256 



FINANCES OF THE UNITED STATES. 



of general production, may be regarded as new 

 territory. The extension of the telegraph sys- 

 tem during the year was greater than in any 

 previous year, and was equal to 7,000 miles. 



The great improvement of the country since 

 the close of the war has taken place chiefly in 

 the Southern States. With every industrial 

 interest entirely prostrated in 1865, the first 

 efforts of the people to improve their condi- 

 tion were in the highest degree discouraging. 

 During 1866 and 1867, the crops hoth of cot- 

 ton and grain were, to a very great extent, 

 failures. The freedmen were not disposed to 

 work for hire, demanded excessive wages, and 

 too often rendered poor service. In 1868, 

 there was an improvement. The harvest was 

 so abundant as to furnish the people with 

 cheap food, and with a large surplus for the 

 future and for export, while the sale of the ex- 

 ports of that year in the form of cotton, grain, 

 sugar, tobacco, and naval stores, amounted to 

 an aggregate of at least $300,000,000 in cur- 

 rency. Such a result has brought to the people 

 of the South a large degree of strength and 

 prosperity. It has restored the broken lines 

 of railway communication, and is creating new 

 ones; it is enriching the soil and increasing 

 the quality and quantity of the great staple 

 per acre, through the use of fertilizers and im- 

 proved tools. This evidence of the capacity 

 of the country to repair its waste and extend 

 its production is highly satisfactory, but in 

 connection therewith is a matter of vital in- 

 terest, which consists not in the mere ascer- 

 tainment and enumeration of the aggregates 

 of production, but rather the existing relations 

 between national production and national con- 

 sumption or expenditure ; also the determina- 

 tion of the question whether the resources of 

 the country have been utilized to the best ad- 

 vantage. These are questions more especially 

 considered by the Special Commissioner of Rev- 

 enue, in the examination of which a very com- 

 plete view is presented of the present and 

 future financial ability of the country. 



The present valuation of the property in the 

 United States is estimated at $23,400,000,000, 

 or an increase of 65.8 per cent, since the cen- 

 sus was taken in 1860. This estimate is based 

 upon the comparative results of different pe- 

 riods, the average wealth of individuals, and 

 the ratios presented in other countries. In a 

 similar manner the gross value of the annual 

 product of the United States is estimated at 

 $6,825,000,000, which is a per capita average 

 of $175 currency to a population of 39,000,000. 

 An important inquiry arises here as to the pro- 

 portion of the annual aggregate product of the 

 nation which results from the labor of the per- 

 sons engaged in the various industrial occupa- 

 tions productive of direct wealth. Thus, of the 

 occupations specified in the census of 1860, 

 forty-one per cent, of the individuals, exclu- 

 sive of slaves, are found to be engaged in the 

 pursuit of agriculture ; and probably of the 

 whole number of persons who are in receipt 



of income from some industrial pursuit, or the 

 investment of capital, one-half are agricultu- 

 rists. It is considered that the per capita prod- 

 uct must be sufficient to make up an amount 

 composed of wages, $275 ; subsistence, $125 ; 

 waste in animals, etc., $50 ; interest on capi- 

 tal, $60; total, $510. This sum, multiplied 

 by the number of agriculturists, would give 

 $3,282,000,000 as the proportion of their con- 

 tribution of the total gross value of the annual 

 national product. 



A statement contained in the report of the 

 Special Commissioner of the Revenue presents 

 an estimate in detail of the value of the lead- 

 ing agricultural products of the country for the 

 last year, as tending to assist in forming a 

 judgment in regard to th'e total annual value 

 of the product of this department of industry. 

 It is as follows : 

 Cotton, 2,700,000 bales, 450 pounds each, at 



25 cents $303,750,000 



Corn, 900,000,000 bushels, at 50 cents 450,000,000 



Wheat, 300,000,000 bushels, at $1.25 375,000,000 



Oats 275,000,000 bushels, at 50 cents 137,500,000 



Wool, 177,000,000 pounds (estimated clip of 



1868), at 42X cents 75,225,000 



Tobacco, 225,000,000 pounds, at 16X cents . . 37,125,000 



Barley, 25,000,000 bushels, at $1.20 30,000,000 



Hay, 25,000,000 tons, at $10 250,000,000 



Bye, 25,000,000 bushels, at $1.10 27,500,000 



Hides, 6,700,000, at $5.50 36,850,000 



Potatoes, 150,000,000 bushels, at 60 cents . . . 90.000,000 



Buckwheat. 20,000,000 bushels, at $1 20,000,000 



Flesh of animals, deducting value of hay and 



grain consumed 400,000,000 



Dairy products, deducting value consumed 

 of farm products previously enumer- 

 ated 400,000,000 



All other products of agriculture, including 

 the annual increase in the value of cat- 

 tle and horses, the value of fruits, seeds, 

 and garden products, the annual ad- 

 dition to the value of farms and farm 

 buildings, and implements made by 

 farm labor not classed as mechanical 

 (fences, drainage, etc., etc.) 650,000,000 



Total $3,282,950,000 



In respect to the other wealth-producing in- 

 dustries, the statistics of the manufacture of 

 cotton, wool, iron, boots and shoes, and paper, 

 are sufficiently available and exact to allow of 

 the very accurate determination of the in- 

 creased value which accrues from the labor 

 employed in these several departments : 



MANUFACTURE OF COTTON. 



Estimated number of spindles in the United 

 States, from the latest returns to the Cot- 

 ton Manufacturers' Association 6,930,346 



Capital represented, at an average of $20 per 



spindle $138,606,920 



Estimated capacity of cotton, in pounds, per 



annum 450,000,000 



Average number of yarn 28 



Product of cloth, allowing one-sixth for 



waste, pounds 375,000,000 



Value of product, on basis of twenty-five 

 cents per pound for cotton : 



Cotton $112,500,000 



Supplies and repairs 21,000,000 



Labor 42,000,000 



Profits on capital, say 8,500,000 



$184,000,000 



Estimated expenses of transportation and 



distribution 31,415,000 



Hands employed, mostly female, estimated. . 125,000 



Value added to material by each hand 404 



Value of the manufactured product ready for 

 transportation and distribution, exclu- 

 sive of cost of raw cotton 71,500,000 



