114 



COMMERCE (INTERNAL) OF THE UNITED STATES. 



the Bell tunnel lode location and deprive tLe owner 

 thereof of the fruits of his discovery ? 



The Chief Justice thus concludes : 



If, then, as the evidence tends to show, the ledge on 

 which the Ben Harding lode was located deflected in 

 its general strike from the patented _side lines, the 

 patentee is not entitled in virtue of his patent to its 

 possession beyond the side lines, as against one who 

 has subsequently located and patented it. 



Judgment reversed, and cause remanded for fur- 

 ther proceedings not inconsistent with this opinion. 



The enabling act of Congress under which 

 the State government was organized granted 

 for school purposes 3,750,000 acres of land. 

 The State Superintendent of Schools, who has 

 examined this land, reports that the State will 

 not realize more than 100,000 acres in lands 

 that have any value, except a nominal one for 

 grazing purposes. 



In the State penitentiary there are 146 pris- 

 oners. In April, 1877", there were only 84. 

 The expenses of the prison have been $65,917, 

 and the earnings $8,522. 



The State has already become famous for its 

 mineral springs, and for the purity and healthi- 

 ness of its atmosphere. It has also become a 

 great resort for invalids, especially those with 

 lung diseases. 



COMMERCE (INTERNAL) OF THE UNI- 

 TED STATES. Of the internal commerce of 

 the United States no comprehensive statistical 

 account is officially taken, by which the growth 

 of the productive and mercantile activity of 

 the country can be accurately determined. The 

 extent of the traffic which is carried on within 

 the borders of the republic can be approxi- 

 mately estimated from the amounts of mer- 

 chandise conveyed over the various railroads. 

 The value of commodities transported by rail 

 in the interior of the United States was esti- 

 mated bv Joseph Nimmo, of the Bureau of Sta- 

 tistics, for the year 1875-'76, at $18,000,000,- 

 000, or about 16 times greater than the total 

 foreign commerce of that year, which amounted 

 to $1,121,634,277. The capitalized v>alue of the 

 railroads of the country was $4,600,000,000, or 

 23 times the capital employed in all the ship- 

 ping, American and foreign, engaged in the 

 foreign trade of the United States. The value 

 .of _the merchandise transported from point to 

 point in the United States, coastwise and on 

 the lakes, rivers, and other avenues of com- 

 merce, would probably amount to near $10,000,- 

 000,000 more. The internal traffic between 

 different points, probably 25 times greater in 

 value than the total foreign trade, exceeds it 

 in bulk in a far greater proportion ; its tonnage 

 is not likely to be less than 100 times that of 

 the total imports and exports. 



"While the vacant lands of the country have 

 been nearly all occupied, and nearly all the 

 natural sources of wealth, as far as they are 

 known, are being exploited, there is yet no 

 tendency apparent toward that condition of 

 economical equilibrium where consumption 

 balances production. On the contrary, there 



is evidence that the annual increment of na- 

 tional capital has at no epoch been greater 

 relatively to the number of the inhabitants, 

 nor probably as great, as at the present time. 

 In 1870 the total national wealth, in real and 

 personal property, was estimated at $771 per 

 capita, or over $30,000,000,000 against $16,000,- 

 000,000 in 1860, and $7,000,000,000 in 1850. 

 It must now aggregate, measured by the inade- 

 quate standard of a money valuation, over $40,- 

 000,000,000. The increase in the aggregate an- 

 nual productions of all manufacturing industries 

 between 1860 and 1869 is estimated to have 

 been from $3,804,000,000 to $6,825,000,000. 

 Since the latter date industrial production has 

 passed through a period of unprecedented stim- 

 ulation and extension, followed by one of falling 

 prices and consequent distress and anxiety ; but, 

 in spite of a temporary retardation in certain 

 branches, the aggregate production has with- 

 out doubt increased steadily, in spite of the 

 falling market, with prices declining 30 per cent, 

 or more on the average. The export demand 

 has given an unusual impetus to agricultural 

 production, and the financial condition of the 

 country to industrial and mining activity. The 

 official returns of agricultural statistics show 

 a larger increment of agricultural wealth, and 

 a greater increase of productivity, in the seven 

 years from 1870 to 1877 than in the ten years 

 of great business activity between 1860 and 

 1870. The area under cultivation was in- 

 creased during the seven years 30,000,000 acres, 

 or from 90,000,000 acres in 1870 to 120,000,- 

 000 acres in 1877. The increase in the aggre- 

 gate stocks of farm products during the same 

 period was as follows : in the number of horses, 

 from 7,145,370 in 1870 to 10,329,700 in 1877; 

 of mules, from 1,125,415 to 1,637,500 ; of milch 

 kine, from 8,935,332 to 11,300,100; of oxen 

 and cattle, from 14,885,276 to 19,223,300 ; of 

 sheep, from 28,477,951 to 35,740,500 ; of swine, 

 from 25,134,569 to 32,262,500 ; in the produc- 

 tion of wheat, from 235,884,700 to 360,000,000 

 bushels; of corn, from 1,094,255,000 to 1,340,- 

 000,000 bushels; of oats, from 247,277,400 to 

 405,200,000 bushels; of barley, from 26,295,400 

 to 85,600,000 bushels ; of rye, from 15,473,600 

 to 22,100,000 bushels; of tobacco, from 250,- 

 628,000 to 480,000,000 Ibs. ; of buckwheat, from 

 9,841,500 to 10,500,000 bushels ; of hay, from 

 24,525,000 to 31,500,000 tons. The produc- 

 tion of other raw materials increased in a simi- 

 lar progression. The cotton-growing industry 

 has been steadily growing, and produced a 

 larger crop in 1877 than in any other year since 

 the civil war. The aggregate mining products 

 have kept pace with agricultural development. 

 The output of the coal mines was 47,000,000 

 tons in 1877, against 29,000,000 tons in 1870. 



The directions in which American industry 

 is developing can be best seen in the absence 

 of comprehensive data.of the internal trade and 

 production of the country, by comparing the 

 tables of exports and imports through a series 

 of years, and noting the classes of articles of 



