Jasper County Democrat, Rensselaer, Jasper County, 2 January 1902 — INDIANA TRULY GREAT AS AN AGRICULTURAL AND A MANUFACTURING STATE [ARTICLE]

INDIANA TRULY GREAT AS AN AGRICULTURAL AND A MANUFACTURING STATE

Concluded from First Page.

tacreesed to tal, while the number of work oxen decreased *1.125. The number of milch cow* increased 379,086; tho number of other cattle increased 697.371; the number of ewlne Increased *67,(H1. while the number of eheep decreased 41.3*0. The total Increase of lire stock since I*Bo was tUS 10. and the total number on hand In DOC was 7,488.0*3 head. Cereal Products. Snoufh. so far has been written to eeW|k!ih the fact that Indiana la not only Tfrtet agricultural state, but for Its area one of the most Important. If Indeed It ts not the largest producer of farm products of any state In the union, with a Jarre acreage of land yet to be subjected to tlllaga Upon any reasonable estimate of food consumption per capita Indiana Is capable of sustaining a population of 30,000,000, and even then might have a surplus for feeding less favored people. And this la by no means an Inflated estimate of the farm products of the state, as the following exhibit of the products as Jareals fully warrants the estimate:

A Is s i | j ■ H fi a a ,i ii • i a t l a «* F i a U6o 46,483 148.740 5X 964.363 6.655,014 78,792 6.214458 tSn 882,246 *96.969 71.688,919 6.317,831 433.495 1G.X48.207 Sh 88X 285 89,707 115,48X200 15.899.508 303,106 47,281,863 ,'So 250,200 99 960 108.815,091 31.491.661 877.532 $7,618,798

In the foregoing exhibit (the statist!oe •f production for 1899 being taken from the report of the Indiana bureau of statistics) It la shown that since ISSO the Increase in the product of barley has Seen 222.443 bushels; the production of buckwheat has decreased 101.889 bushels: the Increase In the production of corn has been 98.252.441 bushels; In oats. 26.146,173 bushels; In rye. 430,220 bushels, and the Increase In the production of wheat In 18*9 as compared with 1850 was 25.142,641 bushels. But after all It Is dlfflcult to grasp the sum total of Indiana's farm products. If we take the average product of cereals for the census years as tabulated we have the following result •f production In forty-nine years: Corn 4.593.332.800 bushels Oats 820,469.300 bushels Rye 24.412,000 bushels Wheat 1,381,396,960 bushels Orand tots! 6,819,600.350 bushels The more Indiana as an agricultural State Is studied the more captivating the subject becomes. But space forbids Inviting elaboration. Nevertheless, there are statistics relating to Indiana’s farm products, which, though in the popular estimates deemed of- minor Importance, are eourcee of immense wealth. As for Instance, take the production of timothy and clover hay. Irish and sweet potatoes, poultry and eggs, milk, butter and cheese and numerous other articles. The produot of Indiana farms and sum totals •f value are of surprising magnitude. The report of the Indiana bureau of statistics for 1899 shows that during the year the production of timothy and •lover bay amounted to 3,215,426 tons. If Valued at 110 a ton these crops for 1899 Would represent wealth to the amount •f 83X154330. The production of Irish potatoes reaches 6,441,672 bushels, adding, probably. 8X720,836 to the wealth of the State. There was also produced 135,560 bushels of sweet potatoes, 979 tons of broom com, 791.135 gallons of sorghum ■yrup, 11,891.464 pounds off tobacco, 144,133.666 gallons of milk. 31.905,140 pounds Cf butter. 1.083,403 pounds of cheese 1,211,TO2 dozens of poultry. 39,069.760 dozens of •ggs and 4.631,477 pounds of wool. In addition to these Items there are the truck farms and their products to be considered, es which there ore no statistics available but deserving a place In the sum totals of production of Indiana's farms—all going to demonstrate that the agricultural Interest of Indiana outstrips all othsr enterprises and must always be In the ascendency. “Then what of the farms? Do the nations Inquire T And what's ths response that corns* from ths fields, Where the sun and the rain with farmers conspire To make the earth proud of the storee that ehe yields 7 The voice of the wheat, and the rdoe of the corn. Mellifluous as the songs of the spheres. Have been heard In all time, since the diluvian storm, ■nylng: Seed time and harvest shall come with the years;’ .While God's covenant mows the stormclouds adorn. While the rivers shall roll their floods to the sea. The song of the wheat and the eong of the corn, Rehearsing Jehovah’s eternal decree, •hall hush Into silence the nation’s alarms ■y extolling the blessings of farmers and farms." Manufacture*. During recent years Indiana has mads rapid strides In manufacturing enterprises, and la becoming justly noted as • manufacturing state, but not in the sense that the product of its factories equals the product of Its farms. But It may be said that the farm and the factory mutually aid the state In Its march cf progress and prosperity. To get the factory and the farm In close proximity promotes the welfare of these lntereets and achieves the largest measure of success attainable. Manufacturing Increases population, and. therefore. Increases the deznand for food products which the farms supply. Growth of Enterprises.

