Norwich bulletin., 1912-02-20
NEW ENGLAND AND
ITS MANY INTERESTS.
Manager w. H. SeeIey Of the New
England Lines Industrial Bureau
Heard.


Heard.
Mr. Seelhy in his address said:
The establishing of the New Eng
land Lines industrial bureau was an
other of the progressive methods en-
ployed by Mr.. Mellen for the CO.
operative protection and further devel-
opment of the industrial and agricul-
tural interests of New England. 1t
was not a new departure in the sense
of being an entirely new department
in railroad management, as a number
Of western railroads have established
industrial bureaus.
Unique Industrial Condition.
New England, which contains one-
fifteenth of the entire population of
the United States, is an intensive
proposition. We know that we have
a unique industrial condition; for ex-
ample, no partaof our own country Of
the same area produces as many kinds
! or as large an amount of what is
| termed light manufactured goods" as
are made in New England, viz, surgi-
| cal instruments, clocks, musical in
struments, automobiles rubber goods,
| boots and shoes, textiles, hats, bicy-
| cles, sewing machines, Urea ms, me-
| chanical toys, hardware, brass goods
! of every description, silverware and
many others that | might mention, and
| to which list will soon be added the
| Thermos bottle, the contents of which
keep hot or keep cold at will. All Of
| which requires a great number of
| skilled mechanics One of the great
assets Of New England is it's skilled
labor, without which the immense out
| put of our great manufacturing plants
could not be sustained.
The inventive genius and skill Of the
New England mechanic is born and
bred in the blood and transmitted from
! father to son; it cannot be produced in
one generation. The strong, keen,
New England nature has been in the
past and is at present, a large factor
in the development of our manufactur
ing interests and has created an asset
of great value to our New England in
| dustries.
Water Powers.
believe it is a fact that the state
| of Connecticut leads all the states OF
our union in the number of patents;
and as the life of the patent has eX-
pired all of US are at liberty to manu-
facture the famous nutmeg without the
danger Of a legal encounter or the pay
/ ment of royalty. Another great asset
]
powers.
New England possesses one-ffth OF
the total developed horse power Of the
United States, and we have developed
thus far less than so per cent OF the
available horse power.
OF the rivers Of New England, the
Connecticut contributes the larges
amount Of horse power or 80 per cent
OF the total developed horse power O
New England only recently promi.
nent power company advised me tina
they were prepared to furnish power
at ! IA cents per kilowatt hour, which
is the lowest figure that has come un.
der my observation, and which demon
strates the great present and future
value of our big water powers, anC
which has a large bearing on our in
dustrial situation and will De more o
d factor as time goes on.
No ether part of the western hemi
sphere enjoys as much in the way o
transportation facilities, steam AM
electric combined as New England
We have one mile Of steam railroad
to every eight square miles of terri
tory, and our steam roads provide NOR
than $500 passenger trains each week
day. We are also greatly blessed will
water transportation; in fact, manu-
facturer located in New England cal
reach all parts of the known worl'
! with the rail and water facilities a
his command. To compare the growtl
of our railways, it may be interesting
to note that in 1910 the total mileag
OF railways in New England was 81
miles; whereas in 1909 they totale
1881 miles.
Agriculture Neglected.
There is, however one side of on
New England life which is not in a
healthy d condition as her manufac
turing and which | desire TO touc
upon briefly. and that is the agricul
tural conditions. In going about Ne'
England one does not need to be toll
that she has neglected her agriculture
! it is self evident. The New Engian
mind has, to a great degree, centere
on our great manufacturing interests
with the result that the young me
and women have left their homes 70
the hum and toll Of our great cities
Today there is less than one-half ID
number of sheep in New England ILa
there was in 1900 and yet New Eng
} land is ideal for sheep raising in man
respects and sheep are bringing NOR