This PDF is a selection from an out-of-print volume from the National Bureau of Economic Research

Volume Title: Business Incorporations in the United States, 1800-1943

Volume Author/Editor: George Heberton Evans, Jr.

Volume Publisher: UMI

Volume ISBN: 0-87014-048-5

Volume URL: http://www.nber.org/books/evan48-1

Publication Date: 1948

Chapter Title: An Industrial Classification of Incorporations

Chapter Author: George Heberton Evans, Jr.

Chapter URL: http://www.nber.org/chapters/c0675

Chapter pages in book: (p. 50 - 65)

CHAPTER. 7

An Industrial Classification of Incorporations

Through study of the kinds of business for which thecorporations were chartered, that is, through study ofwhat in corporation law are usually called the purposesor objects of incorporation, a fairly good picture of theUnited States at work and at play can be constructed.Be it the mania for skating rinks or Tom-Thumb golfcourses or the feverish organization of 'trusts', an im-press has been left upon business incorporations. Some-times, a reading of the mere names of the newly charteredcompanies chronologically arranged suffices to indicatethe nature of a wave of entrepreneurial activity. Forexample, a list of Ohio incorporations clearly revealsa fad for skating rinks in the winter of 1884-85 and onefor miniature golf courses in the summer of 1930.1 Asimultaneous wave of Tom-Thumb golf courses oc-curred in New York, reaching such proportions that inAugust 1930 the Secretary of State of New York said:

"Hardly a day passed during the past month that did notwitness anywhere from one to four or five companies incorpo-rating to construct and maintain a Tom Thumb golf course.If one is to judge from the number of such courses alreadybuilt, there must be tens of thousands of players each day."2

The company name—the chief basis for the indus-trial classifications of Chapter 3 except as noted other-wise—often furnishes a clue to the purpose for which aconcern was chartered, but more precise informationcan be procured. The charter, of course, is a primarysource of information, but it is not to be used withoutgreat care. The first difficulty encountered in an at-tempt to determine the main object of an incorporationfrom the purpose clauses of the charter is to select onepurpose from the many that often seem of equal impor-tance. This difficulty is not as great in te case of earlycharters as in that of more recent ones; the modern cor-poration is not modest in stating its objectives. Ef-forts to disguise the objects of the corporation areanother source of difficulty. Concealed aims, however,have not been especially frequent since the enactmentof general incorporation laws. Disguise characterizeschiefly the era of the special charter, when legislatureswere averse to granting certain types freely. A third

'See the Annual Report of the Secretary of State to the Governorof the State of Ohio, for the year 188& (Columbus, 1885), p. 256,and the Annual Report of the Secretary of State to the Governorand General Assembly of the State of Ohio for the Year EndingDecember 81, 1980 . . . (Cleveland, 1931). The golf course com-panies must be picked out of the group headed "MiscellaneousCompanies", which appears on pages 36—71 of the latter Report.'Press release on incorporations, dated August 1930.

50

difficulty must be faced by one who plans to classifyindustrially a large number of corporations. The aver-age charter is so long that no investigator can read manyfrom the first line to the last. Fortunately, some stateshave published brief abstracts of charter purpose state-ments. These abstracts, from which the basic informa-tion for the industrial classifications described in thisand the next chapter was derived, represent the opinionof some local officer, and may or may not fairly inter-pret the main objects of the companies. The resultingerrors are, however, probably not often serious, sincecontemporaneous judgments by local authorities, whoare familiar with many of the incorporators or theiragents, may be expected to have a rather high degree ofreliability. Finally, these abbreviated statements ofpurpose may be misinterpreted.

Several supplementary types of information are aidsto an industrial allocation, for example, the name of acompany. An enterprise that could be classified fromits charter description as either a mining company or acoal dealer, may well be placed in the mining categoryif the word mining appears in the corporate name.Occasionally the name can be allowed to play a moredecisive role. For instance, the official summary of thecharter purpose statement of the Pittsburgh CigarMachine Company, incorporated by Pennsylvania onJanuary 26, 1900, read: "Manufacturing iron and steelor both, or any article of commerce from wood, metalor both."3 Despite -the vagueness of this description,the company was put in the manufacturing subgroupthat includes companies producing "specialized machin-ery other than transportation equipment and electricmachinery"—class bta of Table 19.

The size and location of the corporation may also beitems to note in deciding ambiguous cases. The amountof the authorized capital stock is seldom helpful in clas-sifying corporations by objectives, but it frequently pro-vides a clue to what is going on in the community. Thesharp rise around 1899 in the number of very large NewJersey companies, which even a cursory survey of in-corporations cannot fail to reveal, reflects combinationsand monopolistic activities The kind of articles pro-duced or handled may also facilitate the determinationof corporate purpose. For example, a company auth-orized "to manufacture, buy, and sell" a wide variety ofarticles usually stocked by drug stores can be treated—

List of charters of corporations enrolled in the office of the Sec-retary of the Commonwealth . . . June 1, 1899 . . . Ito] June 1,1901, p. 69.

AN INDUSTRIAL CLASSIFICATION OF INCORPORATIONS 51

TABLE 19

Industrial Categories used in Classifying IncorporationsA Mining and Quarrying

• AA Metal miningaaa Ironnab Copperaac Lead and zincaad Gold and silveraae Other metals (including manganese, aluminum,

mercury, and radium)naf Tjnallocable

AB Coal miningAC Crude petroleum and natural gas production (in-

chiding field service operations)aca Prospecting for petroleumacb Others

AD Nonmetallic mining and quarryingada Stone, sand, and gravel (including slate, mar-

ble, and limestone)adb Other mining and quarrying (including clay,

asbestos, mica, rock salt, and those not al-locable)

AE Those not allocable to a two-letter group

A/B Mining and IVianufacturing

B ManufacturingBA Food and kindred products

baa Bakery productsbab Confectionery and related products (including

chocolate and cocoa products)bac Canning and preserving fruits, vegetables, and

sea foodsbad Meat productsbae Grain-mill productsbaf Dairy products (including ice cream)bag Sugar (cane and beet)bah Others (including flavoring syrups)bai [Jnallocahle

BB Beveragesbba Malt and malt liquorsbbb Distilled, rectified, and blended liquorsbbc Winesbbd Nonalcoholic beverages (including carbonated

water, and birch and root beers)bbe Others (including those not allocable)

BC Tobacco manufactures (including snuff)BD Textile-mill products

bda Cottonbdb Woolen and worstedbdc Silkbdd Rayon and other synthetic textile-mill prod-

uctsbde Knit goods (including hosiery)bdf Hat bodies (except cloth and millinery)bdg Carpetsbdh Dyeing and finishing textiles (except woolen

and worsted)bdi Other textile-mill productsbdj Unallocable

BE Apparel and Other finished products made from fab-rics and similar materialsbea Men's and boys' clothing (except fur and rub-

ber clothing, and knitted goods)beb Women's, children's and infants' clothing (ex-

except fur and rubber clothing, and knittedgoods)

bee Fur gOodsbed Millinerybee Other apparelbef Unallocable

BF Leather and leather productsbfa Leather: tanned, curried, aiid finishedbfb Footwear (except rubber)bfc Other leather products (including those not al-

locable)

BG Rubber products• bga Tires and inner tubes

bgb Other rubber products and industries (includ-ing reclaimed rubber and those not allocable)

BH Lumber and timber basic productsbha Logging and' sawmillsbhb Planing millsbhc Others (including those not allocable)bhd Stream improvement for log movement

BI Furniture and finished lumber productsbia Furniture (wood and metal)bib Wooden containers (including barrels and

boxes)bic Others (including matches regardless of ma-

terial, cork products, and those not allocable)BJ Paper and allied productsBK Printing, publishing, and allied industriesBM Chemicals and allied products

bma Paints, varnishes, and colorsbmb Soap and glycerinbmc Drugs, toilet preparations, and insecticidesbmd Rayon fibre and allied productsbme Fertilizersbmf Animal and vegetable oils (excluding lubri-

cants and cooking and salad oils; including cot-ton seed products and marine oil)

bmg Plastic materialsbmh Others (including industrial chemicals)bmi Unallocable

BN Products of petroleum and coalbna Petroleum refiningbnb Others (including those not allocable)

BP Stone, clay, and glass productsbpa Brick, tile, and other structural clay productsbpb Pottery and related products (including porce-

lain)bpc Glass and glass productsbpd Cementbpe Concrete, gypsum, and plaster products (in-

cluding lime)bpf Others (including abrasives, asbestos products,

graphite, and cut stone)bpg Unallocable

BQ Iron and steel and their productsbqa Blast furnaces, steel works, and rolling millsbqb Fabricated structural steel and 'ornamental

metal workbqc Tin cans and other tinwarebqd Tools and general hardware (except machine

tools and cutlery)bqe Heating apparatus (except electric), enam-

eled-iron sanitary ware, and boiler-shopproducts

bqf Others (including cutlery, foundry and wireproducts [including cast iron pipe], andstamped metal)[for foundry and machine shop combined, seebtb]

bqg UnallocableBR Nonferrous metals and their products

bra Clocks and watchesbrb Jewelry (excluding silverware and plated ware)brc Others (including those not allocable)

