Evening Republican, Volume 19, Number 175, Rensselaer, Jasper County, 26 July 1915 — NATIONAL WEALTH SHOWS BIG GAIN [ARTICLE]

NATIONAL WEALTH SHOWS BIG GAIN

Increase of 75 Per Cent Is Record Made in Eight Years. FEDERAL DEBT ALSO GROWS Interesting Facts Brought Out In Decennial Report of Wealth, Public Indebtedness and Taxation by the United States Census Bureau. Washington, D. C—The decennial report on wealth, debt and taxation, issued by Director Sam L. Rogers of the bureau of census, department of commerce, and compiled under the direction of Mr. Starke M. Grogan, chief statistician in charge of the inquiry, will show an increase in the national wealth of 75 per cent in eight years; in net federal indebtedness, of 6 per cent in 11 years; in net state indebtedness, of 44.5 per cent in 11 years; in net county indebtedness, of 89 per cent in 11 years; in net municipal indebtedness, of 114 per cent in 11 years; and in the general property tax levy, of 86 per cent in 10 years. In this report are brought together in two bound Volumes all the statistics pertaining to the general subject of wealth, debt and taxation which have been issued from time to time during the past year in a series of bulletins. The National Wealth, The bureau estimates the total value of all classes of property in the United States, exclusive of Alaska and the insular possessions, in 1912 at $187,739,000,000, or $1,965 per capita. This estimate is presented merely as the best approximation which can be made from the data available and as being fairly comparable with that published eight years ago. The increase between 1904 and 1912 was 75 per cent for the total amount and 49 per cent for the per capita. Real estate and improvements, including public property, alone constituted sllO,677,000,000, or 59 per cent of the total, in 1912. The next greatest item, $16,149,000,000, was contributed by the railroads; and the third, $14,694,000,000, represented the value of manufactured products, other than clothing and personal adornment, furniture, vehicles and kindred property. Public Indebtedness. The net public indebtedness in 1913 amounted to $4,850,461,000. This amount was made up as follows: National debt, $1,028,564,000, or $10.59 per capita; state debt, $345,942,000, or $3.57 per capita; county debt, $371,§28,000, or $4.33 per capita; and municipal debt, $2,884,883,000, or $54.27 per capita. Thus the average urban citizen’s share of the net federal, state, county and municipal debt combined was $72.76; and the average rural citizen’s share of the net federal, state and county debt combined was $18.49. The total federal debt in 1910 was $2,916,205,000, of which amount $967,366,000 was ’ represented by bonds, $375,682,0()0 by noninterest-bearing debt (principally United States notes or "greenbacks”), and $1,573,157,000 by certificates and notes issued on deposits of coin and bullion. Against this indebtedness there was in the treasury $1,887,641,000 in cash available for payment of debt, leaving the net national indebtedness at $1,028,564,000, or $10.59 per capita. The increase in the net indebtedness between 1902 and 1913 amounted to 6 per cent, but for the per capita figure there was a decrease of 13 per cent. The burden due to the national debt is thus very light in comparison with that imposed by the Indebtedness of other great nations. The state defct, however, rests still more easily on the shoulders of the average citizen, being only one-third as great as that of the nation. The total state indebtedness in 1913 was and the net debt —that is, the total debt less sinking-fund assets J-was $345,942,000, or $3.67 per capita. Xba rtet debt Increased by 44.5 per

cent between 1902 and 1913, and the per capital net debt by 18 per cent. The only two states in which the per capita state debt in 1913 exceeded the per capita national debt were Massachusetts, with a net debt of $79,551,000, or $22.78 per capita, and Arizona, with $3,065,000, or $13.28 per capita. In these states, however, the large per capita debt is due principally not to the state debt proper but to the considerable amount of contingent debt assumed by the state in the name of the metropolitan districts in Massachusetts and the counties and municipalities in Arizona. The total county debt in 1913 amounted to $393,207,000, of which amount $371,528,000, or $4.33 per capita, was net debt. The net indebtedness increased by 89 per cent between 1902 and 1913, and the per capita net indebtedness by 55 per cent. By far the greatest item of indebtedness in this country is that of municipalities. This amounted in 1913 to an aggregate of $3,460,000,000, of which $2,884,883,000, of $54.27 per capita, represented net indebtedness. The rate of increase in net indebtedness between 1902 and 1913 was 114 per cent. The total levies of taxes on real estate, personal property and other property subject to ad valorem taxation, by states, counties, municipalities, school districts, and other civil divisions, increased from $724,737,000, or $9.22 per capita, in 1902 to $1,349,841,000, or $13.91 per capita, in 1912, the percentages of increase being 86 for the total amount and 51 for the per capita. Levies for state purposes increased from $80,402,000 in 1902 to $155,643,000 in 1912, or by 94 per cent. During the same period the levies by counties, municipalities, school districts,, etc., increased from $644,335,000 to $1,184,253,000, or by 84 per cent. The county levies in 1912 were $288,932,000, and those of municipalities, school districts, and other minor civil divisions amounted to $895,321,000. N Thus it appears that an increase of 75 per cent in 8 years—indicating a gain of 115 per cent in 11 years—in national wealth has been accompanied by an increase, during 11 years, of 6 per cent in net federal indebtedness, 44.5 per cent in net state indebtedness, 89 per cent in net county indebtedness, and 114 per cent in net municipal indebtedness. In connection with the growth in municipal indebtedness, however, it should be borne in mind that the proportion which urban population represented of the total was materially greater in