258 



FINANCES OF THE UNITED STATES. 



Agriculture $3,282,950,000 



Cotton manufacture 71,500,000 



Woollen manufacture 66.000,000 



Iron production, pig and bar 119,950,000 



Leather manufactures 222,000,000 



Railway service 360,000,000 



Fisheries ^100,000,000 



Total $4,223,000,000 



Tliis aggregate, deducted from the estimated 

 gross product of the country, viz., $6,825,- 

 000,000, gives $2,602,000,000 as the product 

 of all the industrial classes remaining unenu- 

 merated. If we suppose the classes enumer- 

 ated to embrace 7,165,000 producers (6,435,000 

 agriculturists and 730,000 engaged in railway 

 service, fisheries, and the manufactures speci- 

 fied), this will leave a product of $2,602,- 

 000,000, divided among 5,705,000 producers 

 (the total number of producers having been 

 taken at 12,870,000), giving an average value 

 of the labor of each one of $455 per annum. 

 This large body of producers includes persons 

 of the most various occupations and the most 

 diverse character as regards the capacity of 

 production, embracing as it does many highly- 

 skilled and highly-paid artisans, as well as all 

 the distributors of the country, and also great 

 numbers of domestic servants, women and 

 children, contributing in but a small degree to 

 production, and receiving minimum wages. 



The excess of production over expenditure 

 is regarded at the present time as being about 



eight per cent, of the gross annual product, 

 or $546,000,000 per annum. 



All these statements, however, of the valua- 

 tion, annual product, and annual surplus of the 

 country, present the results merely of the in- 

 formation that is at present available on these 

 subjects. An exact statement would require 

 data which are not at present attainable. 



There are still exact and positive data in 

 certain departments bearing upon the subject 

 of the amount and increase of the national 

 wealth, which, although local and limited in 

 their nature, yet, within their limits, indi- 

 cate a less flattering aspect of national pros- 

 perity than is generally entertained. The fol- 

 lowing table, for instance, presents a statement 

 of the assessed value of real and personal prop- 

 erty in six States, at different periods within 

 the last ten years, by which it appears that 

 there has been an advance in only two of the 

 States enumerated equal to the assumed pre- 

 mium on gold, while, had the exact average of 

 the gold premium for 1868 (39.6) been taken 

 for comparison, only one (Rhode Island) of the 

 six States would have been found to make good 

 the gold values of 1861. The calculation has 

 been made without regard to any increase 

 that may have taken place in population dur- 

 ing that period. If this were taken into ac- 

 count, probably not one of the States would 

 have exhibited an increase in assessed values : 



Again, there is a large amount of American 

 securities held in foreign countries. These 

 consist of United States bonds, State bonds, 

 railway bonds and shares, municipal bonds, and 

 shares of canal and mining companies. The 

 most approved estimates represent the amounts 

 as follows : 



NATIONAL SECURITIES. 



Fives of 1871 and 1874 $15,000,000 



Sixes of 1881 ..... 90.000,000 



Five-twenties of 1862 380.000,000 



Five-twenties of 1864 30000000 



Five-twenties of 1865, May and November. . . 120,000,000 



Five-twenties of 1865, January and July 200,000,000 



Five-twenties of 1867 120,000,000 



Ten-forties 25,000,000 



.Registered bonds of all issues 20,000,000 



Total $1,000,000,000 



As substantiating the accuracy of the above 

 estimate, it is to be noted that the earlier 

 issues of United States securities have almost 

 entirely disappeared from the American market, 

 and that transactions are now limited mainly to 

 the issues of July, 1865, 1867, and 1868. 



STATE SECURITIES. 



< The following amounts are returned as posi- 

 tively known to the State authorities : 



Alabama $1,483,260 



Georgia ... 72,000 



Illinois 1,400,000 



Louisiana 5,235,933 



Massachusetts 12.277,500 



Michigan 800,000 



Missouri 1,500,000 



New York 2,440,999 



Ohio 3,500,000 



Pennsylvania 9,458,600 



Virginia 7,523,500 



Total $45,691 ,792 



This amount, it is to be noted, only includes 

 those issues which have been "placed" abroad 

 originally through distinct State agencies. To 

 it must be added the larger amount which has 

 been from year to year purchased in the Amer- 

 ican market, and either sent abroad or held 

 here on foreign account. 



Of railway bonds and shares held abroad 

 or on foreign account, the investigations indi- 

 cate a total of $130,000,000 of bonds and 

 $113,000,000 of shares. 



Of the amount of bonds specified, an aggre- 

 gate of $61,350,349 has been positively re- 

 ported in behalf of fourteen companies. 



Of the amount of railway stocks specified, 7 

 companies return an aggregate of $83,449,800. 



