RHODE ISLAND 901 



RHODE ISLAND 1 



Population (1910) 542,610; 26.6% more than in 1900. The state is the most densely 

 populated in the Union; in 1910 it had 508.5 to the sq. m. In 1900 31.2% were foreign- 

 born and 32.8% of foreign parentage; in 1910 32.8% and 35.9% The percentage of 

 native whites decreased from 66.6 to 65.4; that of whites of native parentage from 

 33.8 to 29.5. In 1910, 96.7% of the total was in 25 incorporated places each with more 

 than 2, 500 inhabitants; in 1900, 95.1% in 23 such places. In 1910, 67.8% was in the 4 

 cities and one town, which had each more than 25,000. The following places had more 

 than 5,000 each: Providence, 224,326 (in 1900, 175,597); Pawtucket, 51,622; Woonsocket, 

 38,125; Newport, 27,149; Warwick (town), 26,629; Central Falls, 22,754; Cranston, 

 21,107; East Providence (town), 15,808; Cumberland (town), 10,107; Lincoln (town), 

 9,825; Westerly (town), 8,696; Bristol (town), 8,565; Burrillville (town), 7,878; Warren 

 (town), 6,585; Johnston (town), 5,935; Coventry (town), 5,848; North Providence 

 (town), 5,407; and South Kingstown (town), 5,176. 



Agriculture. The acreage in farms decreased from 455,602 to 443,308 between 1900 and 

 1910, and the improved land in farms from 187,354 to 178,344; but the average farm acreage 

 increased from 82.9 to 83.8; and the value of farm property from $26,989,189 to $32,990,739 

 ($15,009,981 land; $12,922,879 buildings; $1,781407 implements; $3,276,472 domestic 

 animals). Of the land area 64.9% was in farms in 1910. The average value of farm land 

 per acre was $33.86. Farms were operated largely by owners (4,087 by owners, 251 by 

 managers and 954 by tenants). In 1912 (preliminary estimates) the principal crops were: 

 Indian corn, 456,000 bu. (11,000 A.); oats, 57,000 bu. (2,000 A.); potatoes, 565,000 bu. 

 (5,000 A.) and hay, 66,000 tons (58,000 A.). In 1909 (U.S. Census) vegetables, other than 

 potatoes, were grown on 5,275 acres and were valued at $636,656; and orchard fruits were 

 worth $197,639 (apples, $147,125). On January I, 1912 there were on farms 10,000 horses, 

 23,000 milch cows, 11,000 other neat cattle, 7,000 sheep, and 16,000 swine. 



In 1912 the state agricultural experiment station made important studies of fowl cholera, 

 experiments in manuring and in soil deficiency and field experiments on individual farms. 



Mineral Products. Total value, 1911, $1,088,475. Stone was valued at $958,753. 

 Clay products, another important item, were not reported separately. Mineral waters, 

 from 8 springs, were valued at $27,036 (22% less than in 1910). 



Manufactures. In 1904-09 the number of establishments increased from 1,617 to 1,951, 

 and that of persons engaged in manufacturing from 104,299 to 122,641 (wage-earners from 

 97,318 to 113,538, 20.9% of the total population); the capital invested from $215,901,000 

 to $290,901,000; and the value of products from $202,110,000 to $280,344,000. The principal 

 products were: woollen, worsted and felt goods, $74,600,000 (nearly twice as much as in 1899), 

 ranking Rhode Island 3rd in this industry; cotton goods, $50,313,000 (nearly twice the 1899 

 product value), the state being 4th; jewelry, $20,685,000; foundry and machine-shop prod- 

 ucts, $20,612,000; dyeing and finishing textiles, not otherwise reported, $13,956,000; electrical 

 machinery, apparatus and supplies, $6,410,000; silverware and plated ware, $6,198,000; silk 

 and silk goods, $4,584,000; gold and silver, reduced, not from ore, $4,442,000; hosiery and 

 knit goods, $3,866,000; printing and publishing, $3,780,000; malt liquors, $3,579,000; and 

 slaughtering and meat-packing, $3,156,000. 



The principal manufacturing centres were: Providence, $120,241,000, including one- 

 fourth of the state's textiles, 98.4 % of the manufactures from the precious metals and seven- 

 tenths of the foundry and machine-shop products; Pawtucket, $37,696,000, 53.4% being 

 textiles, mostly cotton; Woonsocket, $28,218,500, seven-tenths being textiles, mostly woollen; 

 Warwick, $10,589,000, of which three-quarters was textiles, mostly cotton; Cumberland, 

 $9,827,000 (more than five times as much as in 1899); East Providence, $7,146,000; Cranston, 

 $5,625,000 (four times as much as in 1899); and Central Falls, $5,471,000. 



Transportation. Railway 1 mileage, January i, 1912, 211.77. The Southern New 

 England Railway Company (chartered April 1910) secured in 1911 the necessary approval 

 for a line from Palmer, Mass., to Providence, which would give the Central Vermont (con- 

 trolled by the Grand Trunk) a through line from Montreal to Providence, but November 9, 

 1912 work on this extension suddenly stopped. It was suspected that tKis was the result of 

 an agreement (some terms of which were published) between the Grand Trunk and the New 

 York, New Haven & Hartford Railway, which has almost a monopoly of transportation in New 

 England; but it was publicly announced that the cessation of work was a part of a general 

 policy of retrenchment by the Grand Trunk due to the unsettled money market in Europe. 

 A Federal Grand Jury began investigation of this cessation of work on December 3, and on 

 the 23rd indicted the presidents of the Grand Trunk and the New York, New Haven and 

 Hartford railways for conspiracy. The Grand Trunk had contracted for two steamers to be 

 run from Providence to New York. In 1911 the Federal government began work improving 



1 See E. B. xxiii, 248 et seq. 



