Great Britain and Ireland

Collier's New Encyclopedia (1921)

UNITED KINGDOM OF, a kingdom of western Europe, consisting of the islands of Great Britain, including England, Scotland, and Wales, Ireland, the Isle of Man, Shetland and Hebrides, Orkney, Scilly and other groups of small islands; area, 120,979 square miles; capital, London; pop. (1911) 45,370,530; (1919 est.) 45,267,000. Topography. The N. of the island of Great Britain is mountainous, the region N. of the Clyde being known as the This is divided into two Highlands. sections by the hollow of Glenmore, S. of which are Ben Nevis (4,406 feet) and Ben Macdhui (4,296 feet), the highest mountains of the islands. S. of the Highlands and separated from them by the plain of the Forth and Clyde are the Southern Highlands and the Cheviot Hills on the border between Scotland and England. Running S. through England are the Cumberland and Cambrian ranges terminating beyond the Peak of Derby. The Cambrian range extends into Wales with its highest peak, Mount Snowdon (3,571 feet). The surface of the remainder of England consists of In Ireland the most undulating hills. In marked feature is the expanse of bogs which stretches over its interior. This flatness of the interior is caused by the fact that most of the mountain masses attain their greatest elevation near the coast and rapidly decline as they recede from it. Carn Tual, in the S. W., the culminating point of the island, is 3,404 feet high. With the exception of the Clyde and Severn, the rivers of the W. part of Great Britain are of little importance. These two rivers run through valleys parallel to the coast. There are several important rivers entering the sea on the E. coast. The most important river in England, if not in the world, commercially, is the Thames, 215 miles long. Other notable streams in the E. are the Spey, Don, Tay, Dee, Forth, Tweed, Tyne, Ouse, and Trent. The rivers of Ireland have winding courses and with the exception of the Shannon (225 miles) are unimportant. The lakes of the British Isles are distinguished agriculture, fisheries, forestry, and simfor beauty rather than size; the largest, but among the least interesting, is Lough In 1918 there were imported 57,947,610 Neagh, in the N. of Ireland. While both Great Britain and Ireland are provided with numerous streams, which are either themselves navigable or act as the feeders of canals, the coasts, with a development of over 3,000 miles, supply a number of excellent harbors invaluable to the commerce of the country. Geology. The surface of Great Britain exhibits deposits of nearly all geological periods. The Palæozoic strata covers nearly one-third the entire area, the oldest rocks being the granites and gneisses of the Hebrides. Cambrian deposits exist in the sandstones, slate and grit stones of Scotland, England and Wales, the Silurian in the Cambrian Mountains and in Wales, and the De vonian, in Devonshire and Central Scotland. The Carboniferous series occupies a belt extending from the Bristol Channel to the Cheviot Hills, thence into Scotland, with 14 distinct coal fields. Permian deposits of magnesium limestone, red sand, tin and marble exist in Durham, Devon, and Cornwall. Triassic measures, inc including beds of rock salt, may be traced as a ribbon from Hartlepool in the N. to the mouth of the Exe in the S. In the S. E. are many Cretaceous rocks rich in fossils, with chalk hills from Flamborough Head in Yorkshire to Hants, then toward the British Channel, forming the well-known cliffs of Dover. Tertiary formations are found along the S. coast, consisting of S. clays, marls, and ferruginous sands. Granites, syenite, basalt and other eruptive rocks, are found in Devon, Cornwall, the N. of Scotland, and on the Irish coast. Agriculture. The total amount of arable land in Great Britain in 1918 There acres. 21,221,000 were was planted in 1919 in corn, 10,093,243 acres; in green crops (vegetables), 3,- 894,590 acres; in flax, 115,039 acres; in hops, 16,780 acres; and in small fruit, 84,632 acres. The land lying fallow was 658,443 acres. The land planted to clover and other grasses is about 5,000,- 000 acres, and the permanent pasture land amounts to about 25,000,000 acres. There were in 1919 1,914,933 horses, 12,491,427 cattle, 25,119,220 sheep, and 2,925,093 pigs. In England and Wales the Board of Agriculture makes grants for the supervision of vocational education, of scientific research, and agriculture. There are eight Development Commissioners appointed to advise the treasurer in the administration of a national fund for the development of postilar resources of the United Kingdom. cwt. of wheat. Of this 24,757,610 cwt. were from the United States and 15,- 968,700 cwt. from Canada. There were in 1918, in England and Wales, 420,126 farms; in Scotland, 75,982; and in Ireland, 572,574. The greater number of farms were from 5 to 50 acres in extent. Fisheries. Fishing is one of the most important industries of the United Kingdom. In 1918 the fish, excluding shell fish taken, amounted to 431,351 tons, valued at $21,019,000. The value of the shell fish was $543,082. The total number of fishing boats is about 25,000, with a tonnage of about 400,000. Over 100,- 000 persons are employed in the fishing industry. In 1919 there were imported 147,000 tons of fresh, cured or salted fish, while