Census of manufactures: 1939-Number of establishments by industry groups— Continued

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Textile-mill products and other fiber manufactures.

Apparel and other finished products made from fabrics and similar materials.

Lumber and timber basic products.

Furniture and finished lumber products..

Paper and allied products

8

Printing, publishing, and allied industries.

9

10

11

12

13

14

15

16

17

18

19

Chemicals and allied products.

Products of petroleum and coal

Rubber products.

Leather and leather products.

Stone, clay, and glass products.

Iron and steel and their products, except machinery.

Nonferrous metals and their products.

Electrical machinery.

Machinery (except electrical)

Automobiles and automobile equipment.

Transportation equipment except automobiles.

20 Miscellaneous industries..

Apparel and other finished products made from fabrics and similar materials.

STATEMENT BY O. E. KIESSLING, CHIEF, MINERAL INDUSTRIES, BUREAU OF THE CENSUS, BEFORE THE SUBCOMMITTEE OF THE SENATE COMMITTEE ON PUBLIC LANDS AND SURVEYS, AUGUST 5, 1941.

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In his opening statement, the chairman stated that this committee "has undertaken not as much to reveal any new facts as to coordinate and correlate information already at hand We are glad to present to a committee investigating the resources of the Western States some of the materials and findings of the Census Bureau that apply to that great region. As this committee knows, the Census Bureau is the Federal Agency entrusted by Congress with the major task of statistical fact-finding for the Nation. Censuses of population, manufactures, mineral industries, wholesale and retail trade, housing, and agriculture cover in intimate and detailed fashion the over-all pattern of industry and livelihood in the western area. Thus the material selected for presentation today should be regarded as merely representative of an immensely greater volume of data that the committee may draw upon as needed, and I have been asked by the Director of the Census to offer our assistance in the preparation of any special information the committee may require.

TRENDS IN MINING EMPLOYMENT

For 100 years the Bureau of the Census has been conducting Censuses of Mineral Industries. This century record has enabled us to develop significant longtime trends. As the committee has expressed concern over the trend of employment opportunities in western mining communities, I hope to present a bird's-eye statistical picture of what has happened to employment in such basic western mineral industries as copper mining, lead and zinc mining, coal mining, and oil and gas production. These data are a preview of more detailed information included in our forthcoming volume, Census of Mineral Industrial, 1939.

There has been a significant decline in absolute employment over the past 30 years in such a major western industry as copper mining. As is shown in the upper graph of chart I, the number of wage earners at copper mines in 1939 was about two-thirds of the number so employed in 1909. Over the same period, production has shown a general over-all expansion. Why fewer men could produce more copper is shown by the three-fold increase in output per man recorded in the lower graph.

Employment at western lead and zinc mines continued to increase through the post-war boom; thereafter the drop in employment has been acute. As is shown in chart II, the number of wage earners employed at western lead and zinc mines declined nearly 50 percent between 1929 and 1939; over this period there was a notable increase in output per man.

The decrease in employment opportunities over the past 30 years at coal mines in States west of the Mississippi River has been of unusual magnitude. As is shown in chart III, these mines employed a labor force of approximately 100,000 men in 1909; in 1939 this labor force was about 35,000 men. The success of this industry in continuously increasing worker productivity is shown in the lower graph, where the upward trend of output per man provides an almost straight line.

Trends in employment, output, and productivity per worker in crude-petroleum, natural-gas, and natural-gasoline production are shown in chart IV. The number of workers engaged in these activities continued to expand through 1929; since that year employment has generally declined. It should be noted that, whereas the first three charts gave data for States west of the Mississippi River, chart IV shows trends for the entire United States. Since about 95 percent of the oil production and 83 percent of the natural-gas production comes from States west of the Mississippi River, the national trends are regarded as indicative of conditions in the West.

There have been, of course, some increases in employment in the production of minerals not covered by these charts. These instances, however, are infrequent and do not account for a sizable volume of work. Most of the job opportunities in western mining are in the major basic industries, and it is these industries that have shown an important over-all decline in job opportunities. This fact assumes considerable significance in the light of Dr. R. J. Watkins' statement before this committee on August 1. Dr. Watkins pointed out that employment in mining is of vastly greater relative importance as a source of local income and in the maintenance of local business in western areas than for the country as a whole.

Output per man, emphasized in the charts, is not in itself a causative force making for social maladjustment. In fact it is simply a statistical yardstick for measuring the net result of the interplay of many complicated forces and influences, and it is used here in this sense. These forces include major technological and economic factors that were reviewed at some length by the Temporary National Economic Committee. In order that this committee may have available the latest material concerned with the broad problem of technological progress in mining, your attention is called to the following studies: Technology, employment, and output per man in copper mining; mechanization, employment, and output per man in bituminous-coal mining; technology, employment, and output per man in petroleum and natural-gas production.

These reports are mentioned simply as typical examples of a series of 14 studies that analyze the impact of technological progress on the economics of various mineral industries. The series was prepared under my direction under a cooperative arrangement between the Work Projects Administration national research project and the United States Bureau of Mines. The basic material developed in these studies is being brought up to date and amplified in connection with the current Census of Mineral Industries.

