Page:The New International Encyclopædia 1st ed. v. 19.djvu/780

UNITED STATES. minimum transportation cost. The densely populated Atlantic Coast region from Baltimore to Maine enables manufactures located in that section to reach a large market with a minimum transportation cost.

Another important natural condition affecting localization of industries is water power. This was formerly more important than at present, and is more prominent in determining the exact spot than the general section. Often, however, the natural advantages mentioned are of secondary importance, or decline in relative importance after an industry is well established. In such cases the momentum which an industry has received by its early start is often sufficient to carry it on. After long-continued success at a given point a certain precedence may become attached to the name of the place and a fostering local atmosphere is developed. In many industries technical training is of greater importance than accessibility to raw materials. Abundance of capital and labor are other prominent advantages. The North Atlantic States have benefited greatly from each of the three advantages just mentioned. Agriculture in this section long since ceased to absorb the available local capital, or afford an occupation for the surplus labor. For the growth and extent of manufactures, see , and the separate articles on the various manufacturing industries, such as ; ; ; etc. Also see the paragraph on Manufactures under the various States, and see.

. The group of industries called textile in 1900 ranked first in the number of wage-earners employed, second in the amount of capital invested, and third in the value of products. If allowance be made for duplications, the value of products given in the table of the 15 groups of industries would be reduced to $1,095,127,934—the net value of products ready for direct consumption. The following table shows the growth of the combined textile industry since 1850 and its importance in 1900:

The inflation of the currency for 1870 makes the money figures for that year too large, and the increase in the following decade seems too small. It will be seen that, omitting flax, hemp, and jute, the capital invested has multiplied more than 8 times in 50 years and that the value of products has increased almost seven-fold. The much less relative increase of wage-earners (336.1 per cent.) indicates the growing importance of machinery in the manufacture of textiles.

The cotton-manufacturing industry has developed in recent years with great rapidity, and

has placed the United States first with respect to the number of bales of cotton consumed. According to one estimate the average number of bales consumed for the five years ending with 1870 was 875,000 for the United States, 1,842,000 for the Continent of Europe, and 2,639,000 for Great Britain. The consumption for the year 1900 was respectively 4,599,000, 5,720,000, and 4,079,000 bales. However, when it is considered that the greater part of the spinning in the United States is of coarse or medium yarns, whereas the average spinning on the other side of the Atlantic is much finer, and the estimate is based upon the number of spindles or persons employed, it will be found that Great Britain is far in the lead. In 1900 the United States had 19,008,000 spindles, the Continent of Europe 33,000,000, and Great Britain 46,000,000. The data for the comparison of woolen manufacture in the different countries is less satisfactory. An estimate of wool consumption for 1894 accredited North America with 458,000,000 pounds, the Continent of Europe 1,247,000,000 pounds, and Great Britain 507,000,000 pounds. The United States exceeds but slightly, if at all, any of the three leading Continental woolen manufacturing countries—France, Germany, and Austria. The recent rapid development of silk manufacturing has placed the United States second in rank, and of the total product of the United States and Europe the former produced in 1900 23.3 per cent. The manufacture of flax, hemp, and jute in the United States is comparatively small.

The greater part of the manufactures of wool consumed in the United States is of domestic production, the imports of woolen goods ranging in value from one-twenty-fifth to one-sixth of the value of the domestic production. The bulk of the wool used in manufacture is domestic, but the imports of raw wool also fluctuate enormously. The percentages of imports to the supply for the years 1890-1900 inclusive were respectively 46.3, 58.0, 20.9, 22.2, and 29.4. The total amount imported during that period was about two and one-half times the amount imported from 1881 to 1885 inclusive. Wool manufactures may be grouped under the general heads of woolen goods, worsteds, carpets (other than rag), felt goods, and wool hats. Until very recently the first of these groups had comprehended the greater part of the industry. There has been, however, a decline in the value of the products of woolen goods from $160,606,721 in 1880 to $118,430,158 in 1900. In the latter year there were 68,893 wage-earners employed in 1035 establishments. The decline in the