and ninety-one to two million sixty-two thousand nine hundred and sixteen, and the average number of wage earners rose from six thousand and eighty-nine, which was two per cent of the entire population, to one hundred and forty-two thousand and seventy-six which was six and ninetenths per cent of the population. The total value of products in the manufacturing and mechanical industries in 1850 was $9,293,068 and in 1900 was $360,818,942. Minnesota increased in population from six thousand and seventy-seven in 1850 to one million seven hundred and forty-one thousand nine hundred and eighty-six in 1900, the average number of wage earners from sixty-three to seventy thousand two hundred and thirty-four, which was an increase from one to four and four-tenths per cent in the fifty years. The total value of the products in the manufacturing and mechanical industries rose from $58,300 to $262,655,881. Iowa has been from its beginning an agricultural country, but there has been a steady growth in its manufacturing industries during the last half century. Its population in 1850, was one hundred and ninety-two thousand two hundred and fourteen, and in 1900, two million thirty-nine thousand and two hundred and fifty-four. The number of wage earners employed has risen from one thousand seven hundred and seven to fifty-eight thousand five hundred and fifty-three, a change from nine-tenths of one per cent to two and six-tenths per cent. In 1850, the total value of the products of the manufacturing and mechanical industries was $3,551,783, and in 1900, $164,617,877. Nebraska is an agricultural and stock-raising State, but has grown rapidly in manufacturing in the years since its admission to statehood. Its first census statistics were taken in 1860. From that time till 1900 there was an increase in the number of manufacturing establishments from one hundred and seven to five thousand four hundred and fourteen, and in capital employed from $266,575 to $71,982,127, while the value of the products rose from $607,328 to $143,990,102. North Dakota is not a manufacturing State, and does little outside of milling. Statistics are available only for the years 1890 and 1900, because before that time the State was a part of the Territory of Dakota. In 1890, it had three hundred and eighty-two manufacturing concerns, and increased the number in ten years to one thousand one hundred and thirty. The capital invested grew from $2,894,553 to $5,396,490, and the value of the products from $5,028,107 to $9,183,114. South Dakota's statistics are for the same years. In 1890, there were four hundred and ninety-nine manufacturing establishments in the State, and in 1900 one thousand six hundred and thirty-nine. In the former year the capital was $3,207,796, and in the latter $7,578,895, while the products increased from $5,682,748 to $12,231,239. Census statistics of Montana go back only to 1870, but in the thirty years before 1900 there was an increase in the number of manufacturing plants from two hundred and one to one thousand and eighty, and in the capital invested from $1,794,300 to $40,945,846, while the value of the products increased from $2,494,511 to $57,075,824. In the industrial development of the West there were a few cities which forged ahead of the others and became great business centres. Their prominence was not due solely to the enterprise of the people living in them, but, as a rule, to advantage of location. In several cases, these locations were the sites of earlier settlements of fur traders or were the gathering places of Indians. The same reasons which led to their choice by Indians and French continued to operate in favor of the locations when they became trading centres for the permanent settlers. In nearly every case, the city which surpassed its neighbor in size and importance was one which had unusual transportation facilities. The most eastern of these commercial centres is Cleveland, Ohio. When Moses Cleaveland and his associates from Connecticut selected this spot in 1796 as the place for a city, they were attracted by the favorable location, where the mouth of Cuyahoga River made a natural harbor on the lake. They rightly believed that this fact would give Cleveland preeminence in that part of Ohio. The place did not grow rapidly until after the completion of the Erie Canal, in 1825, when it began to be a distributing centre for settlers. In 1830 it was a town of one thousand and seventy-six inhabitants, and it became a city in 1836. In 1840 its population was six thousand and seventy-one, and it grew rapidly from that time. In 1900 it contained three hundred and eighty-one thousand seven hundred and sixty-eight inhabitants. Its rapid growth began in 1834, when the canal which connected it with Ohio River was opened, so that it became a point for the departure of settlers and goods into the interior, having special advantages because it was the nearest lake port to the eastern States. The produce from the interior coming through the canal was sent from Cleveland to various points on the Lakes or to the east. Its harbor has been greatly improved by the United States government, so that it is now one of the best of the lake ports. It has become a railroad centre with a steadily increasing traffic. Its geographical location has also been of much assistance in developing the manufacture of iron and steel. Coal from northern Ohio and iron ore from the Lake Superior mines can be cheaply transported to Cleveland, so that it has become one of the most important iron manufacturing points in the West. Many of the reasons for the rapid growth of Cleveland would apply with equal force to Toledo, which came into early commercial prominence in Ohio. It had such a promising future before it that the Ohio-Michigan boundary dispute, which led to the "Toledo War" was centred mainly in the question of the possession of this city. Michigan was unwillingly compelled to take the northern peninsula in exchange for Toledo and a little strip of farm land. across northern Ohio. Toledo was settled in 1832 and incorporated in 1836, the same year in which Cleveland became a city. It was located on Maumee River, eight |