the exports of fish amounted to 136,000 tons. Mineral Production. - The total mineral production in 1918 was 273,988,449 tons, valued at $257,079,792. Coal is the most valuable of the mineral products. The coal production in 1918 was 227,- 748,654 tons, valued at $238,240,760. Iron pr production is second in value. There were produced d in 1918 14,613,032 tons of iron ore, valued at $7,106,656. Other important mineral products are shale, oil limestone, chalk, clay and shale, salt, and tin. The total number of persons employed in the mines in 1918 was 1,029,688. The total number of mines was 3,277. The principal coal fields of the United Kingdom are in Durham, Yorkshire, Clamorgan and Scotland. The greatest production is from the York, Derby, and Nottingham coal fields, which run along the eastern flank of the Southern Pennines. There were exported in the first nine months of 1919, 32,100,000 tons of coal, valued at $71,800,000. There were im imported in 1919, 5,202,707 tons of iron ore valued at $11,207,244. The greatest part of this came from Spain. There were in 1918 318 blast furnaces in operation. The ore smelted amounted to 22,544,064 tons, and the pig iron made amounted to 9,107,384 tons. The output of pig iron in 1919 was 7,370,000 tons, and of steel ingots 7,880,000 tons. Manufactures. There were consumed factures. in the three-year period 1917 to 1919, in textile manufactures, 1,623,000,000 pounds of cotton, 835,000,000 pounds of wool, 121,000,000 pounds of flax, or a total of 2,579,000,000 pounds. The value of the products exported was: cotton, 189,- 000,000 pounds; woolen goods, 68,800,- 000 pounds; linen goods, 14,100,000 total of 271,900,000 pounds; or a pounds. The home production of wool in 1919 was 116,000,000 pounds; that of flax, 31,000,000 pounds. The exports in were: cotton, 3,611,000 yards; 1919 1919 woolens, 175,000,000 yards; linen, 77, 000,000 yards; cotton yarn, 163,000,000 pounds; woolen yarn, 29,000,000 29,000,000 pou pounds, pounds. The and linen yarn, 13,000,000 metal industry ranks next in importance to the textile. Engineering and metal working schools are, generally speaking, , in the neighborhood of the coal fields especially on the northeast coast and at Sheffield, London, Birmingham, and Coventry, in England; on the Clyde, in Scotland: and in Belfast, in Ireland. The leather industry is important at Bristol, Leicester, Northampton, and Nottingham. The earthen and china district is in the South Staffordshire coal fields, where there are also supplies of coarse clay and iron stone. Paper making, printing and brewing are of great importance, and distilling is carried on on a large scale in Scotland and Ireland. Commerce. The value of the imports of merchandise in 1919 was £1,631,901,- 864, compared with £1,316,150,903 in 1918, and with £768,734,739 in 1913. The total exports in 1919 amounted to £962,694,911, compared with £532,364, 078 in 1918, and £634,820,326 in 1913. as The imports in 1919 may be divided follows: food, drink and tobacco, £712, 439,000; raw materials, £646,451,000; manufactured articles, £266,746,000. The largest class of exports was in the latter class, manufactured articles. The total imports from the countries of the British dominions in 1918 amounted to £423,- 034,971, and the total exports to British dominions amounted to £183,453,454. The imports from other countries in the same year amounted to £893,115,932. The exports to other countries were £348,910,621. The countries from which the largest number of imports were received were the United States, Argentina, France, Norway, Spain, Sweden, Japan, Cuba, and Chile. The chief exports were to France, Italy, United States, Argentina, Netherlands, China, and Brazil. Shipping and Navigation. There were in 1917 7,186 sailing vessels of 625,428 net tons, and 11,534 steam vessels measuring 9,606,601 tons, registered as belonging to the United Kingdom. The output of merchant shipbuilding in 1918 was 1,310,741 tons. The total loss to the United Kingdom merchant shipping from the outbreak of the World War in August, 1914, to the end of October, 1918, was 9,031,828 gross tons. New construction during that period amounted to 4,342,296 gross tons; purchases numbered to 530,000 gross tons and enemy tonnage captured, to 716,520 gross tons, making a net loss of 3,443,- 012 gross tons. Transportation. - The total length of railways at the end of 1915, the latest date for which statistics are available, of was 23,709 miles. The total capital English railways at the end of 1917 was £1,122,655,000; of Scottish railways, £187,801,000; and of Irish railways, £309,678,000. In 1918 there were 1,202 miles of waterway in England, and 304 miles in Ireland, under the Canal Control Committee. In addition, the Railway Executive Committee controlled 1,025 miles in England and Wales. The about total traffic conveyed by canals is 35,000,000 tons per year. The most important canal is the Manchester Ship Canal, which is 35/½ miles in length. The gross revenue of this canal in 1919 was £1,976,591. There are about 25,000 post offices in the United Kingdom. The total mileage of telegraph wire in 1917 was 3,375,247. The total number of telegraph offices open in that year was 14,035. Education. In England and Wales parents are required to compel their children to receive sufficient elementary