The evening telegraph. [volume] (Philadelphia [Pa.]) 1864-1918, 1864-08-12
FRIDAY. AUGUST 10. 1854.
TBE nEsOURCFss or the COUNTRY,
And THEIR ANNUAL GROWTH IN

And THEIR ANNUAL GROWTH IN
RN.AuON To TEE NATIONAL DEBC.
The growth Of The United States Is the won
der of the world. Nothing like 1t Is recorded
IN autAeatic history. To foreign nations this
growth II knswp almost exclusively by the
increase o. population, or the appearance Of
American ships in their ports. But when We
como 10 lnvestigate the ability Of the nation
70 Incur extraordinary expense, or to pay an
accumulating debt, the question is not so
much one Of population as Of industry and
productions. II rs question Of the rate a,
which the nation increases in wealth aud
resources. This problem has scarcely been
investigated ct al, and Is understood by few.
To meot tho question Of the ability of this
nation 10 pay its present and future war debt
VITA promptness, and without the least dis
tress or doubt, We propose TO solve these
problcmss--1. What Is the Wealth Of the
NsacaS .. At what rate does 1t increase
g. What d its proportion to the Debte
/. What Ia the Wealth of the Nation?
Wealth b all the avilable property OF the
oounsry-lands, houses, precious metals, cat
tie, domestic animals, tools and munitions for
the employment OF labor and TO make lands
productive. In some countries, as In Holland
and Belgium, there Is considerable dra Iback
on tho value Of these. from the fact that there
Is little OF no market for them, except for the
uso of those who hold them. Thus, o man
who builds home In Amsterdam does not ex-
pect 70 cell II for what II cost he builds it for
his own use. In this country it is exactly the
reverse. Every man expects to get more for
his property than what II costs, and in nine
cases out Of ten Is justified by the event, In
q country where foreign immigration in i'm
mense, and the natural growth rapid, the
market q always 9 rising one, and all species
ofpropeStz Is marketable. Hence. in valuing
the ecoPerty OF the country, there is no draw
back IRON the want Of sale, OF the possible fall
Of values. The property Of the nation in one
year Us worth more than it was appraised at
the preceding year. Hence, If we can fad a
fair valuation OF the property Of the country,
that valuation Is q perfectly safe standard to
ascertain the wealth Of the nation. IL is only
recently that any attempt has been made TO
value the property or wealth Of nations. In
this country, the only valuations We have are
an buc OCAou5co vi AoOO lOOOy buJ Iucdc
are enough to establish both the actual
value OF property and the rate of In
crease. The valuations are very well
proved, BY corresponding nearly with
several State valuations, which are made for
the purposes Of taxation. For example, the
increase OF wealth In the State Of Ohio, given
in the United States Censuses of 1850 and
1890, compared very nearly with that given
by the Auditor Of State and Commissioner oi
Statistics, and are known to be very near the
actual saIeable value Of property. We there
fore assume the valuation OF property in this
country given In the Censuses of 1850 and
1860 TO be substantially correct. Taking,
then, only the States and Territories now In
possession, Of the United States Government
(although for the ultimate payment Of the
debt, we have right to assume that we shall
recover the whole property Of the nation)
the following brief table will show our wealth
In 160O:--