•BS Electrical machinerybsa Automotive electric equipmentbsb Radio' apparatus (including phonographs ac-

cessory to radios)bsc Electrical appliances (except refrigerators,

washing machines, and sewing machines)bsd Others (including those not allocable)

BT Machinery (except electrical)bta Special industry machinery (including textile

machinery)btb General industrial machinery (including foun-

dry and machine shops)

52 CHAPTER 7

btc Metalworking machinery (including machinetools)

btd Engines and turbinesbte Construction and mining machinerybtf Agricultural machinery and tractorsbtg Office and store machines, equipment, and sup-

pliesbth Others (including refrigerators, washing mach-

ines, and sewing machines)bti Unallocable

EU Automobiles and automobile equipmentbua Trailersbub Others (including those not allocable)

BY Transportation equipment (except automobiles)b\ra Railroad equipment (including locomotives,

and railroad and street cars)bvb Aircraft and partsbye Ship and boat buildingbvd Motorcycles, bicycles, and partsbye Others (including wagons, carriages, sleighs,

push carts, carts, and wheelbarrows)bvf Unallocable

13W Miscellaneous manufacturing industriesbwa Ice (natural and manufactured)bwb Others (including professional and scientific

instruments, musical instruments, toys, pens,pencils, buttons, costume jewelry, brooms andbrushes, and furs, dressed and dyed)

bwc Phonographs and records (except phonographsaccessory to radios)

EX Those not allocable to a two-letter group

C Public UtilitiesCA Transportation

caa Railroads (including belt lines)cab Railway expresscac Street railways (including interurban railways

and subways)cad City and suburban bus lines (including omni-

bus lines)cae Interstate and interurban busses (including

stages and terminals)caf Taxicabs (including horse-drawn cabs)cag Interstate and interurban motor freight car-

riers (including horse-drawn vehicles)cab Local trucking and warehousingcai Air transportationcaj Pipe line transportationoak Water transportation other than ferries and

canal construction and operationcam Canal construction and operation (including

river improvement)can Ferriescap Others and allied services (including stock-

yards and ticket agents)caq Unallocable

CB Communicationcba Telephoneebb Telegraphcbc Radio broadcastingcbd Others (including those not allocable)

CC Other public utilitiescea Electric light and powercob Gas production and distribution (except

natural gas production)ccc Water (excluding irrigation companies)ccd Bridgescce Turnpikesccf Others (including steam heat supply, sewer-

age, and tunnels)ccg Unallocable

D Wholesale Trade (exclusively)DA Merchant wholesalersDB Commission merchants, manufacturers' agents, and

merchandise brokers

TABLE 19 (conci.)DO Others (including those not 'allocable to a two-letter

group)

E Retail Trade (including the combination of wholesale andretail trade)EA Department, general merchandise, and dry-goods

storesEB Limited price variety storesEC Mail-order housesED Food storesEE Drug storesEF Clothing storesEG House furnishings and furniture storesEH Restaurants and other eating and drinking placesEL Automobile dealers (including sellers of parts and

accessories)EJ Filling stationsEK Hardware storesEM Lumber and building supplies yardsEN Coal and fuel yardsEP Others (including cigar stores, book stores, jewelry

stores, florists, music stores, and ice dealers)EQ Those not allocable to a two-letter group

F ServiceFA Domestic and personal

fan Hotels, boarding houses, and campsfab Laundries (including cleaning and dyeing

plants)fac Photographic studios (including commercial

photography)fad Others (including barber shops, beauty shops,

clothes cleaning and pressing shops, and under-taking establishments)

fae UnallocableFB Business service

fba Advertisingfbb Others (including those not allocable)

FC Auto repair services and garagesFD Amusement

fda Motion picture production and distributionfdb Motion picture theatresfdc Auditoriums, opera houses, and theatresfdd Others (including fairs, clubs, and, those not

allocable)FE Others (including political, charitable, and religious

organizations, engineering and professional services,accountants, schools, colleges, hospitals, sanatori-urns, and those not allocable to a two-letter group)

G Finance, Insurance, Real Estate, and Lessors of Real Prop-ertyGA Commercial banks, trust companies, and safe deposit

companies (including nonmutual savings and loanassociations)

GB Building and loan associations (including mutual sav-ings and loan associations)

GC Other mortgage and title companiesGD Investment trusts and companiesGE Holding companiesGF Stock, bond, and commodity brokers, and investment

bankersGG Commercial credit and finance companies, and indus-

trial and personal loan companiesGil Other finance companies (including patent holding or

buying and licensing)GI InsuranceGJ Real estate (including townsite improvements)GK Those not allocable to a two-letter group (including

equipment trusts)

H Construction—contractors and subcontractorsHA Construction of railways .HB Other construction

Agriculture, Forestry, and Fishery (including cotton gin-ning, irrigation, compressing cotton, and baling hay)

J Those not allocable to a major division

AN INDUSTRIAL CLASSIFICATION OF INCORPORATIONS 53

if other evidence is corroborative— as a trading ratherthan a manufacturing concern. The compilers of thestate reports in which the data on incorporations are tobe found have sometimes for publication purposesgrouped companies along industrial lines; luilding andloan associations, for instance, are listed together.These classifications certainly cannot be accepted with-out question. They must be used merely as supple-mentary information. When there is doubt about theclassification of a large corporation, resort may be had tothe Commercial & Financial Chronicle and the Poor andMoody Manuals.

Even with the assistance of all available data, erro-neous classifications may be made. For example, a con-cern may appear from the charter abstract and otherprinted material to be a planing mill with a builders'supply business tacked on, but upon examination first-hand, it may be found to be a lumber yard with an in-significant portion of its income derived from the milloperations. For this type of error, there is little check.Table 20, discussed below, gives evidence that there isno serious error in the classification work described inthis chapter.

Short statements of the industrial purposes for whichcorporations have been created can be procured in read-ily accessible form for many years for at least threestates: New Jersey, Ohio, and Pennsylvania.4 In re-ports of the Secretary of State for each of these states,the newly chartered companies are listed, sometimeschronologically, sometimes alphabetically. Most of thedata worked far this and the next chapter are derivedfrom charters granted under general laws by New Jersey,1875—1907, by Ohio, 1872—1930, and by Pennsylvania,1888—1920 (App. 4). When desirable, this material islinked with that of Chapter 3, which for the most partis built upon less precise iniformation. The state re-ports here utilized give the name of each company, itsauthorized capital stock, and a brief summary of itscharter purpose statement. In addition, the companiesare sometimes grouped in the reports by industries. Inthe Ohio reports, for example, manufacturing companiesare listed together, subdivided into narrower groups.

On the; basis of these abstracts, incorporations wereclassified according to the industrial categories of Table19, whichare similar to those in the Standard IndustrialClassificaiion of the Central Statistical Board.5 In fact,the classification scheme of Table 19 for manufacturing

Other states, including Colorado and Texas, have publishedinformation on the purposes for which corporations have beenchartered. Some of these data have been used in part in thefollowing pages to supplement the figures for New Jersey, Ohio,and Pennsylvania.

(Washington, D. C., 1939—40), 1, Parts 1—4, and II, Parts 1—3.

and mining is almost identical with that of the Board.1The other major categories of Table 19—those for Pub-lic Utilities, Wholesale Trade, Retail Trade, Services,Finance, Construction, and Agriculture—differ in inter-nal arrangement from the Board's corresponding cate-gories largely because they were set up before the Boardhad published its arrangement for the nonmanufactur-ing field. In comparing Table 19 with the Board'sclassification scheme it must be remembered that manycompanies were chartered in industrial fields that are nolonger of great importance. To avoid losing detail onthe early companies, some industrial classes had to begiven more prominence than they would have had ifpresent day corporations alone had been treated. Onthe other hand, the purpose statements abstracted fromthe charters of certain types of corporation were notexplicit enough to warrant as• much detail as that con-tained in the Board's classification scheme.

