Ceredo advance. [volume] (Ceredo, W. Va.) 1885-1939, 1892-03-16

Have They Zee. eh.-,as Up On Accos
Of the "psstrucsi1- Ensrs'' OF D0s y.

NEW ENGLAND IRON WORKS.
Have They nee. ch.,as Up 90 Account
OF ehs "pestrucsi1e Inject" OF Dos Tar.
One Of the latest bulletins issued by
the census bureau gives the results OF
nm exhaustive investigation into the
status u the New England iron indus
try by DIR William NJ. Sweet. OF phila-
dclphia This report while n does not
present uniformly gratifying array
OF facts. will cffccsnnlly set at res, the
walls OF tho ''rcformers," who hav.
been claiming that tho partial decasi-
sncc of this New England industry IL
duo TO tho destructive influence OF tho
tariff. IL seems that while the number
of establishments has decreased. both
invested capital and value OF products
have increased as the following table
(Which includes blast furnace. iron aud
steel rolling mills bcssemcr. opcn-
hearth and cruciblc steel works. and
forgcs and hloomaries) shows:
iroa aad irssl WORKS fsSp ia,
fe,sI copiiS iasSs'Sd. ,..,..r,sm.% usus. ~
Total wag.a paid -. saNspii ae,, ais
Total cost Of materials i. pAissD pssi tr9
That such an increase Ina invested
capital should be accompanied by de-
crease in the number OF establishments
would bc quite uncSplainablc were II not
fact that this decrease was only appar-
cnt and not real. the discrepancy being
duo To the different modes of collecting
the statistics for the two periods I'm
1880. says DIR. Sweet. "whcro "A rolling
mill was operated In connection with a
steel plant the works were tnbulntcd M
two establishments In 1890. owing TO
the growth OF the manufacture OF steel
and tho consequent impossibility OF
making any accurate division between
the iron and steel Embellishments. works
consisting OF rolling mill and steel
plant have been considered NJ ono .s-
Enlistment" The stntistics relating To
the number Of worlsingncn employed
also require n few words I'm cxplnna.
zion. Tho figures for 1850 include not
| only the labor directly employed at the
Now England furnaces (which should
bc the real basis OF compariaonl, but
nlso the labor engaged In mining and
| other operations conducted In conncc-
ton with these works In tho statistica
lating TO labor engaged I'm ore mining,
charcoal burning and other indus.
tries dependent on the manufnc.
ture of pig iron. but not directly con-
nectcd with IL. have been omitted
The figures for these two periodA, so
far as they relate to- tho number OF
worlingmcn employed. can not, there
fore. be compared. ON the other hand.
when we consider the average wages
paid To the individual. we find crafty.
Ing increase. In 1880 the average wages
were s3ss per year; In 1890 they were
1856 per year, an increase OF % per cent
The cost of the product, too has been
steadily declining. while the quality
has not been lowered. In 1880 the num-
Der OF tons OF pig iron produced by tho
blast furnaces Of New England was
30, 957, valued Mt si.042. 500; In 1890 Il
was "a. 335, valued at $3.50, t3s. In other
words. the price has fallen over 28 per
cent since 1880.
There IL nothing In these statistics
that will give the calamityitc any reason
for rejoicing. While IL is true that
there has been some decline, this has
been not nearly 40 great AS was be-
licved, and II has been due not 60 the
tariff, but 10 peculiar circumstances.
chief OF which was the enormous growth
OF the industry In other and more IA
vorcd parts OF the country. which, says
DIR. Sweet has gradually narrowed
the market OF most OF the New England
Iron milla 10 the limits of local de rnand -