Not only has the long-time trend of employment in mining been downward in the West, but there is less stability in employment in mining communities than in communities dependent upon general industrial activity. This point is illustrated by the comparison of copper production and general industrial production made in chart V. It is noteworthy that in the depression years copper production proceeded at much lower relative levels than was true of general industrial production. In 1932 and 1933 the index of copper production was 38 and 31, respectively; in the same years the Federal Reserve Board index of general industrial production was 58 and 69, respectively. Thus the effect of the business depression was much more acute in communities dependent upon copper mining than in communities dependent upon general industrial activity. The social repercussions of this situation are severe since the impact of the greater relative curtailment is accentuated by the fact that in periods of relatively good business demand activity in copper-mining areas expands above the level of general industrial production.

The lower graph of chart V shows the principal reason for the situation that has been outlined. It will be recalled that copper mines produce newly mined copper. In periods of depression the total demand for copper may drop significantly, but the proportion of this demand that is supplied by newly mined copper falls even more precipitously. This takes place because a certain volume of scrap metal continues to accumulate, and this scrap metal seeks a price at which it can be entirely disposed of. During periods of depression the price of scrap is generally below the price at which newly mined copper can be produced economically. Hence a large proportion of the already depressed market for copper is captured by secondary copper than is normally true. Under these conditions operations at western mines reach an exceedingly low level, for their market is limited to that portion of the depressed demand that is left after the secondary copper has been absorbed. What is true of copper is true in varying degree of all metals for which secondary supplies are a factor in the market.

MANUFACTURING ACTIVITY WEST OF THE MISSISSIPPI RIVER

Data on the density of manufacturing activity in States west of the Mississippi River as compared with the total United States are given in the accompanying table (exhibit A), which is based on periodic surveys of the Census of Manufactures. In 1939 these States accounted for 19.4 percent of the total value of manufactured products and employed 14.5 percent of total wage earners at manufacturing plants. Manufacturing activity in the West declined between 1929 and 1939 in conformity with the general trend. The table also shows details, by States, for the number of manufacturing establishments, wage earners, wages paid, cost of materials, value of products, and value added by manufacturing.

A detailed inventory of the specific manufacturing industries carried on in each State west of the Mississippi River in 1939 is given in a second table (exhibit B). This material shows what industries already exist that might be susceptible to further expansion and indicates the areas in which essential industries are now lacking.

SURVEY OF METAL CONSUMPTION

At the present time the Bureau of the Census is preparing to conduct a survey of metal consumption in the United States. This work is being undertaken upon short notice at the request of the Office of Production Management and the Office of Price Administration and Civilian Supply and is typical of our services to other Government agencies. The effort will require the joint facilities of the Census of Mineral Industries, the Census of Manufactures, and the Census of Business, since the problem embraces the production of raw materials. the use of those materials by manufacturers for specific products, and the distribution and storage of both materials and products through the usual channels of trade. We expect to canvass a major portion of the 184,000 manufacturers on our list and to obtain from them vital information not heretofore available. The existing facilities of the Bureau of the Census, moreover, permit us to repeat such surveys with as wide a coverage and at as frequent intervals as may be required for the needs of the defense program. Although the results of the study are primarily directed to defense needs, much new vital information will result with reference to the uses, consumption, and distribution of metal products.

LABOR FORCE AVAILABLE FOR WESTERN INDUSTRIES

One question that arises regarding the establishment of industries in the Western States is whether the existing labor force would be ample for the purposes of such industries. To throw light on this problem the Census of Population has prepared for the committee the accompanying summary statistical analysis of the employment and unemployment status of persons in States west of the Mississippi River as of March 24-30, 1940 (exhibit C). This statement gives figures for each State on the total labor force, on persons seeking work, and on persons employed on public emergency work. An important point brought out by this table is that in the Mountain States the proportion of the total labor force that was unemployed at the period indicated was 17.2 percent as compared with 14.2 percent for the United States. It is true that there have been changes in employment since the date on which the survey was made, but it is doubtful whether these changes have had a major effect on the relative position of the various States. The Census Bureau, however, has been asked by the Bureau of the Budget to submit plans for another survey of this type in order that the Nation may be accurately informed on the basis of more recent information. Other products of the Census of Population show the occupational, age, sex, and employment status of all workers in the Western States.

REGIONAL SURVEYS OF INDUSTRIES AND MARKETS

This committee has heard testimony suggesting that for reasons of economic expediency mineral reserves in the public land States should be utilized to make the western area as nearly industrially self-sufficient as practicable. It has been stated, for example, that the position of the West largely as a feeder of raw materials to the industrial East places the western communities in a dependent and sometimes exceedingly unstable economic position.

The degree to which Western States are able to absorb metals and minerals produced on public lands in those States and the fabricated products that can be made from such minerals can be determined only by a careful commercial and industrial survey of the West and Northwest. The Bureau of Foreign and Domestic Commerce and the Bureau of the Census are prepared and authorized under their organic acts to make such surveys. In fact, regional analyses, published by the Bureau of Foreign and Domestic Commerce, in collaboration with other offices of the Department, include commercial surveys of both the Pacific Northwest and Southwest. However, these reports are now outdated and do not indicate adequately present conditions and potentialities.

The regional character of industry and business is a problem to which the Department of Commerce expects to give increased attention. Recently we have established a Division of Regional Economy in the Bureau of Foreign and Domestic Commerce to give greater attention to this problem. Offices of this Division are now being set up in the 12 Federal Reserve districts. We are thus prepared without further authorization to undertake such commercial and industrial surveys of the West and Northwest as may be needed.