Vermont phÅ“nix. [volume] (Brattleboro, Vt.) 1834-1955, 1873-03-28
THE STORT OF TE.v' I'B.sRS'
PROGR ESS.

A comparison of the census statistics for
1860 and 1870 suffices to settle the question
whether there has been substantial prog
ress in the material interests of the coun-
try during the last decade. Let it be re-
membered that this ten years includes the
period of the bloody civil war, during
which the business of all sections of the
country was to certain extent paralyzed,
and minor interests were sacrificed TO the
all-engrossing struggle. In the South es-
pecially it was true that the producing for
ces were withdrawn from their regular
spheres ofaction, and the various branch
es of labor left absolutely without laborers.
An entire nation engaged in civil strife
several million men taken from the farms
and shops and factories to the battlefield
these certainly are not conditions under
which we should expect to see any advance
ment in material prosperity. If the close
of the decade witnessed no actual lessen
ing in the product of industry, we should
have reason to be grateful. What shall we
say, then, when the statistics of manufac-
lures in all the States of the Union are
found to show that the last decade has been
period of marked progress, and that the
aggregate product for 1870 was much more
than double that for 1860?
This n has not been even-paced of
course, is Iegards the several States; some
have advanced but slowly, while others
have increased many fold. Taking the
country by sections, the West, and especial
ly the Northwest, has made the largest
gain, proportionally; the North and East
have gained heavily, and the South less
than the other sections. Yet it is fact
worth noting that there is no Southern
State, not even excepting those which, like
Virginia, suffered most severely from the
devastating effects of the war--which has
not advanced during the decade. Georgia
has doubled her products, and several 9TH
ers have made large gains. Such results,
in view of the extremely disadvantageous
circumstances under which they have been
achieved, are full of hope and promise for
the new decade, and warrant the belief that
the census of 1850 will find the manufac-
turing interests of the South in condition
of prosperity which the boldest prophet
would not have ventured to predict twenty
years ago.
The three leading States, New York,
Pennsylvania and Massachusetts, still
hold their rank in the order named but
the rapid advance which Pennsylvania has
made since 1860 makes it plain that her
struggle with New York for the pre-emi-
nence will be, during the present decade,
close and well contested. OF the States
which have made the most rapid progress
should be mentioned Minnesota, which
has come up from 1000, 900 in 1860 to $685.
$1,000 in 1s7O Illinois, from s57, 100000 TO
$2o5, 100000; Missouri, from Sal, 100000 to
s206, 100000.
We have made up from the census sta
tistics published, from advance sheets in
the New York Journal of Commerce, the
following tables, which show the position
of the several New England States in 1860
and 1870, and render easy any comparison
between them. The different columns rep
resent the number of laborers employed,
the amount of capital invested, and the
product; the two latter statements being
given in dollars: