REPOKT OF THE STATISTICIAN. 



"^ o ic 



has enlarged production beyond tlie requirements of borne consumptiou, 

 and liberated labor for tbe extension of production in the domain of 

 mining, of construction, of fabrication, and dilferentiation of labor in 

 development of art, industry, and every form of wealth, Tvithout ren- 

 dering the necessaries of life scarce and dear, or reducing the wages 

 of labor. In fact, the rate of wages for farm labor is not only liigher 

 ill harvest time, but is highest in those regions where farm machinery 

 is snost used. This is an era of too mucli intelligence to allow the 

 >> lirels of progress to be blocked by prejudice on the part of laborers. 

 i;vcry labor-saving appliance advances the interest of the intelligent 

 laborer, relieves him of drudgery but not of direction, lightens his 

 work without destroying his vocation, and tends to elevation and par- 

 ticipation in the benefits of invention and advancing skill. The prog- 

 ress of manufacture in this country has been A'ery rapid. The number 

 of establishments making agricultural implements of all kinds in 1850 

 was 1,333 ; in ISSO, 1,943. But this difference does not indicate the 

 real extent of development in the manufacture. The number of hands 

 emx>loyed was 7,220 in 1850 ; in ISSO the average number was nearly 

 six times as many, 40,180. This showing also fails to indicate the true 

 extent of progress, for tbe capital employed was about seventeen times 

 as much, and the products were ten times as much, having increased 

 from 80,842,611 to SGS,620,4SG, showing that the buildings and ma- 

 chinery, the "plant"' of the industry, are more substantial and per- 

 manent, and also that labor is more effective, producing larger values 

 per hand, though the prices have meantime been very much reduced. 

 The essential data of this progress may be presented as follows : 



In recent years the cost of material increases in larger proportion 

 than wages or products. The tendency to advance is constant in 

 v.'ood, while the price of iron and steel tends to decline. K"early 

 $50,000,000 are annually distributed for material and wages, millions 

 more are paid for the use of capital, for constant repairs, replacements, 

 and the substitution of better machinery, and allowed for services of 

 thousands of proprietors not receiving wages for service; for inventors 

 and draftsmen, and for royalties for iuveiitions, for advertising, for in- 

 surance, and other incidental expenses ; and the remainder, little or 

 much, but a small part of the whole value, goes to account of profits of 

 the business. 



Relative to the amount of production, Ohio stands first in this manu- 

 facture, with products in 1880 valued at 815,479,825 ; Illinois comes 

 next with $13,408,575; New York produces $10,707,706; Indiana, 

 $4,460,408 ; and Wisconsin, Pennsylvania, and Michigan each make a 

 value of over $3,000,000. Ohio, niinois, and New York come in similar 

 order of rank as to capital, with more than half of the total investment 

 in the business. 



As to material used, more than half the value is iron and steel, 

 25 AG '85 



