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CHAPTER II

THE DISTRIBUTION OF INDUSTRIES IN THE UNITED

STATES

i. Difficulties of the industrial census-Manufactures and hand trades-Difficulty of comparison with previous census-Exclusion of undertakings producing less than $500.

ii. Distribution of industrial establishments-Their numbers from 1859 to 1900-Number of existing establishments in 1900 and number founded in 1900 -Classification of establishments according to ownership by individuals, firms, and limited companies-Iron and steel industries-Timber trade -Leather-Paper and printing-Metallurgy other than the iron trade-Tobacco-Liquor tradeChemical industries-Pottery and glass-Coachmakers and wheelwrights-The hand trades. iii. Seventeen industrial classes in 1850 and in 1900Increase in number of establishments in twelve classes.

iv. Number of employees and workmen per undertaking-Classification of establishments according to number of wage-earners.

V. Edward Atkinson-Tendency towards individualism Massachusetts-Individual labour-Conclusion.

I

THE management of the industrial census of the United States was entrusted to Mr. S. N. D. North, who is now Director-General of the Census, and it was conducted with all possible care. As a man who is convinced that the professional virtue of the statistician, like that of every man who devotes himself to scientific research, consists in the ascertainment of the truth, he loyally points out the difficulties and uncertainties presented by his labour in the important document entitled, "Plan, method and scope of the twelfth census of manufactures." (vol. vii).

In former efforts the definition of an establishment was left to the discretion of each agent who

contributed to the census. The census of 1900 makes a distinction between Manufacturers and Hand Trades. Mr. North sets up the following criterion by which to distinguish them-he treats every establishment which produces uniform types as belonging to the class of Manufacturers, while those in which every object has a special character are classed as Hand Trades. The maker of readymade clothes falls within the class of manufacturers, while the tailor who makes clothes to order falls within that of individual labour or hand trade. The same distinction is made between the manufacturer of wheels, axles and hoods, and the putting them together in small shops at the places where they are used, according to the convenience of the purchaser. The building trades are included in the Hand Trades because what they produce is for local consumption according to the taste of the building-owner, and their operations are distributed among a number of trades. Dentists, to the number of 3,214, who make artificial teeth, had originally been classed by the census of 1900 with manufacturers, but they protested energetically that their occupation was not mechanical but personal, and they claimed to rank among the "professionals" in the category of the "liberal professions."

The relations between hand trades, shops and workshops, and retail shops are very close. In 1900 the agents of the census were instructed to pay no attention to restaurants and cafés, funeral undertakers, retail druggists, butchers, laundrymen, carpet beaters, dentists, tailors, milliners, dressmakers, hairdressers, etc. Some of the agents conformed to their instructions, others interpreted them in various ways, so that if the number of hand trades referred to in the census is uncertain, it is undoubtedly very much below the actual number.

It is not known how they are dealt with in earlier

census. Under their separate classification in the census of 1900, they are taken as numbering 215,800 establishments. For the census of 1840, 1850, 1860 and 1870 the agents were not to refer to any establishment whose total profits did not exceed $500. In 1890 the returns which deal with smaller incomes than this are disregarded, but what accuracy does this limitation carry with it? Every small trader gives the figure he pleases, generally a smaller one than that of his actual income, for fear of the revenue.

In 1900, 127,419 industrial establishments out of the 640,000 referred to in the census lists fell below the 500 dollar limit. In order to preserve a comparison with the earlier census, they are dealt with separately. But the word "establishment" does not represent units of the same degree; a factory employing 7,000 workmen ranks as one "establishment" as well as a workshop employing five.

II

The distribution of industries according to the census of 1900, is as follows:

(a) Hand trades

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215,814

(b) Establishments with a profit of less than

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Leaving out of account classes (b), (d) and (e)

the figures for 1850 to 1900 are:

383

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But it is obvious that the number of small establishments under the 500 dollar limit and of hand trades is less than it is in fact, and that the difficulty and expenses of including them in the census will cause them to be eliminated, a measure which is formally suggested by Mr. North.

In his analysis of the census, Mr. North says: "It is obviously impossible to determine from the census dates how the actual number of establishments engaged in productive industry in the United States has been affected by the consolidation of industries and the concentration of employment in large mills and factories." Undoubtedly small establishments are closed; one sees deserted mills on the river banks. Changes in the place of production and of destination involve disturbances to the advantage or disadvantage of particular localities. New establishments spring up in the same industry every day. Many employers, instead of renewing their old establishments, put up entirely new ones. Nevertheless the number of establishments, in fact, increases in every one of the States of the Union.

Table XI. gives us the number of existing establishments and the total number of new ones opened in 1900:

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Mr. North, in putting forward this table, further states that some of the agents of the census did not exercise sufficient care in the collection of their information. Nevertheless, we gather that the new enterprises opened in 1900 represent 8 or 9 per cent. of the total existing enterprises, and that there is an increase without exception in every industry as well as an increase in every State of the Union.

Table XII. gives us the number of establishments and their output, classified according to the nature of their ownership. The 512,254 are distributed

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The number of establishments owned by individuals represents 72.8 of the total, i.e., nearly three-fourths; of this number 183,500, or nearly one half, were engaged in hand trades. Their output represents 20.6 per cent. of the total, and the average output of each establishment is $7,176. Firms with two or three partners represent 18.9 per cent, of the total, with an output of 19.7 per cent.

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