The Abbeville press and banner. [volume] (Abbeville, S.C.) 1869-1924, 1892-12-21
THE MESSAGE.
President Harrison on the State
Of the Nation,
The WORK OF FOUR YEARS.
Parting Discussion Of Important
Public Questions.

I uUllC QuosGlouos
Pensions, Elections and the Treas
nry-New Mail Subsidies Urged
Also Continued Work on the New
Navy-Chiet Accomplishments of
the Departments.
To the Senate and House of Representatives:
In submitting my annual message to Con-
gress have great satisfaction in being able
to say that the general conditions affecting
the commercial and industrial interests Of
the United States are In the highest degree
favorable. A comparison Of the existing
conditions with those of the most favored
period In the history Of the country will.
believe. show that so high degree Of pros
perity and so general diffusion Of the COM
forts of life were never before enjoyed By
our people. .~ W,
The total wealth of the country 10 1860
was SIG, 159 Gle, ,06S. In 1890 7 amounted to
$62, ,8l0, 600 600, an increase oI2S7 per cent.
Toe total mileage Of railways in the
United States in 1850 was 1926; in 1890 it
was l67, T4l, an increase Of 44S per cent |;
and it is estimated that there will be about
1000 miles Of track added by the close Of the
year 1892.
- CENSUS FIGURES.
The official returns OF the Eleventh Gen.
sus and those Of the Tenth Census for l5
leading cities furnish the basis for the fol-.
lowing comparisons:
In 1880 the capital invested in manufac-
turing was s., 2S2. s39.670.
In 1890 the capital invested in manufac-
turing was 81, 600 I35, ,SS4.
In 1880 the number Of employees was
lSOl, 1888.
In 1890 the number of employees was
225l, 134.
rs.
In 1890 the wages earned were l,eal, 17o.-
4S. ~
In 1880 the value Of the product was ST.
1879 800.
In 1890 the value Of the product was S.
s6p, ,2S6SS7.
am informed by the Superintendent of
the Census that the omission OF certain in
dustries in 1880, which were included in
1890, accounts in part for the remarkable
increase thus shown. But after making
full allowance for differences, OF method and
deductng the returns for an interests not
included in the Census of 1880. there remain
in the reports from these seventy-five cities
an increase in the capital employed OF
s. 81, 745. 604; in the value Of the product
of -, t24 238, 1856; in wages earned OF S677,-
e43 929 and in the number Of wage-earners
employed Of S56, ,029. The wage-earnings
not only show an increased aggregate, but
an increase per capita from 1886 in 1850 to
$547 in 1899 or ALI psr cent.
The new industrial plants established since
October 8, 1890, and up to October %, 1892,
as partially reported in the American Econo-
II - oE
isting plants, 108; the new capital invested
smo1nts to $40, 449, $50, and the number of
additional employees to 81, 2S5.
The Textile World, for July, 1892, states
that during the first six months OF the pres
emit calendar year 1876 new factories were
built, Of which 40 are cotton mills, 4S knit
ting mills, 26 wooden mills, Is silk mills.
4 plush mills and linen mills. OF the 40
cotton mills 81 have been built in the South
ern States. Mr.. A. B. Shepperson, OF the New
York Cotton Exchange, estimates the mum.
ber of working spindles in the United
States on September l, 1892, at 15,2O0, OOO
an iucrease Of $50. 900 over the year 1891.
The consumption Of cotton by American
mills in 1891 WAS Z, 2,393, 900 bales and in 1892
8 54, 600 bales, an increase OF 1SS, 600 bales
From the year 1859 to 1892, inclusive,
there has been an increase in the consump-
ton Of cotton in Europe Of SO per cent,
while during the same period the increased
consumption in the United States has been
about $50 per cent.
The report of Ira Aver, special agent OF
the Treasury Department, shows that at the
date of September so, 1892, there were
thirty.two companies manufacturing tin
and terne plate in the United States and
fourteen companies building new works for
such manufacture The estimated invest
ment in buildings and plants at the close OF
the fcal year, June 80. 1893. il existing con-
ditious were to be continued, was IS, 00O. 600,
and the estimated rate Of production 200.
OO0, 900 pounds per annum. The actual pro.
duction for the quarter ending September
30, 1892 was 1852, 725 pounds.
The report Of Labor Commissioner Pecs,
Of New York. shows that during the year
1891, in about six thousand manufacturing
establishments in that State embraced
within the special inquiry made by him, and
representing 81 different industries, there
was net increase over the year 1899 OF
81, ,3l5 $780, So in the value Of the product,
and of s6, 81, ,925. .09 in the amount Of wages
paid. The report Of the commissioner OF
labor for the State Of Massachusetts, shows
that 3745 industries in Chat State paid
S129, ,4l6,24 in wages during the year 1891,
against $l26, o., 3JS in 1890, an increase OF
s., 335, ,9$5, and that there was an increase
~,
Z346 in the number OF persons employed In
the same perioi.
During the last six months Of the year
1891 and the first six months OF 1892 the TO-
tai production Of pig iron was 9, 7l0, ,Sl9 tons,
as against 9, ,202, 703 tons in the year 1881,
which was the largest annual production
ever attained. For the same twelve months
Of 1S9l'92 the production OF Besssmer ingots
was 3,S7S, 5Sl TONS an increase OF 1S9, Il0
gross tons over the preyious Hns US unprecedentsa
1890. Tho productian Of Bessemer steel
rails for the first six months o. 1892 was
772, ,436 gross tons, as against 702 0D gross
tons during the last six months OF tae year
1891.
EXPORTS AND IMPORTS.
The total value OF our foreign trade lex
ports and imports of merchandiSe) during
the last fiscal year was 81, 1851, $50 $40 an ia-
crease of sl2s, 2ss, 6a over the previous fs-
cal year.
The value Of our exports during the fiscal
year 1892 reached the highest figure in the
history Of the Government, amounting to
$l,O3G275, 148, exceeding by Sl4I, 197, 33S the
exports OF 1891 and exceeding the value Of
the imports by soc. .S75, 6S6.
coAsrwIsE AND INTERNAL TRADE.
In our coastwise trade most encoura.-
INK development Is IN progress, toere navHiS
been in the last four years an increase OF 10
Der cent. In internal commerce the statistics
show that no such period o. prosperity has
ever bstors existed. The freight carried in
the coastwise trade the Great Lakes in
1880 aggregate 2s, $50 tons: On the
Mississippi Missouri ami Ohio Rivers ami
tributaries in the same year the traffic az
grezated 70, ,4o5, ,o46 tons, and the total YES.
sei tonnage passing through the Detroit
River during that year was q, 6A 600 tons
The vessel tonnage entered ami cleared i'll
the foreign trade of Lon lou during 1s9
amounted to IS, 4S0, 16T tons and OF Liver