ABSTRACT
The major finding of this chapter is a rise in the ratio of capital to output in the mining industries over the period 1870. The rise was followed by a decline in the ratio from about 1919 to 1948. The rise and subsequent fall in the capital-output ratio are found to characterize each mineral industry, although the amounts of rise and fall are not uniform for the different industries.The definition of capital used in the chapter includes, for firms classified in the minerals industries, the capital goods used in producing both kinds of output. The author is of the opinion that use of census data for both capital and product insures a high degree of comparability in the measures of capital and output. A careful study of the statistics for the different censuses leads to the conclusion that there are no reliable comparative data for all mines and quarries other than the quantity and value of products.
