INVESTIGATING THE TRUST PROBLEM 103 



recommend legislation to meet the problems presented by 

 labor, agriculture and capital," justified the time and expense 

 necessary for the preparation of such a report. The manu- 

 facturing interests of the United States are of vast and in- 

 creasing importance. According to the twelfth census, the 

 total capital invested in manufacturing amounted in 1900 to 

 almost $10,000,000,000. The increase in invested capital 

 from 1850 to 1900 was over seventeen fold. The value of 

 products turned out by the manufacturing industries has in- 

 creased during the century from about $100,000,000 to a little 

 over $1,000,000,000 worth in 1850 and over $13,000,000,000 

 in 1900. This increase in the capital invested and the value 

 of products in manufacturing may be compared with the value 

 of farm property and the value of farm products. The value 

 of farm property, according to the census returns, has in- 

 creased from about $4,000,000,000 in 1850 to a little over 

 $20,000,000,000 in 1900; the value of farm products from a 

 little less than $2,000,000,000 in 1870 to a little less than $5,- 

 000,000,000 in 1900. It will thus be seen that while the value 

 of the product in manufacturing has increased about twelve 

 times, that of agriculture has increased only three times dur- 

 ing the last half century. During this same period the in- 

 crease in population has been only two and one fourth fold. 

 The capital invested in transportation, while less than in farm 

 property, may possibly exceed that invested in manufactur- 

 ing. The total capital liabilities of the railroads of the country 

 were in 1900 almost exactly $12,000,000,000; their gross earn- 

 ings $1,500,000,000; their net earnings $500,000,000. Thus 

 considered from the standpoint of capital invested and the 

 value of the products, making due allowance for the duplica- 

 tion of the costs of production in passing from stage to stage, 

 it is evident that the manufacturing interests of the country 

 are nearly co-ordinate in importance with either the farming 

 industry or that of transportation. Added to this, it must be 

 noted that the manufacturing industries are increasing more 

 rapidly than the others and likely to continue their progress 

 at a somewhat faster rate in the near future. 



In connection with this rapid growth on the material side, 

 important changes are being effected in the manufacturing 



