9. Commerce and Industry
Commerce and Industry Commerce and industry is a topic worth considering, and stands next in importance after the system of Government and the condition of women in the United
States. The importance which the United States has acquired today derives chie®y from its commerce and industries. Let us consider the various factors which encourage them, before we describe their characteristics.
The public-spiritedness of almost all things here is the chief means of the prosperity of these people. The streets, the means of transportation—that is to say, carriages and streetcars—the method of conducting the sale of goods in shops, colleges, newspapers, libraries, places for obtaining information: all such essential matters are rendered very simple and useful to all, as has already been mentioned.
Public Works Undertaken by Government From a consideration of the system of Government in the United States it becomes immediately apparent that this system has been intended for the convenience of the people. It is true that the smooth running of the administration ensures peace, and brings happiness to the people. But administration alone does not complete the Government's duties. The United States Government recognizes that it is also a part of its duties to undertake public works which augment the comfort and convenience of all; and it has therefore taken up such works. I shall brie®y recount the most important of these.
Department of Agriculture:1 Approximately ten thousand people work in this department, most of them without remuneration. The department has its headquarters in Washington. The duties of its voluntary workers are to provide information about the state of the farms in their local area and in its vicinity; the cost of exporting produce to other places and other countries; the value of the produce which remains unsold on farms and in orchards, and the value of the same produce when exported to cities; details of goods used in their local areas, where they are imported from, etc. The of¤ce of the Department of Agriculture publishes this information in the form of monthly bulletins, and distributes them to traders' associations, newspapers, etc., in important places. This provides great help to commerce, and especially to farmers. (The farmers in this country are not illiterate like our farmers in India. They can read and write, and
are able to understand how to improve their farms, and what means are essential for doing so, by reading books, newspapers, and bulletins.) This information enables traders and farmers to know the value of the goods which are to be sold, the prices of goods which are to be bought, the labor charges in different places, etc., so that they can conduct their transactions smoothly.
The United States Department of Agriculture distributes many different kinds of seeds throughout the country. These seeds are then sown in different places, and very detailed information is collected and published, as to the type of soil which is best suited to produce a particular type of crop, the characteristics of different types of soil, etc. Similarly, specialists in biology, agriculture, and chemistry are employed to conduct research on the breeding, sustenance, and extinction of pests and birds which destroy crops in different areas. This information is published and distributed to all the local farmers' associations.
Land has been allotted in the city of Washington, for the use of this department; it is utilized for testing whether the seeds and bulbs of the grains, fruits, and tubers which grow in other parts of the country and in other climates can also be grown here. After ascertaining the parts of the country which are most suitable for growing them, they are planted there. In this manner many fruits,
®owers, roots, and grains are grown here, and contribute to the prosperity of the United States. Take the example of the Bahia orange, which was planted in southern California some years ago. It is now regarded as an excellent fruit of this region. Trade in oranges brings great wealth to the fruit growers there. It was from this department that people learned that sugarcane, tea, and other foreign plants can be grown in this country. Now these plantations bring great pro¤t to the whole country.
The of¤cials of this department do not rest content with importing seeds from abroad and planting them in this country. They also conduct detailed research on the characteristics of each kind of food grain, its nutritive value, the diseases it is prone to, and the means of combating them; the different types of trees in this country, their wood and the uses to which it can be put, etc. This information is also published. Similarly, the department informs the people throughout the country about the characteristics of useful animals, such as cattle, horses, sheep, and pigs, about their different breeds and the results of crossbreeding, about their diseases and cures, etc. Thus this department confers great bene¤ts on the nation.
Weather Bureau: The United States Government has established the Weather Bureau, like the Department of Agriculture, to help all the people, and also the country's trade. In this vast country, which is 3,000 miles wide and 2,000 miles broad, there are a hundred and ¤fty stations of the Signal Service; and its headquarters are situated in Washington. Twice a day it receives information from 216 The Peoples of the United States
these hundred and ¤fty stations about the weather and other atmospheric changes.
The United States Government has employed experts in astronomy and meteorology for obtaining meteorological information. They note down all climatic changes at the hundred and ¤fty stations, and send practical information about them to places throughout the country. This information is sent by telegraph.
Arrangements have been made to convey this information appropriately to the of¤ces of the thousands of associations of traders and farmers in cities, towns, and villages; to railroad stations, and to docks in all harbors. This informs the traders, railroad engineers, passengers, ships' crews, farmers, grocers, retailers, etc., about the expected changes in the weather, and how these changes are likely to affect their own work.
Such signal stations reporting on the daily weather have been established at the chief ports on the seashore and riverbanks. They send information about weather ®uctuations to Washington. The chief naval of¤cers of the United States then turn this information into a practical form and transmit it to all ports.
Similarly, lifesaving stations have been established at all the different spots on seashores, shores of large lakes, and riverbanks, where ships are likely to be wrecked and to cause a loss of life. Small lifesaving boats and all means of assisting shipwrecked people are kept there; also employed there at high salaries are brave and experienced men who are not afraid to jump into the sea even during a storm, to rescue drowning people.
Other Departments: 2 Another very useful department, like the lifesaving department, which has saved hundreds of thousands of people caught in storms, is being run at Government expense, and is doing excellent work. It is called the Lighthouse Board. Until 1880, the United States Government built 900 lighthouses on dangerous rocks in the sea, and erected 1,000 beacon lights on riverbanks; all of them are ¤nanced by the Government treasury. Lightships are anchored at reefs in the sea, where ships are in danger of being wrecked. All these lightships are lit up at night, and whenever it gets dark because of fog. Their lights can be seen from afar; ship's captains realize that the light indicates a dangerous rock, and steer clear of it. This saves thousands of ships from being wrecked, and hundreds of thousands of people from drowning. A meteorological survey is conducted every day, and information about possible storms conveyed to every port and harbor. If a particular dock is likely to be hit by a storm and endanger incoming ships, storm signals are raised to warn captains to keep out of the harbor or port. The duty of disseminating information about weather conditions related to the sea, rivers, and lakes is entrusted to the chief of the United Stated Navy. The task of building lighthouses along rivers, improving river traf¤c, improving seaports and wharfs in lakes and rivers, etc., is entrusted to the United States Army and Navy. The United States Government does not Commerce and Industry 217
support the soldiers and of¤cers of its small standing army for doing nothing.
They have to earn their keep. The army and navy have very few occasions to ¤ght and take life; therefore they are employed mostly on public works and to save life. This is very praiseworthy for the republic of the United States.
The Coast Survey established by the United States Government to survey the seacoast and banks of rivers and lakes is also very important for trade. The of- ¤cials of this department and their assistants survey the features of seacoasts, gulfs, bays, creeks, lakes, rivers, ports, etc.; and provide detailed information about the places suitable for commerce—grading them as superior, medium, and inferior—and those which are unsuitable; about the measures necessary for making a port more suitable for trade, etc. The of¤cials of this department invented the method for determining longitude; they solved the problem of tides in the Gulf of Mexico, and the reason why the tide comes in only once in twentyfour hours. They discovered ways of rescuing ships from the dangers of undertow and eddies, and of utilizing the latter in aid of navigation; and thus provided considerable assistance to seaborne trade.
The Federal Government has a Patent Of¤ce and museum in Washington, which exhibits specimens and models of all the new discoveries and inventions made, and all the crafts and tools manufactured, since this nation came into being. Patents have been, and are still being, granted to their inventors from this of¤ce. In granting these patents for a moderate charge the Government pays attention not to ¤lling its own coffers, but to protecting the rights of the manufacturers, and encouraging arts and crafts. The Patent Of¤ce is a place very well worth seeing. A visit paid to it and a look at all these creations is bound to make one feel great admiration for the arts, crafts, and inventions of the people of the United States. Since gaining independence, this nation has spent about ¤fty years in establishing order, and in recovering from the losses incurred during the war. The inventiveness of these people did not develop much during those years, but grew very rapidly from 1836 to 1880. During these forty-four years, more than
300,000 patents were granted for new ideas, inventions, machines, etc. Forty years ago this of¤ce granted not more than 500–600 patents every year; now it grants 24,000 to 25,000 patents per year.
Reports ¤lled with diverse discoveries and many kinds of information are printed at Government expense, and given free of charge to anybody who asks for them, and also to every prestigious society, library, and of¤ce in the country.
The annual salaries of the workers in the Government press in Washington alone amount to $1,380,000. In this press, 400 typesetters, 50 proofreaders, and 150 printers work round the clock for twelve months in a year. One hundred thousand reams of paper are used for printing here, and at least 750,000,000 pages' worth of matter is printed each year. The report of the Department of Agriculture is printed here, and more than 300,000 copies are distributed free every year.
218 The Peoples of the United States
Similarly, there are many other departments, such as the Geological Survey, Bureau of Ethnology, Commission of Fish and Fisheries, and the National Museum. This is merely a glimpse of the public works of the United States Government. Their names and brief information alone would run into several books; it is therefore best not to attempt it.
It is beyond doubt that the system of Government in this country, and the public works of the Government, are the means by which the people of the United States have become pre-eminent in commerce and industry. But the chief reason for their pre-eminence is quite different. Industriousness, self-reliance, self-rule, and collective effort, which are the excellent root causes of all kinds of prosperity and progress, are visible everywhere among the people. These qualities alone are the chief reason for the importance of these people.
Transportation and Communications3 When this nation became independent, and the history of its free citizens' rule began, the United States was a country almost entirely covered by forest. What little human settlement existed was situated along the Atlantic coast, and lacked good communications. There were no proper roads to travel from one town or State to another.
The old belief in our country, that travel is the cause of all unhappiness, and that he who does not need to travel is a happy man, arose mainly from the inconveniences of travel. When streams and rivers are in ®ood, and there are no bridges, one is compelled to remain on the bank for eight to ten days, drenched in the rain, frozen by the cold, and rotting in the mud. Carriages on roads suffer the same fate. A carriage might get mired in the mud, or dashed against a rock, or stuck in a desert. In addition, there is the fear of wild beasts, thieves, and forest
¤res. But enduring such discomforts and putting up with harassment from the carriage driver and porter are not the end of one's dif¤culties. Whichever town one then enters is bound to have an excise collector stationed at the gate when one enters and exits! One then has to undo each bundle which has been tied up, tie up each one that has been untied; have each rag, little box, and tiny bundle searched; have baggage detained and see goods lost, and so on. The poor traveler ends up feeling that it is better to encounter the messenger of Death than the excise of¤cial! Where such dif¤culties abound, it is not surprising that the people think that a person who does not travel is happy indeed.
But the people here have removed all these obstacles with the help of their extraordinary industriousness. The obstacles did not destroy their enthusiasm, but increased it a hundredfold. By 1830 they built roads of a total length of 115,000 miles, in order to facilitate the movement of people and goods throughout the areas under settlement, and also dug canals a total of 2,000 miles in Commerce and Industry 219
length.4 Although a number of industries existed at the time, all the facilities were not available everywhere as they are now. The condition of the municipalities was useless. Even after an of¤cial sent a notice, house tax was not paid until a man was sent to collect it. The task of removing the dirt in the town and cleaning the streets was entrusted largely to pigs. It was not customary to light the streets. Arrangements for drinking water were the same as they are in the towns in our country—with the exception of cities like Bombay, Calcutta, Madras, and Poona. People managed with water from wells and lakes, and rain water stored in tanks at home. The reason for these poor arrangements was not a lack of industriousness, but the kind of obstacles which are quite unknown in countries like our own, which are settled all over. Land had to be farmed, towns to be settled, communities to be set up, forest to be felled, roads to be built, river and land routes to be discovered, and machines to be invented in order to overcome the shortage of people to do all this work. Because of all these inevitable obstacles, the task of achieving the country's progress was very slow.
Machines and Labor5 After 1830, some of these obstacles came to be removed, and the work of progress started with great rapidity. Now all the obstacles have been removed, and the commerce and industry of the American people have assumed gigantic proportions. Machines have now begun to do the work of men and of beasts of burden, such as elephants, horses, oxen, and camels. Just as machines are used for extinguishing ¤res, pumping water into all the city pipes, printing newspapers, manufacturing cloth, etc., so are many of them used in ordinary houses.
These people have risen to fame for producing machines which can do a great deal of work in a short time, and with the help of only a few people. It has become customary for them to do most things by machine. Clothes are sewn by machine; shoes are made and books bound by machine; nails and pins, pots and pans, tools and surgical instruments are all made by machine; lamps are lit by machine; cloth, socks, and vests are woven and knitted by machine. Machines are used for tasks like grinding ®our, sowing ¤elds, harvesting crops, binding sheaves of grass and grain; for pounding rice, wheat, and other food grains; for removing the husk from the grain, and separating ¤ne and rough ®our and bran after grinding wheat; for slicing wood and cutting it into planks, etc. It is dif¤cult to predict how far these people would carry their practice of doing work by machine. The tasks which everyone considered impossible to accomplish except by human hands are now done by machines, as everyone can see. What is more, machines have even been installed in large stores to convey to the cashier the money which is paid for goods sold. Steam machines can be used for incubating eggs and hatching them. Hens are "farmed" by these means at many places. A 220 The Peoples of the United States
diligent man has calculated that the mechanical power used in manufactures in the United States is equal to 3,410,837 horsepower; of this, 64 percent is derived from steam and 36 percent from water.6 These two chief sources of power are the life force of the machines in the United States, and serve millions of people.
