Belmont chronicle. [volume] (St. Clairsville, Ohio) 1855-1973, 1858-01-14

Total velue OF products in 1857 $40 900 coo
The value of the like products in 1873,
according to the Federal census was So 947 ,e59
Show ing an increase of annual prOduc-
Ill. Commerce and Navigation.
Vessels built in 1856 81
Regisie red and enrolled tonnage in Isss 1854
1919 57,Io0
Increase in seven years 4s,4n
Vessels entered Ohio ports from Canada -,
in 1856 Gle
Vessel. entered same ports from Canada
Tonnage on i:s of Them e. ai4ss
Increase in !? sssfss5 9sss:s. ss:s. II
". Railroads.
Miles of Railroads in operation in 1857 e,s4i
u lies in 1854. according 10 Compendium Of
Census a.357
Increase in three years Al
Number of miles Constructed in 1877 50
n - sssa' $50 Oos Se
Estimated gross receipts 10000 oot
net 100000
According to :he Compendium of the
Census, Ohio had in 1854, more miles of
railroad in oper alton than any other State
in the Union. The same statement is
probably true at this time. Ifso, the rail-
roads OF Ohio form about one-eightL OF all
the raj lrOads in the United States, and
more than one fifteenth of all in the world
V. Export and Consumption
The value of vegetable products exported in 1857 is
estimated at q, ,sGJ.OG0
The value of animal products % SEQ 600
mineral e,IGO 900
products of mahura,urss sOoec.O0O
The iotai products as above shown are e6i 500
Leaving for home consumption 1914 co
These condensed statements exh bit,
clearly, the immense actual resources cf the
State, anl inspire Just confidence in her
future progress.
1t will be seen that manufactures and
mines contribute in increasing roportions
to the aggregate o annual productions.-i
The coal fields of Ohio are nearly equal to
the entire coal fields of Great Britain, and
fully equal to those of all Southern Europe.
This fact. in connection with the immense
beds of iron ore so widely diffused in the
State, demonstrates the vast capacity of
Ohio for mineral production and for manu-
factures. Sill Ohio is emphaticalIy an
agricultural State. The products of her
farms. during the last year, very largely
exceeded in value, the entire cotton crop Of
the Un ted States. An interest so impor-
tant cannot be too earnestly commended to
legislative regard.
The State Board Of Agriculture has per-
formed service OF great value in stimua-
ting and promoting agricultural improve
ment, and its annual reports add largely to
our stores Of agricultural knowledge. But
this Board cannot do all that should be done
or must be done, if we wish TO retain our
present agricultural position. | respect
fully suggest to your consideration, the eX
pediency OF establishing an agricultural In
stiiution for the Instruction of the rising
geucrdtfon IN ti!tsG 5fdHSiirs Or Know IeJse
which pertain ESPECIALLY to ihe theory and
practice of farming. l. is thought by per-
sons qualified to judge, that such an insti-
tuition could be SO organized and admins
tered that it would almost. if net altogether,
sustain itself. No one can 3oubt that any
cost of which it could be the occasion,
would be repaid to the State a thousand
fold in benefits.
While on the side OF industrial ssdevelope-
ment, there is so much to excite gratfica-
tion and inspire hope, there is another class
of facts essential to 4 correct estimate of
our condition, which must not be overlook
ed.
The Commissioner of Statistics has ins.i-
tuted extensive inquiries, with view to as
certain, as accUr ately as possible. the debts
due from the State, from corporations, and
from individuals 1t is obvious that. except
as to debts of record, it was impossible 10
obtain precise results; but it is believed that
the following statement is at least an approx
malion to tn truth:
Debts of the State, Foreign and Domes
uc sI6,4O2, ,O95
Cor3orate debts of Towns. Counties,
and Municipalities are about 1880 CoC
Debts of iiailToad Companies 5G,0oo.0C0
in Judgment lOCGO ,Cu0
ges so, Geo, coo
10 Banks and Bankers 25oO0OOO
OF Merchants due ou' side the
stale 1900, 900
Otllc- Individual debts 4O,00O,000
Aggregate debts Of all descriptions 2i,4o2.G95
Debt is not always an evil. Loans wisely
invested by the borrower in agencies of
production, such as lands, mines and i'm
piemeuts, or of movement, such as canals,
railroads or steamboats,, often afford essen
tial aid in the 2evelopement of resources.
and even create the means of their own
| liquidation. A few of these debts are OF
| 81, ,bar nd in tho
same debt appears more than once in diff
erent forms. Far the greater part, for in
stance, of the individual debts, are due to
retail merchants, who, in turn, owe the
same morey to banks and wholesale dealers.
| But with every allowance for these consld-
erations, this mass of Indebtedness remains
subject of by no means agreeable contem-
plation. For its reduction or extinction we
must rely on augmented production .and in
creased economy. That these may be safe
" relied upon no one can doubt who under
stands the character of our people, and re-
fleets upon the fact that this Indebtedness,
large as it is, hardly amounts TO one-titth OF
|, the aggregate property in the State, and ex-
ceeds, pnly by third, the aggregate pro-
. ducts of single year.
have already adverted to the financial
!revulsion, which has, during the last six
months, so seriously affected the varied in
terests of our community.
Twice before during tie present century.
have similar revulsions occurred; and both
we're accompanied by the same train OF ca.
. lamities and disasters. The interval from
one of these revUlsions to another, has
Y twice been marked by space Of twenty
: wears. The causes of each, though very
: different in form, may be reduced to the
!, same general expression, namely: the reck-
, less contracting of debts beyond means OF
. payment. The spirit of speculation, eager
S desires for great and sudden gains; the
;, spirit of ostentation and luxury, seek graft,
fication through DEBT. AS there is no limit
D to these passions of the heart, 50 there Is