Custer weekly chronicle. [volume] (Custer City, S.D.) 1890-1931, 1892-12-17
HARR|S0N'S LAST
The Presidents Message Very
Comprehensive.
Every Department of the Govern
ment Reviewed.
Blessings of the Nation Enume-
rated at Great Length.
This Country Is Happy and Prosperous,
Wages Are High, Living Is Cheap,
and II You Dent Believe It
Co to Europe.

WASHINGTON, Dec. 6.-Presidcnt Harri
sons message reads as follows:
To the Senate and House of Representa-
tives; In submitting my annual message
TO congress- have great satisfaction il
being able to say that the general condi
tions affecting the commercial and indus
trial interests of the United States are il
the highest degree favorable. 4 compar
ison Of the existing conditions with those
of the most favored period i'm the historic
the country will, / believe, show that sucl
a degree of prosperity and SO general
diffusion of the comforts o fife were never
before enjoyed by our people. Tho tOta
wealth of the country in 1860 was SIC, 1853,
6l6,0is. In 1890 it amounted to So, $40, 1000,
900, an increase of PSI per cent. The TO
tai mileage OF railways in the United
States ia 1880 was 30,626: in 1890 it wa,
l67, al, 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 ot
the eleventh ensus and of the tenth cen
sus for scventy-five leading cities fur
nished the basis for the following compar
isons:
Interesting Comparisons,
In 1850, the capital invested in manufac,
turing was 81 ,232, $500. In 1880 the CAPT.
tai invested in manufacturing was g. 40.
735, SS4. In 1880 the number OF employees
wasl 1871 ,3SS. in 1890 the number ofcmployes
was 2,27l. l34. In 1850 the wages earned
were SOL 800, rs. In 1890 the wages earned
were 81 ,22l, l10.45i. In 1881 the value OF
the product was -, III SO 800. In 1890 the
value Of the products was 1860 S6, s37. |
am informed by the superintendent of the
census that the omission of certain indus
tries in 1850 which were included in 1890,
accounts in part for the remarkable in
crease thus shown. But after making
full allowances for differences OF method
and deducting the returns for all indus
tries not included in the census of 1850
there remain In the reports from these
S~evcnty-tivc cities IN increase in the
capital employed OF 4 ,523 1ij,GGi al the
value of the product of 81. 024. 236. 1876. in
wage earned of S677 ,9i3. go and in the
number of wage earncrs employed of S53,-
029. The wage earnings not only show an
increased aggregate, but an increased per
CAPITA from 1856 in 1850 TO S547 in 1890, or
IL. II per cent, The new Industrial plants
established inceO October q, 1890, and up
10 October %, 1892, as partially reported
in the American Economist, number 345
and the extension of existing plants, Jos.
The new capital invested amounts TO $40
44g,050 and the number of additional en-
ployes to 81 ,275. The Textile World for
July, 1892, states that during the first six
months of the present calendar year 135
new factories were built, of which forty
are cotton mills, forty-eight knitting mills,
.wenty-six WOODEN mills. fifteen silk mills,
forty plush mills and two linen mills. OF
the forty cotton mills, tw~enty-one have
been built in the southern states. 4. b.