Earth, Water, Fire, Wind, and Sky, which are known as the ¤ve primordial elements in the ancient books of our country, are completely at the service of these American people, as one can see. Although there are so many machines here, human labor has not lost but gained in value. A very common type of laborer here earns at least 50 to 75 cents per day. If a person ¤nds himself unable to earn a living by one trade, he is not forbidden to try another. There is no distinction of caste or class in this country, as mentioned above. There is no rule that a priest's son should become a priest, a carpenter's son a carpenter, or a blacksmith's son a blacksmith. Everyone is therefore free to take up any occupation he likes. As a result, a person takes up only an occupation which he is ¤tted for. This reduces the probability of the wrong man doing the wrong job. Before becoming General of the United States Army, President Grant worked as a tanner. He later became a famous general and President of this country. President
Gar¤eld was earlier a schoolteacher. President Lincoln was a farmer's son, and performed all jobs from the very lowly job of a woodcutter to the highest job of President. It is not the case here that absolutely everybody aspires to become a teacher, clerk, lawyer, or Government servant. In our country, the sons of artisans like goldsmiths, carpenters, and blacksmiths, as well as the sons of Brahmins start demanding salaried positions as soon as they have obtained a little education; and feel that the work of making pots and pans, making shoes, lathing wood, etc., is meant only for inferior people. Here the case is exactly the opposite. Here, men and women who have earned high degrees from eminent colleges do not hesitate to do any work that needs to be done. It is a man's industry and labor which are respected here, and not a salaried position which necessitates servility, as is the case with us. The street sweeper and drain cleaner here receive more respect than do the degree-holding Raosahibs, Raobahadurs, Rajasahibs, Nawabsahibs, and similar personages in our country.7 I have heard that in England also an ordinary tradesman or laborer is treated with great disrespect, and that the King or Queen declines to meet such persons.8 In India, of course, the castes which engage in the crafts and in commerce are considered inferior. Can prosperity be expected where the people whose industry contributes to the wealth and progress of a country are treated with such disrespect?
Growth of Cities and Communication Routes9 All the towns which have a number of machines and factories are attracting more and more people. Even so, it is not as if all the people stay in the same
Commerce and Industry 221
place and cause overcrowding. If a person is not able to manage in one place, he is free to go to any one of a hundred other places. This is a large country with many industries. This vast country is still not settled to any great extent, so that there is no dif¤culty in settling in a new place. These are the reasons why people are not compelled to stay together in the same city and reduce it to poverty, or starve to death themselves. A man who is capable of doing some sort of work will not starve anywhere in the United States. A person who is lazy and neglects work, or harbors false pride and will do only a speci¤c kind of work, might starve to death—in which case, no one feels sorry for him.
Flourishing commerce and an increase in employment has led to an astonishing extent of growth of the population, land prices, and the number of houses, stores, and factories in large cities. Let me give a couple of examples of the growth of cities. In 1880 there were ¤fty large cities in the United States, which were famous for commerce and other important things; ¤fteen of these cities had not even come into existence in 1830. Only plots of land had been demarcated for them, but ground had not even been broken. Now the cities are ®ourishing to such an extent that the smallest of them has no fewer than 40,000 inhabitants. The city of Chicago, which now has a population of more than 700,000, was a thing of the future in 1833. There was some plan about building a city on that site; that is all. In 1834, a number of people settled there. It is said that the amount of money which would have been required then to buy the entire area occupied by the city today, would now buy a front of six feet on one of its large streets. Such is the increase in land prices there. Such also is the power of increasing population and ®ourishing commerce. The extent of the city's prosperous commerce can be estimated from the ¤gures given below. The three largest items of trade in Chicago are lumber, food grains, and animals. Its annual sales include
2,000,000,000 feet of lumber; 900,000,000 feet of shingles; 1,600,000,000 bushels of food grain; 5,000,000 pigs; 2,000,000 cattle; and 1,000,000 sheep. In addition, its iron and steel factories are very important and pro¤table. There are a few iron and steel factories in Chicago and within thirty miles of the city, which produce steel bars for railroad tracks. Five hundred thousand tons of steel bars are manufactured there every year. They would suf¤ce to encircle the whole earth once with railroad tracks.
Next after Chicago comes San Francisco, which has also experienced a similarly astonishing growth. In 1844, only ¤fty people lived in the area which is now the city of San Francisco. Today it has a population of 250,000. In 1847, a plot of land large enough to build a mansion there cost a hundred dollars. Today a plot of land that size costs twelve to ¤fteen thousand dollars. The trade of this city now amounts to $100,000,000. Across the Hudson River from New York City lies
Jersey City. In 1840 the latter had a population of 3,070, which had increased by 1880 to 120,722. Similarly there is the city of Brooklyn, which lies on the other
222 The Peoples of the United States
side of New York City and which is also known as its suburb. Its population in 1830 was 12,000 and had risen by 1880 to 566,000. In 1830 the city of Cleveland in Ohio had a population of less than one thousand which increased to 160,000 in 1880. Milwaukee in Wisconsin had only a hut or two in 1834; by 1835 it had grown into a small village, and by 1880 into a city of 125,000 people. Goods worth millions of dollars are being traded there today. What is known as the State of Minnesota today was just an uninhabited forest in 1840. In 1848, the entire State contained 3,000 people; now its population is 1,000,000 to 1,200,000.
The growth of the two cities in the State, St. Paul and Minneapolis, is very astonishing. In 1880 St. Paul had about 41,000 people and Minneapolis 47,000.
In 1885, the population of St. Paul crossed 111,000, and that of Minneapolis 130,000. Every year Minneapolis exports 5,250,000 barrels of wheat ®our all over the world. The manufactured products of Minneapolis are said to be worth more than $54,000,000 per year. In the year 1884, 246,985 railroad wagons full of goods entered the city, and even more wagons left the city. The trade of St. Paul is similarly ®ourishing. It is the same story with very recently established cities, such as Duluth, Indianapolis, Kansas City, and Allegheny City. Wherever you go in the United States, you will see such cities rising up and growing overnight, like enchanted celestial cities—although they do not disappear at daybreak, but remain permanent and grow even larger day by day.
This speedy growth is the result of the industriousness of these people. The people here do not have the time to dawdle over their work; they are very conscious of the value of time. The storekeepers in our country conduct their sales in a leisurely manner, sitting comfortably, leaning against a bolster. The grocer takes a quarter of an hour to assemble his scales after a customer enters his store.
Then he acts like a philosopher who has just come out of his meditations, still sunk in profound thought, and looks about him, ignoring all mundane things; and serves the customer slowly, in a preoccupied manner. Then some more time is wasted in bargaining. Had the people of the United States had such a habit of wasting time and sitting at leisure leaning against bolsters, it is doubtful whether this nation could have left behind any trace on this earth at all!
Another thing worth remembering is that these people do not look to the Government for everything. Although the Government of this country is an elected one, and although it is required to do anything which the people insist upon, in accordance with the law, usually no one goes begging to the Government for public works. If new factories are to be set up, roads to be built, railroads to be laid, canals to be dug, ships to be built, or just a small store to be opened, a number of people get together to accomplish the task. In this country there is a separate association for each task—sewing, shoe making, cotton carding, pottery making, glass making, and for making pens, needles, pins, thread, etc. The idea of guilds, which has been mentioned in the sacred Hindu books
Commerce and Industry 223
like the Manusmriti and other Smritis10 and in the ancient dictionaries in our country, and which have now been forgotten by practically everybody there, has made unprecedented progress and reached perfection in this country. There is no task, big or small, which does not have an association to manage it. Just as there are associations for each type of industry, so are there very large associations for traders in all goods. Thousands of such associations are in existence: for example, associations of farmers, cloth merchants, general merchants, shoemakers, garment sellers, ®our sellers, ¤sh and vegetable vendors, liquor sellers; traders in cattle, horses, sheep, or pigs; porters, blacksmiths, carpenters, masons, stone breakers, tailors, goldsmiths, etc. (It needs to be remembered that tailors, goldsmiths, etc., are not castes in this country, but occupational labels.) The members of each association help one another, and share experiences; they also discuss the ways and means for improving their work and making it popular and pro¤table, and for preventing foreign competition; after which they act upon common consensus. This gives them strength. These people are capable of running everything from a club with two members, to an association with hundreds of thousands of members; and doing so smoothly and properly, without noise or bustle. Most things here, like post and telegraph, railroads, and ships, are run by privately established companies. They have been granted appropriate licenses by the Government. These companies are the result of the people's self-reliance, and they daily give the people new lessons in self-rule. The four principles, namely, industriousness, collective effort, self-reliance, and self-rule, are like a philosopher's stone; their touch turns everything into gold for the nation whose people possess them. Their touch is so marvelous, powerful, and effective, that it cannot but turn into gold anything that these people take up!
