THE PRESENT RESOURCES OF MASSACHUSETTS.

By H. K. M.

MASSACHUSETTS is a busy state. The old time factory bell has not entirely given way to the steam whistle, nor the simple village spire to the more pretentious ecclesiastical tower of to-day, yet the energizing force of material prosperity has quickened the blood in nearly every hamlet, modernized the old, or built up a new, so that throughout the state there is a substantial freshness indicative of progressive thrift.

The Tenth Census of the United States classifies the entire working population of the state in four divisions of labor as follows:-Agriculture, 64,973; Professional and Personal services, 170, 160; Trade and Transportation, 115,376; Mechanical, 370,265; with a total population of 1,941,465.* The aggregate steam and water power in 1880 was 309,759 horse power; the motive power of 14.352 manufacturing establishments having an invested capital of $303,806,185; paying $128,315,362 in wages to 370,265 persons who produced a product value of $631,135,284. These results, in proportion to area and population, place Massachusetts first in the Union as a manufacturing state. In mechanical science a complete cotton mill has been considered the cap stone of human ingenuity. In 1790 Mr. Samuel Slater established in Pawtucket, R. I., the first successful cotton mill in the United States, but the sawgin, a Massachusetts invention of Mr. Eli Whitney in 1793, laid the foundation of the cotton industry throughout the world.

There are 956 cotton mills in the United States with an invested capital of $208.280.346, with a wage account of $42,040,510. The relative importance of the four leading states in the manufacture of cotton goods is shown as follows:

:

21,104,200
19,993.584

18,226,573

As in cotton, so also in the manufacture of woolen goods has Massachusetts maintained from the first the leading position. In 1794 in Byfield parish, Newbury, Mass., the first woolen mill went into successful operation. In 1804 a good quality of gray mixed broadcloth was made at Pittsfield, Mass., and it is said that in 1808 President Madison's inaugural suit of black broadcloth was made there. The five leading states in the production of woolen goods are thus classified :

In its kindred industry, dyeing and finishing textiles, Massachusetts is a con-
trolling force; as seen in the classification of the three leading states in this
department of labor :-

Nearly one half of the entire American production of felt goods comes
from her, as indicated in the classification of the four leading states :—

Massachusetts is also an all-important factor in the total production of
American carpets. The 59 mills in the United States made in 1880 a wholesale
product valued at $31,792,802. Massachusetts made the most Brussels, 1,884,723
yards; Pennsylvania came next with 919,476 yards. She came next to New York
in yards of Tapestry, and next to Connecticut in Wiltons, a good second in these
important grades. The three leading carpet states are thus classified :-

In the manufacture of Boots and Shoes Massachusetts stands conspicuously
at the front; her position in this great industry is clearly seen in the three states
controlling this special product :-

One evidence that Massachusetts is not sitting down all the time is the fact
that she stands up to manufacture so many chairs. From a small beginning of
wood and flag seated chairs, Mr. James M. Comee in 1805, with his foot lathe, in
one room of his dwelling in Gardner, Mass., laid the foundation of this important
industry, which has given the town of Gardner, where over 1,000,000 of chairs
are annually made, a world wide reputation.

The relative positions of the five leading chair states :

State.
Mass.

-

Value of Product.

$3,290,837
1,404,138

437,010

No. of Factories.

Capital Invested.

62

$1.948,600

Wages Paid.
$1,028,087

821,702

37

Ind.

395,850

232,005

632,746

In the currying of leather Massachusetts is a notable leader :

No. Establishments. State.

Capital Invested.

$4,308,169

Wages Paid.
$1,939, 122

-

1,720,356

2,570,969

366,426

334,950

762,697

281,412

141,096

Value of Product.

$23,282,775

6,192,002

7,852,177

8,727,128

4,496,729

2,391,380

Her position in the manufacturing of worsted goods is also an all important

Again we find her at the head of another very important industry, the manu-

facture of paper.

The five leading states in production are given their relative positions.

In 1880 Massachusetts manufactured 27,638 tons of printing paper, 24,746
tons of writing paper, 10,255 tons of wrapping paper, 945 tons of wall paper,
3,706,010 pounds of colored paper, 255,000 pounds of bank note paper, 878.000
pounds of tissue paper, and 27,607,706 pounds of all other kinds of paper.

