ng it in small lots to families of the unemployed,
and furnishing them with seed for planting. This plan served an
admirable purpose through three years of industrial depression, and was
copied in other cities; it was abandoned when, with the renewal of
industrial activity, the necessity for it ceased. The leading penal
institution of the city is the Detroit House of Correction, noted for
its efficient reformatory work; the inmates are employed ten hours a
day, chiefly in making furniture. The house of correction pays the city
a profit of $35,000 to $40,000 a year. The educational institutions, in
addition to those of the general public school system, include several
parochial schools, schools of art and of music, and commercial colleges;
Detroit College (Catholic), opened in 1877; the Detroit College of
Medicine, opened in 1885; the Michigan College of Medicine and Surgery,
opened in 1888; the Detroit College of law, founded in 1891, and a city
normal school.

_Commerce._--Detroit's location gives to the city's shipping and
shipbuilding interests a high importance. All the enormous traffic
between the upper and lower lakes passes through the Detroit river. In
1907 the number of vessels recorded was 34,149, with registered tonnage
of 53,959,769, carrying 71,226,895 tons of freight, valued at
$697,311,302. This includes vessels which delivered part or all of their
cargo at Detroit. The largest item in the freights is iron ore on
vessels bound down. The next is coal on vessels up bound. Grain and
lumber are the next largest items. Detroit is a port of entry, and its
foreign commerce, chiefly with Canada, is of growing importance. The
city's exports increased from $11,325,807 in 1896 to $37,085,027 in
1909. The imports were $3,153,609 in 1896 and $7,100,659 in 1909.

As a manufacturing city, Detroit holds high rank. The total number of
manufacturing establishments in 1890 was 1746, with a product for the
year valued at $77,351,546; in 1900 there were 2847 establishments with
a product for the year valued at $100,892,838; or an increase of 30.4%
in the decade. In 1900 the establishments under the factory system,
omitting the hand trades and neighbourhood industries, numbered 1259 and
produced goods valued at $88,365,924; in 1904 establishments under the
factory system numbered 1363 and the product had increased 45.7% to
$128,761,658. In the district subsequently annexed the product in 1904
was about $12,000,000, making a t