The railroads and waterways in this country (which have become as easily accessible and as comfortable as royal routes, thanks to the unceasing efforts of these people) are extremely useful for commerce. It is dif¤cult to even imagine their extensiveness. This vast country is more than twice the size—approximately two and a half times the size—of our country. The census of 1880 shows that the area of this country is 3,547,390 square miles. The natural features of the country are one of the important factors which have been instrumental in creating unity in this nation. With the exception of the State of Alaska,11 the remaining 2,970,000 square miles form a contiguous landmass. The four borders of this contiguous land are British America, or Canada, to the north; the Atlantic
Ocean to the east; the Gulf of Mexico and the free State of Mexico to the south; and the Paci¤c Ocean to the west.
There are large mountains in the east and west of the country, while the area in the middle is mostly ®at. Several rivers ®ow from the mountains on both sides and from the highlands in the north to the center, and ®ow mostly into the Gulf
224 The Peoples of the United States
of Mexico in the south. As most of the rivers ®ow through the middle of the country, the land receives sweet water in abundance, and makes it very fertile.
In addition, the rivers are the great trade routes, and contribute in a very large measure to the internal trade of the country. The rivers here are also very long.
The longest river in the country is the Mississippi (or the combined Missouri and Mississippi River). It is 4,500 miles long, and has an average width of 3,000 feet. Large steamers ply this river up to a distance of 3,900 miles. It is said that this river, together with its tributaries and branches, provides 35,000 miles of waterways for ships. The word "Mississippi" means (in the language of our Red brethren in North America) "The Father of Waters." The name seems apt indeed, when one sees the enormous expanse of this great river. An American writer, by the name of Carnegie, claims that the size and volume of water in the Missouri-Mississippi is equal in bulk to all the rivers of Europe combined, exclusive of the Volga. This great river is three times the size of the River Ganges in our country. The combined length of the rivers to the east of the Rocky
Mountains is more than 40,000 miles, and the area along the riverbanks is twice as much in length, that is, 80,000 miles. In addition, there are great rivers like the Columbia, Sacramento, San Joaquin, etc., to the west of the Rockies, which traverse thousands of miles before ®owing into the sea. Until the year 1880, 4,500 miles of canals were dug in the United States at a cost of $265,000,000, in order to connect these rivers and facilitate trade. The ports which are regarded as the largest, such as Philadelphia, Baltimore, New Orleans, and Portland, are located on riverbanks far from the seacoast. They are visited by thousands of steamships every year. They have large docks and are great centers of trade. The lakes in this country, like the rivers, are also vast.i The ¤ve largest lakes in America (Superior,
Huron, Michigan, Erie, and Ontario) can be said to be sweet-water seas. They have a vast amount of trade carried on by numerous steamships and hundreds of boats.
The largest cities on the banks of these lakes, such as Duluth, Toledo, Buffalo, and Chicago, have begun to equal great seaports, such as New York, Boston, and New Orleans. Steamships are an invention of the American people which has greatly bene¤ted the entire world. The very ¤rst steamship which traversed the Atlantic Ocean, and connected the people of the New and the Old World, sailed from America. These steamships do not carry on trade between this country and others (because that trade has already been grabbed mostly by England); however, there is an astonishing amount of trade within the country. According to a very knowledgeable man, trade amounting to $800,000,000 is carried on by steamships and other boats every year on the Ohio River.
The countless railroads in this country are another important means of facilitating trade. Until 1850, the railroad tracks and trains12 here were quite poor,
Commerce and Industry 225
and caused passengers a great deal of inconvenience. Now the inconveniences, dif¤culties, delays at railroad stations, and the dawdling of trains are all gone. In 1830 only twenty-three miles of railroad tracks had been laid in the entire country.13 In 1887 (that is, within ¤fty-¤ve years of the beginning of railroads here) the country had 142,735 miles of tracks on which trains are now running.14 Of these, 54,280 miles of railroads have been constructed during the ten years from 1873 to 1883. The total length of all the railroads in Europe does not equal the length of the railroads in the United States.ii In 1887 the whole world, with the exception of the United States, had only 150,012 miles of railroads in existence.
The speed with which railroads are being constructed in the United States indicates that within ten years or so, this country will have more railroads than the rest of the world. (In 1880, only 273 miles of railroad had been laid in the whole of India; the very next year, 11,500 miles of railroads were constructed in this country. This will clearly show how far India lags behind the United States.)15
These waterways and railroads are like arteries in the body of the nation.
Through them incessantly courses the lifeblood of the nation in the form of commerce.16 The extent to which these two facilities assist the trade of the country cannot even be estimated. Every year the steamers and boats carry 25,500,000 tons of goods on the great lakes and rivers; the coasting trade carries 34,000,000 tons of goods; and the domestic trade by land and in railroad cars amounts to 291,000,000 tons of goods. The vast domestic trade in the United States, by waterways and railroads, is six times greater than the trade of Great Britain with other countries! There is no share of foreigners in it at all.
There is another astonishing thing which has contributed a great deal to the domestic trade and prosperity of this nation; namely, the telegraph and its subsidiary, the telephone. A marvelous network of 760,000 miles of telegraph wires is spread all across this country! It forms the nervous system of this country, like the nervous system in the human body, and is a very effective and vital part of the nation. Ever since Benjamin Franklin discovered electricity, the native people have begun to harness electricity to innumerable tasks. Electricity serves as a messenger through the telegraph and the telephone; it runs trains, lights lamps, operates machines, cures diseases, and plates metal! Few are the tasks it does not do. Every large store, warehouse, bank, government of¤ce, and large meeting hall has the telegraph. It can publish news sent from anywhere in the world—even when there is no person to receive it! Thanks to the telegraph and the telephone, it is easy to receive many different kinds of information, such as changes in the weather; prices of foodgrains, and of cloth, metals and coins at different places; etc.