She manufactures more shovels than any other state, about 120,000 dozen
annually. Rhode Island comes next with about one-half the quantity, and Ohio
stands third, her product being about 7,000 dozen annually.

It also falls to her lot to manufacture more Hay and Straw cutters, about
6,000 annually. In the manufacture of hard soap Massachusetts falls a little
behind some of her sister states, but she comes smilingly to the front with her
16,000,000 pounds of soft soap, about one half of the total production. New
York brings her annual offering of about 5,000 pounds.

The 4,000 boats she annually builds constitute nearly one half of the number
built in the United States.

There are 131,426 persons in the United States engaged in the fisheries.
The prominent share of Massachusetts in this industry is seen in the classifi-
cation of the five leading states.

She has invested: -Over $1,000,000 in the manufacture of Baskets and
Rattan goods; over $1,600,000 in the manufacture of Brick and Tile; over

$2,000,000 in the manufacture of Wagons and Carriages; over $5,000,000 in the manufacture of Men's Clothing; over $1,500,000 in the manufacture of Cordage and Twine; over $2,000,000 in the manufacture of Cutlery; over $3,000,000 in the manufacture of Fire Arms; over $16,000,000 in the Foundries and Machine Shops; over $2,000,000 in the manufacture of Furniture; over $2,000,000 in the manufacture of Iron Nails and Spikes; over $6,000,000 in the manufacture of Iron and Steel; over $1,500,000 in the manufacture of Jewelry; over $3,000,000 in the manufacture of Liquors, Malt; over $3,000,000 in Slaughtering and Packing; over $2,000,000 in Straw goods; over $2,000,000 in Sugar and Molasses, refined; over $2,000,000 in the manufacture of Watches; over $,2000,000 in the manufacture of Wire, and over $11,000,000 in unclassified industries.

The limitations of this article will only allow brief reference to a few of the leading industries of Massachusetts. The facts presented give her a commanding position in the sisterhood of manufacturing States, while the condition of her operatives, their moral and intellectual character, has no parallel in any other manufacturing district in the world.

On her well known but dangerous coast special provisions are made to aid the mariner; so likewise upon her more dangerous coast of sin we find 2,397 ministerial light houses whose concentrated spiritual lens-power upon an area of 8,040 square miles, make the rocks of total depravity loom up far above the white capped waves of theological doubt. The lower law being less important than the higher, it takes but 1,984 lawyers to successfully mystify the juries of the Commonwealth. Of physicians and surgeons there are 2,845. It requires the constant services of 2,463 persons to entertain us with music, and just one less, 2,462 barbers, who are in daily tonsorial conflict with our hair, either rebuking it where it does grow, or teasing it to come forth where heretofore the dome has been hairless.

Of the 4,000,000 farms of 536,081,835 acres in the United States, 38,406 farms of 3,359,097 acres valued at $146,197,415 yeilding an annual income of $24,160,881 lie within the borders of the state. Her 150,435 cows produce 29,662,953 gallons of milk, which is the foundation of her annual product of 9,655,587 pounds of butter, and 829,528 pounds of cheese. She would be unjust to her traditional sense of justice were she to send her beans out into the world single handed, with true paternal solicitude she provides them with the charmed. society of 80,123 swine, thus hand in hand Massachusetts' pork and beans stride up and down the earth, supremely content in the joyous ecstasy of their Puritan conceit. While Massachusetts has well known agricultural tendencies, and her Agricultural college is one of the most important factors in her system of practical instruction, it cannot be claimed that she is a controlling element in the agricultural interests of the country. Of all her influences for good, perhaps her educational interests would command the greater prominence. She has ever regarded the instruction of her youth as one of her most sacred trusts, and in all the details of her public school system she ranks second to no state in the Union. In the various departments of technical instruction, she has a national reputation. Her colleges and universities so richly endowed secure the highest

attainable advantages. These privileges supplemented by the free public libraries of the state, place possibilities within the reach of every young man or young woman, the value of which cannot be approximated by human estimate.

Six of the leading states are thus classified :

The following institutions for higher education have about $5,000,000 invested in grounds and buildings, about $9,000,000 in endowments, yielding an annual income of about $1.000,000, having about 4,000 students and about 400,000 volumes in libraries, Universities and Colleges.