Page:The New International Encyclopædia 1st ed. v. 15.djvu/619

PENNSYLVANIA. to other countries. Also important is the production of iron and steel pipe and electrical apparatus and supplies, the latter industry having grown up almost entirely since 1890. The same advantages, together with the large railroad interests of Pennsylvania, have led to the most extensive car-construction and general shop works of steam railroad companies of any State. Altoona, Reading, and Philadelphia are the chief centres of this industry.

An entirely different group of industries, less dependent upon the material resources of the State, is the manufacture of textiles, in which the State takes second rank. Philadelphia, the principal seat of the industry, is the largest textile centre in the country. In 1900 the silk product amounted to 29 per cent. of the total for the United States, and the State was exceeded only by New Jersey. In recent years the operations are confined largely to ‘throwing,’ the thrown silk being sent to other States to be woven into cloth. Pennsylvania ranks second in the manufacture of woolen goods and hosiery. Both industries were begun at an early period, the former having been introduced by the English and the latter by the German settlers. A lower rank is held in the manufacture of worsteds and cottons. In 1900 Pennsylvania manufactured 48 per cent. of the total carpet product of the United States. More ingrain carpets are probably made in Philadelphia than in any other city in the world.

The agricultural resources supply materials for the flour and grist milling, slaughtering, and butter-making industries, and the manufacture of liquor and tobacco products. Prior to the Whisky Rebellion in western Pennsylvania large quantities of distilled liquors were made in that part of the State, but more recently the product is mainly malt liquors, in the output of which the State took second rank in 1900. The tobacco products are mainly cigars and cigarettes, the State ranking second also in this industry. The large tanning business, in which Pennsylvania stands first, with 27.3 per cent. of the total product for the United States, is due to the large quantities of hemlock bark attainable from the large forests of this tree. The manufacture of glass is a long established industry. The utilization of natural gas in the western part of the State gave great impetus to its manufacture. In 1900 the product amounted to 38.9 per cent. of the total for the country. The resources of petroleum have given the State first rank in the refining of oil. Pennsylvania has always held an important rank in the printing and publishing business. Other important industries are sugar and molasses refining, and the manufacture of chemicals. The preceding table shows the relative importance of the leading industries. It will be seen that the per cent. of increase for the value of products is more than twice as great as the per cent. of increase for the number of establishments. Among the industries showing the greatest tendency toward centralization are those connected with the production of iron and steel, coke, and leather.

. Pennsylvania has always been one of the leading States in the lumber industry. In 1900 three of the lake States exceeded it in the value of lumber products, but for more than half a century Pennsylvania had taken a higher rank, being first in

1860. The figure in 1900, however, exceeded that of any previous census year. The manufacture of wood pulp is growing in importance, as shown in the table above, but the planing-mill industry scarcely holds its own. The woodland has been reduced (1900) to about 23,000 square miles, or 51 per cent. of the total area, and the merchantable timber has been removed from a large part of the region specified as woodland. The hemlock is the most abundant merchantable species and the one most extensively drawn upon at present. The white pine is next in importance. Hard woods are common in the southeast corner of the State.

. Pennsylvania is exceeded in railroad mileage by only one other State. There was an increase from 2598 miles in 1860 to 8638 miles in 1890 and 10,310 miles in 1900. For the fiscal year ending in 1900 the number of passengers carried was 216,603,748 and the receipts per passenger per mile averaged 1.852 cents. During the same year there were 478,684,683 tons of freight carried, for which the receipts per ton per mile averaged .6 of a cent. A large number of the smaller lines have fallen into the hands of the Pennsylvania Railroad, which operates 2912 miles in the State.

Other important roads are the Philadelphia and Reading; the Lehigh Valley; the Pittsburg, Cincinnati, Chicago and Saint Louis; the Baltimore and Ohio; the Erie; the Philadelphia, Wilmington and Baltimore; the Delaware, Lackawanna and Western; the Western New York and Pennsylvania; and the Pittsburg, Fort Wayne and Chicago. The canal and slack-water navigation facilities are mostly controlled by railroad and coal-mining corporations. The State expended large sums in canal construction, but the rapid extension of the railroad system has caused many such waterways to be abandoned.

Philadelphia and Erie are the ports of entry, and control a considerable amount of foreign commerce. Philadelphia ranks third among the Atlantic Coast ports in the value of its foreign trade. Erie has one of the best harbors on Lake Erie, and carries on a large import trade in Michigan iron and Canadian lumber, and exports large quantities of coal. Pittsburg also, at the eastern head of navigation on the Western rivers, has an immense inland trade, while its local shipyards build large numbers of steamboats for use on the Western streams.

. The Bank of North America, originally chartered by Congress in 1781, was the first bank in Pennsylvania, where it obtained a charter in 1782. In 1793 the Bank of Pennsylvania was incorporated as the official agent of the State, which was heavily interested in it. A few other banks were chartered by individual acts of the Legislature. In 1814 there were six banks, and the State owned stock in the most important ones. In 1814 the State policy toward the banking business underwent a radical change. The Commonwealth was divided into twenty-seven banking districts, each of which was allotted a definite number of banks. Unincorporated banking was prohibited and a comprehensive banking law passed. This could not avert the injurious results of the speculative inflation, and in 1816 many banks had to suspend specie payments. Banking became the object of popular disfavor and was held responsible for the critical times. A law