The 183 basic, that is, undivided, classes of Table 19are not of equal scope.7 Roughly 2 percent are one-letter classes. Agriculture, Construction, and an un-allocable class (J) were the only one-letter categoriesused without subdivision in the grouping of Pennsyl-vania companies; for the New Jersey and Ohio data itwas deemed advisable to have a Mining and Manufac-turing class (A/B) for the companies that cut acrossthose two major industrial groups and did not appearto belong really to either group. Of course, figures forother one-letter classes, such as Mining or Manufactur-

6 In addition to the absence of a certain amount of detail fromTable 19 and the prominence given certain currently obsoleteindustries, the important differences between Table 19 and theclassification scheme of the Central Statistical Board are:1) The manufacture of beverages appears in table 19 as a two.letter category while in the C.S.B. classification it is a three-digit category in the Food and Kindred Products group.2) The production of ice is likewise a part of food manufacturein the C.S.B. classification; but in Table 19 it appears as a typeof Miscellaneous Manufacturing.3) Cutlery manufacturing in Table 19 is in the Others class of theiron and steel group, while in the C.S.B. classification it isplaced with tools and general hardware and as such constitutesa three-digit category in the iron and steel section. (In Table 19.Toots and General Hardware appears as a three-letter category.)4) The manufacturing of phonographs and records appears inTable 19 as a subdivision of Miscellaneous Manufacturing; inthe C.S.B. classification it is part of Communication Equipment,a subdivision of the Electrical Machinery group.5) Communication Equipment, a subdivision of the ElectricalMachinery manufacturing group of the C.S.B. classification,does not appear in Table 19 as such. The production of such ma-terial would appear in Table 19 under Radio Apparatus (a sub-division of Electrical Machinery) or Phonographs and Records(a subdivision of Miscellaneous Manufacturing Industries) orthe Others class of the Electrical Machinery manufacturinggroup.

As explained below, the two classes of Table 19 that are let-tered A/B and HA were not used on the Pennsylvania data.

American Manufacturingand Novelty Co.

Armstrong County Trust Co.

Armure Tapestry MillAutocrat Shirt Waist Manu-

facturing Co. of Wilkes-Barre

Breon Table Co.

C. Schmidt & Sons BrewingCo.

Cadwallader Tin Plate andMetal Co.

Carnegie Mill and LumberCo..

Central Pennsylvania TrustCo.

Manufacture of butter, cheese, buttermilk and allother products made from milk

Trading in merchandise at wholesale and retailManufacturing and selling lumber, mill-work, and

builders' suppliesCarrying on the plumbing businessManufacturing bobbins and other implements used

in the manufacture of silk and cotton fabricsManufacturing tile and all other articles of com-

merce from any material whatever, by patentedand unpatented processes, either or both

Making anything of iron, steel, brass, composition,wood, or a combination of any and all of them;for the purpose, generally, of carrying on thebusiness of a machine-shop and iron and brassfoundry

Manufacture of step ladders, lawn swings, iron orsteel, or both, or of any other metal, or of anyarticle of commerce from metal or wood, or both

Manufacture of braided and woven narrow fabricsof cotton, linen and silk

Manufacturing of and selling all kinds of lumberand builders' supplies

Manufacture and sale of iron or steel, or both, or ofany other metal, or articles of commerce frommetal alone or in connection with other materials

Insurance of owners of real estate, mortgagees, and• others interested in real estate, from loss by• reason of defective titles, liens and inc,umbrancesManufacturing textile fabricsManufacturing and selling of gentlemen's and

ladies' shirt waists and wearing apparel tndarticles of a similar character

Manufacture and sale of tables, furniture andother articles made of wood

Manufacturing, weaving and making silk, cotton,woolen and other textile goods, and of manu-facturing and making silk, cotton, woolen threadand yarns

Manufacture of beer and malt, and of brewed andmalt liquors, and for the sale of the same somanufactured

Manufacture of iron or steel, or both, or of anyother metal, or article of metal, wood, or both

Acquiring and manufaeturink lumber, doing mill-work, furnishing building supplies, acquiringand making all articles manufactured from wood,and selling and otherwise disposing of the same

Insurance of owners of real estate, mortgagees, andothers interested in real estate, from loss byreason of defective titles, liens and incumbrances

Manufacture of iceEngaging in and carrying on the business of the in-

surance of owners of real estate, mortgagees, andothers interested in real estate, from loss byreason of defective titles, liens and incumbrances

Manufacturing and distilling spirituous liquorsDigging and quarrying clay and limestone, and

manufacturing the various products therefromManufacturing and dealing in crackers, candies

and bakery and confection products and sup-plies generally

Manufacturing and selling textile fabrics

54 CHAPTER 7

TABLE 20A Sample of Pennsylvania Corporations Chartered in 1902 Classified on Basis of Bradstreet and Charter Descriptions

NAME OF COMPANY RRADOTREET DESCRiPTION OFROSINEsS0

INDUSTRIALcLASSIPICA-

TSON ONBASiS OP

BRADSTREETDESCRIPTION

ABITSACT OP CHARTER PURPOSES QUOTED PROMLiot of C/ions's of Corpora/loss1'

Abington Dairy Co.

Acme Department StoreAlcott-Ross Co.

Allegheny Plumbing Co.Allentown Bobbin Works

American Cement and TileManufacturing Co.

American Foundry and Ma-chine Company

American Narrow Fabric Co.

American Planing Mill Co.

Arco Manufacturing Co.

Butler Silk Mill

Dairy

Groceries, etc.Lumber & mill work

PlumbingBobbin works

Cement and tile manu-facturing

Foundry and machine co.

Wooden specialties

Manufacturers

Planing mill

Metal specialties

Trust co.

Tapestry millShirt waist manufacture

Manufacturers

Silk mill

Brewery

Manufacturers

Mill and lumber co.

Trust co.

Ice companyTrust co.

DistilleryLimestone and brick com-

panyWholesale confectionery

Textile company

baf"

EAbhb

Hbta

bpg

btb

bic

bdj

bhb

BX

GA

bdjbeb

bia

bdc

bba

bqa

bhb

GA

bwaGA

bbbbpa

DA

bdj

INDUSTRIALCLASSIFICA-

TiON ONBASIS OPCHARTER

ABSTRACT

baf

EAbhb

Hbta

bpg

btb

bic

bdj

bhb

BX

GO

bdjbef

bia

bdc

bba

bqa

bhb

GO

bwaGO

bbbbpa

bai

bdj

Citizens' Ice Co.Colonial Trust Co.

Connellsville Distilling Co.Croton Limestone and Brick

Co.D. L. Clark Co.

Davis Textile Co.

The Bradstreet Company, Bradsfreet's Book of Commercial Ratings of Bankers, Merchants, Manufacturers in the United States andthe Dominion of Canada (Sept. 1905), Vol. 151.b List of Charters of Corporations enrolled in the office of Secretary ot the Commonwealth during the two years beginning June 1, 1901,and ending June 1, 1903 . . . (1903), pp. 51—65.

Unless a dairy was very small or there was specific reason to classify it as a mere distributor, it was treated as a manufacturingconcern.

AN INDUSTRIAL CLASSIFICATION OF INCORPORATIONS 55

TABLE 20

INDUSTRIAL INDUSTRIALCLASSIPICA- CLASSIPICA-

BRADSTISEET DESCRIPTION OP TION ON ABSTRACT OF CHARTER PURPOSES QUOTED FROM TION ONNAME OF COMPANE BUSINESSa BASIS OF Lisi of Choriers of Corporsiionsb BASIS OP

BRADSTREET CHARTERDESCRIPTION ABSTRACT

Donley Brick Co. Brick company bpa Quarrying, mining and digging of limestone, sand- bpastone, clay and shale, and the manufacturingfrom said limestone, sandstone, clay and shaleof fire brick, pressed brick, stock brick, pavingbrick, common brick, decorative bricks and allmanner of bricks, sewer pipe, tile pipe, buildingtile, crushed stone, paving stone, building stone,lime and sand, and the sale thereof, and the by-products thereof, to be used for any purpose,and for purchasing, leasing or holding, uponroyalty or upon rental, clay or shale lands, fromtime to time, when and as the same shall becomenecessary or convenient in the transaction ofthe business of the said company

Excelsior Planing Mill Co. Planing mill bhb Manufacture of doors, sash, blinds, shutters, win- bhbof Reading, Pennsylvania dow and door-frames, and other articles of com-

merce from woodF. W. Crandall Co. Manufacturers of toys bwb Manufacture and sale of chairs, toys, novelties, bic

and hardware special- building materials, lumber and other articles ofties metal or wood, or both

Fayette H. Plumb & Sons, Manufacturers of edge bqf Manufacture of railroad, miners and blacksmiths' bqfInc. tools, etc. tools, and edge tools generally, and of all other

similar articles of commerce of iron or steel, orboth, or of any other metal

Finley Acker Co. Grocers and manufac- J Manufacturing and selling all articles of food, con- Jturers of confectionery fectionery, toilet articles, groceries and gen-

eral merchandiseFleischrnan Distilling Co. Distillery bbb Engaging in and carrying on the business of deal- bbb

ing in spirituous and vinous liquors and recti-fying and compounding the same and sellingthe same at wholesale

George C. Anderson and Contractors H Erecting and constructing dwellings and other HSons, Inc. houses and buildings, and furnishing and sup-

plying the necessary building materialsGermantown Telegraph Pub- Printers and publishers BK Publishing the Germantown Telegraph newspaper, BK

lishing Co. and for the general purpose of the transactionof a printing and publishing business

Greensburg Foundry and Foundry and machine co. btb Manufacture of iron or steel, or both, or of any btbMachine Co. other metal, or of any article of commerce from

wood or metal, or bothH. H. Maus & Co., Inc. Wholesale lumber and DA Buying, selling, trading and dealing in lumber, DA

railroad ties railroad ties, wood, etc., at wholesale, under actapproved 25th June, 1895

