FINANCES OF THE UNITED STATES. 



261 



The Commissioner would further add, that of the 

 answers received, as above, about one in nine indi- 

 cated that the amount of work performed in a given 

 time, in 1869, compared favorably with that per- 

 formed at former periods. 



The following statement, furnished to the Com- 

 missioner by the proprietor of the Morgan Iron 

 Works of the city of New York, also indicates a 

 change in the productiveness of labor in this depart- 

 ment of industry which it is to be hoped is some- 

 what exceptional. Thus, in 1858, a marine engine 

 was built at the above works, at a cost of $23,000 

 (including profit to the builder), which required 

 2 ; 323 days' labor. In 1869 another engine, precisely 

 similar as respects pattern and weighL was con- 

 structed at the same works on contract, for $40,000. 

 The result was a loss to the builder of $5,000, and a 

 necessary expenditure of 3,538 days' labor, or 1,215 

 more days' labor than was required for the perform- 

 ance of the same work eleven years previously. 



Here, then, are certain facts which the Commis- 

 sioner, in the discharge of his duty, is bound to 

 make public. The laborer appears to be less worthy 

 of his hire than heretofore, and to have lost his in- 

 terest in his work. If an explanation of the cause is 

 demanded of the Commissioner, he can return but 

 this general answer : because a vicious currency and 

 unequal taxation take from the laborer a portion of 

 the result of his work, and give him no return. .The 

 laborer feels this, but knows not the cause, and seeks 

 in strikes, in eight-hour laws, and trades' unions, the 

 artificial remedy, where the natural remedy would be 

 simply to restore to him good money, an honest 

 measure of value, and such laws as will secure an 

 equal distribution of the surplus of annual wealth 

 which results from the excess of production over ex- 

 penditure. 



Again, the general result of the business of the 

 last fiscal year to the merchants and manufacturers 

 of the country is thus expressed by a recognized in- 

 dustrial authority : 



Those who, at the end of the fiscal year, have made a 

 living, and have their capital unimpaired, should be con- 

 tent, for they will be doing better than the majority. 

 Iron Age, June 24, 1869. 



The undoubted decrease in farm stock and animal 

 products in certain sections of the country also indi- 

 cates a change, to at least a limited extent, in the re- 



lations which production formerly sustained to con- 

 sumption and population. Thus, in the State of 

 Ohio, for whose domestic statistics a greater degree 

 of accuracy has been claimed than for those of any 

 other State, the official report for 1869 states that, 

 comparing this latter year with 1868, the whole num- 

 ber of sheep has decreased 1,416,205, or from 7,688,- 

 845 to 6,272,640 ; the hogs 356,629, or from 1,812,572 

 to 1,455,943 ; the cattle from 1,512,666 to 1,492,581 ; 

 and the mules from 25,411 to 25,020. In respect to 

 sheep generally, extensive returns, published by the 

 Department of Agriculture, conclusively prove a very 

 large decrease in almost every section of the country. 

 This decrease for the year 1868-' 69 is estimated by 

 the Bureau at^not less than 4,000,000 ; while others, 

 competent to judge, report to the Commissioner that 

 the reduction in the whole number of sheep in the 

 United States within the last two years has been at 

 least twenty-five per cent. In one of the leading 

 wool-growing States of the West, the wool-clip for 

 1869 is estimated at thirty-five per cent, less than 

 that of the previous year, 1868. 



Other considerations exist, which might be 

 taken into account for a complete view of the 

 probable surplus of national industry, which 

 there is not space here to notice. 



The operation of the internal revenue sys- 

 tem has been to yield the Treasury, during the 

 fiscal year, the sum of $160,039,344. The re- 

 ceipts for the first six months of 18G8 and 1809 

 were: 



From July to December, 1869. . . . . $67,296,388 

 ' 1868 06,110,030 



Total gain for six months $1,186,358 



The following tables shows the aggregate 

 receipts from the same general sources of 

 revenue for the first and last six months of 

 each of the fiscal years ending June 30, 1868 

 and 1869 ; and also the gain or loss per cent, 

 of those in the latter over those in the former 

 period 



