THE POPULATION OF COLORADO 217 
facture increased from 876 in 1870 to 5,074. The increase of wage- 
earners to 15,016 in 1890 and to 24,725 in 1900, and of engineers from 
1,785 in 1890 to 3,150 in Igoo is evidence that considerable progress in 
manufacture occurred during the next two decades, though the rate of 
increase of wage-earners in the industry fell from 195.9 per cent. for the 
decade from 1880 to 1890 to 64.7 for the succeeding decade. This is in 
part due to the size of the industry and in part to the depression of 1893, 
that depression having dealt manufacturers such a severe blow that in 
some parts of the state, the industry had not recovered by tg00. This 
was the case in Denver where the value of manufactured products was 
less in 1900 than for the year 1890." 
Among the interesting things shown in the table is the decline in the 
number of workers in various industries between 1890 and 1900. ‘There 
were 2,514 fewer carpenters in 1900 than ten years previous. This is 
largely explained by the decline which followed the phenomenal amount 
of building that occurred in 1890. That there was a considerable slump 
in building trades during the decade is further shown by the decline in 
the number of brick and tile makers from 1,724 in 1890 to 448 in 1900. 
Brick and stone masons also declined from 2,726 to 1,390. ‘The number 
of painters was reduced from 1,946 to 1,662 during the same period. 
So likewise the harness and saddle workers and those in tinware and tin 
both suffered a reduction in numbers between 1890 and 1g00. The 
number of merchants and traders had increased somewhat, though not 
so much as the numbers in some other lines of activity. Taken with the 
decline in the number of clerks from 6,876 to 3,981, it is difficult to under- 
stand just what changes were at this time occurring in the mercantile 
industry. 
From this study of the constituent elements of the population of Colo- 
rado some light is thrown on the development of manufactures in the 
state. Manufacturing development has proceeded slowly on account 
of the lack of aptitude in the population for this line of activity. This 
lack of inclination toward manufacture which has been characteristic 
of the population has resulted from two chief causes, heredity and 
environment. 
t Ibid., p. 65. 
