Part 34

The world's total mileage of telegraph wire (Ibid.) is 5,816,219, of which the United States has more than a fourth (1,627,342 miles). Russia (1916) is second with 537,208 miles; Germany (1914) is third with 475,551 miles; and France fourth with 452,192 miles.

The Bureau of Railway Economics has published a compilation on "Comparative Railway Statistics" (Bulletin 100, Washington, 1916) from which it appears that the United States is far ahead of any other country in its railroad equipment. The total number of locomotives in the United States was 64,760; in Germany 29,520; in United Kingdom 24,718; in Russia (1910) 19,984; and in France 13,828. No other country in the world had as many as ten thousand locomotives. If these figures also showed the locomotive tonnage as well as the number, the lead of the United States would be even more decided as the European locomotives are generally smaller than those used in the United States. This fact is clearly brought out by the figures from the same bulletin showing freight car tonnage (total carrying capacity of all cars). For the United States the tonnage was (1913) 86,978,145. The tonnage of Germany was 10.7 millions; of France 5.0 millions; of Austria-Hungary 3.8 millions. The figures for the United Kingdom were not available.

The United States also takes the lead in postal equipment. (Stat. Abstr., 1918, pp. 844-5.) There are 324,869 post offices in the world; 54,257 or one-sixth in the United States. The postal routes of the world cover 2,513,997 miles, of which 450,954 miles are in the United States. The total miles of mail service for the world is 2,061 millions. Of this number the United States has 601.3 millions.

The most extreme contrast between transportation capital in the United States and foreign countries is furnished by the number of automobiles. Facts and Figures, the official organ of the National Automobile Chamber of Commerce (April, 1919) estimates the total number of cars in use on January 1, 1917 as 4,219,246. Of this number almost six-sevenths (3,500,000) were in use in the United States. The total number of cars in Europe as estimated by the Fiat Press Bureau, Italy, was 437,558, or less than one-seventh of the number in use in the United States. Automobile distribution is of peculiar significance because the industry has developed almost entirely since the Spanish-American War and therefore since the time when the United States first began to develop into a world power.

The world's cotton spindleage in 1919 is estimated at 149.4 million spindles. (Letter from T. H. Price 10/6/19.) Of this total Great Britain has 57.0 millions; the United States 33.7 millions; Germany 11.0 millions; Russia 8.0 millions, and France and India each 7.0 millions.

No effort has been made to cite figures showing the estimated value of various forms of capital, because of the necessary variations in value standards. Enough material showing actual quantities of capital has been presented to prove that in agriculture, in transportation, in certain lines of manufacturing the United States is either at the head of the list, or else stands in second place. In transportation capital (particularly automobiles) the lead of the United States is very great.

If figures were available to show the relative amounts of capital used in mining, in merchandising, and in financial transactions they would probably show an equally great advantage in favor of the United States. In this connection it might not be irrelevant to note that in 1915 the total stock of gold money in the world was 8,258 millions of dollars. More than a quarter (2,299 millions) was in the United States. The total stock of silver money was 2,441 millions of dollars of which 756 millions (nearly a third) was in the United States. (Stat. Abstr., 1918, pp. 840-1.)

4. Products of the United States

Figures showing the amounts of the principal commodities produced in the United States are far more complete than those covering the resources and capital. They are perhaps the best index of the present economic position of the United States in relation to the other countries of the world.

The wheat crop of the world in 1916 was 3,701.3 million bushels. Russia, including Siberia, was the leading producer with 686.3 million bushels. The United States was second with 636.7 million bushels or 17 per cent of the world's output. British India, the third wheat producer, had a crop in 1916 of 323.0 million bushels. Canada, with 262.8 million bushels, was fourth on the list. Thus Canada and the United States combined produced almost exactly one-fourth of the world's wheat crop.

As a producer of corn the United States is without a peer. The world's corn crop in 1916 was 3,642.1 million bushels. Two-thirds of this crop (2,566.9 million bushels) was produced in the United States.

The position of the United States as a producer of corn is almost duplicated in the case of cotton. The Statistical Abstract published by the British Government (No. 39, London, 1914, p. 522) gives the world's cotton production as 21,659,000 bales (1912). Of this number the United States produced 14,313,000--almost exactly two-thirds. British India, which ranks second, reported a production of 3,203,000 bales. Egypt was third with 1,471,000 bales.

About one-tenth of the world's output of wool is produced in the United States. World production for 1917 is placed at 2,790,000 pounds. (Bulletin, National Association of Wool Manufacturers. 1918, p. 162.) Australia heads the list with a production of 741.8 million pounds. Russia, including Siberia, comes second with 380.0 million pounds. The United States is third with 285.6 million pounds and Argentina fourth with 258.3 million pounds.

The United States leads the world in timber production. "Last winter we estimated that the United States has been cutting about 50 per cent of the total world's supply of lumber." (Letter from Chief of Forest Investigation. U. S. Forest Service. Oct. 11, 1919.) The same letter gives the present annual timber cut. The United States 12.5 billion cubic feet; Russia 7.1 billion cubic feet; Canada 3.0 billion cubic feet; Austria-Hungary 2.7 billion cubic feet.