Another factor which contributes to the prosperity of the country's trade is that no excise duty is charged on any goods, irrespective of the distance they travel within this vast land. Goods can be dispatched at a cheap rate by railroad
226 The Peoples of the United States
and boat. And because they are spared the trouble of unpacking and declaring them at numerous places and the expense of the excise duty, they are available to all conveniently and at reasonable rates, besides yielding rich pro¤ts to the seller. The goods which come into this country from foreign countries are charged a heavy customs duty. Many people in the country claim that trade will be greatly encouraged if the customs duty is abolished. The levy of a customs duty on imported goods was very bene¤cial as long as the manufacturing sector of this country was not well developed, and the industries were not in a ®ourishing state; because the customs duty raised the prices of foreign goods, while the goods made in the country were cheap and were consequently bought by most people. Now the trade, industries, and manufactures of the United States are highly prosperous, so that there is no suf¤cient reason to retain the customs duty on imported goods. Even so, most people here oppose the abolition of the customs duty. The people here take great precautions to prevent the domination of foreign countries in trade and in other matters, and to prevent their becoming slaves of others. No one hesitates to buy goods imported from abroad, if the same type of goods is produced on a large scale within the country and exported to other countries. Such an exchange of goods involves no loss, only pro¤t. But these people do not allow domestic industries or trade to be harmed by importing from abroad on a large scale goods which are not adequately used or traded within the country. This is worth remembering by the people of our country who look to England for everything, who rely entirely on England, and who use
English goods to the detriment of native industries and trade. The American said that drinking the tea and wearing the clothes imported from England harms the industries of his country; therefore he would never drink such tea or wear
English clothes, but would content himself with whatever good or bad clothes were available in his own country. And he also acted accordingly. That is why this country has reached such prosperity today. And what have we achieved? We have given our gold and bought pots of pewter in return; we have shut down our handlooms and started wearing cheap English clothes. Like the Indians of North America, we have succumbed to the lure of shiny, colored glass beads; and we have sold our precious gem-studded land to foreigners in return for glass beads and glass bottles ¤lled with wine. Now we are screaming because the wine has started to claim our lives, and the fragments of broken glass have made gaping wounds in our feet. This is why our country is in such a wretched state! This clearly shows that the United States and India are on opposite sides of the globe!
Thus far I have outlined the factors contributing to the commerce and industries of this country. Now let us turn to the chief topic of this chapter. The industries of this country may be broadly divided into three types—agriculture, manufactures, and mining.
Commerce and Industry 227
Agriculture This is the chief industry of the people of the United States. Like all other things in this country, agriculture is also carried on scienti¤cally, and is being improved day by day. The reason is that the farmers in this country are not illiterate; most of them can read and write. They read journals and books concerning agriculture, and make use of the scienti¤c processes and chemical experiments which contribute to its advancement. The motto "E pluribus unum," that is, "One out of many," applies as much to agriculture as to other things. In this country there is a national society of farmers known as the National Grange.17
The fundamental principles of the philosophy which supports it are revealed by the pledge of the society, which includes consensus on major matters, freedom of thought in general matters, and friendship in all matters. It also requires members to be mindful of achieving the progress of their occupation and their associates, and to exert themselves to divide all work equally and to ensure a fair distribution of its rewards. This society has branches in practically every town in the country. It treats men and women as equals. Women are granted all the rights related to the organization which men have. A historian of this society says that "every husband and brother knows that where he can take wife or sister, there will be no impurity." It is for this reason that the National Grange has made respectable women its members.
Farmers living in villages and on farms are deprived of advantages such as going to plays, concerts, and lectures, and of other means of enhancing their knowledge during their leisure hours. All their time, from sunrise to sunset, is spent in agricultural tasks. It is essential for them to have some amusement, and also to increase their knowledge. The Grange is engaged in unceasing efforts in this regard. In accordance with the society's rules, lectures and addresses on diverse topics by well-known and learned speakers are arranged several times a year. It makes arrangements to teach a variety of subjects to the men and women who so desire, during their free time. The farming community has gained in industriousness, progress, happiness, and wealth as a result of the knowledge derived from the information published by the United States Department of Agriculture, and from other books, as well as from experience; and as a result of the bene¤ts of unity, and the knowledge of different subjects made available by the National Grange.
Since independence, the citizens and administrators of this nation have paid careful attention to the advancement of its agriculture.18 The nation's ¤rst President, George Washington, personally supervised the Department of Agriculture, despite his various other duties. Men like Jefferson, Webster, Adams, and Clay, who were philosophers, leaders, and politicians, were farmers themselves. It is natural that such excellent examples should make people think of farming as a 228 The Peoples of the United States
prestigious occupation, and encourage them to undertake it; and that farmers should be generally respected everywhere. One-fourth of the total wealth of the United States has been invested in agriculture, and one-fourth of the annual national product comes from agriculture.
The custom of the son following exactly in his father's footsteps does not exist here among the farmers, or among other people. They ¤nd it impossible that the countless men born in a family should follow their remote ancestor, and do the things in regular succession in exactly the same way—whether it comes to holding an axe, digging a canal, cutting a channel, plowing land; or whether it comes to making a honeycomb, building a nest with twigs, or making an anthill. Their inventiveness and scienti¤c knowledge have been put to use in every practical matter. Machines are used even in agriculture here. On large farms, the steam machine for plowing and sowing is managed by one or two persons, and does the work of hundreds. On almost all farms, large and small, the machine for harvesting crops and binding sheaves is run by one man, and does the work of ¤fty or sixty. There are hundreds of such machines which are being used for agriculture. In our country, no one knows even their names, and no one would understand how they work by merely reading their description in books. The cost of the advanced implements and machines used by the native farmers in 1880 was $450,000,000, or Rs. 1,350,000,000. There is a vast area of land in the United States which is suitable for agriculture, but there are not enough people to work on it; that is why farmers ¤nd it necessary to take the help of machines.
This necessity has greatly encouraged invention among the American people, and thousands of new machines are being created. Also people engaged in agriculture and other occupations use these newly created machines with great eagerness.
The census of 1880 shows that the United States (excluding the large Territory of Alaska)19 has 1,500,000 square miles of land which is suitable for cultivation.
(Our India has a total area of 1,383,500 square miles; this means that the cultivable land in the United States is larger in area than our entire country.) All the land in this country is new, because it was not cultivated by anyone before the English and other Europeans settled here. It was overgrown by forest and grass everywhere. Whatever people know today about the history of this country shows that the land here had remained untouched by a plow since the beginning of creation, until the time of European settlement. Needless to say, it is therefore a very dif¤cult and laborious task to cut down the forest, and to plow and bring under cultivation the land which has become hard due to the growth of forest since times immemorial. But praise be to the industry and diligence of these people! So far they have brought under cultivation at least 297,000 square miles of land. At the beginning of this century, about 65,000 square miles of land were under cultivation in the United States. During the subsequent sixty years, an Commerce and Industry 229
additional 150,000 square miles of land were plowed and made cultivable. From 1860 to 1880, 82,000 square miles of land were brought under cultivation.
It has already been mentioned that the system of landholders and peasants is not common here. The inhabitants of the Southern States owned large estates on which African slaves worked. Now the Black people have become free, and most of them have settled down in the same place where they lived earlier. They rent small farms from the owners of large estates, and work them. In all probability, they will buy the farms which they now rent, as soon as they are able to pay the price. The laws related to the purchase and sale of land in this country are very simple. In the Western States also, some people own extensive farms.
