MAN UFACTURES. The leading position of New York as a manufacturing State dates from about 1825, when the Erie Canal was finished. The largest absolute gain in the industry was made from 1550 to 1590. The percentage of the popu lation engaged in the industry as wage-earners increased from 0.4 in 1850 to 11.7 in 1900. There was. however, a decrease in the last decade of that period. The total value of manufactures for the year 1900 was 52,175,726,900. This figure was one-seventh greater than that for Pennsyl vania—the only other State which approaches New Yo•k in this respect. The figure was in fact nearly one-sixth of that for the United States. This position is held by the State de spite the comparative lack of iron mannfaetnr ing and textile industries. lt is due great number of factories and shops producing the more highly finished products. The State is not without valuable resources of field, forest, and mine, and counts also among its advantages the sources of an abundant w•ater-power, including the Niagara Falls. Itnt its advanced position is the outgrowth rather of its superior situation with respect to both hmile and foreign markets. The construction of the Erie Canal Wl'st NV:1rd through the :Mohawk Valley—the only natural break in the Appalachian Monntain range—es tablished early communication between the lludson Inver and the Great Lakes, and brought to New York much of the commerce of the \Vest. The water routes determined the location of nearly all the large towns, whieh in turn largely determined the location of railway routes. At the southern extremity of this system of water transportation was New' York Ilarbor, with its superior natural facilities for shipping. New York City thus became the metropolis of the country, and extensive manufacturing industries sprang up in and about it. About three-fifths of the total State output is accredited to New York City, but this output includes many indus tries of only local concern, such as the manufac ture of gas and of bread and other food prepara tions, carpentering, plumbing, tinsmithing, and masonry work. In the different branches of the clothing and garment industry, New York City and other towns of the State produce more than a third of the output of the United States. The production of men's and women's factory-made clothing is largely con fined to the metropolis. The work is generally performed in small workshops or tenement rooms. This system grows out of the necessity for specialization owing to the large number of patterns used, and is favored by the abundance of cheap labor available where there are such large numbers of foreigners unable to secure more profitable employment. This branch of industry
is of comparatively recent development. Troy shares with New York in the extensive produc tion of men's furnishing goods—shirts, neckwear, etc. 'Millinery and lace goods and silk and silk goods are New York City products, the last having suffered a large decline from 1880 to 1900 owing to the removal of establishments, in quest of cheaper rents and certain other advantages, to points outside the State. Yonkers is the centre of a large knitting industry, and Cohoes and Utica are noted for their carpet and rug manu factures. The manufacture of fur goods in New York City, and of boots and shoes at different points, is extensive. Tanning and the manufac ture of leather are also very important.
While the iron and steel industry is of com paratively small and decreasing importance, the foundry and machine-shop industry is rapidly developing, and in 1900 gave the State second rank. The printing press and steam engine are the best known of these products. The industry is well represented at most of the large centres. New York is unrivaled in the manufacture of electrical apparatus and musical instruments. Especially prominent are the manufactures of refined sugar and molasses, roasted and ground coffee and spice, confectionery, patent medicine, tobacco, and Iiquors—most of which are produced almost wholly in New York City. Flour and grist milling, slaughtering and meat-packing. and the factory production of cheese, butter, and condensed milk, are more generally distributed over the State. In the first-named industry the State ranks second. On the opening of the Erie Canal. Rochester, being favored with water power from the falls of the Genesee River, became the leading `flour• city' of the United States, and New York held first place until the comparatively recent development of the industry at Min neapolis. Between 1890 and 1900 both the flour ing and slaughtering industries declined. The production of cheese, butter, and con densed milk, on the contrary, increased during that period nearly 85 per cent., and the State continues to hold first rank in this line. The manufacture of chemicals, including paints and varnishes, has attained large proportions in New York City. The printing industry of New Yo•k is more than twice that of any other State, and the metropolis is the centre of the periodical press as well as of book publishing. New York has long ranked as one of the foremost States in the brewing industry. The preceding table is a sum mary for the leading industries.