about $107,850,000 in dividends. Copper mining in the state began about the same time as iron mining, and the quantity mined increased from 12 long tons in 1845 to 102,543 in 1906 (in 1907, 97,175 long tons). From 1847 to 1887 the product of Michigan exceeded that of any other state; from 1847 to 1883 its copper product was more than one-half that of all the states, but after 1887 (except in 1891) more of that mineral was mined in Montana than in Michigan, and in 1906 and in 1907 the yield in both Arizona and Montana was greater than in Michigan. Fields of bituminous coal extend over an area of over 10,000 sq. m. in the central portion of the lower peninsula; but its quality is inferior. The mining of coal began in Jackson county in 1835 and there was a slow increase in the output until 1882 (135,339 short tons); then there was a tendency to decrease until 1897, from which time the product increased from 223,592 short tons to 2,035,858 short tons in 1907. The principal mines are in Saginaw, Bay, Eaton, Jackson, Huron and Shiawassee counties. Salt wells are numerous in the middle and south-east sections of the lower peninsula; the first successful one was drilled in Saginaw county in 1859 and 1860. For a number of years prior to 1893 Michigan was the leading salt-producing state, and, though her output was subsequently (except in 1901) exceeded by that of New York, it continued to increase up to 1905, when it was 9,492,173 barrels; in 1907, the product was 10,786,630 barrels. Gypsum is obtained from deposits along the banks of the Grand river in Kent county and in the vicinity of Alabaster along the shore of Lake Huron in Iosco county. Operations on the deposit near Grand Rapids were begun in 1841, and although that near Alabaster was opened in 1862, it was not until 1902 that it became of much importance; in that year the output of the state was 208,563 short tons; in 1907 317,261 short tons were mined. Marl is found in the south part of the state; limestone most largely in the north part of the lower peninsula, and the east part of the upper peninsula; and the production of Portland cement increased rapidly from 77,000 barrels in 1898 to 3,572,668 in 1907. Besides limestones and dolomites, the only building stone of much commercial importance is the Potsdam sandstone, extensive beds of which lie in the north part of the upper peninsula. Grindstones are produced in considerable quantity in Huron county. A small quantity of petroleum is obtained from thirteen wells in St Clair county in the east part of the lower peninsula; and the mineral waters at Mount Clemens, Benton Harbor and Alma are of considerable commercial value for medicinal purposes.
Manufactures.—In 1900 the value of the manufactured products of Michigan amounted to $356,944,082, which was an increase of 28·4% over that of 1890, and by 1904 there was a further increase of 20·19%.[1] During the same period, however, the value of the products of the lumber and timber industry, which in 1870, 1880 and 1890 was greater than that of any other state, and in 1900 was still more than twice as great as that of the products of any other manufacturing industry in the state and was exceeded only by that of the product of Wisconsin, decreased from $83,121,969 in 1890 to $53,915,647 (35·1%) in 1900, and to $40,569,335 in 1904, this decrease being due to the fact that the large quantities of raw material (both hard wood and pine) formerly found in the forests of Michigan had become so far exhausted that much of it had to be brought in from other states and from Canada. The value of the products of the furniture factories and of the planing mills, nevertheless, has steadily increased; that of the furniture factories (of which Grand Rapids is the leading centre not only in Michigan but in the United States) rising from $10,767,038 in 1890 to $14,614,506 in 1900 and $18,421,735 in 1904, and that of the planing mills from $10,007,603 in 1890 to $12,469,532 in 1900 and $14,375,467 in 1904. The total value of the lumber and timber products, the furniture products, and the planing-mill products amounted in 1900 to $80,999,685; the value of those manufactures based upon minerals mined or quarried amounted in the same year to $83,730,930.
Another important class of manufactures is that based on agriculture: the value of flour and grist mill products amounted to $21,643,547 in 1900, and $26,512,027 in 1904; that of food preparations, for which Battle Creek is noted, to $1,891,516 in 1900 and $6,753,699 in 1904; that of agricultural implements to $6,339,508 in 1900 and $8,719,719 in 1904; and of malt liquors to $5,296,825 in 1900 and $6,999,251 in 1904.
Among other manufactures in which the state ranks high and in which there was a large increase in value during the same period are: leather, carriages and waggons, chemicals, paper and wood pulp and beet sugar. In 1904 Michigan manufactured automobiles valued at $6,876,708.
The ten leading manufacturing centres are, in the order of the value of their products in 1904: Detroit, Grand Rapids, Kalamazoo, Battle Creek, Saginaw, Jackson, Lansing, Muskegon, Bay City and Port Huron, all in the south half of the lower peninsula.