Haney-White Co. Builders' supplies EM Buying and selling merchandise EQHerald Publishing Co. of Publishing BK Transaction of a printing and publishing business BK

Pittsburgh, Pa.Hyde Carbon Black Co. Manufacturers of lamp- bmb Manufacturing, marketing and selling lampblack, bmh

black carbon black, gas black, amorphous carbon, andother products, articles and materials of likenature and character

J. C. Lappe Tanning Co. Tanning bfa Manufacture of all kinds of leather, and all ar- bfatides of commerce composed wholly or partly ofleather

J. W. Hodil Co. Contractors H Purchase and sale of real estate, including power, GJfrom time to time, to subdivide lots or acreage,to sell, hold or lease the same, negotiate loanssecured by mortgage thereon, or improve realestate by the erection of buildings or otherwise

James G. Corcoran Co. Contractors H Carrying on the business of the construction of Hand contracting for buildings and railroads andgeneral construction

John Crompton Co. Manufacturers of paper BJ Manufacturing paper, paper or pasteboard boxes, BJboxes paper or pasteboard bags, paper goods and

specialties, or any article of commerce manu-factured from paper or pasteboard, either aloneor in combination with wood, muslin, metal,glass or any other substance, and of selling suchproducts so manufactured

Joseph Hendler Construe- Construction H Conducting a general construction and contract- Htion Co. ing business

56 CHAPTER 7

TABLE 20 (cont.)

INDUSTRIAL INDUSTRIALCLASSIPICA- CLASSIFICA-

NAME OS COMPANY BRADSTREET DESCRIPTION OF TION ON ABSTRACT OF CHARTER PURPOSES QUOTED FROM TION ONBUSLNNSSR BASIS OF List of Charters of Corporationsb BASIS OFBRADSTREET CHARTERDESCRIPTION ABSTRACT

Joseph Woodwell Co. Wholesale and retail EK Buying, selling, trading and dealing in hardware, EKhardware at wholesale and retail

Kane Trust & Savings Co. Trust and savings corn- GK Insuring owners of real estate, rnortgagees, and GCpany others interested in real estate, froSn loss by

reason of defective titles, liens and incumbrancesKarl SchlatterDye Works Dye works bdh Manufacturing, dyeing and selling all kinds of bdh

fabrics, yarns and threads, made or to be madeof cotton, wool, linen, silk or other materials

Kaufman Brothers Department store EA Buying, selling and dealing in goods, wares and EQmerchandise at retail

Keystone Sand and Supply Sand EM Buying and selling, trading and dealing in, sand, EMCo. . gravel, lime, cement, brick, and other and all

kinds of building and builders' suppliesKeystone Foundry Co. Manufacturers of iron bqf Manufacture of iron or steel, or both, or of any bqf

and steel other metal, or article of commerce from metal,or wood, or both, and for the sale of the same

Keystone Silk Weaving Co. Manufacturers of woven bdc Manufacturing and selling silk labels, shoe facing bdcsilk labels and other woven goods

Lackawaxen Creamery Co. Creamery baf Manufacturing butter and cheese, and selling the bafsame

McCandless and Gordon Men's furnishing EF Engaging in and carrying on the business of buy- EFCompany ing, selling, dealing in men's furnishing goods,

at retailMcKinney Manufacturing Hinges bqd Manufacture of iron and steel, or both, or of any BX

Company other metal, or of any articles of commerce froSnmetal or wood, or both

Nansen Supply Company General store EA Buying, selling, vending, trading and dealing in EQany kind or kinds of goods, provisions, waresand merchandise, at retail or wholesale, or bothretail and wholesale combined

Northern Trust and Savings Trust and savings corn- GK Insurance of owners of real estate, mortgagees, and GCCompany pany others interested in real estate, from loss by

reason of defective titles, liens and incumbrancesOntwood Hotel Company Hotel faa Maintaining and conducting an hotel faaP. C. Fulweilcr and Bro. Manufacturers of cigars BC Manufacture and sale of cigars, tobies, cheroots, BC

Company and tobacco and any of its products, includingcigarettes, snuff, smoking and chewing tobacco

Patterson Coal and Supply Coal and supply company EM Buying and selling coal, lumber, lime, cement, and EMCompany a general line of builders' supplies

Paxtang Electric Company Electric company cca Supplying light, heat and power by means of dcc- ccatricity to the public of the city of Harrisburg,State of Pennsylvania, and to persons, partner-ships and associations residing therein and ad-jacent thereto as may desire the same

Penn Furniture Company Manufacturers bia Manufacturing and selling all kinds of furniture, biaand to sell and manufacture any and all goodsor materials used therein

Peter Woll and Sons Feather Manufacturers of bed- bia Manufacture of bedding supplies biaCompany ding supplies

Peter Woll and Sons Manu- Upholsterers' and brush bwb Manufacture of upholsterers' mattress and brush bwbI acturing Company makers' supplies supplies

Presque Isle Laundry Corn- Laundry lab Cleansing, bleaching, starching and smoothing labpany textile fabrics by the use of machinery and me-

chanical appliances and the application ofskilled manual labor, and the carrying on of a

• laundry businessRambo and Regar, Inc. Manufacturers of hosiery bde Manufacturing and selling knit goods and knitting bde

machineryReifler and Sons, Inc. Lumber and manufac- bmh Manufacturing and selling lumber and- wood al- bmh

turers of acids cohol, acetates, charcoal, and other productsmade from wood by destructive distillation

Ridgway Sandstone Corn- Sandstone ada Mining, quarrying and selling stone and sand adapany

Robert W. Tunis Manufac- Printing presses bta Manufacture and sale of printing presses, type, btaturing Company printers supplies, and any article of commerce

made from wood or metal, or bothRose Hill Hair Drawing Wholesale horse hair DA Selling, drawing, and manufacturing horse hair, bwb

Company cow hair, bristles, and kindred articles andproducts

Rosenbaum Company Department store EA Buying and selling, at wholesale and retail, dry- EAgoods, notions, millinery and general merchan-disc

AN INDUSTRIAL CLASSIFICATION OF INCORPORATIONS 57'

TABLE 2INDUSTRIAL INDUSTRIALCLASSIFICA- CLASSIFICA-

BRADSTRERT DEScRIPTION OP T1O1'S ON ABSTRACT OP dARTER PuRPOSES QUOTED PROM TION ONNAM1 OF COMPAN'BTJSINESS° BASIS OP List of Charters of Corporationsb BASIS OF

BISADSTREET CRARTERDESCRIPTION ABSTRACT

Saucony Shoe Manufactur- Shoe manufacturing bfb 'Manufacturing boots and shoes from leather and bfbing Company ' other materials . . -

Scranton Journal Publish- Publishing BK 'Doing a general printing and publishing business BE.jag Company in all its branches

Shenandoah Trust Company Trust company GA Insuring owners of real estate, mortgagees, and GOothers interested in real estate, from loss byreason of defective titles, liens and Sacumbrances

Smith Bros. Brick Company Brick bpa Manufacture of brick, tile, terra-cotta and other bpaproducts that can be manufactured from shaleor clay

Sportsmen's Supply Com- Sporting goods EP Trading and dealing in goods and merchandise gen- EPpany erally at wholesale and retaSl

Spring Brewing Company Brewery bba Manufacturing and selling lager beer, ale and bbaporter

Steelton Trust Company Trust Company GA Insurance of owners of real estate, mortgagees, and GOothers interested in real estate, from loss byreason of defective titles, liens and incumbrances

Sterling Automatic Instan- Water heaters bqe Manufacturing the Sterling Automatic Instantane- bqetaneous Water Heater ' ous Water Heater, and any article of commerceCompany of metal or wood, or both

Surburban Gas Company of Gas company ccb Manufacture and supply of gas for light only to the ccbPhiladelphia public in the city of Chester, the township of

Chester and Lower Chichester, and such bor-oughs as may be in existence or may be createdwithin the territorial limits of the said town-ships, and to such persons, partnerships, cor-porations and associations residing therein andadjacent thereto as may desire the same

Susquehanna Dye Works Dye works bdh Manufacturing and selling the ingredients and bdhmaterials used in dyeing and cleansing thread,yarn or cloth, of silk, cotton, wool or otherfabrics, and to dye thread, yarn, or cloth, orfabrics of silk, cotton, wool or other material,and to sell such dyed materials or products

Susquehanna Store Corn- Store EQ Buying and selling any kind or kinds of goods, EQpaiy . wares and merchandise, at wholesale and retail

Tacony Iron Company Manufacturers of SOSl , bqf Manufacture of iron and steel, or both, or of any bqfpipes ' other metal, or of any article of commerce from

metal or wood, or bothTacony Soap Company Manufacturers , bmb Manufacturing soaps and soap makers' materials bmb

and suppliesTarentum Savings and Trust Savings and trust corn- GK Insurance in real estate, from loss by reason of de- GO

company pany fective titles, liens and incumbrancesUnion Razor Company Manufacturers of cutlery bqf Manufacturing and selling cutlery b'qfUnion Trust Company of Trust company GA Engaging in and carrying on the business of the GO

