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STEPS OF PROGRESS
porting materials from abroad. But she has not hitherto possessed an iron foundry capable of meeting the wants of her ship-builders, nor have her iron mines furnished a sufficient supply of good ore. Both deficiencies are now on the point of being remedied, a large foundry having been erected at Wakamatsu in Kiushiu, and arrangements having been made to supplement the home supply of ore by recourse to China. A factory for rolling steel plates is also in contemplation, and it may be confidently predicted that before many years the Japanese will be able to build their own warships and to manufacture their armaments.
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