But many feel that such classes of estate holders and peasants should not exist in the country. At present most farmers work the small farms they own. There are a total of 4,000,000 farms in the United States, and about three-fourths of them are independently owned, and cultivated by the owners themselves. Of the 4,005,907 farms here, 322,350 have been rented out; 699,244 are held in shares; and 2,984,306 are independently owned. Each farm has an average size of 134 acres; however, one would ¤nd at least 30,000 farms which are larger than 1,000 acres. Cultivable land is also available at cheap rates here. At present, an acre of land costs about $20 in some States. The price of land is $7 to $34 per acre in several Northern States along the Atlantic coast. Day by day the land becomes more expensive as population and the number of settlers increase. Land prices have more than doubled between 1850 and 1880.
The land which is already under cultivation, or can be brought under cultivation, is usually ®at; and machines are heavily used in agriculture. Water is available everywhere in abundance. Farmers do not hesitate to put in effort and use machinery in their work. They exert themselves in every way to make this fertile land more productive. All these favorable factors have resulted in a great wealth of grains in the United States, which will continue to be augmented in the future. In the year 1880, 118,000,000 acres of land produced about 2,700,000,000 bushels of grains, that is, an average of about 23 bushels per acre. They included
1,750,000,000 bushels of corn, 460,000,000 bushels of wheat, 407,000,000 bushels of oats, and many other grains.
Corn, cotton, and wheat are the chief crops of this country. Animals, like hogs, cattle, and horses, are usually fed corn. Hogs eat nothing but corn. A great deal of corn is also sold to people. In 1880, corn worth $10,000,000 was exported, after supplying the whole country's needs. Until 1860, the people of the country needed to import wheat. Now it produces one-fourth of all the wheat which is produced in the whole world. In 1860, this country produced 173,000,000 bushels of wheat; in 1870 it produced 287,000,000 bushels; in 1880 459,000,000 bushels; and in the year 1884, 500,000,000 bushels of wheat. This gives some indication of the speed with which the production of crops like wheat is increasing.
230 The Peoples of the United States
Twenty-seven years ago, the native people needed to import wheat; but in 1880 surplus wheat amounting to $190,000,000 in value was exported.
The people of this country began to plant cotton in 1776. It seemed doubtful at ¤rst whether cotton could be grown here, and whether it would be pro¤table.
However, when the decision to grow cotton had once been made, it was implemented wholeheartedly. Soon after the country became independent, a man named Eli Whitney invented a machine to separate the seed from the cotton
¤ber. Cotton plantations began to ®ourish at that time. A heavy tariff was imposed on imported cloth in order to encourage the use of this new domestic crop within the country, and to encourage the sale of domestic goods; naturally the native looms multiplied, and cloth was produced everywhere in the country. Before 1880 the cotton of this country was utilized mostly within the country; however, during that year cotton worth about $30,000,000 was exported from the country. In the year 1880, 5,757,397 bales of cotton were produced in the country, of which cotton worth $220,000,000 was exported. Two-thirds of this cotton was sold in England. The cloth which England manufactures and sells at a cheap rate in our country is made mostly from American cotton. The cotton here yields very ¤ne and excellent thread.
There is a grain called rye, of which bread is made. It is also grown on a large scale here. In the year 1880, 20,000,000 bushels of it were grown here. Similarly,
44,000,000 bushels of barley, and 407,000,000 bushels of a grain called oats were grown; also 203,000,000 bushels of potatoes were grown. A great deal of hay is grown in the Great Plains of the east and the west. In the year 1880, about 36,000,000 tons of hay were sold in the market. The tobacco plant is widely grown here; 638,000 acres of land are under this wretched crop, which is why tobacco is produced in abundance here. Half of it is consumed in the country, and half is exported. There is a wealth of different kinds of fruit in this country.
The value of the fruit grown in 1880 exceeded $20,000,000. Reliable evidence shows that the price of native crops produced in that year exceeded $3,020,000,000, and the crops produced in 1884 amounted to $2,721,500,000.
It has been mentioned earlier that livestock, such as hogs and cattle, are treated like vegetables here, and "farmed" like other crops. In 1880, there were 56,750,000 hogs here; and 46,000,000 cattle, of which 18,500,000 were milk cows. (The cows here do not yield merely a quart or a pint of milk, as cows in our country do.
They are well-fed; and efforts are made to ensure their proper growth and physical well-being. These cows yield a bucketful of milk.) This country had 45,000,000 sheep and 12,500,000 horses in 1880; by now they must have greatly increased.
Naturally, all these animals are useful to the country. Large quantities of their meat is left over for export, after supplying the 56,000,000 meat-loving people in this country. The business of curing the meat of hogs, etc., for export started a few years ago. The value of the meat of hogs, cattle, sheep, etc., exported every
Commerce and Industry 231
year exceeds $117,500,000. In the year 1880, 240 millions of pounds of wool were produced in this country. The annual report of National Butter, Cheese, and Egg
Association (a rather strange name, which cannot be helped) states that the annual value of dairy products, such as butter and cheese, in the United States is more than $100,000,000. In 1880, the farmers in the United States had an income
(that is, pro¤t, after deducting expenses) exceeding $550,000,000. Everything is great when it comes to the great!
Manufactures Before 1776 the thirteen English colonies of North America were under subjection in all matters. As they were under the sovereign rule of the English
Government, only such strict laws were enforced in the thirteen colonies as would bene¤t England and its people. George III was King of England just before the colonies became independent States; his reign was quite intolerable to these people. A customs duty was levied on all imported and exported goods in the country. These people had no freedom to trade independently with other countries; there was a rule that they should trade only with English merchants at English rates. They were to mine iron and other ores, and send them to England, but not manufacture metals themselves. Moreover, many Englishmen even insisted that the colonists should not have the right even to manufacture a horseshoe nail. High customs duties were levied on all goods produced here and exported to England. Duties on exports, duties on imports, taxes on sales—all these perpetual levies really reduced them to exasperation. The colonists did not have the right to cut a tree which had a diameter of two feet at the height of a foot above the ground. These people were quite shackled by these and many other similar restrictions which signaled subjection. Their trade and industries received no encouragement. Their backs were bent under the heavy burden of taxation. Finally the Stamp Act and the tax on tea strengthened their desire for independence; and they threw off the yoke of England, and broke the shackles of English laws. In 1785, the war of independence was over and peace was established in the country; and the government began to run smoothly. Laws which would encourage the country's trade came rapidly into existence, one after another. This was the beginning of their days of prosperity. A number of wars were fought in Europe from 1790 to 1820, which disrupted the commerce of that continent and encouraged the commerce of the United States. From this time until
1860, there was no hindrance to the trades and industries of this country. Subsequently, the war which af®icted this country for ¤ve years was very detrimental to commerce. From 1866 to the present, the trades and industries here have been conducted without interruption, and all their losses have been compen232 The Peoples of the United States
sated for; moreover, this nation has now become wealthier than England, which calls itself the richest nation on earth. As soon as the Americans settled here, they concentrated on improving their manufacturing to such an extent that within a few years the English felt threatened by them, and felt compelled to make strict laws intended to prevent the rise of manufacturing here. Until 1830, manufacturing did not ®ourish here; time was spent only on establishing peace in the nation and in placing manufacture, as well as other trades and industries, on a ¤rm footing. The extent to which manufactures have advanced in this country now has to be seen to be believed.