Donora insurance of owners of real estate, mortgagees,and others interested in real estate, from loss byreason of defective titles, liens and incumbrances

Wallis and Carley Company Lumber and planing imil bhb Manufacture and sale of lumber, lath, shingles; bhbdoors, sash, blinds, frames, mantels, brackets,mouldings, and all kinds of furnishings andtrimmings for houses and other buildings andthe conduct of the general business of contract-ing and building

'William T. Leggett Company Wholesale cement DA Buying, selling, trading and dealing at wholesale DAin lime, cement, slate, plaster, and builders' andcontractors' supplies of kindred character

Wolf Company Manufacturers of flour bta Manufacture of mill machinery and supplies, and btamill machlnery of iron or steel, or of any other metal, or of any

article of commerce from metal or wood, or both,and the buying or selling of such articles

Wrightsvslle Light and Light and power ccg Manufacturing light, heat or power by means of ccaPower Co. electricity in the borough of Wrightsville, or to

such persons, partnerships and associations re-siding in or adjacent thereto as may desire thesame

Yougbiogheny Stone Corn- Stone ada Quarrying, mining, crushing and preparing for adapany market stone, or other materials incidentally

developed

58 CHAPTER 7

ing, can be built up by combining the proper basicclasses; but that is a different matter. The 183 cate-gories give the data in the most minute groupings feasi-ble. Twenty percent of the classes are undivided two-letter ones. The manufacture of paper and of tobacco—both major subdivisions of the one-letter category,Manufacturing—are among the two-letter classes used.One two-letter category of Table 19—Construction ofrailways (HA)—was not part of the scheme when thePennsylvania data were worked but was added when theNew Jersey and Ohio companies were classified. [nthe latter two states there seemed to be enough suchcorporations to make it desirable to set up a separateclass. Seventy-eight percent of the classes are three-letter ones, illustrated by the manufacture of paint, ofsoap, and of drugs. Each is a subdivision of the manu-facture of chemicals (a two-letter class), which in turnis a major division of the broad one-letter class, Manu-facturing

The reliability of the published abstracts as an indexof corporate purposes was tested by Pennsylvania data(App. 5). After all incorporations of that state in 1889,1902, and 1916 had been classified industrially on thebasis of the charter abstracts, a sample of 225 companieswas drawn for each year. These companies were lookedup in Bradstreet's rating books, and from thOir state-ments of objectives were again classified industrially. Inboth operations, company names were taken into ac-count whenever they were a clue to the nature of theenterprise. The two classifications were made at periodssufficiently far apart to prevent the memory of thecompiler from influencing the second. Identical classifi-cations—using 181 categories of Table 19—were madefor roughly 82 percent of the items classified for eachyear.8 In view of the detail of the classification scheme,the 82 percent score seems very high. Moreover, manytypes of company whose purposes were obvious fromthe. chartr abstracts were not listed in Bradstreet's.Had all electric light concerns and building and loan asso-ciations, for example, been listed, it is hard to believethat they; would have had industrial designations dif-ferent froth those determined from the abstracts. Thetest thus indicates a high degree of reliability for thePennsylvania abstracts. To show how closely the resultsderived horn the two sources agreed, the industrial de-scriptions, of all companies in the 1902 sample for which

The term 'identical classification' was stretched in the case ofthe 1902 test. The nine companies that in one source were listedas trust and savings companies and in the other as title guaran-tee and trust companies were considered to belong to the sameindustrial category. For further information on the test, seeAppendix 5.

The 181 categories were those of Table 19 minus the twoclasses A/B and HA.

the purposes could be clearly determined from Brad-street's (91) ar& presented in Table 20. A check of theeleven companies that were not classified 'identically'when both sources were used reveals that in only threedid the allocations differ seriously.9 Of course, this testassumes that the contemporary Bradstreet industrialdesignation was accurate.

The chartering episodes and pronounced waves of in-corporation in many industries that were revealed bythe industial classification suggested another group oftests. These movements, together with tests of the ac-curacy of the incorporation figures, are treated in Chap-ter 8. An example of these tests is given in Table 21.The discrepancies betd.reen the number of chartersgranted title guarantee and trust companies by Pennsyl-vania in the early years of the 20th century as reportedby the Pennsylvania Banking Commissioner and ascompiled from the charter abstracts published by the

TABLE 21Title Guarantee and Trust Incorporations

Pennsylvania, December 1899—November 1004

DECEMBER TO NOVEMBERS

ACCORDING TO BANE-INC COMMISSIONER

REPORTS"

AS COMPILED FROMCHARTER ABSTRACTS5

1899 I 19001900 J 19011901 19021902 I 19031903 1904

1647697516

1747687614

a Sixth Annual Report of the Commissioner of Banking.. . for1900 (1901), Part 1, pp. Il—Ill; Seventh Annual Report

for. .,. 1.901 (1902), Part 1, pp. 11—Ill; Eighth Annual Reportfor . . . 1909 (1903), Part I, pp. Il—TV; Ninth Annual

Report . . . for . .. 1903 (1904), Part 1, pp. II—V; Tenth AnnualReport . . . for . . . 1904 (1005), Part 1, pp. Il—Ill.b List of Charters of Corporations enrolled in the office of theSecretary of the Commonwealth during the two years beginningJune 1,1899, and ending June 1,1901 .. . (1901); List of Char-ters . . . beginning June 1, 1901, and ending June 1, 1903(1903); List of Charters . . . beginning June 1, 1903 and endingMay 31, 1905 . . . (Harrisburg, 1905).

Secretary of the Commonwealth are unimportant andeasily explained. For instance, a comparison of the twosources for December 1, 1901—November 30, 1902 re-veals the following differences:1) The Banking Commissioner omitted a trust com-pany listed by the Secretary of the Commonwealth(Penn Savings and Trust Company, incorporated Feb-ruary 11, 1902).2) The Banking Commissioner listed a company thatdoes not appear in the Secretary's report (MortgageBanking Company, incorporated March 3, 1902).3) The Banking Commissioner classified a safe depositcompany (Armored Safe Deposit Co. of Pittsburgh, in-corporated February 6, 1902) as a trust company, butthe Secretary's description suggests that the concern is

'See items 25, 41, and 60 in Table 20.

AN INDUSTRIAL CLASSIFICATION OF INCORPORATIONS 50

more properly classified with commerical banks (GA ofTable 19).

Another test—less valid as a check upon the qualityof the incorporation data but nevertheless interesting—consists of comparing the percentage distribution of in-corporations among the major categories of Table 19with the distribution of corporations reportiTug to theOffice of Internal Revenue. As the industrial distri-bution of newly chartered companies is compared withthat of all existing corporations, there are obvious draw-backs. The results, however, were such that it seemeddesirable to give them here.

If the wholesale and retail trade categories of Table19 are merged, the major groups are mining, manufac-turing, public utilities, trade, service, finance, construc-tion, agriculture, and a miscellaneous group. Thesewere the categories by which the Office of InternalRevenue classified corporations reporting for income taxpurposes (Table 22). The absolute figures were con-verted into percentages of the total in order to portraybetter the industrial distributions of the corporations inexistence at each date. The comparable percentage fig-ures for incorporations, Table 23, were computed fromthe basic data in Appendix 4. The most striking featureof Chart 20 is the closeness with which the industrial•distribution based upon the Internal Revenue data tiesin with that for the incorporation figures. One is temptedto predict that if data similar to those of the Officeof Internal Revenue could be compiled for the pre-1916period, they would yield industrial distributions similarto those of the incorporation figures. Such a predictionis dangerous because it entails such assumptions as auniform rate of death among corporations of the variousindustrial groups; but in the almost complete absenceof more definite data on the total population of corpo-rations. existing at that time, the distribution indicatedby the incorporation data may be accepted as a roughapproximation. Of course, the corporations existing atany one time bear a relation to the number previouslycreated. The factor, however, that makes the move-ments in the industrial pattern of incorporations a ques-tionable index of variation in the total picture of exist-ing corporations is that mentioned above, namely, thepossible differences in the rates at which companies indifferent industries abandon or lose their charters.

From reading and working over the charter abstractsand purpose descriptions utilized in classifying incor-porations along indUstrial lines my assistants and Igained impressions about the quality of the source ma-terial that must be mentioned to caution the readeragainst fiasty generalizations The results obtained fromthe Pennsylvania and Ohio data seem to us quite reli-able. The Pennsylvania descriptions were fairly com-plete; the brevity of the Ohio descriptions was offset

TABLE 22Corporations Reporting for Income Taxation

Percentage Distribution by Major Industrial CategoriesNew Jersey, Ohio, and Pennsylvania, 1916—1918 and 1921—1930'

1616 1917 1918 1119211 1922 1923 1924 1925 192619271928l1929

1930

Mining

N.J.OhioPa.

