Wood County reporter. [volume] (Grand Rapids [i.e. Wisconsin Rapids], Wis.) 1857-1923, 1892-12-15
PRESIDENT HARRIsoN's MESSAGE

Washington, Dec. 6.-President Har-
rison's fourth annual message WAS de
livered to the houses of congress today.
1t is an unusual state paper i'll some
particulars, and is much commented
upon, particularly among democrats, be
cause of the space devoted To exhibiting
the general prosperity of the country at
; the very time when Il great political re
yulSiOn took place. COndenS d, the mes
sage is as follows: In submitting my
annual message to congress, the mes
sage reads, | have great satisfaction in
being able to say that the general con
ditiOnS 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, be
lieVe, show that so high Il degree of
prosperity and so general u diffusion of
the comforts of life were never before
enjoyed by our people. The total wealth
of the country in 1860 was 49, 159, O6S;
in 1880 it amounted to So 100000,
an increase of 2S7 per cent. The total
mileage Of railways in the United States
in 1860 was 30,626; in 1890 it was 167,-
741, an increase of AS per cent; and it
is estimated that there will be about
1000 miles of track added by the close
of the year 1892.
The official returns of the eleventh
census and those of the tenth census
for seyenty-five leading cities furnish
the basis for the following comparisons:
In 1880 the capital invested in manu-
featuring was 81, 232, 49,, go. In 1890
the capital 50 invested was $2,O00,735
1884, In 1880 the number of employees
was 1901, 1888; in 1890, 2,251, 1874. In
1890 the wages earned We're $501, 965.-
71S; in 1890. S1,221, 170.454. In 1880
the value of the product was $2,711,-
579, 800: in 1890, 81 $50, 2S6, S37.
| am informed by the superintendent
of the census that the omission of GER
tain industries in 1890 which were in
Guided in 1890, accounts in part for
the remarkable increase thus shown.
But, after making full allowances for
differences Of method and deducing
the returns for all industries not in
Guided in the census of 1880, there re-
main in the reports from the seventy
five cities, an increase in the capital
employed. of S1,522, 745,604; in the
value of the product of $2O24, DC, 166;
in wages earned of $677, 943 929, and in
number of wage-earners employed of
S56,029. The wage earnings not only
show an Increased aggregate, but an
increased per capita from 1886 in 1880
to S547 in 1890. fiji per cent.
The new industrial plants establish
ed since Oct 6, 1890, and up to Oct.
%. 1892, as partially reported in the
American Economist, number 345, and
the extension of existing plants, 10S;
and the new capital invested amounts
to $40, 449,O5O, and the number of adj
ditional employees to 37,2S5.
The Textile World for July. 1892,
states that during the first six months
Of the present calendar ID new fac
tories were built, of which forty are
cotton mills, forty-eight knitting mills
twenty-siX wooden mills, fifteen silk
mills, four plush mills, and two linen
mills. Of the forty cotton mills, twenty
one have been built in the southern
states. A. B. Shepperson Of the New
York cotton exchange estimate the num-