

UNITED STATES OF AMERICA. (NEW JERSEY.) 



767 



Banking. The report of the State Banking 

 Commissioner to the United States Comptroller 

 showed the condition of the trust companies, 

 savings-banks, and State banks for the quarter 

 ending Sept. 15. There were 51 trust companies, 

 17 State banks, and 27 savings-banks. The con- 

 dition of the trust companies was shown to have 

 been as follows: liesources, $99,995,256.74; liabil- 

 ities, $72,463,715.22. Notes and bills rediscount- 

 ed, $79,300; bills payable, $850,000; bonds out- 

 standing, $1,150,000; other liabilities, $573,600; 

 total, $99,995,526.74. The statement of the State 

 banks showed the following condition : Resources, 

 $11.038,437.17; liabilities, $8,556,437.17; bills pay- 

 able, $25,000; other liabilities, 4,600; total, $11,- 

 658,437.17. The condition of the 27 savings-banks 

 was reported as follows: Resources and assets, 

 $76,621,110.12; liabilities, capital stock paid in, 

 $500,000; amount due depositors, $70,107,420.40; 

 liabilities other than those stated, $282,442.29; 

 surplus, $5,731,248.03; total, $76,621,110.12. 



Distribution of Products. The chief of the 

 New Jersey Bureau of Statistics compiled in De- 

 cember a statement showing the distribution of 

 the product of the large manufacturing industries 

 of the State. The statement is the first compila- 

 tion of the kind made, and has to do with the 

 distribution to capital account. The report of 

 the bureau contains a classified list of 62 distinct 

 industrial lines. There are 1,385 returns, and the 

 firms reporting have a combined capital of $225,- 

 000,000. In felt hats the industry product is 

 $4,014,197, which is $1,530.32 per $1,000 of capital 

 employed. But the amount of capital is only 

 $2,010,045. The number of firms reporting was 

 48. The percentage of industry product devoted 

 to profit and minor expenses was only $32.88. In 

 shoe manufacturing 41 firms reported, yet only 

 $2,152,079 in capital is employed. The ratio of 

 the industry product devoted to profit and minor 

 expenses is 42.37 per cent. In iron the percentage 

 of industry product devoted to profit and minor 

 expenses is less than one-third. In jewelry it is 

 61.23 per cent. Silk manufacturing is the most 

 important industry included. The product is 

 $14,286,518, and the amount per $1,000 of capital 

 employed is $705.42. The amount of capital is 

 $20,252,319, .while the ratio of industry product 

 devoted to profit and minor expenses is 47.74 per 

 cent. 



Factories. The State Factory Inspector sub- 

 mitted his annual report in December. It shows 

 that in the last fiscal year the department had 

 made 180 inspections of factories, mines, and 

 bakeshops, as a result of which 187 children were 

 discharged. It sets forth that intheyear 19 persons 

 were killed and 68 injured because of accidents in 

 factories and mines. The general conditions of all 

 industries inspected was good, although some of 

 the bakeries were reported to be very dirty, es- 

 pecially in Jersey City and Paterson. The year 

 was one of unprecedented prosperity, and there 

 was greater industrial activity than ever. The 

 consequent increased demand for labor rendered 

 special activity necessary for enforcement of the 

 child-labor laws. Prosecutions of offenders were 

 instituted in the local courts, and the penalties 

 provided by law were imposed. 



Agriculture. The report of the Secretary of 

 the State Board of Agriculture, filed in Novem- 

 ber, shows that the year 1902 was one of the 

 most properous in the agricultural history of 

 the State. The white-potato crop exceeded all 

 previous records by about 3,000,000 bushels, and 

 the financial yield to the farmer was far in ex- 

 cess of any previous year. The report says that 

 " for so small a State, and with so much territory 



taken up with truck-farming and market-garden- 

 ing, the crops of grain have been remarkable. 

 The increase in the production of corn and in the 

 acreage devoted to its growing is indicative of 

 an increase in the dairy business. The indication, 

 when coupled with the fact that during the past 

 year 17,127 cows were brought into New Jersey 

 from other States, a number largely in excess of 

 other years, confirms the conclusion." 



The farming interests of the State represent a 

 business with a capital of $195,359,106. The only 

 short crop was of hay, and this shortage is at- 

 tributed to lack of rain. The yield is about 10,000 

 tons less than in 1901. 



Of the various crops, the report says that oats 

 were better than for some years past. Rye, an 

 average crop. The acreage of buckwheat is being 

 reduced each year. The production of sweet pota- 

 toes is being extended in the lighter soils of the 

 southern part of the State. The crop is large and 

 valuable. 



The report places the total value of the farms 

 of the State for 1902 at $43,528,871. It gives the 

 number of farms as 34,650, and the improved 

 land, capable of profitable cultivation, is 1,977,042 

 acres. It says there is used of commercial plant 

 food or fertilizers $2,165,320 worth. Although 

 farm-laborers seem hard to obtain, there is ex- 

 pended for this item $6,720,030. The stock com- 

 prising the flocks and herds, horses, mules, and 

 other animals, is valued at $17,613,620. 



Ceramics. The Legislature at its last session 

 passed an act providing for the establishment of 

 a course in practical and scientific instruction in 

 the art of clay-working and ceramics in the State 

 Agricultural College, and appropriated $12,000 for 

 the organization and equipment of the depart- 

 ment for the current year, and $2,500 annually 

 for its maintenance. The report of the Board of 

 Visitors, issued in December, spoke very favor- 

 ably of its progress. A laboratory, thoroughly 

 equipped, had been erected and the work of in- 

 struction in ceramics is begun. The trustees re- 

 ceived a gift of $50,000 from Ralph Voorhees, a 

 resident of New Jersey, for a library building, 

 which is to be erected immediately. 



Education. The report of the School Super- 

 intendent, submitted in December, gives the sta- 

 tistics of the high schools of the State. As this 

 was the first time that the data were collected, 

 no comparison could be made with previous rec- 

 ords. Of the 394 school districts in the State, 

 147 report full or partial high-school courses. 

 In these 147 high schools and partial high school* 

 were enrolled 12,980 pupils, 5,159 boys and 7,821 

 girls, or 3.8 per cent, of the entire school enrol- 

 ment. In the 247 districts that have not estab- 

 lished high-school courses there were 1,564 pupils 

 which were doing high-school work. In the 147 

 high-school districts there were 603 teachers. 

 They received $511,281.19. The total cost of 

 maintaining these schools was $611,312.94. Sixty- 

 nine schools maintain courses of study covering 

 four years' work. Of these, 55 are on the " ap- 

 proved list," which means that graduates of these 

 schools are admitted to the State Normal School 

 without examination. 



The State Librarian, in his annual report made 

 in December, noted a great falling off of interest 

 in the traveling-library system. At the close of 

 the fiscal year 23 of the 62 traveling libraries 

 were in use, against 42 in the preceding year. 

 Twenty-two towns discontinued their use, while 

 only 4 now towns applied for them. 



The educational exhibit from Xew Jersey at 

 the Charleston Exposition won both the gold and 

 silver medals. The New Jersey Normal and 



