Broun Brothers
Fig. 170. The Bank of England, to the left. For two centuries ‘‘ the Old Lady of Threadneedle
Street’’ has been the center of the commercial and financial world. The London Stock Exchange
is shown to the right.

CHAPTER TWENTY

MANUFACTURING OUTSIDE THE UNITED STATES

MobErN manufacturing had its beginnings in Europe, and there it
is supreme today. The continent not only cares for its own needs
almost entirely, but supplies most of the rest of the world with vast
quantities of manufactured articles. Not all of Europe, however,
engages intensively in manufacturing. The manufacturing section
is found in western Europe and includes Great Britain, France,
Germany, and the small adjoining countries, — Belgium, Holland,
and Switzerland. Detached manufacturing areas flourish in northern
[taly, southern Sweden, and northeastern Spain; Czecho-Slovakia
carries some special industries to a high point of excellence; and
small industrial areas and local industries are scattered elsewhere in
Europe. Nevertheless, the bulk of the manufacturing, especially of
the great staples of industry, is done in the six countries first mentioned.

Why western Europe carries on most of the manufacturing of the
continent. Western Europe holds the same relation to the rest of
Europe that our northeastern section holds to the rest of the United
States. It occupies only one seventh of Europe, yet it produces more
than three fourths of the manufactures.
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