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144 ECONOMIC INQUIRIES AND STUDIES
on certain staple industries of the world is less firm
than it was, and, as I believe, must be less and less
firm from period to period, owing to the natural de-
velopment of foreign countries and the room there is
among ourselves for development in new directions,
then we should make assurance doubly sure that the
country is really developing in new directions. If our
dependence must be on the new advantages that have
been described, such as acquired manufacturing skill,
concentration of population. and the like, then we must
make sure of the skill and of the best conditions of
existence for the concentrated population. If, in point
of fact, shorter hours of labour and taking things easy
have contributed to check our rate of progress slightly,
there is all the more reason for improving the human
agent in industry, so as to make work in the shorter
hours more efficient. Looking at the stir there now is
about technical education and such matters, and the
hereditary character of our population, I see no cause
to doubt that the future will be even more prosperous
than in the past. The national life seems as fresh and
vigorous as ever. The unrest and complaints of the
last few years are not bad signs. But the new con-
ditions must be fully recognized. The utmost energy,
mobility, and resource must be applied in every direc-
tion if we are only to hold our own.