Industrial manufactures are ®ourishing here, day by day. A few years ago England was the most industrialized country on earth; now the United States claims that pre-eminence. The use of machines for everything has carried every type of manufacture to gigantic proportions. Making ®our with the help of machines is the largest industry.20 This country has 24,000 ®our mills, which grind 5,000,000 bushels of ®our daily. In 1880, the capital invested in this industry was $177,400,000; and the value of the ®our produced that year was $500,000,000. This quantity of ®our is suf¤cient not only for the American people, but for all the people of Europe. The ®our produced by the Americans is sold in large quantities in Europe, Japan, China, India, and other countries. Next to the milling of ®our is slaughtering, which also uses machines. The animal to be slaughtered is stood next to the machine; it is killed, skinned, emptied of its innards, stuffed with spices, and packed within a minute. Within ¤ve minutes, it reaches the person standing on the other side of the machine. Chicago has a very large mechanized slaughterhouse; there are similar slaughterhouses in other places. In the year
1880, 5,750,000 hogs and 500,000 cattle were slaughtered, stuffed with spices, and dispatched for sale. A capital of $50,000,000 has been invested in this business; and more than $10,500,000 goes to pay its employees each year. In one year,
1,700,000 cattle; 2,200,000 sheep; and 16,000,000 hogs were slaughtered, stuffed with spices, packed, and exported to markets all over the world to feed people.
In the manufacture of iron and steel the capability of the United States is next to that of England. One-¤fth of all the iron and one-fourth of all the steel used in the world is manufactured in the United States. In 1883, the value of all the iron and steel goods manufactured in this country was $400,000,000. The rapid and uninterrupted advancement and growth of this industry indicates that by the year 1890 the United States will manufacture more iron and steel goods than
England. In the year 1870, 64,000 tons of steel were manufactured here; ten years later, that is, in 1880, 1,373,513 tons of steel were manufactured. The United States has many iron mines; and, considering the extraordinary industriousness of these people, the ore will not remain unused in the mines, but will be made useful for humanity and increase the wealth of the country. There are large factories
Commerce and Industry 233
also for making goods and machines of brass, bell metal, and other metals. A large amount of capital has been invested in it, and the goods manufactured amounted to more than $214,000,000 in value in 1881.
The lumber trade, or cutting timber and selling it for building houses, etc., is very large. I do not know whether such an industry exists in any other country.
But I conjecture that other countries do not possess forests to the extent that the United States does; or even if they do, the people of other countries have certainly not made any progress in the lumber trade. In the year 1880, 148,000 people earned their living from this industry. A capital of $200,000,000 was invested in it, and the lumber was valued at $233,268,720. There are very large forests in the States of Michigan, Wisconsin, Minnesota, Oregon, and Northern California, and in the Territory of Washington. There are some areas which produce nothing but forest trees. Industrious people cut enormous quantities of wood in all these forests, and acquire wealth by selling it within the country and outside.
Durable, beautiful, and valuable wood of numerous kinds—oak, cherry, maple, mahogany, walnut, etc.—is produced here; it is cut, dressed, and sent to Europe.
The golden land of the United States produces four hundred different kinds of useful wood!
Next in size is the cotton manufacture. The capital invested in it in the year 1880 was $208,000,000; and the value of the cotton goods produced in the country exceeded $192,000,000. Large quantities of cotton grown here are sold in England and other countries; that is why not much cloth is produced here. Even so, enough cloth is produced to supply the people of the country. Next in importance is the trade in wool. The capital invested in it amounts to $95,000,000, and the woolen goods manufactured in the country are estimated to have the same value. More than 86,000 people are employed in this industry. The manufacture of mixed (wool and cotton) textiles was valued at $66,250,000 in 1880.
In the same year, a capital of $19,000,000 was invested in silk manufacture; the value of materials used was $18,500,000, and the value of products $34,500,000.
Knitwear—such as stockings, gloves, etc., made of wool, silk, and cotton; and those made of wool and silk mixed—which were produced during that year were valued at $62,000,000. The people of the country started making woolen carpets barely twenty-¤ve years ago; the industry has prospered during such a short time. In 1880, the carpets, etc., produced in this country had a value of $21,750,000.
Shoemaking is also an important industry. The use of machinery has greatly assisted this industry also. Fifty years ago, a cobbler in this country took a lot of time and trouble to make shoes, just like a cobbler in our country. In those days, a cobbler would feel quite satis¤ed if he produced one shoe per day. Now, with the help of machines, one man can make three hundred shoes a day! In 1870, there were 3,000 large shoe factories in this country, in which about 9,200,000 people were employed.
234 The Peoples of the United States
A few years ago, all the watches required by the people of the United States came from Europe. Now so many watches are produced in the United States that they not only suf¤ce for all the people here, but are sold in most countries of Europe and in India. Like all other industries here, the watchmaking factories are very large and very advanced. In about 1850, the best factories considered it an achievement to produce four to ¤ve watches per day. Now twelve or thirteen hundred watches are produced per day in similar factories. There are four or ¤ve large factories which produce as many watches every day. They never stop working. One of the factories sends six thousand watches every month to London alone. Within a few years, all the people on earth will begin to have such inexpensive, beautiful, and convenient clocks in their possession. Similarly, the sewing machines made by the American people will be in use everywhere. In 1880, about $11,863,188 worth of sewing machines were manufactured. Also, silverware, gold ornaments, and other items of engraved design are made very well here. The craftsmen of the United States are very skilled in etching and carving wood. It is not possible to adequately describe all these industries in this small essay.
It is dif¤cult to even imagine how rapidly industrial production has progressed and is still making strides. In 1850, the value of all manufactured goods was
$1,060,000,000. In 1880, goods worth $5,560,000,000 were manufactured in this country. During the same year, the goods manufactured in England were valued at $4,055,000,000. This shows that the United States manufactures $1,505,000,000 worth of goods more than England does.
Mining The golden land of the United States has become a land of gold not merely because of its fertile surface. Just as Goddess Nature has made this independent nation rich in all external comforts and conveniences, so has she deposited inexhaustible stores of gems and precious metals in innumerable underground chambers, in the form of mines, beneath the surface of this nation.21
Goddess Nature works her magic in these innumerable, vast underground chambers for the bene¤t of the American people, and transforms earth into gold.
Within this nation's four boundaries of East, West, North, and South lie sheer green pastures, fertile and rich ¤elds, forests adorned with rows of sky-high trees, cities ¤lled with a happy and prosperous populace, as well as seemingly bare and barren plains. Beneath all these, in deep subterranean chambers, Goddess Nature has stored many things, such as gold, silver, lead, copper, mercury, nickel, salt, coal, oil, combustible mineral gas, excellent varieties of stone, sulfur, etc., for the fortunate people of the United States. Just as a calf, while drinking milk, nudges its mother's udders with its head once in a while and makes her
Commerce and Industry 235
release more milk; so do the American people scratch the back of their motherland once in a while. She is instantly pleased; she brings forth countless metals and gems from her inexhaustible treasure, and hands them over to her children.
