Little Falls weekly transcript., 1895-07-05
'A STUD |, Y in METALS.
DUR GOLD AND SILVER MINES AND
s5,5 OUR MANUFACTURES.

DUR GOLD AND SILVER MINES AND
OUR MANUFACTURES.
4 An Industrial Comparison Suggested By
the Currency ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS Of
Z Manufactures to Capital and Labor.
Wsges In the Mines.
N According to the 1890 census report
/; the total output Of the gold mines was
\ 159O, 500 ounces, Of coinage value OF
B 5$32, 1886, 744. The total output OF the
silver mines reached 51,354, ,S5l ounces,
4 Of a coinage value Of $66, 1896, 9S9,
though the value of all tho1;lver at the
mines mouth to the mine owners would
practically be about the same worth as
the value of the gold that was mined.
Combining the coinage value Of the gold
and silver output i'll that year, it was
slightly less than 500, 900, 900, as COM
pared with the output of our manufac-
lures, worth more than $6,25O, 900, 900.
as shown below:
GOLD AND SILVER PRODUCT.
Ounces. Coin value
Gold. 1,59O,8G0 $32, $3.50, 744
Silver .....,...............5l .5l354.85l 6G5sH,9ee
Total coinage value ............. 800, 2sss, 1872
Value Of manufactures SO, ,278 38, 40
According to the census report the
value of the gold and silver plants was
Il65, 960,566, to which must be added
the values Of the mills and reduction
plants, worth $40, 1862, 772, making the
total mining plant value to be $780,
1913, 33S. On the side Of the manufactur-
ing industries we have hired property
worth 1888, 173, ,OOS and direct cash in
vestment aggregating $1,000, 7O5, 1874.
Thus, while the total gold and silver
mining plant value Of the United States
was worth $486, 1873, 33S, tho total value
of the investments in manufactures was
ten times as much, or nearly $5, ,OOO,-
100000.
Where the gold and silver mines gave
employment to 57,307 people tho fac
tories found work for so times as many,
or 2,907,8 1882 hands. Where the amount
of wages distributed to those who worked
in connection with the gold and silver
mines reached $43, $50, 696 a year it was
nearly 40 times. as much in the case of
the factories, which in the same year
paid out over 81, 500, 900, 900 in wages.
With 80 times as many factories as there
were gold and silver mines; with ten
times as much capital invested in fac
tories as in the mines, it is still sur
prising to learn that the total value Of
the products of the factories was almost
70 times as great as the entire value of
the product Of our gold and silver mines,
the latter reaching less than 800, ,000,-
600, while the product value Of the fac-
tories exceeded Sc, $50, 100000. In the
item Of miscellaneous expenses, too,
where the mines disbursed $40, ,270, ,44O,
the factories disbursed nearly % times
as much, or $454, S44, $50. It must fur
ther be remembered that the factories
paid out $3,363, ~, ,O34 for raw mate
rial purchased for their own use, where
as the gold and silver mines supply their
own raw material, from which alone
they can derive their product. j.
As far as the average earnings OF the
employees are concerned, the gold and
silver mine workers have by far the best
of it, receiving nearly 5000 year more
than the average earnings of each man
in the factories, $3.50 year more than
the coal miners and nearly $500 year
more than the workers in the granite
mines This gives an idea Of the rela-
tive values of the products per man.
The product of our gold and silver
mines was worth, at it's coinage value,
81. per capita of our population. In
the same year the products Of our fac
tories were worth over $100 per capita
of our population. For each $1.5S per
capita of wealth added to the country
through the gold and silver mines there
were $1O0, more than 60 times as much,
added through the products Of our manu-
featuring Industries. It should be re-
membered, however, that every dollar
of the precious metals produced is an
enduring addition to the worlds wealth.
They aid the industries of the east and
agriculture everywhere. The products
of factories, on the other hand, are not
generally Of lasting value, being con-
sumed from month to month and from
year to year.