The Washington times., 1902-02-10

| tne proportion OF the American demand
which is supplied by our manufacturers
No other group of manufacturing indus
| tries is today so important to the gen
eral business of the United States and to
its position in the worlds competition as
| the production of iron and steel and OF
| articles Of which they are the chic com
| ponents. The manufacture of cotton goods
| was one of the first to be strongly estab-
| iished in the United States. The growth
| of this industry has been steady.
! Progress in Industrial Methods.
| Substantial industrial progress practi-
| The great Industrial movements Of the
world may be considered as characteristic
| of the century just ended.
The introduction of new inventions ca
pable of giving the worker a multiplied
productiveness, high efficiency, skill and
accuracy. together with the growth OF
the system, now general, of large scale
production, and the contemporaneous
evolution of extensive and economical
systems OF distribution. resulted often in
the temporary displacement of individ-
uals and of groups of individuals and in
serious embarrassment and suffering, but
the final outcome has been an increase
in the number employed, the multiplied
tion of the productive power of the com
munity, and enormous reduction in the
cost of manufacture and of distribution
and hence in the market price of every
staple
The tremendous increase in the produc-
tion of the country in agricultural and
mineral products. and especially in manu-
features, has been accompanied by still
more marked increase in the amount of
internal traffic. The increase in the vol
ume of goods moved from one place to
another has been even more rapid than
that in the amount of goods produced.
This development has had powerful ef-
feet upon the conditions of the producer,
and of the middleman who handles the
goods on their way to the consumer.
Internal Trade and Commerce..
The enormous increase in the export
trade of the United States and in the
balance of trade in favor of this coun-
try shows an increase of upward OF 20
per cent. 1t is important to notice that !
this increase in export trade, especially I
during the past decade. has been most
marked in regard to manufacture-highly Z
elaborated products.
Consideration of Education.
Commercial and Industrial education
need to be considered in their two as
poets; their relation to education in the /
broader sense-the development OF the
individual-and their relation to particu-
lar commercial or industrial pursuits. In
the latter direction such training may
prove OF service to business men and en-
ployers, and to the general public as well
as TO the workers and employees directly
receiving instruction.
The tendency to consolidate competing
in various Industries has
been SO pronounced in recent years al to
create much apprehension OF monopoly.
One of the most noticeable effects of the
legislation against the so-called trusts
has been to drive the corporations wish
ing TO combine from the old forms which
often contained the seeds OF disinte gra-
tion into the new form of a single large
corporation. The economic advantages of
combination and the apparent success
OF most of the new companies. have led /
many of the ablest men and economists
to the conclusion that the combinations
have become an established factor in the
lite of the nation.
Reeomme ndations of Commission.
Early in the yea 1900 this Commission
submitted to the Congress preliminary !
report of findings and recommendations
on the subject of industrial combinations
Said rsncrt N.as IN part as follows:
To prevent the organizers of corpora
tions or industrial combinations from de-
ceiving investors and the public either
through suppression of material facts