Stephenson. OF the New York Cotton
exchange, estimates the lumber of work
ing spindlcs in the United States on Sep
tember /, 1872, at lS5, 100000, an increase of
$50, 90 over the year 1891. The consumption
of cotton by American mills in 1891 was
2,396, 000 bales and in 1892, 2,5S4, 600 bales,
an increase of lSS,C00 bales. From the
ycar 1869 To 1892, inclusive, there has been
an increase in the consumption of cotton
in Europe of 81 per cent, while during the
same period the increase of consumption
n r% zee cent rt"'' fhheS rebor}f Of I nsr GIye cps" sIpcciai
agent of the treasury department, shows
at date. September 30, 1892, there were
thirty-two companies manufacturing tin
and tin plate in the United States and
fourteen companies building new works
for such manufacture. The amount in
vested in buildings and plants at the close
of the fiscal year June 30, 1892, If estimated
conditions were 10 be continued, is 5000
600 and the estimated rate of production
200, 900, 900 puonds per annum. The actual
production for the quarter ending Septem-
Der 30, 1892, was l0,925,2 75 pounds. The re-
port of Labor Commissioner Peck, of New
York, Show that during the year 1891
in about 5000 manufacturing estab-
lishments in that state en-
braced within the special inquiry
made by him and representing sixty-seven
different industries there was n net in
crease over the year 1890 of s3l ,3l5, 1906
in the value Of the product and of S6,3n,-
g25. 90 in the amount OF wages paid. The
report of the commission of labor for the
state of Massachusetts show that 375 in
obstetrics in that state paid sl20,4l6,24S in
wages during the year 1891 against Sl26,-
030. 303 in 1890, an increase OF $3.50, $40 and
that there was an increase OF SJ,93 400 in
the amount of capital and of 7.345 in the
number of persons employed in the same
period. During the last six months of
the year 1891 and the first six months of
1892, the total production of pig iron was
$3.50 $40 tons as against 5000, FOB tons in
the year 1890, which was the largest
annual production ever obtained. For
the same IL months OF 1883 ~ the produc-
tion of bcsscmer ingots was 3,S1o, 5Sl tons,
an increase of 1891 40 gross tons
over the previously unprecedented yearly
| production of 3,6Ss,S7l gross tons in 1899.
The production of besscmer steel rails for
the first six months of 1892 was IL, 436
gross tons as against 7C2,0S0 gross tons
during the last six months OF the year OF
1891. The total value of our foreign trade
(exports and manufacturer during the
last fiscal year was 81 ,S57 ,6S),6l0. an in
crease of Sl26, 263,60i over the previous tis-
cal year. The average annual value OF
of our imports and exports OF merchan-
disc for the ten fiscal years prior to 1891
was 81 ,557 ,322,019. 1t will be observed that
our foreign trade for 1892 exceeded this
annual average value by ioO,o3o,3Jl an
increase Of 27.F per cent. The signih-
canoe and value of this increase are
shown by the fact that the excess in the
trade Of 1892 over 1891 was wholly in the
value OF exports, for there was a decrease
in the value of imports ofsl7, 5l3, 254. Tho
value of exports du~ing the fiscal year
1892 reached the highest figure in the
history of the government amounting to
81, 030, 273, l48, exceeding by Sl4, 797 1888 the
exports of 1891, and exceeding the value
of the imports ty 2,GcS75s.Se a corira-
ison Of the value of our exports for 1885,
with the annua average for the ten years
prior to 1891 shows an excess OF $265, l42,
GIL, or of "a. Is per cent. The value OF oui
imports of merchandise for 1892, wlricl
was 1923, 402 ,462, also exceeded the annua'
average value Of the ten years prior Il
1891 by Sl35, els, $40. During the fisca,
year 1892 the value of imports free of duty
amounted to s457 500, sos, the largest ag
gregate in the history Of our commerce
The value of imports Of merchandise en-
tered free of duty in 1899 was SIS. IS pei
cent of the total value of imports, as com
pared with 43. rs per cent in 1891 and 33. q
per cent In 1880.
In our coastwise trade q most encourag
Ing development Is In progress, there hay
ing been in the last four years an increas,
of l6 per cent, In internal commerce the
statistics show that no such period o.
prosperity has ever before existed.
Wages High and Work Abundant.
There never has been q time in our his
tory when work vas so abundant or wher
wages were as high, whether measured
by the currency in which they are paid OIL
by their power to supply the necessariel
and comforts of life. 1t Is true that tn.
market prices Of cotton and wheat hav,
been low. II Is one of the ~unfavorable in
cidents of agriculture that the farmer
cannot produce upon order. He must SOW
and reap in ignorance of the aggregate
production of the year, and Is psculiarl,
subject to the depreciation which follow
overproductiCn, But while the fact
have stated Is trne rs to the crops ! have
mentioned, the general average Of price.
has been such as to give to agriculture q
far participation In the general pros
perity.
II any are disconnected with theil
state here; IL any believe that wages
or prices, the retIrns for homes
toll, are inadequate they should not fail Il
remember that there Is no other country
in the world where the conditions tina
seem to be hard would not be accepted 81
highly prosperous. The English ssgricul
turisf would b. glad to exchange the re
turns Of his labor Tor those Of the Amer