These American people have grown so fortunate thanks to their industriousness and inventiveness that any handful of earth they pick up turns into gold.
Chief among the minerals in this country is coal. The area under coal mines on this earth is said to be 400,000 square miles, of which 12,000 square miles of coal mines are found in the United Kingdom of Great Britain. It is said on good authority that the coal mines in the United States cover an area of 300,000 square miles. It is not easy to imagine that three-fourths of all the coal mines on earth are found in the United States; but it happens to be true. It may be said that the abundance of coal is instrumental, to a large degree, in achieving the prosperity of all kinds of trades and industries in this country. Although this country contains three-fourths of all the mines on earth, the amount of coal mined here does not equal that mined in England. One reason is that coal mining in this country started not very long ago; and another is that these people are too busy mining enormous amounts of gold, silver, copper, iron, oil, and other valuable minerals to feel the need to mine coal. Even so about 87,386,000 tons of coal were mined in this country last year.
It is said that the earth as a whole contains 10,355 tons of gold, about half of which come from the American continent. Every year since 1880, $31,250,000 worth of gold, that is, one-third of all the gold mined all over the world every year, has been mined in the United States. Like all other industries, gold mining has also expanded rapidly. From 1851 to 1860, the amount of gold mined every year was worth $5,000,000 on an average. Now the gold mined every year is worth more than $31,250,000. The same is the case with silver. Silver worth
$46,250,000 is mined here every year. It is said that about half the copper on earth is produced by the two countries of Chile and the United States together.
In the year 1880, 252,000 tons of copper were mined in the United States; and four years later the annual production was doubled. In the year 1884, 63,555 tons of copper were mined. There are numerous lead mines here. Around 1830, an average of 8,000 tons of lead were mined every year; now at least 140,000 tons of lead are mined annually. Before 1870, very little zinc was mined in this country. Now 35,000 tons of zinc are mined here every year.
Mineral oil, or rock oil, is plentiful here.22 A few years ago, factories were built here to produce coal oil. But it was discovered that there are underground supplies of this mineral oil in several places in Pennsylvania, and that oil ®ows out along with river water. Large wells were then sunk everywhere, and oil pumped out. The oil of the United States is now supplied to the whole world. Natural gas was found while deep wells were being sunk for mineral oil. This gas is plentiful in this country. In some towns in Pennsylvania, the steam engines in all the fac236 The Peoples of the United States
tories and mills are run on this natural gas. Cooking, heating houses during the winter, lighting lamps, etc. are done with the help of gas. In addition, gas is very useful in chemical experiments. It is used for purifying glass, iron, and steel.
There are hundreds of gas wells near Pittsburgh; it is said that each of these wells produces 70,000,000 cubic feet of gas every day.
In 1849, it was discovered that the State of California contains gold. At once the people of the Eastern States rushed to the Paci¤c Coast. Since then, everybody has begun to get up and go west to mine gold. Large cities came up overnight, like enchanted cities, in the uninhabited forest areas like Colorado, Nevada, and California. Cities appeared where there had been forests before, and ¤elds full of grain appeared on plains which had been covered by grass. It is enough to get the news that a mine has been found somewhere, or that something useful exists or can be produced at some place. These people become as if possessed and start rushing off there; and they overcome mountains of dif¤culties in order to attain their goal. A proper description of the industry and commerce of these people would run into large volumes. The details of this country's net annual revenue (after deducting expenditure) are as follows:
Agriculture $550,000,000 Mining $56,250,000 Manufactures $20,500,000 The Fisheries $7,250,000 The Forest $7,050,000 Other $7,250,000 Thus the annual revenue from all industries is $648,300,000.
The British nation is very famous as the richest nation on earth. It is an old nation. It has accumulated in its treasury, through industries and by other means, wealth amounting to $43,600,000,000. The republic of the United States is about a hundred and twenty-¤ve years old. It has accumulated in its treasury, solely through industries, wealth amounting to $48,950,000,000.23 No one is likely to imagine that the United States is even wealthier than England; nevertheless, this is true.
Philanthropy24 The people who came to settle in this country were not wealthy to begin with; and those who are coming to settle now are not wealthy either. But the hardworking people acquired wealth through their industry after coming here.
Now the descendants of those people will be born rich. Those who are born rich in our country have gained notoriety "by hook or by crook."25 Many fear that in this country, too, those who are born rich will ruin their hearth and home. NevCommerce and Industry 237
ertheless, there does not appear to be any reason to believe that this country will be reduced to misery, like our country, through the deeds of such "bright lights" of their families (who would set their families a®ame). The United States is like a gigantic honeycomb. Only worker bees survive here; there is no place for lazy drones who live on the labor of others. The worker bees allow the lazy drone to survive only as long it serves their purpose. Once that is done, they sting the lazy parasitical being to death.26 The people who were originally poor, and who have become opulent today on the strength of their industry and education, know very well the reason for their advancement. They do not support lazy and idle people. And they do not throw away their really hard-earned money on celebrating the weddings of pigeons, cats, etc.;27 on inferior types of luxuries; on giving banquets for sahibs and arranging ¤reworks; on watching plays and dance performances. They put their money to good use.
There are many wealthy people here who possess enough money to buy large kingdoms. They establish societies to help the advancement and education of future generations, as be¤ts their af®uence.28 Trevor29 and Corcoran30 donated
$100,000 each for the establishment of colleges; Williston,31 Walker,32 Hitchcock,33 and Winkley34 donated $165,000 each; Colgate35 and Crozer36 $265,000 each; Cheney37 and Bussey38 $330,000 each; Stone39 $400,000; Phoenix40 $1,325,000;
Vanderbilt41 and Vassar42 $665,000 each, Clark43 $825,000; a man named Green44 $1,000,000; a man named Rich45 $1,325,000; Parker46 $2,325,000; Stephen Girard47 and Johns Hopkins48 donated $3,325,000 each for establishing colleges. Leland
Stanford,49 president of the Southern Paci¤c Railway and Senator from California, spent $30,000,000 to establish a university in memory of his only son, who had died.
This great generosity of these extremely wealthy people has helped the very praiseworthy cause of education. This country has no reason to fear the brainless "born rich" as in our country, as long as the rich people of this country put their money to such good uses; and as long as the people regard education as highly important, and also direct school education towards practical usefulness!
Notes in the Original Text i. The length and area of the largest lakes in the United States are as follows:
Length Area Lake Cayuga 38 miles 104 sq m Lake George
Salt Lake
Lake Ontario
6,300 Lake Erie
9,600 Lake Huron
21,000 238 The Peoples of the United States
Lake Michigan
22,000 Lake Superior
32,000 In addition, this country has numerous lakes which are sixteen miles or less in length. All the lakes, with the exception of Salt Lake, have sweet water, and they are said to contain one-third of all the sweet water on this earth. ii. It is learned on good authority that the railroads in all of Europe in 1880 had a combined length of 114,262 miles.50 This shows that the railroads in the United States were 28,473 miles longer than the railroads of the whole continent of Europe.
Commerce and Industry 239