Democratic Sentinel, Volume 15, Number 27, Rensselaer, Jasper County, 24 July 1891 — PAUPERS IN UNITED STATES. [ARTICLE]

PAUPERS IN UNITED STATES.

A Vast Army of Poor Supported at Public Expense. The Census Office has issued a bulletin on the subject of paupers in almshous s in 1800, which shows a total of 73,045, as against 66,203 in 1880. These are d.vided according to sex and color as io.lows: Number of males (white 1 , 37,387; number of males fcolored), 3,354; number o 1 females (white), 26,191; number of females (colored', 3,113. The ratio of almshouse paupers so the tola] population was 1 to 758. The present rate is Ito 857. This is a very marked ■ relative decrease. The decline is due to tho very much smaller number of paupers cared for in the North Atlant c division. In respect to nativity, not including the colored paupers, of the 66,578 white paupers, 36,656 are nativeborn, 27,648 foreign-born, and the place of birth of 2,274 unknown. The numerical order of the States according to the number of paupers in almshouses reported in each of them is as follows: New York 1 ',27iitouth Carolina... 578 Pennsylvania..... 86 >3 Vermont 5 8 Ohio 7,4 K> Mississippi 49 i Illinois 5,39 > Rhode Island 490 Massachusetts... 4. 7 25 Texas 4(54 Indiana 2 027 Minnesota h«5 New Jersey 2,718 Delaware 299 Wlsoensin 2,6il Nebraska 291 California 2, 600; Arkansas 22;1 Missouri... 2,J73!Dis. of ( olumbia. 221 Virginia 2,l93|Montana 132 Michigan 2.oJ4|Louisiana 122 D.wa 1,681 Oregon 99 Maryland 3, 9(Colorado 87 Kentucky 1,578 Washington 71 T nnessee 1,645 Utah 62 '.. erthCarolina... 1,493 South Dakota.... 53 * onnecticut 1,438 Nevada 43 lalne l,lCl|North Dakota.... 35 "Jew Hampshire.. l.HHjFlorida 24 Georgia 91 Arizona 23 ' est Virginia.... 78z|Idaho 20 Alabama 603 New Mexico 1 Kansas 593) The number of people who are permanently supported at public expense at their own homes or with private families is stated to be approximately 24,220. In thirteen states the proportion of paupers is gi eater than in Illinois. The disadvantage of the decimal sca'e is that the number ten can be only once divided without leaving a fraction, says Temple Bar. A duodecimal scale of nume atlon would have been much better, and, in fact, is much more in acootdance with our preseut svstem of weight, measure and coinage. Had the Chaldeans or who instituted the decimal scale of numbers from their ten digits, only taken it from the giants among them, who. like the giant of Gath, had twelve digi.s as well as toes, the result would havo been much more satisfactory to all calculating individuals among succeeding generations as well as those of our civil service. There are eighteen counties in Pennsylvania that have no debt. They aie Lehigh, Fearer, Cameron, Center, Columbia, Er.e, forest. Franklin, Green, Lawrence. Merrer, Montour, Perry, Pike, Sullivan. Susquehanna, Wyoming and York. The combined debt of all the other counties is •$;8,979,972. An Atchison woman who could not aflord to buv mourning when her husband died, wore the usual colors until he had been dead about six months, when she succeeded in saving enough, mo iey to astonif-h cverv one by appearing heavily covered with irape.