3.73.76.1

1.84.37.0

.84.38.1

1.05.2

10.4

1.04.79.9

.94.79.5

.84.19.1

.8 .84.0 3.99.0 8.2

.7 .63.5 3.48.0 7.6

.6 .63.1 3.07.1 6.6

Manufacturing .

N.J.OhioPa.

30.031.831.4

28.832.529.9

28.230.229.4

30.228.531.4

29.127.529.9

27.527.130.2

28.526.629.2

24.6122.8

26.226.1

29.329.4

21.120.2 19418.925.225.024.123.928.6i28.2j27.826.9

• Public Utilities •

N.J.OhioPa.

5.06.1

10.1

6.37.8

10.4

5.85.28.8

4.64.57.2

4.84.47.4

4.44.37.2

4.84.57.1

4.9 4.64.6 4.77.2 7.5

3.6 3.43.9 3.86.6 6.2

3.43.76.2

3.53.75.0

Trade

N.J.OhioPa.

20.5 15.4a 28.6 21.3a 17.3 14.9

19.124.618.8

19.824.919.4

20.325.119.6

20.125.120.3

20019.326226.120.9126.5

20.420.720.821.127.227.827.927.521.6 22.3122.5i23.O

Service • .

N.J.OhioPa.

a

a

5.75.84.0

4.64.54.3

6.15.44.3

6.65.85.0

6.76.05.2

6.46.25.2

6.66.55.5

6.76.86.0

6.57.06.3

6.57.2GA

6.87.66.7

7.28.17.0

Finance .

N.J.OhioPa.

a

aa

22.013.712.6

24.718.516.7

25.020.617.4

26.321.617.5

27.422.017.6

28.523.0.17.9

32036.224.2 24.718.8 .19.9

37.738.924.8 24.720.2 20.3

38.925.120.3

38.025.120.4

Construction .

N.J.OhioPa.

a

aa

53453.1

433.42.5

544.02.9

5.34.02.9

5.73.83.2

5.74.03.4

6.1 6.0 6.14.2 4.3 4.33.7 3.6 3.7

6.3 6.54.5 4.73.9 4.2

6.14.74.3

, Agriculture ' .

N.J.OhioPa.

1.39

.8

1.71.1.8

1.41.1.8

1.31.0.9

1.21.0

.. .8

1.21.0

.8

1.01.1

.8

1.01.0.9

1.01.1

.9

1.01.2

.9

.91.2

.9

2.01.2.9

1.11:2.9

Others .

N.J.OhioPa.

62.057.551.6

81b 14.917b 11.2

149b 146

7.36.26.8

5.9 6.0 6.2 3.66.1 5.8 5.5 3.17.2 6.7 7.1 4.6

2.52.24.0

2.8 2.42.9 2.24.1 4.2

2.42.34.3

2.82.65.1

Not ascertainable.b Computed from the total and the amounts in the other categories.Data for 1918 and 1920 are not available.Percentages were calculated from data in the following sources: U.S., (Offict ofInternal Revenue, ,Skztioiic of Income . . . for 1918. ;. (Washington, D.c., 1918),Table 9, pp. 35-6, and Table iSa, pp. 281—323; for 1917, Tables 12-20, pp. 53—70;for 1918, Table 10, pp. 92—3, and Table 13, pp. 135—41; for 1919, Table 8, pp. 54—5;for 1920, Table 8, pp. 60—1;for 1921, TableS, pp.56—7, andTable 10, pp. 86—9l;for1952, Table 8, following p. 95, and Table 10, pp. 123-8; for 1923, Table 8, facingp. 77, and Table 10, pp. 87—117; for 1954, Table 8, following p. 121, and Table 12,pp. 161—7; for /955, Table 8. facing p. 104, and Table 12, pp. 119—39; for 1928, Table12, following p.313, and Table 16, pp. 335—55; for 1927, Table 12, following p. 309,and Table 17, pp. 332-64; for 1928, Table 12, pp. 314—6, and Table 17, pp. 341—74;for 1929, Table 12, pp. 263—5, and Table 17, pp. 294—326; for 1930, Table 12, pp.209—li, and Table 17, pp. 240—59.

somewhat by the fact that the Office of the Secretary ofState grouped incorporations along industrial lines for

6,0 CHAPTER 7

TA2LS 23

Incorporations under General LawsPercentage Distribution by Major.Industrial Categories

New Jersey, Ohio, and Pennsylvania, 1872—1930

18721 18731874 1875 1876 1877 1878 1879 1880 1881 f 1882 1883 1884 18851 1886 11887 1888 1889 11890 1891 1892i18931894(1895i1896189711898ll899ll9D3il901

Mining

N.J.Ohio 14.0Pa.

9.7 11.7.0

'9.07.16.4

3.12.5

5.55.7

0.38.4

15.58.7

23.8 15.7 5.8 3.95.7 7.0 4.9 6.1

.4.774

3.4 0.411.5 19.6

4.1 3.2! 3.17.4 6.1 6.6

10.9 10.3 11.4

3.8 3.6j 3.7 4.8 3.2! 5.16.6 6.0 5.2 7.4 8.0 12.38.9 9.1! '! 8.7 6.8! 7.7

8.2! 5.3 8.1 8.6 8.59.2 5.3 11.5 10.7 7.88.7! 4.8! 7.4l2.2 8.9

Manufacturing , .

N.J.Ohio 37.2Pa.

52.944.2 35.9 27.6

41.127.1—

54.713.3

41.133.0

53.241.6

38.747.1—

38.3' 49.0! 4951 54340.6 50.0 49.0 46.1

54.346.0

51.0! 48.940.& 35.5

I

55.6 53.3 59.4 56.6I58.8153.8156.6153.4153.1 49.3152.4!50.0!53.2152.347.4 46.5' 50.4 51.2 52.8 53.2'50.1!45.8'46.1 46.2 47.8!42.3!45.5142.7

39.2! 38.2! 50.3142.6147.245.2!48.9!50.6 43.1j52.3i54.7!40.7!44.8—Public Utilities .

N.J.OhioPa,

24.4 56.7 16.121.618.8

35.710.9

15.625.7

28.0! 24.127.8 22.4

26.819.4

13.6 3231 16.3j 21.130.3 14.9,14.5 14.5

17.315.5

19.2 11.719.6 19.7

12.71 1431 9.8! 79! 8.7! 9.6!10.OhlO.7h11.3! 9.7110.4!10.21 9.2! 9.414.5 17.0 13.8 10310.4 11.612.1113.3! 9.012.011.1 16.2 16.2.17.018.7! 23.31 22.5! 17.0!22,8l22.721.3!26,5I22,822,8!24.4l20,7I23.2i22.0

Wholesale and Retail Trade '

N.J.OhioPa.

.

1.0 .8 1.3.0

3.61.8

10.97.85.1

.01.8

.01.4

1.22.3

.21 2.0!. 2.7 1.72.8 3.5' 2.8 4.6

3.53.7

4.4 3.25.6 6.5

4,4! 3.91 5.85.3 0.31 0.0

.2 .1 .0

7.67.8

.0

84110.1! 8.19.0112.210.3

.0( .0 .0

9.910.1

.2

8.0 8.111.4! 8.1

2.81 2.4

8.311.33.1

11.2 8.8 8.1.9.8 7.4 9.32.0 2.7 5.3

Service

N.J.OhioPa.

5.0 2.8 9.77.1

12,811.89.0

11.015.2 11.9

7.68.4

4.85.6

2.74.7

4.0!4.1! 4.7 5.1

5.4 7.0 12.0 8.56.0 7.07.5 4.8

4.97.1

.8

4.56.3

.8

5.25.01.4

8.4 6.01 6.7 7,4!

7.2 9.1 4.9 7.11.2 1.2 1.3 1.9

7.39.312

7.2'9.0'1.1

7.9 6.99.2 7.12.4 1.2

5.9 5.87.5 6.81.2 1.5

4.56.12.5

Finance .

N.J.OhioPa.

16.5 25.0 23.813.728.5

3.6' 12.5' 12.321.4 17.3! 15.4

I

5.110.4

4.8 6.715.3 12.4

4.8! 9.8' 7.835,7 18.8 13.6

5.912.6

6.012.6

11.2! 10.91 12.1 9.312.3 16.5! 15.3 15.0

29.6! 30.81 25.1

11.5110.1 9.313.4104 7.721.7i23.420.0

6.9! 9.01 8.91 8.19.0 10.3 9.0! 9.8

22.0!l6.1 14.3!14.6

10.18.4

12.4

7.4! 8.0 10.28,911.3 13.8

12.8!12.6 15.1

Conslruction

NJ.OhioPa.

.5 .3 .0.0

1.2.0

1.1.0' 1.4.4 .0

1.3, .3

6.0110.7.5 2.0

7.7, .7

6.4.7

2.2.2

3.1.8

6.5 7.6' 3.9 5.0.5 .5 1.1 .8

.4 .1

4.0.8.7

4.1.7.5

'! 4.1 2.7 4.1 3.5 5.3 39 3.5 3.3 4.5.9. 2.2 1.9 1.4 1.6 2.5 3.4 2.7 1.9 2.8.11 .7 .2 .0 .6! 1.1 1.2 .3 .6

Agriculture

N.J.OhioPa.

