BRIDGE MI

T

HE progress of the United States in its material industries has been the surprise of the whole world, the pride of her affectionate citizens. From a handful of five million people at the beginning of the last century she has grown to eighty millions, and from the smallest of beginnings she has reached the head of the list in agriculture, in mining, in manufacturing, in currency, and in wealth.

The purpose of this series of lectures is to present to you a picture of the growth of our common country, a picture of a century of unparalleled development-a development before which the world stands in amazement. No such record is known to history; no such development has occurred within so short a period; no such height has been attained in invention, in science, and in their application to the affairs of daily life, the life of the masses. While all nations have shared, in a greater or less degree, in the progress and prosperity

of the century, the United States has enjoyed an especially large share of both, and made a record of which her citizens may well be proud.

To the first lecture of this series was assigned the story of the great natural resources and advantages of the country, and to the second the history of the development of our great agricultural resources. Both of these have been presented. †

To me has been assigned the subject of the industrial wealth of the nation, the development of the conditions which have made this the greatest manufacturing as well as the greatest producing nation.

And no subject could be more welcome, more inspiring to the student of the development of our country and its material resources. To trace the growth of our manufacturing interests from a total of 200 million dollars in 1810 to 13,000 millions in 1900, and the advance of the United States from the bottom of

the list of great manufacturing nations to the very head of that list, is a task which fully compensates the student, in a renewed admiration for the history of our people and a renewed faith in their future.

The first attempt at a census of manufactures in the United States was in 1810, when the total value was found to be, in round terms, $200,000,000. The census figures of manufactures in 1820 and 1830 were incomplete, but those of 1840 were about a half billion dollars; those of 1850, about one billion; 1860, nearly two billions; 1870, over four billions; 1880, about 5%1⁄2 billions; 1890, more than 9 billions, and 1900, 13 billions.

The actual increase

from decade to decade, still speaking in round terms, was: from 1850 to 1860, nearly one billion dollars; 1860 to 1870, over two billions; 1870 to 1880, one billion; 1880 to 1890, four billions, and 1890 to 1900, 31⁄2 billions. In round terms, it may be said that the growth in the first half of the century was one billion, and in the second half 12 billions of dollars.

The slow growth in the first half of the century is due in part to the fact that a large share of the manufacturing was still performed in the household. While the factory system of manufacture began to take the place of that of the household in England in the closing years of the 18th century, especially as related to textiles, it did not obtain a foothold in the United States until during the period of the embargo and the War of 1812, and it was not until about 1840 that it became general; and as late as the middle of the century a considerable share of the manufacturing was still carried on in the family or in the small shop by the aid of the family and apprentices, as distinguished from the factory with paid employés and the application of power. Hence it is not surprising that the census of 1850 showed manufactures amounting to but

one billion dollars' value, while the chief cause for astonishment is the wonderful growth which has occurred since. that time-a growth from one billion dollars in 1850 to 13 billions in 1900.

I shall therefore confine my analysis of the growth of manufactures and its causes chiefly to the last half of the century, and in this I rely largely upon some charts and diagrams, by the use of which the eye may aid the mind in readily comparing the relative figures which mark the stages of growth. Necessarily the figures of manufactures as a whole can only be stated at decennial periods, for it is only by the national census that this great task of measuring the operations of the national workshop is undertaken, and I am proud to say that the United States takes this measurement much more effectively and more in detail than any other nation of the world.

Before beginning this analysis, I will say in general terms that the census figures show that the number of manufacturing establishments has grown from 123,025 in 1850 to 512,339, or four times as many in 1900; the sums paid in salaries and wages, from $236,755,464 to $2,732,821,528, or 12 times as much as in 1850, and the value of the manufactures from $1,019, 106,616 to $13,039,279,566, or 13 times as much as in 1850.

It is proper to add that the figures of the total value of manufactures are merely an aggregation of the values reported by all manufacturers, and as the products reported by one manufacturer often become the materials for use by others, the figures of the grand total are to that extent duplications. For example, the leather reported as a manufacture by the tanner becomes the material used by the manufacturer of boots and shoes, and is a second time reported by him in stating the value of the manufactures turned out. The yarn produced by one manufacturer becomes

handling was further reduced and production greatly stimulated.

No 2.-INCREASE IN VALUE OF MANUFACTURES, 1810 TO 1840, AND IN EACH DECADE FROM 1840 TO 1900

This shows the actual increase in the value of manufactures reported in each census year, as compared with its predecessor, and confirms what has just been said relative to the growth in the decades 1860-1870 and 1880-1890 and 1890-1900.

No. 3.-VALUE OF MANUFACTURES PER CAPITA, 1810 TO 1900

The very great increase in population suggests, of itself, a great increase in manufacturing, and it is therefore proper to show the value per capita of the manufactures of the United States in each census year. It will be seen that the value of manufactures reported in 1810 and 1840 averaged about $28 per capita, and are now about $170 per capita, or three times as much for each individual at present as in 1860, four times as much as in 1850, and six times

that the per capita value of manufactures consumed by the masses has increased at about this rate, as 97 per cent of the manufactures are consumed at home, while the fact that prices have greatly fallen meanwhile indicates that the quantity consumed is probably five times as much per capita as in 1860 and ten times as much as in 1840.

No. 4.-NUMBER OF PERSONS IN EACH 1,000 ENGAGED IN MANUFACTURING AND AGRICULTURE, 1870 TO 1900

This shows the number of persons in each 1,000 engaged in manufacturing and agriculture, respectively. It will be seen that the number engaged in manufacturing has increased from 53 per thousand to 74 per thousand, an increase of 40 per cent since 1870, while