Address. 9 



to produce the food of twenty-two persons, besides the production of 

 some form of raw material for use in manufacture. A task assur- 

 edly, to keep both brain and hand busy, and with such a demand 

 sure to give quick and great reward. We have in Massachusetts 

 about one hundred and fifty distinct industrial pursuits, 'which give 

 employment in one form and another to two hundred and seventy-four 

 thousand four hundred hands. What now would be the result, if, in 

 our envy of, or want of appreciation of the importance of this pop- 

 ulation to the farmer, we should destroy or permanently cripple any 

 of our great manufacturing interests ? First, we should destroy their 

 ability to purchase our products for themselves and their dependents, 

 lessening the demands of our home market, making a glut and de- 

 preciating prices ; and second, necessity would drive a large portion 

 of this multitude to tilling the soil, and producing food in this or 

 some other locality, and they would become competing producers of 

 our products instead of being its consumers. Then each laborer on 

 the land, instead of making the foo'd of twenty-two persons, would 

 have to make that of only four or five, and our population, as regards 

 the price of labor and the value of its products, would be in the con- 

 dition of the most crowded countries of Europe. But again, by the 

 last year's return of the commissioner of internal revenue, it ap- 

 pears, that the aggregate result of the productive labor of the United 

 States in every department was $6,825,000,000. There were 

 12,870,000 workers in this production. The products of agriculture 

 were $3,282,950,000, and it gave employment to 6,435,000 per- 

 sons. The products of all other industries were in value $3,542.- 

 000,000, giving employment to about the same number of hands, 

 who produce about five hundred and ten dollars in value each. This 

 is the average, and includes skilled and unskilled laborers, the old 

 and young, males and females. Now apply this data to Massachu- 

 setts. We have already stated 271,421 persons are employed in other 

 industries than agriculture. If they produce only at the same rate 

 as the whole country, (and they do vastly more in consequence of 

 their superior skill, and our high rate of wages) it would result in 

 the aggregate to $138,424,710. Now calculate, — imagine if you 

 can, the change which would be produced in the condition and pros- 

 pects of our farming interest, if this enormous sum of nearly one 



