The Cecil Whig. [volume] (Elkton, Md.) 1841-current, 1879-05-17

| rect their attention to the invention and con-
Struction Of machines to make machines.
After Goodyear discovered the process by
| which india-rubber could be vulcaniZed, in
ventors We're obliged to construct machines
for its manipulation, and those in turn re-
qIired other inventions and devices Like
seed corn reproducing itself a hundred-told,
like yeast spores reaching out in every direc-
ton, the law of reproduction goes on, eN-
banding and increasing the power of man
to bring into use the forces and materials OF
nature for the welfare of his tellow-men.
The report of the census to most people is
a dreary, bewildering mass of figures, but
To one who studies the progress of the ma
ton there can he no more interesting read
ing. As has already been shown, manufac-
tering prior to 1870 was wholly done in the
household and by individual effort Very
| little capital was invested even in 1880, but
| in the census of 1870 we ascertain that
there were >, Oj:!, 600 persons directly engaged
| in manufacturing, whose annual wages
amounted to S715, 5S4, 900: that the capital
invested aggregated S2l ,Ols, ZOO, 900: that the
annual product had Il value of more than
s., 200, 0O0, 900. In contrast, the wages of
| farm laborcrs, including board, We're only
| $500, 00O, 600, less than onehalf the amount
earned by those engaged in manufacturing.
The development of manufacturing has
been altogether disproportionate to the
growth of population. Between 1850 and
1870 the population increased IL per cent,
while manufacturing increased ;525 per cent,
and Notwithstanding the commercial depres-
sion of the last four years, it is confidently
maintained by those who have made the i'll
dustres a study that there has not been any
material change in the ratio of increase
THE FORCES OF NATURE
The new civilization has its origin in the
employment of the forces and materials of
nature to do the work of human muscles.
Before the beginning of manufacturing,
there We're coal and iron deposits beneath
the -itlleghanies as there had been from the
primeval ages, and the rivers ran to the sea
rs they had ever run: hut the time came
when they were to be put in harness for the
benefit of the human race. In calculating
the power Of these forces of nature James
Watt used the term horSc-pore,, represent
ing the efforts of the strongest horses at
short intervals equivalent to the con-
tinuous raising of 5000 pounds at the
rate of one foot minute. With Il steam
engine this amount of energy is accom-
plished by the evaporation of a cubic foot
= -
600 under a pressure of fifteen pounds TO
the square inch After deducting all losses
from friction, this power is estimated to be
equal to the labor OF six men, and this sin
men power is obtained by burning about
six pounds of coal per hour. With coal at
five dollars per ton, this force of nature
does the work of six men for ten hours at 4
cost of about eighteen cents or of one man
for ten hours at a cost of three cents.
Is the employment of this force detri-
mental or beneficial to manual labor? The
argument that would relcgate machinery
out of existence would likewise put a stop
to the mining of coal, or the employment of
wafer to turn mill-wheels Is it not mani
fest, rather, that if we can set a hitherto
idle forcis~to work for us instead Of using
oar own muscles. we are gamers thereby?
Is it not a using of the ric}H.s Of nature for
our comfort?
The first power loom was set up i'll ISIS;
since when capital has been adding machin-
cry, until III 1875 i'll all industries i'll Mas
sachuSettS, there was in water wheels and
steam engines power equivalent to that of
3iS,74S horses, equal to the labor of l,912,-
900 men, or nearly 800, 600 more than the
entire population of the State. BY the cen
suS of 1870, We learn that the power derived
from the forces of nature i'll the United |
States in manufacturing was equal to the
power of 2,:i3o0o horses. representing the
mu SECULAR force OF more than l4,00O, 900 men!
TO BE CONTINUED.