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Show Utah the Utopia of Industry THERE is not an untoward condition condi-tion to prevent Utah from becoming be-coming a great industrial center, the pivot of manufacturing in the entirfe intermountain "west, to an extent ex-tent entirely worthy of the appellation. appella-tion. !Now and then is found a carping carp-ing critic who opines that the wheels of factory and mill can never be expected ex-pected to play a prominent part in this section of the country. Ho thinks that Utah may possibly become more or less important from a jobber's standpoint, but never of much consequence conse-quence in manufacturing. Let it be said that few people here take stock in such foolish surmise. Geographically, Utah is the center of the area between the Missouri river and the Pacific coast and justly claims as tributary country for at least 300 miles outside her borders on the east, north and west. Within this radius are upwards of a million people, and included within the scope are states that are increasing in popu lation faster than most of their sister sis-ter states. To homeseekers no greater great-er advantages exist anywhere than are found in Utah, Colorado, Wyoming, Wyom-ing, Idaho and Nevada. There Is every reason to believe that the population of some of these states will double in ten years, as at least one of them did in the last decade. The fact that they are a long distance from what are now called the industrial centers of the country is a very good reason why they should create an industrial center of their own. Mahomet found it easier to go to the mountain than to bring the mountain to him, but the people whose boundary lines are longitude longi-tude degrees 107 to 117, lattitude 35 to 45, will find it quite practicable and certainly advantageous to bring to their midst the coveted prize of industrial in-dustrial independence. Topographically, the Rocky mountains moun-tains form the backbone of the American Ameri-can continent, and in nature's gifts they are to the body-polite what the spinal cord is to the human system, the all-important life-giving and life-sustaining life-sustaining fluid. Where else than in Utah, for instance, has nature been so profuse in the bestowal of beneficences? benefi-cences? Here in mountain and valley, val-ley, lake and stream are found nearly every native product found anywhere and some found nowhere else. Is it necessary or expedient to ship them away that other hands may receive the manifold profits of converting them to the uses for which they were intended? Common sense and reason say no. The folly of the past is sorely repented of and is prov ing a good lesson for present and future. fu-ture. Utah has an abundance of the big things in the way of raw materials that are used in the manufacturing industries of the country. Rather than ship these away it were better policy to supply home demands with the finished product and export the surplus. In some lines this is being done in a small way, but more factories factor-ies and bigger fatories are a crying need. Agriculture, horticulture, mining min-ing and the rearing of horses and sheep are nowhere more successfully carried on than in Utah, but these are not sufficient to insure present prosperity and lay the foundation of permanent thrift. So long as thousands of men and women are unable to find employment for a good portion of the year there is a wrong condition that should be righted. For such an ill there is not another remedy quite so effective as whirring wheels of factory ana mill, providing, of course, there are a sufficient suf-ficient number of them. The trouble is there are not enough factories in Utah, and" the question is, now can the deficiency be supplied? One answer an-swer to this query is: Render better bet-ter support to the manufacturing institutions in-stitutions that are already here, and it will require little or no effort to induce the establishment of others along similar or diverse lines. As a whole, the manufactures of Utah have little cause for complaint during the present year, thus far. Perhaps Per-haps never before have they operated operat-ed under so favorable auspices, and this, too, despite the fact that the cry of hard times and dullness of trade has been heard throughout the country. coun-try. Not only have most local factories fac-tories run to full capacity, but many have also Increased both output and number of employees. Two reasons may be assigned for this encouraging encourag-ing situation: First, the manufacturers are producing pro-ducing goods the equal of their kind made anywhere else and are going after the business in a way that must win. Second, the consumer is in sympathy sympa-thy with the manufacturer more than ever before, and this, too, in a tangible tangi-ble way. It is one thing to talk loyalty to local lo-cal Industries and quite another thing to carry such sentiment into practical practi-cal effect. To "boost" means to lift, to act, not merely to talk. To tell how it may be done or should be done never raised a wagon wheel from the rut nor set a factory wheel in motion. As an instance of the inclination to do, rather than to say, the people of Utah county are using the product of their woolen mill, realizing that if they fail to do do so It can scarcely be expected that others, not so directly di-rectly interested, will keep the looms in motion. Apply this actual activity activi-ty to all the factories in Utah, and the time is not far distant when there shall not bo an idle man or woman, if they want work, in the state. The manufacturers of Utah, as stated before, are going after the business. busi-ness. That is, most of them are. A few have not yet reached the 'point where they fully appreciate the importance im-portance of publicity, as do their competitors com-petitors from the outside. Improvement Improve-ment in the system of advertising, however, is very noticeable, and the result is that Utah goods are more than holding their own against