Page images
PDF
EPUB

worked into and become a part of the finished product, such as pig iron, steel, etc., in the metal trades, raw cotton, raw silk, etc., in these textile trades, and leather in the manufacture of shoes, trunks, bags, etc. The figures relating to stock or material used for 1909 are placed in comparison with those of 1908 in the following table, the same rule being observed of comparing directly only the totals of the twenty-five selected industries, the aggregate totals of both years, for "other industries" and for "all industries," are compared separately.

[blocks in formation]

The above table shows more strikingly than any other of the series in the entire compilation, the great improvement that has taken place in the manufacturing industry, as compared with the conditions which prevailed in 1908, when twenty-one of the twenty-five selected industries, showed expenditures for ma

terial far below the figures of the previous years. The shrinkage was exactly II per cent., while for 1909, as compared with the disastrous year 1908, the increase for all industries is 22.2 per

cent.

As shown by this table, the value of stock or material used by the twenty-five selected industries in 1908, was $231,382,424; in 1909, the value is $277,121,363, an increase of $45,738,939, or 19.8 per cent; the value of the same reported by "other industries" is, for 1908, $180,337,440, and for 1909, $225,849,869; the increase is therefore $45,512,429, or 25.2 per cent. The total expenditure for material reported by "all industries" for 1908, was $411,719,864, and for 1909, $502,971,232; an increase, as pointed out above, of $91,251,368, or 22.2 per cent. Only two of the twenty-five industries-"brewery products," and "glasswindow and bottle," show a falling off in the value of material used; all the others made large increases, the absolute amounts and percentages of which are in a number of instances suggestive of a resumption of business after an almost complete suspension of the same. Without exception the industries showing the greatest increases in 1909, are those that reported the largest decreases in expenditures for material in 1908; in other words the industries that lost most by the financial depression, have gained most by the reaction.

The consumption of material by the "woolen and worsted goods" industry, embracing twenty-five establishments, shows an increase of $7,370,946 in the value of material used in 1909, as compared with 1908; other notable increases are: "Leathertanning and finishing," 77 establishments, $6,152,305; "silk,— broad and ribbon," 182 establishments, $5,429,576; “oil refining," 17 establishments, $5,342,322; “electrical appliances," 34 establishments, $3,270,659, and "rubber products-soft and hard," 48 establishments, $3,196,929. The industry showing the largest proportionate increase in expenditures for stock or material used in manufacture, is "oil refining," with an average of $314,254 per establishment, the manufacture of woolen and worsted goods being a close second, with an average of $294,838.

The selling value of "goods made or work done," is also given on Table No. 3 for each industry separately, and collectively for all industries. In the following table selling values of products are shown for each of the "twenty-five selected industries," for "other industries," and for "all industries," the data for 1909 being placed in comparison with those of 1908, and the increases and decreases shown numerically and by percentages.

[blocks in formation]

Only one of the industries named in the table, "Glass-window and bottle" shows a falling off in the value of product in 1909 as compared with the next preceding year; the deficiency is accounted for by the fact that one medium sized plant engaged in the industry succumbed to the financial depression and went out of business in the early part of 1909, while in two others, work was, for financial reasons, suspended for the greater part of the year. All others show increases of astonishing magnitude, the largest "brick and terra cotta," being 71.9 per cent. The numerical increases are also very great; "silk goods-broad and ribbon" shows a gain for the year of $10,936,183; "woolen and worsted goods," $10,704,212; "leather-tanned and finished,” $9,211,393; "oil refining," $6,521,337; and "rubber goodshard and soft," $6,121,714.

The oil refining industry leads all others in total value of pro

duct—which, as shown in the 1909 column of the foregoing comparison table, was $70,131,795. Next in the order of importance comes silk goods, $53,763,579; woolen and worsted goods, $30,200,409; machinery, $30,817,937; rubber goods— hard and soft, $30,616,077; and drawn wire and wire cloth, $30,236,929. From the standpoint of selling value of goods produced these industries are the most important in the State, their relative rank for the present at least, is indicated by the order in which they are named above.

The story of rapid recovery from temporary disaster, the fundamental soundness of our industries, and the wonderful recuperative powers imparted to them by modern forms of business organization, is told in the totals of this comparison table more clearly than it could be if pages of textual dissertation were devoted to the subject. In the statistical presentation of 1908, the counterpart of this table showed gains in product compared with 1907, by only three of the twenty-five selected industries, and these were so trifling in amounts as to be incapable of reduction to a practical percentage basis. The decrease in value of products of all industries in 1908, was $103,333,093, or 13.4 per cent. as compared with 1907; while as shown by the table under consideration, the increase in 1909 over 1908 for all industries, reaches the enormous total of $154,365,590, or almost exactly 23 per cent. The ground lost during 1908, has been regained, with in addition thereto a margin large enough to keep up the normal average annual increase in the value of products for both years.

Table No. 4 gives the greatest, least and average number of persons employed in the entire 2,291 establishments considered, these employees being classified as men, 16 years and over; women, 16 years and over; and young persons of either sex below the age of 16 years, who were employed in each particular industry, and the totals of these for all industries combined. As the minimum age at which children may be employed in factory or workshop occupations is fourteen years, it is assumed that none of these young people are below that age. The amount of idleness or unemployment experienced by each industry and by all industries is indicated by the difference between the least and the greatest number employed at any time during the year. To illustrate just what is meant by the term unemployment, it may be supposed that a certain industry when most active employs five hundred persons, and at other times during the same year work could be found for only three hundred; there would then be two hundred wage workers, or 40 per cent. of the total number dependent upon that industry who suffered more or less the con

sequences of unemployment, or rather, irregular employment during the year. The unemployment shown by each industry and by all industries, is given numerically and by percentages.

[ocr errors]

The greatest number of persons employed in "all industries' during the year is, as shown by the table, 304,067; the least number, 252,836; and the average number, 279,351. The excess of greatest over least number employed is 51,231, or 16.8 per cent. of the greatest number, whose employment for one or another reason did not extend over the entire year. Chief among them are the workers in what may properly be designated as season trades, such as "brick and terra cotta," in which operations are very much curtailed-if not entirely suspended during the winter months; and the manufacture of "glass-window and bottle," in which operations are, by a custom of the trade, entirely suspended during the months of July and August. There are other seasonal industries, but these two, employing about fourteen thousand men, are the largest. Outside of the occupations just referred to, at least 50 per cent. of the unemployment is chargeable to the lingering consequences of the financial depression, which, being more or less active during the first quarter of the year, delayed a return to normal conditions of activity in hundreds of establishments. The recovery, however, was rapid and general thereafter, as shown by the following comparison of the number of persons employed in 1908 and 1909.

[blocks in formation]

Of the aggregate average number of persons employed in "all industries" (279,351), 202,715, or 72.6 per cent. are men—16 years old and over; 70,590, or 25.2 per cent. are women 16 years old and over; and 6,047, or 2.2 per cent. are children of either sex who are less than 16 years old.

The proportion which each of the three classes of labor employed bears to the total number, and also the proportion of unemployment or temporary idleness is given by percentages for 1909 in comparison with 1908, in the following table:

« EelmineJätka »