326 



SCIENCE. 



[N. S. Vol. II. No. 37. 



a point as to bring into the markets of the 

 world crude products which formerlj^ would 

 not bear removal, and were thus excluded 

 from the exchanges of commerce ; thrrd, 

 the j)ractical result of these two causes has 

 been to reduce the value of food, products 

 throughout the civilized world, and, inas- 

 much as cheaj) food is the basis of all indus- 

 trial development and the necessary con- 

 dition for the amelioration of humanity, the 

 present generation has witnessed a general 

 rise in the wages of labor, accompanied by 

 a fall in price of the food which it con- 

 sumes. * * * * These are material results, 

 but they are accompanied with the slow 

 but sure elevation of the great mass of so- 

 ciety to a higher plane of intelligence and 

 aspiration." 



The increase of working power of the 

 United States is thus sho^vn by Mr. M. Gr. 

 Mulhall, the great statistician, in the North 

 American Beview for June, 1895. The work- 

 ing power of an able-bodied male adult is 

 300 foot-tons daily; that of a horse, 3,000, 

 and of steam horse-power, 4,000. On this 

 basis the working power of the United 

 States was at various dates approximately 

 as follows in millions of foot- tons daily: 



Foot-tons 



daily per 



Tear. Hand. Horse. Steam. Total.inh'b'nt. 



1820 753 3,300 240 4,293 446 



1840 1.406 12,900 3,040 17,346 1,020 



1860 2,80.5 22,200 14,000 39,005 1,240 



1880 4,450 36,600 36,340 77,390 1,545 



1895 6,400 55.200 67,700 129,400 1,940 



Gt. Britain 1895. 3,210 6,100 46,800 56,110 1,470 



Germany, 1895. 4,280 11,500 29,800 45,580 902 



France, vl895 3,880 9,000 21,600 34,580 910 



Austria, 1895 3,410 9,900 9,200 22,510 560 



Notice from this table how vastly the 

 power of man is increased by the use of the 

 steam engine, and in United States how 

 great was the increase in the last 15 years. 



The wealth of the American people, says 

 Mr. Mulhall, surpasses that of anj' other 

 nation past or present. " The physical and 

 mechanical power which has enabled a com- 

 munity of Avoodcutters and farmers to be- 



come, in less than 100 years, the greatest 

 nation in the world, is the aggregate of the 

 strong arms of men and women, aided by 

 horse-power, machinery and steam power 

 applied to the useful arts and services of 

 of every-day life. The accumulatian of 

 wealth in the United States averages 

 $7,000,000 daily." 



The increase of wealth in the United 

 States is shown as follows, according to 

 Mulhall: 



Total wealth. Wealth 



Year. millions of dollars. per capita. 



1820 1,960. S205 



1840 3,910 230 



1860 16,160 514 



1880 43,642 870 



1890 65,037 1,039 



Wealth per capita in different countries 

 in 1890 ; 



Great Britian $1,260 



France 1,130 



Holland 1,089 



United States 1,039 



Belgium 840 



Germany 730 



Sweden 630 



Italy 480 



Austria 475 



Average yearly wages per operative in 

 the United States : 



I860 $289 



Rural or agricultural wealth in the 

 United States has quadrupled in 40 years, 

 while urban wealth has multiplied sixteen- 

 fold. 



-Millions of dollars - 



1850. 



Urban. 



.. 3,169 



1860 8,180 



1870 15,1.55 



1880 31,538 



1890 49,005 



Rural. 

 3,965 

 7,980 

 8.900 

 12,104 

 15,982 



Total. 

 7,136 

 16,160 

 24,055 

 43,642 

 65,037 



Per cent of 



total 



Urban. Rural. 



44.4 

 50.6 

 63.0 



55.6 

 49.4 

 37.0 

 27.8 

 24.6 



During the last 20 years the increment 

 of rural wealth has been almost uniform at 

 $47 per head per annum of the number of 

 rural workers. In urban woi-kers the ac- 

 cumulation aA'eraged $83 per annum, which 

 suihces to explain the iiiliux of population 

 into towns and cities. 



