The packers and the manufacturers of agricultural machinery are among Chi cago's heaviest exporters and their prod ucts are shipped all over the world. Many other lines likewise have many foreign markets and a movement is on foot to have "made in Chicago" stamped on all products of this market that the city's importance as a producing center may be brought home to the rest of the world.
Chicago commerce will be greatly ino creased with the completing of the vari• ous waterway plans, especially south through the Mississippi and eastward by way of the Great Lakes and the St. Lawrence river.
Finance.—Chicago has made great strides as a financial center in recent years. Its bank clearings now run more than $100,000,000 a day and its banks share with those of New York City in the most important financial undertakings of the day. The Continental and Com mercial National Bank has a capital of $25,000,000, a figure surpassed by no bank in America and equaled only by two, both of which are in New York City. The city has, in all, 150 banks; of these 27 are National and 123 State institutions. They have a capital of ap proximately $125,000,000 and surplus and excess profits of about $113,000,000. No other city in the country, except New York, has larger resources, although the banking history of Chicago dates back only to 1837 when the first bank charter was issued.
Not only has the number of banks in the city increased rapidly in recent years but the size of the individual in stitutions has grown remarkably. In addition to the Continental and Com mercial National, already mentioned, the First National has just increased its capital to $12,500,000 and a great new bank, or rather two associated banks, is in process of formation, being the consolidation of the Corn Exchange Na tional, the Merchants Loan & Trust Com pany and the Illinois Trust and Savings Banks. These will be called the Corn Exchange National and the Illinois Merchants Trust, the latter being the State bank.
Chicago banks in 1920 had out in loans and discounts the sum of $1,575,640,158. Deposits stood at $1,825,576,473. Of these deposits $443,840,093 is represented by savings accounts. The total assessed realty valuation of Chicago in 1920 was $1,653,171,362. The net funded debt (less sinking fund) was $53,624,924. The an
nual budget was $131,943,672. The tax levy was $84,973,008. Cash resources were $514,770,161.
Education.—Chicago had in 1920 305 public schools with 377,058 pupils and 8,558 teachers. It has numerous uni versities and colleges of high rank, its two largest, the University of Chicago and Northwestern University, having more than 15,000 students. The city is a great medical school center, contain ing some of the highest rank in the country. It has very many special schools of all kinds and the art school of the Art Institute of Chicago is one of the largest in America.
The city's progress in education has been as rapid as its development along other lines. Thus, in 1841 the public school enrollment was only 410 and the teachers numbered 5. In small parks and play grounds which are closely con nected with the school system of the city, Chicago is unsurpassed by any American city.
The University of Chicago, founded in 1890, now has an endowment of $30, 000,000 while its total assets in land, buildings, and securities exceed $50,000, 000. Northwestern University, a much older institution, was organized in 1850. It recently has undertaken a campaign to raise $25,000,000, a part of which will be used to create a magnificent educational center for its medical and other pro fessional schools on the lake shore.
Chicago is particularly proud of its libraries. Chief among them from the popular point of view is the public li brary, which was started in the years following the great fire of 1871 with books sent from England. The library now contains more than a million books with an aggregate circulation during the last fiscal year of 995,000 volumes. This does not include books on the open shelves or books consulted in the refer ence rooms. The calls for books in reference use numbered 744,991 during 1919.
The Newberry is a free reference library including in its scope books on history, literature, religion, philosophy, biography, language and the fine arts. The library has undertaken the task of photographing entire series of rare books in some of the great European libraries, thus bringing to American students a mass of material hitherto beyond their reach.