In ttU ninety years ago, when ths In-

dlana territory had a population of 24000, Its manufacturing establishments Included, all told. 0 grist mills 14 sawmills, | home mill* and I powder mills There were 18 tanneries and 28 distilleries, 1.25* looms and 1.520 spinning wheels The number of grist mills, or, more properly, flouring mills has Increased, and the horse mill, has disappeared, as also the old-fashioned loom and spinning wheels with which our grandmothers and greatgrandmothers were familiar, end with which they manufactured the cloth that supplied all domestic demanda Those were the days of small things in the history of manufacturing In Indiana, antedating the Introduction of the steam engine and other appliances in manufacturing which have revolutionized industrial affairs and astonished the world. The Increase of manufacturing enterprises in Indians particularly during the past fifty years, if not marvelous is something akin to the extraordinary. Beginning with 1850 we have data showing conditions for forty years, down to 18*0, and. assuming that the increase between USO and 1890 was maintained be-

tween the years 1890 and 1900, the sum total* were as follows:

T “* II i Ii *f Is II I II 15 II 1850 4692 $ 7,750.403 13.748 1 1728,844 1 1X309,700 I * 18.725,423 1860 6.323 18,431,121 20.5C3 6,318,335 27,14 X 507 42,803,469 1870 11,847 6XO6X 426 64.413 18,366.292 63,135.096 108,017,278 I*Bo 11.198 65.74 X 902 62.072 21,960,888 100,202,907 1 46.202.441 1890 112,364 t 79.433 379 124 549 66,749.970 • 150,119.106 286,119.106 1900 13,610 93.693,858 179,690 *1.539,164 160,035,306 804.035.771

In the foregoing exhibit It la shown that In fifty years, from 1850 to 1900, the number of manufacturing establishments increased 8,818. But the increase in the number of establishments does not necessarily Indicate an Increase In product, since the tendency Is to absorb the smaller establishments by those having a larger capital, resulting In a larger production. Tho Increase of capital during the fifty years, as shown by the exhibit, was 385,923,454 The Increase In the number of employes was 166.842; the Increase In the amount of wages paid was *77.810,320; the Increase In the value of raw material was *149,725,805. and the Increase In the product was *285,319,348. Lack of Data. It Is unfortunate that there Is no legal authority In the state by which the capital Invested In manufacturing enterprises can be obtained, and this la equally true of every other Item In our manufacturing industries. As an Illustration, take the article of glass. In 1880 the United States census reports give four establishments, having a capital of *1,442,000, and having a product valued at *790,731. In 1890 the census reports twenty-one establishment* but the compendium to which we have access does not give capital. The product, however, Is given at *2,9%.409. There are now known to be In the state elghty-flve glass manufacturing establishments, that number having been Inspected by the Indiana department of Inspection In 1900, giving employment to 12,532 persons. But there Is no data available showing capital Invested, nor of annual product. If It were admissible to introduce averages based upon data supplied by the United States census reports the eighty-five glass factories now In operation In Indiana would represent capital Invested amounting to *30,642,500, and an annual product amounting to *16,603,075. While It 1* not assumed that such figure* are accurate they nevertheless Indicate, upon a conservative basis, the magnitude of the glass industry of Indiana. A Ferest State. It has been elsewhere stated In this article that Indiana Is or was a forest state abounding In hardwood timber that had to be cut down and burned to make clearing* for farm*. As the years went by and manufacturing Industrie* Increased In number and Importance these hardwood forests increased In value, and have added Indefinitely to the wealth of the state by being transformed Into lumber for manufacturing purposes too numerous to mention. The saw-mills are oeaselessly at work, and there are hundreds of establishments engaged In ths manufacture of articles requiring the hardwood lumber such as the forests of Indiana supply. It Is used In the manufacture of furniture of every description, and has mads Indiana one of the great furniture manufacturing states. It 1* used lri the manufacture of every description of vehicle, agricultural implements and cooperage, giving a product In 1890 of more than *18,000,000, the lumber produced In 1890, the latest available data, being valued at *19,964,293, and fqs- 1900 would probably reach *25,000,000. Hardwood Concerns. Of these hardwood manufacturing e* tabllshments, Including saw and planing mills, but exclusive of furniture, chairs, vehicles and agricultural implements, 851 establishments, employing about 9,000 persona were inspected during the year 1900, but data relating to capital Invested and annual product Is not furnished by the department of Inspection. If this could be secured It would add millions to

