The evening telegraph. [volume] (Philadelphia [Pa.]) 1864-1918, 1867-05-03

ing taxation per head renders us the most
heavily taxed people in the world. -
In iudginp Of debt and taxation, however,
we are ant to overlook the indebtedness OF the
States. which should certainly be included in
anv correct estimate of the financial condition
of the countrv. On this head, unfortunately,
il is not easy TO obtain trustworthy intorma-
ton. There is no official exhibit, at short In
tervals. as in the case of the National Trea-
surv. telling what each State owes, and what
form the indebtedness of each has assumed.
The only sources of enlightenment are the re-
ports of State officers to the State Legislatures,
and these reveal but a portion of the truth.
They show indeed, what the States owe as
States, but they take no cognizance of the la
bilities contracted by counties, cities and
towns. which, in some instances, it may be
feared, exceed the liabilities of the States
themselves, necessarily affecting their fnan-
cial character and their ability to sustain ac
cruing burdens.
As to the State debts, the Financial Chronicle
of this city has taken pains to construct, from
reports of local officials, comparative state
ment of the amounts owing, respectively in
1860 and 1866 The comparison embraces
thirty-two States, whose aggregate indebted
ness shows an increase of 500, 304, ,8S1. In
1860 they owed $255, ,S49, 709; in 1866, $685.
154, 500. The debt of the State of New York
has grown from S34, 1872 975 to $51, 1884, 0S2.
Massachusetts presents larger proportionate
increase, having advanced from $7,175, 97S to
$25, ,555, TAT. Connecticut, which in 1860
owed modest $50, ,000 now staggers under
$l0,000,000 New Hampshire, which six
years ago thought $S2, l4S debt enough,
now submits patiently to $4 1888. Rhode
Island and Vermont, which formerly did
not owe a dollar, now have liabilities, re-
spectively, of SO, 626, 500 and Sl,567 500. In
the West, Wisconsin has risen from 100000
to $2,282, 191; Iowa from 1922, 296 to
1922, 1885, Missouri from $23, 923 900 to
$37, 145, 92S. OF the border States, Tennes-
see is the most heavily incumbered, its debt
having swelled from $l6, ,643, 666 to $25, 277,-
347. The war debts of the Southern States
were wiped out with the cause they espoused,
and their increase of debt is, therefore, with
one or two exceptions, for the most part
confined to the accumulation of overdue inte-
rest. The debt of Alabama has risen from
$5, ,04S, 600 to &c. 304, 972; that of Florida from
1888, 600 to $63S, ,S63; that of Louisiana from
$40, 903 to $l3, ,357, $780, that of North
Carolina from 50, 129, sos to 81, ,433, 900; that
of Virginia from $33, 248, l4l to $45, 119, ,74l
while the debt of Arkansas has grown but
nominally, and Texas, which was wont to
print a simple NIL, now confesses to 81, 320, $50.
Some of the States are enabled to boast of
diminished indebtedness. Illinois, Indiana,
Ohio, and Pennsylvania belong to this cate
CORY. The explanation is, that in these in
stances the war expenditures were met princi-
pally by the municipalities, of whose intebted-
ness we have no account. That these debts
are large may be inferred from the honorable
part which these States played in the conduct
of the war, and the lavish expenditures with
which their names are associated. Even in
States whose Indebtedness has increased, for
midable liabilities have been separately in
Cured by their cities and towns. Thus, while
the State of New York has enlarged its debt to
the extent of $17570 107, the city of New
York has also added ten millions to its debt,
and other municipalities in the State have ex-
perienced corresponding additions.
When an attempt is made, then, to estimate
the financial condition of the country, it is
necessary to add to the 81, 100000 900, odd,
reported by Mr.. McCulloch the $352 154 $50
which is owed by thirty-two of the States, and
the underlined but confessedly enormous
amounts in which county and town organiza-
tions are separately indebted. 1t is extremely
desirable that some early and official effort be
made to accumulate data for complete state
ment on this subject. The country will then
be in position to realize the load it is required
to carry, and the recklessness of those who
would augment it by hundreds or thousands
of millions for any purpose whatever.
This increase of debt would be of less i'm
portance if it had been accompanied by an in
crease of resources, or even an increased
development OF the resources we nad. Inc
statistics collated by the Financial Chronicle,
while insufficient for anything like minute
calculation, amply prove great decline in the
taxable valuation of property in the Southern
States; and in the North and West the in
crease is slight in comparison with the growth
of debt. "These statistics, our contemporary
remarks, ''seem to countenance the opinion
strongly held by some rejecting minds that,
during the war, we consumed much more than
we produced, and came out of it with heavy
loss of accumulated resources" The North
american ReUieD recently argued that the
debt of the country represents total and an
absolute loss-a deduction of so much from
our available resources; and we apprehend
that the position is much nearer the truth
than the opposite view, which alleges growth
of riches in ratio greater than the growth
of debt. An expenditure on account of wal
may be properly considered an irrecoverable
loss.
The Message OF Governor English.