'

.5 .3 .7.0.0

3.6 ..4

O 1.4.0 3.5

2.5 .0 ' .7 .9.7 .1 .4' 1.7

.

3.41.1

2.61.9

2.0 3.81.0 , 1.1

1.3 .7 .9.4 .3 1.1

.0 .1

1.21.4

.4

.61 1.11.1 .5

.2 .1

1.11.7

.0

1.8.7.0

.5'.9.2

1.0.7.0

.9

.7

.2

.4

.4

.2

5.1.5.3

1.3.1.0

1.0.3.3

Unallocable'

N.J.OhioPa.

1.0 .3 .7.0

1.8.

.0! 1.6! 1.4

.0 .4 .9.0 2.4 3.3 3.7 2.0! 1.7 3.9 1.8 2.8 2.81 2.8 2.1 1.5! '! 1.5 2.0 5911.91 2.6! 2.3.3 .5 1.2 1.2 1.1 .4 4.5 1.0 .8 .5 .6 1.0 .7 .8 1.3 1.1 .9 .7 1.5 1.1

' .2 .4 .0 .2 .7 .0 .9 .2 .01 .7 .4

2.6.9.6

1.8.1.5

1.6.4.3

* In the cases of New Jersey and Ohio, the unallocable class is a composite of the categories J and A/B of Table 15. In the case of Pennsylvania. it consists of only cate.gory J, since the A/B class was not used in grouping Pennsylvania incorporatioiis.Percentages were calculated from data in Appendix 4.

AN INDUSTRIAL CLASSIFICATION OF INCORPORATIONS 61

TABLE 23

Incorporations under General LawsPercentage Distribution by Major Industrial Categories

New Jersey, Ohio, and Pennsylvania, 1872—1930

1 02 1O3190411905

1906 1107 1909 1909 1910 1911 1912 1913 1914 1915 1916 1917 1918 1919 1920 1921 1922 1923 1924 1925 192. 1927J19291192911 7301

Mining

8.410.28.8

6.311.210.4

6.210.08.7

4.68.37.0

4.16.07.5

3.06.66.0

11.26.1

13.26.1

7.45.6

5.84.3

5.06.1

5.05.5

11.2 5.47.3 7.5

5.67.3

11.423.1

10.618.6

5.2 8.16.9 10.6

6.6 4.7 4.6 3.7 3.4 2.5 3.0 2.9 3.1 2.4N.J.OhioPa.

:

.

.. Manufacturing

50.645.041.7

50.1

44.1

40.1

45.948.841.5

30.7 35.748.1 46.242.0 39.5

35.844.138.6

43.739.5

39.6 41.137.5 32.6

43.030.4

39.4 37.2.3O.6 25.1

34.2 33.436.11 34.4

Pub

33.0 29.6 33.9 35.351.5 25.1 32.5 31.0

lic Utilities

33.226.7

31.8•

32.8 28.3.

26.0 25.1 24.4 25.8 25.223.821.!.

.

N. J.OhioPa.

,

7.113.517.3

8.68.28.9

6.613.115.5

10.38.1

10.1

6.88.6

14.9

,

11.910.012.0

7.3 4.79.3 9.0

17.41 12.0

,

13.2 17.210.8 12.811.1 12.6

4.56.3

11.0

14.014.614.0

8.412.0

14.416.4

5.214.8

14.713.7

5.1 4.315.9 26.4

16.4 16.013.1 13.8

. 4.6 4.628.8 36.7

()

18.2 20.413.8 11.0

. ..

4.0 4.7 4.2 4.1 4.3 3.97.2 11.5 12.7 8.4 5.5 5.4

Wholesale and Retail Trade.

58.5 21.3 21.5 22.3 24.5 19.717.3 17.2 17.1 19.0 19.3 22.!

3.45.2

20.622.0

3.4

22.4

3.4

20.9

.

4.6

21.8

4.2

22.2.

4.3

24.2

4.0 3.9:,

. .

,26624.3

5.2

25.3

5.1 4.6

.. .

26.5302•

N.J.OhioPa.

.

. .

N.J.OhioPa.-

. Service . , . .

6.16.0

7.0 6.67.1 8.3

7.37.2

8.48.5

8.49.2 8.7 10.3 8.8 10.5 11.0 11.7 11.2 12.7 10.8 9.5

,

8.5 .7 8.8 9.8 9.7.

8.9 10.8 10.3 11.2 12.4 11.2 11.0 13.!N.J.Ohio

3.6 3.0 3.9 4.9 5.6 6.8 6.3 7.8 7.3 6.0 4.7 5.6 8.0 7.8 6.0 5.2 6.1 6.2 5.8 . Pa.

,. Finance .

11.412.316.2

15.812.517.7

13.58.4

14.0

15.111.013.2

16.512.416.3

21.213.518.2

11.6 11.514.0 15.1

14.817.6

14.515.0

16.112.8

14.711.7

14.318.1

15.617.0

19.019.7

16.414.4

13.212.5

20.923.8

20.125.6

19.3 23.3I

25.3 25.8I

25122.8 22.0 21.9 22.4 21.8

.1 I

N.J.OhioPa.

, Construction ,

4.7 4.5 4.3 6.6 6.3 7.6 N.J.2.3 2.4 3.0 3.2 . 3.8 3.6 3.3 3.! 3.7 3.5 3.4 3.5 4.2 4.1 4.1 9.0 3.1 3.4 3.4 4.1 3.9 4.3 4.8 4.6 6.1 .6.6 .6.0 6.! 4.6 Ohio2.7 2.5 3.3 3.1 4.0 3.5 3.5 3.7 2.8 2.8 5.7 2.9 3.5 3.0 3.5 2.9 2.7 5.2 2.6 Pa.

. Agriculture .

1.2 1.5 1.0 1.4 1.5 .9 N.J...8 .3 1.1 .9 .6 .5 .8 .9 1.3 1.0 .6 .8 .7 1.1 .6 .7 .7 .7 1.! .7 .4 .9 1.0 .7 .9 1.1 1.3 1.1 1.3 Ohio.5 .3 .7 .5 .9 .6 .7 .5 .5 1.1 1.0 .6 5.4 1.0 .7 .6 .7 .4 .5 Pa.

. Una11ocab1e .

1.7 1.9 3.8 4.7 5.6 3.9 . , N. J.1.7 1.3 1.8 1.4 .6 1.5 .l 1.4 1.4 1.4 1.7 1.9 1.9 1.6 1.1 1.0 1.1 1.2 1.4 1.8 .9 1.4 1.4 1.2 .6 1.1 1.0 .9 1.0 Ohio

.4 .4 .8 .7 1.2 1.4 1.4 .8 .7 .2 .4 .7 1.1 .7 1.6 1.4 2.3 1.1 1.1 Pa,

* In the cases of New Jersey and Ohio, tile unaliocable class is a composite of the categories J and A/B of Table 19. In the caseof Pennsylvania it consists of only cate-gory J, since the A/B class was not used in grouping Pennsylvania incorporations.Percentages were calculated from data in Appendix 4.

u 20 10 0 7fl 10 () 40 30 20 10

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--

TABLE 24Number and Percentage of Basic Categories of Table 19 Used in Classifying Industrially the Incorporations of Each Year, 1800—1930

New Jersey, Ohio, and Pennsylvania

NEW JERSEY ONTO PENNSYLVANIA

Total Basic % total Total Basic i% total Total Basic % totalbasic classes used is basic classes used is basic classes used isuse of totalused of total used of totalclasses 1st basic classes 1st basic classes t basicused time classes5 used time classes5 used tise classes5

NEW JERSEY

T i Basic % total0 a classes used isasic used of totalc sss 1st basictime classes5

PENNSYLVANIA

Basic % totalclasses used is

used of totalclasses 1st basicused time classesa

51555552

57464747514331403547

57899389

7688

103109119117

137133138126124128131136136154

150148144149148151152148

652

0.