ths statistical reports of tbs wealth of the state. And this Is all the more desirable because the raw material which supplies ths factories is chlsfly. If not entirely, the product of Indiana*# forests. There are In Indiana, as shown by the esnaus of 1900, 100 incorporated towns and cities having a population of L 118 ,221, ranging from m, the smallest, to 169,164 tbs largest, and In nearly al'. of the vnaa towns t.iere will be found sots# narawood Industry, If nothing more than the manufacture of baskets. Take for Instance the town of Alford svllle. In Daviess county, having a population of 204. There Is a planing mill and an establishment which produce* hickory ditaenalon stock. the two enterprise* employing sixteen persona. ths significance of the statement being that In all of the smeller towns and cities of the stats a considerable per cent, of the population Is engaged in manufacturing enterprise* As a further illustration of the the fact of increase of industrial enterprises In the small towns, (he town of Gilman, in Madison county, with a population of 200, has a window glass factory and a saw-mill, employing sixty-two persons. Inspection of Factories. The state factory Inspector, the Hon. D. H. McAbee, In his report for 1908, shows that I*o towns and cities were visited. including the largest oenters of population. and 1.637 factories were Inspected. leaving 170 towns to be visited, which, being the least Important In population, are not likely to. add more than 1.000 manufacturing establishments to the number reported in 1900, giving a total of 2,637 establishments. But it is shown by the United State# ceneue of 1890, that there were in the state that year 1X864 manufacturing establishments, employing 124,340 persons, yet the state factory Inspector'# report for 1900, giving 1,667 establishments as Inspected, and employing 130,240 persona shows that in 1900 these factories gave employment to 5,900 more persons than were employed by 12.354 establishments In 1890. It becomes dlfflcult to reconcile such statements; Indeed, they cannot be harmonized. Hence the necessity. If the public would know the extent of the manufacturing enterprises of the state, the capital Invested, the number

of persons employed, the amount paid for wages, the value of raw material and their annual product, that the legislature should confer authority upon some one to obtain the information. Natural Gaa. The discovery of natural gae in Indiana about I*Bs gave n tremendous impetus to manufactures in the state, particularly In that section known as the •’Go* Belt," which includes the counties of Delaware, Madison, Hamilton. Jay, Hancock. Blackford, Howard. Grant and Randolph, having an aggregate area of *.IBB square mile* This natural gas, because of its groat superiority as a fuel, brought to the state several hundred manufacturing enterprises requiring the Investment of many millions of capital, besides adding many thousands to the population of the state. These establishments embrace a wide range of articles, the more Important being glass, tin-plate and Important Iron products. As a result, what la known as.the "Gaa Belt" has become one of the most extensive manufacturing sections of the entire country. Exhibits could be mutliplled showing the vast Increase In the magnitude of Indiana's enterprises, but In the absence of reliable data for 1990 the elements of conjecture make conclusions unsatisfactory. The best that can be done Is to assume that there are now In Indiana 13.510 manufacturing establishments. employing 179,190 persons, paying out annually *81.539,064 for wages, consuming annually raw material valued at *160,035.306 and having a product valued at *304.035,771. The figures submitted relating to Indiana's manufacturing enterprises In 1900, while they are reasonable approximations, manifestly are below the high water mark of the state's manufacturing Industries. That Indiana Is making rapid strides toward grjater eminence as a manufacturing state la admitted on all hands, and even now some of the products of Its factories, such as agricultural Implements, carriages, saws, engines and other articles have entered the foreign trade of the country, are offered In the remotest outposts of the nation’s commerce, and If we are to credit current reports, more capital Is coming to the state seeking Investment In manufacturing enterprises. The outlook Is cheering In the highest degree. Scientific farming Is taking the place of old methods. Manufacturing enterprises are bringing the consumer of food product# close to the producer. The home market Is becoming more and more Important. And In a word the rank of Indiana as a great agricultural and manufacturing state admits of no controversy and Is assured beyond per adventure.