Page:The New International Encyclopædia 1st ed. v. 14.djvu/600

NEW YORK. the Pennsylvania, the West Shore, the Erie, the New York, Ontario and Western, the Lackawanna, the Philadelphia and Reading, the Lehigh Valley, the Central Railroad of New Jersey, and the Baltimore and Ohio. The Pennsylvania Company has projected a tunnel from the New Jersey shore under North and East Rivers to Long Island, with a great station in Manhattan. The lines which approach from the north, the New York Central and Hudson River, and the New York, New Haven and Hartford, have a union passenger station, the Grand Central Station, under the control of the New York Central. The Long Island Railroad maintains terminals in Long Island City and Brooklyn. The daily traffic on all these lines to the suburbs is enormous. The port of New York includes all the municipalities on New York Harbor and the Hudson River. In 1901 64 per cent. of the total imports and 35.60 per cent. of the total exports, or 45.73 per cent. of the total foreign trade of the United States, passed through New York, its commerce being five times that of the next largest American port. The imports for that vear were valued at $527,259,906 and the exports at $529,592,978. While the trade is rapidly increasing, there has been in recent years a relative decrease, the port in 1882 having had nearly 57 per cent. of the total trade of the country. New York has practically a monopoly in the trade between the European countries and the Great Lake and Northwest region. On the other hand, its location places it at a disadvantage with the more southern Atlantic Coast ports in the trade with the Lower Mississippi and the Ohio Valley regions. Some of the leading imports of the country, such as rubber and elastic goods, silk goods and furs, are received almost wholly through New York. It also imports the bulk of manufactured goods generally, including manufactures of cotton, linen, and jute goods, jewelry and precious stones, chemicals, coffee, cocoa, and tobacco. It leads in imports of sugar. The relative rank of the city is much lower in respect to the principal exports of the country. It exports less than one-half of the animal products, less than one-fourth of the breadstuffs, corn, wheat, flour, etc., the shipments of the latter class having decreased in recent years, and only about one-tenth of the cotton. It exports a large part of the copper and most of the machinery. In 1901 878 sail and 2945 steam vessels engaged in the foreign trade cleared the port of New York. Their aggregate tonnage was 8,118,427. The volume of the coastwise trade greatly transcends that of the foreign trade. The transfer of freight at the port of New York is done almost wholly through the use of barges, lighters, etc., as there are no railroad tracks along the docks.

The value of the manufactured products of New York is considerably more than 50 per cent. greater than that of any other American city. Manhattan and Bronx alone rank first, Brooklyn alone ranks fourth. Of fifteen industries selected by the census of 1900 for comparison between the great manufacturing centres, New York City held first rank in eight. The total capital invested in manufactures in that year was $921,876,000, and the value of products aggregated $1,371,358,000. The industrial prominence of the city is not due to large iron and steel, textile or meat-packing interests—the industries which have been responsible for the growth of many American cities—but rather to a large group of manufactures peculiar to city life and mainly of local interest. The city's most important industry is the manufacture of clothing. In the census year 1900 the value of women's clothing (factory product) was $102,711,604, and of men's clothing, $103,220,201, besides a great amount of custom work and repairing, and dressmaking. The aggregate output of all industries in but two other cities exceeded the value of the clothing product of New York. The abundance of cheap, unskilled labor, in consequence of the large immigrant population, partially explains the growth of this industry. Much of the work is done in tenement houses and small workshops, and comparatively little in large factories. Sugar and molasses refining ranks second in value of the product, which in 1900 was $88,598,113. In the printing and publishing business, the value of which in 1900 was $78,736,069, New York ranks far above other American cities. Among other industries are the manufacture of foundry and machine-shop products, malt liquors, tobacco, cigars and cigarettes; the roasting and grinding of coffee and spices; the manufacture of millinery and lace goods, men's furnishing goods, fur goods, shirts, furniture, musical instruments, paints, and electrical apparatus and supplies. New York has hardly a rival in the variety of its highly finished manufactured articles. The sugar and molasses refining industry is confined mainly to Brooklyn. There are also in Brooklyn extensive foundries and machine shops, and establishments for the roasting and grinding of coffee and spices.

The first charter of Greater New York went into effect January 1, 1898. But it was found defective in several important respects, and in 1901 the Legislature made radical changes. Under the amended charter, the Mayor is elected for two years. Much power and responsibility is given him, especially in the appointment and removal of administrative officers. The heads of 14 of the 15 administrative departments—law; police; fire; water supply, gas, and electricity; street-cleaning; bridges; parks; docks and ferries; health; public charities; corrections; education; taxes and assessments; and tenement houses—are appointed by the Mayor, as are also certain other officers, including three civil service commissioners. He may remove any of these officers except members of the board of education, aqueduct commissioners, trustees of the College of the City of New York, trustees of Bellevue and allied hospitals, and judicial officers. Legislation is in the hands of a single body, the board of aldermen, consisting of 73 members elected for two years, the president of the board being elected by the whole city. The aldermanic districts generally coincide with the districts into which the city is divided for the election of members of the State Legislature. The Mayor's veto is final when placed upon grants of franchise, but in other matters it may be overridden. Many interests are provided for through local government, the five boroughs being divided into 25 local improvement districts. In each borough a president is elected, in whom important powers are vested. The borough presidents control such matters as the grading and paving of streets, sewers, public baths, etc., and the presidents of Queens and Richmond have control also of