The Plymouth tribune. (Plymouth, Ind.) 1901-1911, 1902-05-15

tured Products Reach Every Quarter
of the Globe.
A quarter of a century ago Indiana
was noted for it's agricultural prod
ucts. The state has not lost its pre-
eminence in this particular. There
has been no decadence of farm inter
ests-the past four or five years have
been a period of steadily rising land
values, and from the standpoint oil
prosperity the Indiana farmer today
occupies an enviable position. Indiana
is not in the abandoned farm belt. \
quarter of century ago the argument
that the people of Indiana had no spe-
cial interest in legislation for the fos-
tering of manufacturing interests
seemed plausible. The statement that
protection was a device for the up
building of Eastern manufacturing
centers at the expense of agricultural
sections carried some weight. But
changed conditions-condition chang
ton, render such a position untenable.
Indiana has become a great manu-
featuring state. In the words of the
late Governor Mount: THE factory
and the farm are in Indiana side by
side. From the field one can hear the
whir of the machinery in the shop and
MILL" The local advantages of such
a condition, in the creation of near
at-hand market for all that the farmer
produces are apparent. The output of
the Indiana farm need not be shipped
a thousand miles to find a consumer.
1t is short haul from the farmyard to
the millyard. Near the borders of the
state are a half-dozen great cities,
which have shared literally in the
marvellous industrial growth beginning
with the adoption of the policy of pro-
lection by this government more than
a third of a century ago, and finding
its elimination at this hour in the
greatest good times" era this or any
other country has ever known.
The Growth of Decade.
The ten years ending with 1900 will
not go down to history as an era of
uninterrupted industrial progress. Out
of this must be taken full four-year
period in which the industries of In
diana and of every other state came
either to full stop or moved back
ward From an industrial standpoint
10 I'll he
was but six years long. Yet the sum
total of progress is marvellous. The
figures are eloquent beyond the power
of human speech-and they are elo-
quent in no cause of reaction or retro
gression From 1890 to 1900 the pop
ulation of Indiana increased 14.S per
cent. The number of manufacturing
establishments within the borders of
the state grew from 1884 to 1905,
or ass per cent; the average number
of wage-earners from 110,590 to 1885,
$50. or Al per cent; the amount of
wages paid from s42.577,25S to $685.
S47,317; the cost of materials used
from $3.50, .1O6 to s214. ,61O, or
652 per cent; the value of products
from s226.s25,OS2 to 1878. 12O.14O. or
66.7 per cent; the value of land and
buildings invested in manufactures,
from s31. $40 46 to $5S.O46, 1873. or S3.S
per cent. The great prosperity of the
state in 1900 as compared with the
four-year term which should be sub
tracted from the decade as period of
t. -Ix Be- h. 60 To-.
1900 the greatest number Of wage
earners employed at any time during
the year was 216.925. or $4,000 more
than the average number for the full
dec ade. During the so years ending
with 1900, the population of Indiana
increased from 9SS.4t6 to 2.516.462, or
1916 per cent, while the average num-
Der of wage-earners increased from
14,4i0 to 1886, or $50 per cent.
More significant still, the average an
nuaI wage paid to an Indiana operative
increased from 1855 in the decade end
ing with 1860 to nearly $500 in the
decade ending with 1900. Subtract
ing the four-year period of decreased
wages. the average for the decade
would be increased considerably 1t
is safe to say that the average annual
wage at this time is in the neighbor.
borhood of $500. The Indiana work
ingnIan is more than twice as good
a customer as he was 40 years ago. It
is not surprising that the Indiana far
mer is realizing better prices for cv-
erything he has to sell than during
any former period in the history of the
state. 1871
An Achievements Of Protection. y
Il is of course true that the more
recent Industrial development of In
diana is in no small part due to the
discovery and utilization OF natural re-
sources. But these resources, IL dis
covered while this country was indus.
trially dependent, would have been
comparatively useless. The manufac-
ture of glass and metal are distinc-
lively creations of the protective pol
icy. Until the favoring tariff laws
were enacted, not a square foot of
plate glass, not pound of tin-plate,
not yard of hosiery or knit goods
was made in Indiana. 1t has not been
. decade ago since leader of the free
trade propaganda declared. almost
within the shadow of the rising walls
Of the tin-plare mills at Elwood that
the economical manufacture of tin
plato In the United States was . de-
lusion. Yet these mills, dedicated ny
William Mckinley himself, and placed
In operation as The result Of the law
to which he gave his name, are now
| the largest of their kind in the world.