manufactures; and it is accordingly from that date that official
information on this subject may be said to begin. The results then
obtained were as follows (Table XVII.):—
| Number of establishments | 123,023 | |
| Capital employed | $533,245,351 | |
| Hands employed— | ||
| Males | 731,137 | |
| Females | 225,922 | |
| Total | 957,059 | |
| Wages paid | $236,755,464 | |
| Cost of materials | $555,123,822 | |
| Value of products | $1,019,106,616 |
These statistics were intended to include the production, not of factories merely, but of mechanic shops of every kind. It was found, however, that the returns did not generally embrace the products of artisans working singly at their trades. The mining industries were included in the returns of manufactures.
Between 1850 and 1860 the capital employed had increased to $1,009,855,715; the number of establishments was 140,433; the hands employed were—males 1,040,349, females 270,897, total 1,311,246; the wages paid were 378,878,966; the cost of materials 1,031,605,092; the value of products 1,885,861,676.
The decade 1860-70 was marked by a stupendous advance in mechanical enterprises. The totals are (Table XVIII.):—
| Number of establishments | 252,148 | |
| Capital | $2,118,208,769 | |
| Hands employed— | ||
| Males above 16 | 1,615,598 | |
| Females above 16 | 323,770 | |
| Children and youths | 114,628 | |
| Total | 2,053,996 | |
| Wages paid | $775,584,343 | |
| Cost of materials | $2,488,427,242 | |
| Value of products | $4,232,325,442 |
In addition to the foregoing statistics, it was ascertained that there were employed in manufactures 40,191 steam engines, of 1,215,711 aggregate horse-power, and 51,018 water wheels, of 1,130,431 aggregate horse-power.
In preparation of the tenth census (1880) the provisions for the collection of statistics of manufactures were greatly extended and improved. The totals are as follows (Table XIX.):—
| Number of establishments | 253,852 | |
| Capital | $2,790,272,606 | |
| Hands employed— | ||
| Males above 16 | 2,025,335 | |
| Females above 16 | 531,639 | |
| Children and youths | 181,921 | |
| Total | 2,738,895 | |
| Wages paid | $947,953,795 | |
| Cost of materials | $3,396,823,549 | |
| Value of products | $5,369,579,191 |
The geographical distribution of the manufactures of 1880 is shown in the following table (XX.), the amounts being reduced to percentages:—
| Area. | Establishments. | Capital Invested. |
Hands Employed. |
Wages paid. |
Product. | |
| North Atlantic | 5.6 | 44.87 | 61.94 | 62.23 | 64.33 | 59.64 |
| South Atlantic | 9.4 | 10.16 | 5.89 | 7.59 | 4.99 | 5.26 |
| Northern Central | 25.3 | 34.33 | 25.78 | 24.39 | 24.86 | 28.94 |
| Southern Central | 20.3 | 7.55 | 3.75 | 3.85 | 3.11 | 3.47 |
| Western (Cordilleran) | 39.4 | 3.09 | 2.64 | 1.94 | 2.71 | 2.69 |
The first ten cities, in order of the number of persons employed in manufactures, were New York, 227,352; Philadelphia, 185,527; Chicago, 79,414; Boston, 59,213; Baltimore, 56,338; Cincinnati, 54,517; Brooklyn, 47,587; St Louis, 41,823; Pittsburgh, 36,930; San Francisco, 28,442.
Railroads.
The following figures show the construction of railroads in the United States, by decades:—1830-40, 2265 miles; 1840-50, 5046; 1850-60, 20,110; 1860-70, 16,090; 1870-80, 41,454; 1880-85, 44,002,—giving a total of 128,967 miles.
Poor's Railroad Manual gives the cost of the railroads constructed down to 1885 as $7,037,627,350, including equipment; capital stock, $3,817,697,832; bonded debt, $3,765,727,066; earnings for 1885 from passengers, $200,883,911; from freight, $519,690,992; from all sources, $765,310,419; net earning, $266,488,993; interest paid on bonds, $179,681,323; dividends paid on stock, $77,672,105.
Telegraphs.
The aggregate extent of telegraphic lines in the United States open for public business in 1887 exceeded 170,000 miles, besides railway, Government, private, and telephone lines, of which the extent is not known. By far the greater part of this business in the United States is in the hands of the Western Union Telegraph Company, the main features of whose operations, at certain successive dates, are shown in the following table (XXI.):—
| Miles of Line. |
Miles of Wire. |
No. of Offices. |
No. of Messages Sent. |
Receipts. | |
| 1867 | 46,270 | 85,291 | 2,565 | 5,879,282 | $6,568,925 |
| 1870 | 54,109 | 112,191 | 3,972 | 9,157,646 | 7,138,738 |
| 1875 | 72,833 | 179,496 | 6,565 | 17,153,710 | 9,564,575 |
| 1880 | 85,645 | 233,524 | 9,077 | 29,216,509 | 12,782,895 |
| 1885 | 147,500 | 462,283 | 14,184 | 42,096,583 | 17,706,834 |
| 1886 | 151,832 | 489,607 | 15,142 | 43,289,807 | 16,298,638 |
| 1887 | 156,814 | 524,641 | 15,658 | 47,394,530 | 17,191,910 |
The average toll per message was 36.3 cents in 1887. Since the construction of this table, the purchase of the Baltimore and Ohio Railroad telegraph lines has brought the mileage of the Western Union to about 162,000, with over 580,000 miles of wire.
