competing nations of the world can be in some measure
suggested--it cannot be adequately stated--by a comparison of the
economic position of the United States and some of the other leading
world empires.

Neither the geographical area of the United States nor the numerical
importance of its people justifies its present world position. The
country, with 8 per cent of the area and 6 per cent of the population of
the world, looms large in the world's economic affairs,--how large will
appear from an examination of certain features that are considered
essential to economic success, such as resources, capital, products,
shipping, and national wealth and income.

2. _The Resources of the United States_

The most important resource of any country is the fertile, agricultural
land. Figures given in the Department of Agriculture Year Book for 1918
(Table 319) show the amount of productive land,--including, beside
cultivated land, natural meadows, pastures, forests, woodlots, etc., of
the various countries according to pre-war boundary lines. The total of
such productive land for the 36 leading countries of the world was
4,591.7 million acres. Russia, including Siberia, had almost a third of
this total (1,414.7 million acres). The United States came second with
878.8 million acres, or 19 per cent of the total available productive
land. Third in the list was Argentine with 537.8 million acres. British
India came fourth with 465.7 million acres. Then there followed in order
Austria-Hungary, Germany, France, Australia, Spain and Japan.
Austria-Hungary, Germany and France combined had almost exactly four
hundred million acres of productive land or less than half the
productive area of the United States.

The United States, in the area of productive land, is second only to
Russia. In the area of land actually under cultivation, however, it
stands first, with Russia a close second and British India a close
third,--the amounts of cultivated land in each of these countries being
293.8 million acres, 279.6 million acres, and 264.9 million acres
respectively. These three countries together contain 64 per cent of the
1,313.8 million acres of cultivated land of the world. The United States
alone contains 22 per cent of the total cultivated land.

The total forest acreage available for commercial purposes is greatest
in Russia (728.4 million acres). The United States stands second with
400 million acres and Canada third with 341 millio