A third of the iron ore produced in the world in 1912 came from the United States. The world's production in that year was 154.0 million tons (British Statistical Abstract, No. 39, p. 492). The United States produced 56.1 million tons or 36 per cent of the whole; Germany produced 32.7 million tons; France 19.2 million tons; the United Kingdom 14.0 million tons. No other country is reported as producing as much as ten million tons.

The position of the United States as a producer of iron and steel was greatly enhanced by the war. The Daily Consular and Trade Reports (July 9, 1919, p. 155) give a comparison between the world's steel and iron output in 1914 and 1918. In 1914 the United States produced 23.3 million tons of pig iron; Germany produced 14.4 million tons; the United Kingdom 8.9 million tons, and France 5.2 million tons. The United States was thus producing 45 per cent of the pig iron turned out in these four countries. For 1918 the pig iron production of the United States was 39.1 million tons. That of the other three countries was 22.0 million tons. In that year the United States produced 64 per cent of the pig iron product of these four countries. An equally great lead is shown in the case of steel production. In 1914 the United States produced 23.5 million tons of steel. Germany, the United Kingdom and France produced 27.6 million tons. By 1918 the production of the United States had nearly doubled (45.1 million tons).

The total pig iron output of the world for 1917 was placed at 66.9 millions of tons. The world's production of steel in 1916 was placed at 83 million tons. The United States produced considerably more than half of both commodities. ("The Mineral Industry During 1918." New York, McGraw Hill Book Co., 1919, pp. 379-80).

The two chief forms of power upon which modern industry depends are petroleum and coal. The United States is the largest producer of both of these commodities. The world's production of petroleum in 1917 was 506.7 million barrels (Mineral Resources, 1917, Part II, p. 867). Of this amount the United States produced 335.3 million barrels or 66 per cent of the total. The second largest producer, Russia, and the third, Mexico, are credited with 69 million barrels and 55.3 million barrels respectively.

As a coal producer the United States stands far ahead of all other nations. The United States Geological Survey (Special Report, No. 118) placed the total coal production of the world in 1913 at 1,478 million tons. Of this amount 569.9 million tons (38.5 per cent) were produced in the United States. The production for Great Britain was 321.7 million tons; for Germany 305.7 million tons; for Austria-Hungary 60.6 million tons. No other country reported a production of as much as fifty million tons. In 1915 the United States produced 40.5 per cent of the world's coal; in 1917 44.2 per cent; in 1918 46.2 per cent.

Copper has become one of the world's chief metals. Two-thirds of all the copper is produced in the United States. Copper production in 1916 totaled 3,107 million pounds (Mineral Resources in the United States, 1916, part I, p. 625). The production for the United States was 1,927.9 million pounds (62 per cent of the whole). The second largest producer, Japan, turned out 179.2 million pounds.

The precious metals, gold and silver, are largely produced in the United States. The world's gold production for 1917 was 423.6 million dollars (Mineral Resources, 1917, p. 613). Africa produced half of this amount (214.6 million dollars). The United States was second with a production of 83.8 million dollars (20 per cent of the whole). The same publication (p. 615) gives the world's silver production in 1917 as 164 million ounces. 77.1 million ounces (43 per cent) were produced in the United States. The second largest producer was Mexico, 31.2 million ounces; and the third Canada, with 22.3 million ounces. These three North American countries produced 76 per cent of the world's output of silver.

Judge Gary, speaking at the Annual Meeting of the Iron and Steel Institute (1920) put the situation in this summary form:--

As frequently stated, notwithstanding the United States has only 6% of the world's population and 7% of the world's land, yet we produce:

20% of the world's supply of gold, 25% of the world's supply of wheat, 40% of the world's supply of iron and steel, 40% of the world's supply of lead, 40% of the world's supply of silver, 50% of the world's supply of zinc, 52% of the world's supply of coal, 60% of the world's supply of aluminum, 60% of the world's supply of copper, 60% of the world's supply of cotton, 66% of the world's supply of oil, 75% of the world's supply of corn, 85% of the world's supply of automobiles.

With the exception of rubber, practically all of the essential raw materials and food products upon which modern industrial society depends are produced largely in the United States. With less than a sixteenth of the world's population, the United States produced from a fifth to two-thirds of most of the world's essential products.

5. Shipping

The rapid increase in the foreign trade of the United States created a demand for American shipping facilities. Before the Civil War the United States held a place as a maritime nation. Between the Civil War and the war with Spain the energies of the American people were devoted to internal improvement. With the advent of expansion that followed the Spanish-American War, came an insistent demand that the United States develop a merchant marine adequate to carry its own foreign trade.

The United States Commissioner of Navigation in his report for 1917 (p. 78) gives the net gross tonnage of steam and sailing vessels in 1914 as 45 million tons in all. The tonnage of Great Britain was 19.8 million tons; of Germany 4.9 million tons; of the United States 3.5 million tons; of Norway 2.4 million tons; of France 2.2 million tons; of Japan 1.7 million tons, and of Italy 1.6 million tons.