Postal Service.
The following table (XXII.), from the latest annual report of the postmaster-general, exhibits the growth of the postal services:—
| Fiscal Years. |
No. of Post-Offices. |
Miles of Post Routes. |
Revenue of Department. |
Expenditure during the Year. |
| 1790 | 75 | 1,875 | $37,935 | $32,140 |
| 1805 | 903 | 20,817 | 280,804 | 213,994 |
| 1810 | 2,300 | 36,406 | 551,684 | 495,969 |
| 1820 | 4,500 | 72,492 | 1,111,927 | 1,160,926 |
| 1830 | 8,450 | 115,176 | 1,850,583 | 1,932,708 |
| 1840 | 13,468 | 155,739 | 4,543,522 | 4,718,236 |
| 1850 | 18,417 | 178,672 | 5,499,985 | 5,212,953 |
| 1860 | 28,498 | 240,594 | 8,518,067 | 19,170,610 |
| 1870 | 28,492 | 231,232 | 19,772,221 | 23,998,838 |
| 1880 | 42,989 | 343,888 | 33,315,479 | 36,542,804 |
| 1885 | 51,252 | 365,251 | 42,560,843 | 50,046,235 |
| 1886 | 53,614 | 378,586 | 43,948,423 | 51,004,744 |
Foreign Commerce.
The full official statistics of the foreign commerce of the United States only begin with 1820. Prior to that date considerable statistical material relating to trade and navigation was collected by Dr Seybert. Table XXIII. exhibits the value of exports of domestic merchandise to foreign countries during each tenth year from 1820 to 1880, together with the part borne therein by the products of domestic agriculture. The table shows strikingly the constancy with which the exports of agricultural produce have maintained their share in the total exports during 60 years.
Table XXIII.
| Domestic Merchandise. |
Products of Domestic Agriculture. |
Per cent. of Agr. Products. | |
| 1820 | $51,683,640 | $41,657,673 | 80.60 |
| 1830 | 58,524,878 | 48,095,184 | 82.18 |
| 1840 | 111,660,561 | 92,548,067 | 82.88 |
| 1850 | 134,900,233 | 108,605,713 | 80.50 |
| 1860 | 316,242,423 | 256,560,972 | 81.12 |
| 1870 | 455,208,341 | 361,188,483 | 79.34 |
| 1880 | 823,946,353 | 685,961,091 | 83.25 |
The following table (XXIV.) shows the value of all imports into the United States at intervals of five years from 1835 to 1880:—
| Value of Imports. | |
| 1835 | $149,895,742 |
| 1840 | 107,141,519 |
| 1845 | 117,254,564 |
| 1850 | 178,138,318 |
| 1855 | 261,468,520 |
| 1860 | $362,160,254 |
| 1865 | 248,555,652 |
| 1870 | 462,377,587 |
| 1875 | 595,861,248 |
| 1880 | 760,989,046 |
In 1884, 1885, and 1886 respectively the total exports of merchandise amounted to $740,513,609, $742,189,755, and $679,524,830, and the imports to $667,697,693, $577,527,329, and $635,436,136. The same years the exports of gold and silver amounted to $67,133,383, $42,231,525, and $72,463,410, and the imports to $37,426,262, $43,242,323, and $38,593,656.
The following table (XXV.) gives the value, in round millions of dollars, of leading exports of domestic agriculture during each fifth year since 1860:—
| Cotton, Raw. |
Bread Stuffs. |
Leaf Tobacco. |
Provisions, including Meats and Dairy Products. |
Cattle, Sheep, and Hogs. | |
| 1860 | 192 | 24 | 16 | 17 | 1 |
| 1865 | 7 | 54 | 42 | 54 | 0 |
| 1870 | 227 | 72 | 21 | 31 | 1 |
| 1875 | 191 | 111 | 25 | 83 | 2 |
| 1880 | 212 | 288 | 16 | 132 | 15 |
| 1885 | 202 | 160 | 22 | 107 | 14 |
Table XXVI., p. 826, exhibits the value, in dollars, of the imports from, and exports to, each of the principal foreign countries in 1886.
The following are the eleven principal exporting cities, with the value of the goods going out through them in 1886, and percentage of total United States exports:—New York, 314 millions of dollars (49.26 per cent.); New Orleans, 83 (12.15); Boston, 54 (7.96); Baltimore, 36 (5.27); Philadelphia, 34 (4.97); San Francisco, 30 (4.45); Savannah, 20 (2.99); Charleston, 18 (2.6); Galveston, 17 (2.5);
