56. WHAT THE AMERICAN PEOPLE ARE DOING.--A large percentage of the
inhabitants of the United States are engaged in some form of
productive work. According to the most recent estimates there are
approximately fifty million persons, male and female, over ten years
of age, engaged in gainful occupations in this country. Of these about
fourteen million are engaged in agriculture and allied industries,
while more than eleven million are busy in manufacturing pursuits.
Almost four million are found in some form of trade, and another four
million are employed in domestic and personal service. Transportation,
clerical work, and professional callings utilize the services of
several additional million. The great majority of those employed in
American industry are men, although the number of women in industry is
steadily increasing. Children have been found in industrial pursuits
since colonial times, but of recent years there is a growing movement
to restrict or prohibit the employment of children in gainful
occupations.

57. FORESTS AND MINERALS.--The natural resources of the United States
play a large part in our industrial life. One fourth of the territory
of the United States is still covered with timber. We are abundantly
supplied with coal and iron, the two most important industrial
minerals. Our coal deposits outrank, both in quantity and in quality,
those of any other country. Iron is found in most of the states in the
Union, the high-grade deposits of the Lake Superior area being of
special importance. We produce more than half of the world's supply of
copper, which, after coal and iron, is the most important industrial
mineral. Our supply of petroleum and natural gas is large, and in
spite of the waste which has characterized our use of these important
commodities, our production of both is still great. Gold, silver,