the latter year 50,107 persons engaged as
wage-earners in the industry. The recent growth is
noteworthy in that textile manufacturing, the
most prominent industry in a number of other
Southern States, is not here important. The
basis of the State's manufactures is its wealth
of grain, timber, and minerals, together with its
water power and advantages for river and railroad
transportation. Flouring and grist mill
products (whose value increased 74.8 per cent.
between 1890 and 1900) and timber products
each rank by far the first among the manufacturing
interests. The abundance of coal and iron
ore has given rise to a flourishing iron and steel
industry, and to the manufacture of foundry and
machine-shop products. The manufacture of
cottonseed oil and cake is of greater importance
than that of cotton textiles. The value of leather
products in 1900 was more than twice that in
1890. There was a very large increase in the
manufacture of tobacco products. The following
table shows the relative importance of the
leading branches for 1890 and 1900:
INDUSTRIES
Year
Number of establishments
Average number wage-earners
Value of products, including custom work and repairing
Total for selected industries for State
1900
3,787
28,478
$67,168,395
1890
2,102
21,596
43,628,010
Increase, 1890 to 1900
......
1,685
6,882
$23,540,385
Per cent. of increase
......
80.2
31.9
54.0
Per cent. of total of all industries in State
1900
47.3
56.8
62.5
1890
46.1
57.6
60.3
Flouring and grist-mill products
1900
1,618
1,154
$21,798,929
1890
918
1,417
12,474,284
Foundry and machine-shop products
1900
95
3,146
4,074,509
1890
68
2,620
4,427,187
Iron and steel
1900
16
1,979
5,080,624
1890
15
1,472
4,247,868
Textiles—total
1900
72
4,251
3,907,279
1890
69
3,051
3,724,138
Cotton goods
1900
17
2,108
1,994,935
1890
20
2,124
2,507,719
Hosiery and knit goods
1900
4
511
395,150
1890
......
......
..............
Woolen goods
1900
51
1,632
1,517,194
1890
49
927
1,216,419
Oil, cottonseed and cake
1900
17
751
2,980,041
1890
15
1,030
2,504,741
Tobacco—total
1900
92
1,237
3,010,602
1890
54
700
853,529
Chewing, smoking, and snuff
1900
35
615
1,541,475
1890
24
531
577,690
Cigars and cigarettes
1900
35
161
290,647
1890
25
139
236,807
Stemming and rehandling
1900
22
461
1,178,480
1890
5
30
39,032
Leather, tanned, curried, and finished
1900
44
803
2,802,117
1890
60
612
1,266,556
Cars and general shop construction and
repairs by steam railroad companies
1900
16
2,817
3,113,053
1890
10
1,772
1,605,778
Lumber and timber products
1900
1,732
11,192
18,127,784
1890
820
7,424
9,073,686
Lumber, planing mill products,
including sash, doors, and blinds
1900
85
1,148
2,273,457
1890
73
1,498
3,450,243
Transportation. The State has the advantage
of water transportation afforded by the
Mississippi and Tennessee rivers. A number of
trunk line railroads cross the State, most of
them centring in the State's chief port,
Memphis. Among the railroads are the Nashville,
Chattanooga and Saint Louis, the Louisville and
Nashville, the Illinois Central, and the Southern.
The mileage increased from 1253 in 1860 to 1843
in 1880, 2767 in 1890, and 3184 miles in 1900.
Banks. The first bank in the State was the
Nashville Bank, established in 1807, with a capital
of $200,000. In 1811 the Bank of the State
of Tennessee followed, with the State as one of
the stockholders. A second Bank of the State
of Tennessee was in existence from 1820 to 1832.
The State funds were transferred to the new
Union Bank of Tennessee, with a capital of
$3,000,000, of which $500,000 were subscribed
by the State. The tendency to intrust the banking
business to the State was still alive, and
in 1838 the third venture was made by the
organization of the Bank of Tennessee, with a
capital of $5,000,000, all of which was to be
supplied by the State, partly from funds on
hand and partly by sale of bonds. It started
with an actual capital of only $2,073,355, which
was all the State could get together. The
following twenty years were comparatively profitable
for the banking business of the State, but
the panic of 1857 forced many concerns into
liquidation, and before they recovered from it
the great political conflict came, almost destroying
the banking institutions. In 1866, by order
of the Legislature, the Bank of Tennessee was
formally placed in liquidation, when its assets
of $12,478,483 were found to consist mainly of
Confederate bonds, certificates, treasury bonds,
etc. In 1883 the State finally assumed the liability
for the bank notes, and they were redeemed
for special certificates of indebtedness. The
depositors of the bank, including the State school
fund, never realized anything. In 1869 there
were 13 national banks and one State bank. The
State banking system regained its ground after
1890. The present free banking law is lax.
There is no system of bank examinations and no
governmental control, and the liability of
stockholders is strictly limited. The Constitution
