=456. Significance of the decline, and three possible explanations of it.=—The relative decline in English exports did not imply that the country was approaching industrial bankruptcy, but it did mean, if long continued, the loss of industrial leadership; and the causes of this decline and remedies proposed to meet it are worthy of careful attention. The decline in exports may be attributed to one of three factors: (1) weakness in manufacturing the wares which form the staple of the export trade; (2) weakness in marketing these wares, when they have been made; (3) the adverse influence of protective tariffs in other countries. =457. (1) Competition in manufactures by low-grade labor.=—Considering the first of these factors, we find English manufactures menaced by competition from two different directions: from the East (countries like India and Japan), and from the West (countries like Germany and the United States). Eastern competition threatened especially England’s staple manufacture, cotton. The English laborer was superior in every point to his Asiatic competitor, but not enough better to earn his higher wages when employed in the manufacture of coarse goods. England had built up a serious and growing competition by exporting machinery and sending out skilled managers and foremen to superintend it. During the past generation there had been an immense development in the textile manufactures of India and Japan, and these countries were able now not only to supply a large proportion of their own demand, but also to reach out into neutral markets like China.