importations. impor-tations. For a number of year Utah factories factor-ies have increased in number, investment, invest-ment, annual output and number of employees, about 25 per cent each decade. dec-ade. This growth is very encouraging, encourag-ing, for the reason that the advancement advance-ment has been steady and healthy, and never of the mushroom variety. The percentage of failures has been nominal. The United States census for 1910 summarizes the factories of Utah as follows: Number of factories, 749; an increase in five years of 24 per cent; Salt Lake is credited with 245, while Ogden has 68. The other are scattered scat-tered throughout the state, with Cache county probably third and Utah county coun-ty fourth in the list. The total capital capi-tal invested was $52,627,000; number of employees, 13,395; wages pa'.d (1909), $10,376,000.00; cost of materials mate-rials used, $41,292,000.00; value of products, $61,989,000,000. Printing establishments of all kinds are included in the government figures, fig-ures, but of these only such as are actually engaged in manufacturing, such as book-makers, are listed by local organizations. It is a difficult matter to obtain a full list of manufacturers, manu-facturers, as from the directories published pub-lished it is not always possible to distinguish dis-tinguish between a manufacturer and an agent. In round numbers there are probably 600 legitimate factories in the state. None of them has been built by bonus, but each has been maintained from the start by the pluck and patience of the promoters. The question is often asked, Can Utah become a great manufacturing center? Why not? As before stated, , the state has an abundance of natu- j ral resources. Briefly to summarize, I it has iron, coal and limerock, for steel j plants; wool, for woolen mills; hides and pelts, for tanneries, making possible pos-sible more shoe factories, harness and saddlery shops; grains for cereal factories; fac-tories; fruits and vegetables for canning can-ning factories; immense yields of ' beets, for sugar factories; cattle and sheep, for packing houses; mountains I of gypsum, for various kinds of plaster; plas-ter; silica, for glass factories; clays, for potteries and all k''ids of brick; the entire family of hydrocarbons, for paints, varnishes, wax and num- D berless other Industries. ' Add to these H limitless quantities of salt, sulphur, H cement, graphite, marble, onyx, gran- H lte, oolite, sandstone and oil fields, H and it will be seen at once that so far H as materials are concerned there is H but little lacking in this state for end- H less lines of manufacturing industry. H If it were only to supply the needs H of Utah alone, the state might be filled with humming factories from H one to the other. Spread out the H territory 300 miles on either side of H tlu state's border and the possibili- H ties of Utah as a great manufactur- ing center can not be doubted. Local H railroad facilities are first class, ex- H cept in a few localities, and in these H the prospects for the building of new H lines are encouraging. The predic- H tion would be -a safe one that by the H time of the next census Utah's fac- H tories will have increased several H times 25 per cent, both in numbers H and in magnitude. H To the Manufacturers' association H of Utah belongs a liberal meed of H praise for the success of local manu- H facturing industries. The officers and H board members have worked earnestly H in behalf not only of its members, but H of all manufacturers in the state. The H effective work of organization is ap- H preciatejLby most manufacturers who H are alive to their own interests. The H association has grown steadily in H membership and in prestige until it H is no longer a homeless infant, but a H healthy and husky aggregation of ac- H tivity, housed in new and up-to-date H quarters. H An effort is being made to have on H file in the association's office a com- M plote directory of manufacturing con- H cerns. Many questions are asked H every day, personally, by phone or H by letter about this or that industry, H and often the information is not avail- H able. In some instances a manufac- H turer will take umbrage at being ask- H ed a question concerning his business, fl H H Hi i when, asa matter of faoV'the, query Ht s entirely In his own Interest. It Is, HI Jiowever, a difficult matter to please Hr I everybody, even with the best of in- H s tentions. So long as the majority con Hf cerned are satisfied the situation is Hn encouraging, and one by one the in- Hi, different and the faultfinder will be HJ converted to the importance of con- H centrated effort. If there is a man H who will belittle the work of an or- Iganization when he is a direct beneficiary benefi-ciary thereof and is doing nothing to encourage or support it, the reason is H- oovious he is of too little importance H to be of much benefit oven to himself. H.- The Utah Chamber of Commerce, H? conducted under the auspices of the H Manufacturers' association, has proved HL to be one of the best advertising Hjf mediums yet' undertaken in the state. Hi' The building and Its location are ad- H'( mirably suited for exhibition purposes. Hk On the spacious floor may been seen H' an almost perfect replication of the H state's resources. Many of the coun- H ties are represented by splendid ex- H hiblts, and to those are added indlvi- Hj ' dual displays that are interesting. Dur- HBi ing last year not fewer than 100,000 H' visitors saw these exhibits, and most H: of them were tourists from outside H the state. The amount of advertising H done in this way is almost beyond cal- Hj culation. Then, too, an abundance of H'' literature has been distributed from Hj ( the Chamber of Commerce. Every H' mail brings letters of inquiry from dif- Hk ferent parts of the country and often B, from abroad. These are answered H , minutely and each inquirer is sent in H i in addition an assortment of printed data relating to the,- sajand, Hs,'Be.y-oral Hs,'Be.y-oral counties. n . t . |