trade. It should be noted that
notwithstanding Italy”s extent of coast-line a large part of her
foreign commerce is transacted northward by means of the railways that
tunnel the Alps.
of signatures
Payment is usually made upon the simple identification or comparison
of signatures. If a traveller should lose his letter of credit he
should notify at once the bank issuing it and, if possible, the banks
upon which drawn.
picture, supposing that it was once in the collection of an eminent
man
Another case may be stated of a man who was desirous of purchasing a
picture, supposing that it was once in the collection of an eminent
man. The seller knew perfectly well that the picture did not come from
that collection and that the buyer was acting under a delusion. He did
not say that the picture had belonged to the collection or had not; he
was silent, although he knew that the buyer would not purchase it if
he knew the truth about its former ownership. For some reason or other
the buyer did not make any inquiry of the seller, or if he did was not
told. But after purchasing the picture the buyer learned that he was
mistaken and that the seller knew this at the time of making the sale.
He sought to recover the money he had paid and succeeded, the court
saying that a fraud had been practised upon him; that it was the duty
of the seller, knowing what was passing in the mind of the buyer, to
have told him the truth about the former ownership of the picture.
payment at the specified place on the last day of the period for which
the note was given, and to give due notice of non-payment to the
indorser
To make the indorser”s liability absolute it is necessary to demand
payment at the specified place on the last day of the period for which
the note was given, and to give due notice of non-payment to the
indorser. For, as the contract requires the maker to pay at maturity,
the indorser may presume, unless he has received a notice to the
contrary, that the maker has paid the obligation.
Cheques should be numbered, so that each can be accounted for. The
numbers are for your convenience and not for the convenience of the
bank. It is important that your cheque-book be correctly kept, so that
you can tell at any time how much money you have in the bank. At the
end of each month your small bank-book should be left at the bank, so
that the bookkeeper may balance it. It may happen that your bank-book
will show a larger balance than your cheque-book. You will understand
by this, if both have been correctly kept, that there are cheques
outstanding which have not yet been presented at your bank for
payment. You can find out which these are by checking over the paid
cheques that have been returned to you with your bank-book. The unpaid
cheques may be presented at any time, so that your actual balance is
that shown by your cheque-book. Cheques should be presented for
payment as soon after date as possible.
differences which are made by railroad companies
The name DIFFERENTIAL as applied to freight rates refers to the
differences which are made by railroad companies. Certain roads are by
agreement allowed to charge a lower rate than others running to the
same points. To and from each of the eastern cities there are two
classes of roads–the _standard_ lines and the _differential_ lines.
The standard lines have the advantage of more direct connections; the
differential lines reach the freight destinations by circuitous
routes, in some instances by almost double the mileage. With a view to
equalising these conditions the general traffic associations allow the
differential lines to carry freight at a lower rate per mile than the
rate charged by the standard lines.
but the trade interests of Paris are general rather than special
Paris (2,536,834) is, of course, the chief trade centre of all France,
but the trade interests of Paris are general rather than special. The
manufactures that are most localised in Paris are those of articles of
luxury, such as jewellery, perfumery, gloves, fancy wares, novelties,
and fashionable boots and shoes. Paris is also a great financial
centre. MARSEILLES (442,000), one of the oldest cities in Europe, is
the great seaport of France. Its trade amounts to over $350,000,000
annually, and it ranks next after Hamburg among the great seaports of
central Europe. Its specialty is its great trade with the
Mediterranean and the East. The opening of the Suez Canal has been of
incalculable advantage to Marseilles. Next as shipping port comes
HAVRE (119,000), at the mouth of the Seine, with a total trade not far
short of that of Marseilles. Havre is in reality the port or ‘haven’
of Paris. It is the great depot for French imports from North and
South America. These comprise principally cotton, tobacco, wheat,
animal produce, and wool. Its import of South American wool is
enormous, for three fourths of the wool used in France now comes from
the region of the La Plata. Recently the Seine has been deepened and
now both Rouen and Paris may be considered seaports. By this means
Paris has direct water communication with London, and is, indeed, the
third seaport in the country. Next comes BORDEAUX (257,000), the chief
place of export for French wines and brandies. About twenty years ago
the wine industry of France suffered tremendous loss from the ravages
of the insect phylloxera. Over 4,000,000 acres of vineyard,
representing a value of $1,000,000,000, were wholly or partially
ruined by this terrible pest. The plague, however, has now been
stamped out, but nearly 2,000,000 acres of vineyards have been
permanently destroyed and have been devoted to potatoes and the
sugar-beet root. The result is that the production of wine in France
is now less than what is needed for home consumption, and over fifty
per cent. more wine is imported than is exported. The remaining great
shipping ports are DUNKERQUE (40,000) and BOULOGNE (37,500). CALAIS
(57,000) has a great passenger trade with England.
to facilitate the collection of accounts
We learned in the last lesson that commercial drafts are made use of
to facilitate the collection of accounts. They are simply formal
demands for the payment of legitimate debts. When these formal demands
are made upon foreign debtors they are called bills of exchange; and
the process of buying and selling these drafts, the drafts themselves,
and the fluctuations in price, all are included in the general name
_exchange_.
workmen
_It is the duty of the employer to furnish proper appliances for his
workmen._ He must furnish proper tools and machinery and safe
scaffolding, and in every respect must show a reasonable degree of
care in all these particulars. But the courts say that he is not
obliged to exercise the _utmost_ care, because the employe takes on
himself some risk with respect to the tools and machinery he uses. For
example, it is said that employers are not obliged to use the latest
appliances that are known or appear in the market for the use of their
workmen. If an employer has an older one that has been in use for
years, and the employes have found out all the dangers attending its
use, and a new one appears that is less dangerous to use, the law does
not require the employer to throw the older one away and get the
other. It is true that in many States within the last few years
statutes have been passed by the legislatures requiring employers to
be much more careful than they were formerly in protecting their
machinery. Many injuries have happened from the use of belting, and
the statutes in many cases have stated what must be done in the way of
enclosing belts, and of putting screens around machinery, and in
various ways of so protecting it that persons will be less liable to
suffer. Furthermore, inventors have been very busy in inventing
machinery with this end in view. The old-fashioned car-coupler was a
very dangerous device, and many a poor fellow has been crushed between
cars when trying to couple them. A coupler has been made in which this
danger no longer exists; in truth, there has been a great advance in
this direction.
received by A, withdraw his acceptance? No, he cannot–for the reason
above given, that the post-office is the agent of A, in carrying both
his offer and B”s reply
Can B, after mailing his letter of acceptance and before it has been
received by A, withdraw his acceptance? No, he cannot–for the reason
above given, that the post-office is the agent of A, in carrying both
his offer and B”s reply. If this were not so, if the post-office were
the agent of B in sending his reply, then of course it could be
revoked or withdrawn at any time before it reached A.