Communications.—The building of railways in Michigan began in 1830, but little progress had been made in 1837 when the state began the construction of three railways and two canals across the south half of the lower peninsula. The Michigan Central was completed from Detroit to Ypsilanti in January 1838, a portion of the Michigan Southern was in operation in November 1840, and considerable work was done on the proposed Michigan Northern and the two canals. By 1846, however, the state had proved itself incompetent to carry on the work and sold its interests to private companies. In 1850 there were 342 m. completed, and from then until 1880 the mileage increased to 3938; but the great period of railway building in Michigan was in the decade from 1880 to 1890, when the mileage was increased to 7108·48. By the close of 1908 it had further increased to 8629·35. The principal lines are the Michigan Central, the Père Marquette, the Lake Shore & Michigan Southern, the Grand Rapids & Indiana, the Ann Arbor, the Grand Trunk, the Chicago & North-Western, the Duluth South Shore & Atlantic, the Minneapolis, St Paul & Sault Ste. Marie, and the Chicago, Milwaukee & St Paul. A board of railway commissioners, which in 1907 succeeded a commissioner (whose office was created in 1873) hears complaints, has power to issue various orders and permits of minor importance to railway companies, and reports annually to the governor.[2] The legislature is empowered to appoint a commission to fix transportation rates for railways and express companies. Besides railway communication Michigan has a coast line of about 1600 m., along which vessels of 2000 tons can sail and find several good harbours, the water communication having been extended and improved by several canals, among which are the Sault Ste. Marie, which passes the rapids of St Mary’s River; the St Clair Flats, at the north end of Lake St Clair, by which a deeper channel is made through shallow water; and the Portage Lake, in the copper district, which connects that lake with Lake Superior. The state undertook to construct that at Sault Ste. Marie in 1837 but little had been accomplished in 1852 when the national government granted 750,000 acres of land to the state in aid of the enterprise, and three years after that the canal was completed. Since its completion, the national government has enlarged its locks so as to make it navigable for vessels drawing 21 ft. of water. The national government constructed the canal at the St Clair Flats in 1871 and contributed land for aid in the construction of that connecting lakes Portage and Superior, which was completed in 1873 and passed under national control in 1891.
Population.—The population of Michigan in 1880 was 1,636,937; in 1890 it was 2,093,889, an increase of 27·9% within the decade; in 1900 it was 2,420,982, a further increase of 15·6% and in 1910, according to the preliminary returns of the U.S. census, it was 2,810,173. Of the total population in 1900, 2,398,563 or 99·07% were whites, 15,861 were negroes, 6354 were Indians, 240 were Chinese, and 9 were Japanese. 1,879,329 or 77·6% were native born and 541,653 were foreign-born, 184,398 of the foreign-born being natives of Canada (151,915 English; 32,483 French), 125,074 of Germany, 43,839 of England, and 30,406 of Holland. In 1906 982,479 communicants of different denominations were reported: of these 492,135 were Roman Catholics, 128,675 Methodists, 105,803 Lutherans, 50,136 Baptists, 37,900 Presbyterians, 28,345 members of Reformed bodies, and 26,349 members of the Protestant Episcopal Church. In 1900 39·3% of the total population lived in places having at least 2500 inhabitants.
Administration.—The constitution under which Michigan is now governed was first adopted in 1850, when it was felt that the powers which the first one, that of 1835, conferred upon the executive and the legislature were too unrestricted. In 1908 it was revised, and many changes were made.
The constitution admits of amendment by an affirmative vote of two-thirds of the members of each house of the legislature, followed at the next succeeding spring or autumn election by an affirmative vote of a majority of the electors voting upon the question; or an amendment may be proposed by an initiative petition signed by more than 20% of the total number of electors who voted for secretary of state at the preceding election, and such an amendment (unless disapproved by a majority vote in a joint
meeting of the two houses of the legislature) is submitted to popular- ↑ The 1904 census, taken by the Federal Bureau of the Census in co-operation with the secretary of state of Michigan, covered the year ending on the 30th of June 1904, and is thus not strictly comparable with the “1905” census of manufactures for other states, which were for the year ending on the 31st of December 1904. But like the special census of manufactures in other states, it is confined to establishments under the factory system, and hence its figures are considerably less than they would have been had it been taken on the same basis as that of the 1900 census, which included hand trades and other custom work; for example, on the basis of the 1904 census the value of the manufactured products in 1900 was only $319,691,856, and as that of 1904 was $429,120,060, the real increase was 34·2% instead of 20·19%. In the above text from this point the statistics given for 1900 are for factory products only.
- ↑ In 1909 telegraph and telephone companies were put under the supervision of the same board.