education or to attend school from 5 to 14 years of age. In Scotland efficient education is required up to 15 years, and in Ireland from the ages of 6 to 14. Local authorities are in power to make free accommodation, attendance of pupils, and teaching staffs, while the State supplies nearly one-half of the maintenance funds, conditional upon receipt of satisfactory reports from government inspectors. There are about 33,000 local schools. The teachers number about 200,000. The number of scholars in the local schools in 1918 was about 6,000,000 in England and Wales. The average attendance in Scotland in 1917 was 743,725, and in Ireland, 488,- 785. Secondary and technical education is provided under the Education Act of 1918, by which county and borough councils are required to provide for the progressive development and comprehensive organization of education. Continuation schools are to be established, and courses in physical training and vocational education are made available. There were in 1918, 1,061 secondary es, with schools in England and Wales, 238,314 full time pupils. Higher education is given in the Universities of Oxford and Cambridge, the University of Durham, Victoria University at Manchester, Birmingham University, Liverpool University, Leeds eeds University, Sheffield University, and Bristol University. There are also special and technical colleges in other cities. The University of Wales has three colleges at Cardiff, Aberystwyth, and Bangor. There are four universities in Scotland, at St. Andrew, Glasgow, Aberdeen, and Edinburgh. In Ireland are the University of Dublin, Queens University of Belfast, and the National University of Ireland. There were in the colleges of England in 1919-20, 28,010 students, in Scotland, 10,140 students; in Ireland, 4,200; and in Wales, 2,500; or a total of 44,850. Finances. The revenue for the fiscal year ending March 31, 1920, was £1,339,- 571,381, and the expenditure was £1,- 665,772,928. The estimated revenue for 1921 was £1,418,300,000, and the estimated expenditure, £1,184,102,000. The chief sources of revenue are customs, excise, taxation, and the sale of stamps. The chief expenditures are for the army and navy, and civil service. Included in the latter are about £56,000,000 for public education, about £26,000,000 for old age pensions, and about £123,000,000 for pensions. The national debt on November 30, 1919, was approximately The estimated total £7,976,900,000. national debt on March 31, 1920, was about £8,075,000,000. This debt was incurred chiefly for expenses in the World War, and against the total is about £2,- 626,000,000 due from the Allies for repayment of loans and from the dominions of the Empire. The total charges on the debt amounted to about £316,- 000,000 annually. Army and Navy. - See ARMY and NAVY, THE. Government. The supreme legislative power is vested in Parliament, which includes the House of Commons and the House of Lords. Parliament may be summoned by the writ of the sovereign and may be dissolved by his will. The House of Lords consists of peers who hold their seat either by hereditary right, by creation of the sovereign, by virtue of office, as bishops, by election for life, as in the case of Irish peers, by election for the duration of Parliament, as with the Scottish peers. The full House of Lords consists of about 700 members. The House of Commons of members representing consists county, borough, and university constituencies in the three Divisions of the United Kingdom. No one under 21 years of age can be a member of Parliament. Clergymen of the Church of England, ministers of the Church of Scotland, and Roman Catholic clergymen are disqualified from sitting as members. Under the Parliament Act of 1918, women are eligible to sit in the House, and the first woman took her seat in December, 1919. Members of the House of Commons are paid £400 per year. The total membership of the House of Commons is 707. The executive power of the government is vested nominally in the sovereign, but practically in the Cabinet. whose existence is dependent on the support of the majority in the House of Commons. Prior to December, 1916, the Cabinet consisted of the political chiefs of the principal government departments, and numbered about 20. With the formation of the Lloyd George Government, in 1916, the Cabinet was reduced to about six in number. This was known as the War Cabinet and was gradually expanded into an Imperial War Cabinet by the inclusion of the Prime Ministers, and other representative ministers, of the various parts of the Empire. In July, 1918, the Prime Minister of each Dominion was given the right to nominate a Cabinet Minister either as a resident or a visitor in London, to represent him at the meetings of the Cabinet held between full meetings. In October, 1919, the War Cabinet was dissolved and a full Cabinet with about 20 members constituted. The head of the Ministry is the Prime Minister, and it is usually held in conjunction with some other high office of State, usually that of First Lord of the Treas ury. The other members are appointed th Minister, and he dispenses the greater part of the patronage nage of the Crown. History. The history of the United Kingdom is practically identical with that of ENGLAND (q. v.). For the colonies of the United Kingdom, see BRITISH EMPIRE.