401

02

2351

1

4.3

361

32250

6121

002

002

20000001

27.930.130.128.4

31.125.125.725.727.923.516.921.919.125.7'

31.148.650.848.641.548.156.359.665.063.9

74.972.775.468.967.869.971.674.374.384.2

82.080.978.781.480.982.583.180.9

1800 2 21801 3 21802 3 11803 0 '01804 7 41805 0 01806 1 01807 3 01808 1 01809 4 0

1810 0 01811 5 11812 2 01813 2 11814 5 21815 7 21816 5 01817 .2 01818 2 01819 2 0

1820 2 11821 1 01822 3 11823 5 11824 9 21825. 10 31826 5 01827 0 01828 10 31829 4 1

1830 9 11831 9 01832 7 01833 12 41834 8 01835 8 11836 11 21837 19 81838 .7 01839 11 1

1840 5 21841 6 11842 4. 01843 1 01844 5 01845 11 21846 10 1

1847 15 21848 . 19 21849 13 0

1850 15 51851 12 11852 20 41853 26 21854 '29 .11855 31 51856 25 31857 19 '1

.1858 25 21859 21 2

1860 22 11861 21 01862 13 11863. 20 31864 29 41865 38 •4

1.11.6

1.6.0 2

3.8 0.0 0.5 0

1.6 0.5 1

2.2 2

.0 .12.7 11.1 11.1 12.7 33.8 12.7 61.1 41.1 31.1 2

1.1 2.5 0

1.6 1

2.7 04.9 25.5 22.7 6

.0 45.5 42.2 8

4.9 124.9 53.8 106.6 74.4 114.4 116.0 15

10.4 233.8 156.0 12

2.7 63.3 32.2 ' 4

.5 62.7 76.0 '115.5 148.2 6

10.4 137.1 11

8.2 146.6 15

10.914.215.816.913.7 1810.4 2013.7 1611.5 16

12.0 1711.5 97.1 16

10.9 1915.8 1920.8 31

2

000

0

1

1

1

1

002

01

01

1

1

000001

01

2

3I

1

03

0262

1

0001

0

02

001

1

1

4

65

3

2021

1

3

1.1.0.0

.0

.0

.5

1.1

.5

.5

.5

.5

1.6

.5

3.32.21.61.1

1.1

.0

.5

.0

1.11.1

- 3.32.22.2

4.4

6.62.75.53.86.06.08.2

12.68.26.6

3.31.62.23.33.86.07.7

3.37.1

6.0

7.78.2

9.810.98.78.7

9.34.98.7

10.410.416.9

1866186718681869

1870187118721873187418751876187718781879

1880188118821883188418851886188718881889

1890189118921893189418951896189718981899

1900190119021903190419051906190719081909

1910191119121913191419151916191719181919

1920192119221923192419251926192719281929

1930

ONTO

T i Basic % totalclasses used isasic used of totalclasses 1st basicused time classes5

54 11 29.548 8 26.254 7 29.556 6 30.6

57 4 31.162 3 33.969 7 37.767 3 36.667 1 36.662 3 33.963 3 34.459 0 32.264 3 35.072 3 39.3

89 3 48.695 5 51.9101 5 55.2112 3 61.2103 3 56.3890 48.6

103 1 56.3105 0 57.4104 2 56.8114 2 62.3

113 0 61.7124 .2 67.8117 3 63.9113 0 61.7125 1 68.3119 1 65.0114 0 62.3117 0 63.9118 1 64.5131 0 71.6

127 1 69.4140 1 76.5128 0 69.9132 1 72.1140 2 76.5142 0 77.6144 1 78.7144 2 78.7140 0 76.5146 1 70.8

141 1 77.0142 1 77.6150 0 82.0141 2 77.0138 0 75.4144 2 78.7147 0 80.3146 1 79.8143 0 78.1149 2 81.4

153 0 83.6145 0 79.2150 0 82.0145 0 79.2139 0 76.0151 0 82.5141 0 77.0143 0 78.1142 0 77.6147 0 80.3

145 0 79.2

57b8492

87929892839095948894

97122127131124133136135134137

145139141143139142139.136126144

141

57b3516

8431

1

2S21

1

2

14

7

302

01

1

3

3

1

1

201

001

1

0

46.450.8

48.150.854.150.845.9.

49.752.551.948.651.9

53.667.470.272.468.573.575.174.674.075.7

80.176.877.979.076.878.576.875.169.679.6

77.9

Compiled from data in Appendix 4.a The 183 basic categories were used in classifying New Jersey and Ohio incorporations, while two fewer (the 183 classes minus A/Band HA) were used in classifying Pennsylvania incorporations.b These data are for less than a full calendar year.

63

64 CHAPTER 7

presentation in the published documents. Work On theNew Jersey material was hampered by brief descriptionsunaided by any purpose grouping by the incorporatingoffice; consequently, the results for this state are not astrustworthy as those for Pennsylvania and Ohio, butthey show broad movements, and in many cases eventhe small categories are highly reliable., We attemptedto classify New Jersey incorporations beyond 1907 alongindustrial lines, but decided that the quality of the de-scriptions deteriorated and too much reliance had to beplaced upon the name of the corpOration. Accordingly,we terminated the New Jersey industrial material with1907. The Ohio industrial classification goes through1930, though beginning with the Secretary of State'sreport for 1925 the charter descriptions can be reliedupon less implicitly." All published Pennsylvania char-ter abstracts were used; their quality did not seem tovary appreciably.

Before the results yielded by classifying incorpora-tions along industrial lines are discussed in detail, thereader should notO the percentage of total industrialcategories of Table 19 that were utilized in grouping thecorporations of each state in each year (Table 24). Forexample, in 1890 approximately 75 percent of the 183categories were used in classifying New Jersey corpora-tions by industrial objectives, about 48 percent of the181 categories for Pennsylvania corporations, androughly 62 percent of the 183 categories for Ohio corpo-rations. From 1803 to 1851 in Ohio, corporations werecreated only by special acts. Since the state constitu-tional provision of 1851 practically stopped the grant-ing of special charters, the later Ohio data are for con-cerns incorporated under general laws alone. The NewJersey data for the pre-1846 period are for chartersgranted by special statutes; since' from 1846 to 1875many charters were procured under both general andspecial laws, the data of Table 24 for that period applyto both types of charter; and since not many specialcharters were granted after 1875, the figures thereafterare for incorporations under general law only. In Penn-sylvania, incorporation was accomplished primarilyunder general law in the period covered by the Pennsyl-vania section of Table 24; the data of that state, there-fore, apply solely to corporations chartered undergeneral laws.

Table 24 supplements Charts 1 and 9. When studying

10 Reports of the Secretary of State of Ohio contain statementsof the industrial objectives for newly chartered companiesfrom 1872 through 1936. The data for 1931—36 were worked forthis and the next chapters, and will be made available by theauthor to anyone who wants to see them. Except for some ma-jor categories and certain minor subdivisions, the figures forthese last six years, however, are not considered worthy ofpublication.

the three, it must be remembered that an upward move-ment of percentages in Table 24 may be due to one orboth of two factors: incorporations in new fields of en-terprise; continued use in the old fields. Of course, thecontinued use of the corporate form in old fields ispartly a function of the number of incorporations, sincethe more charters granted the greater the likelihood—other things being equal—that an incorporation will befound, in any industrial category in which the corporateform had been customary.

The second column in each state section of Table 24gives the number of basic categories of Table 19 thatwere used for the first time when classifying industri-ally the business incorporations of each year. For ex-ample, when the New Jersey incorporations of 1804 wereclassified by industry, seven of the basic categories ofTable 19 were used, four of which had not been used inclassifying the incorporations of the preceding years.Generally speaking; the corporate 'form seems to haveentered new fields 'around 1837, throughout the 1850's,during and after the Civil War, and in the late 1870'sand early 1880's; in' New Jersey, in 'addition, there wasextension in the use of the corporation around 1890.Some of the large rise in the New Jersey percentages inthe late 'eighties and almost all of it in the late 'ninetiesseem to be' due to more incorporátions in establishedlines.

The Pennsylvania data of Table 24 seem to indicatea pronounced expansion into new fields in 'the earlyyears of the 20th century, but some of the expansion isdeceptive. In the first place, the initial full year for thePennsylvania series is 1888, and some types of enter-prise that had to be recorded as originally chartered inthe early 1900's would doubtless have appeared amongthe incorporations of an earlier year if the series hadbegun as early as, say, 1850; in the second place, thegeneral corporation law was broadened in 1901 to in-clude concerns in any lawful business.1' Corporationsengaged in retail trade and certain other types of busi-ness procured special charters before 1901,12 and theywould not have been considered in compiling the Penn-

"Pennsylvania Laws, 1901 (July 9, 1901), p. 624.12 When classifying the charter abstracts published by the Sec-retary of State, four companies chartered before July 9, 1901—the date on which it became possible to procure under generallaw a charter for a retail trading company (the incorporation ofa wholesaling company under Pennsylvania general law havingbeen permitted on June 25, 1895)—had to be treated as concernsengaged in retail trade. Thus either the charter abstracts inthese cases were poorly written or the concerns were to engageprimarily in retail trade, though for chartering purposes theywere treated by the Secretary's office as engaged in some othertype of business.

AN INDUSTRIAL CLASSIFICATION OF INCORPORATIONS 65

sylvania series since special acts were ignored. The dif-ferences between the Ohio and New Jersey series, on the.one hand, and the Pennylvania series, on the other, areto some extent explained by the fact that in buildingthe former some account was taken of incorporationsby special acts whereas in the latter they did not figure

at all. In studying Table 24 it should also be borne inmind that broad incorporation laws similar to thatpassed by Pennsylvania in 1901 took effect in NewJersey in April 1875, and in Ohio in January 1880.13 New Jersey Revised Statutes, 1875, p. 6; Ohio Revised Statutes,1880, Vol. 1, Sec. 3235.