The Dallas daily herald. [volume] (Dallas, Tex.) 1873-1887, 1873-08-23
POVERTY or THE SOUTHERN
HTATEH.

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POVERTY or THE SOUTHERN
STATEs.
The following compilation we clip
from the vlcksburg Herald Of the 18th
inst, and NJ II IL the best showing we
have yet seen Of the ruin wrought by
war and the II famous governments
that have since prevailed In the States
Of the South, we publish to the exclu-
sion Of other matter We have prepared
for Insertion In this Issue. The follow
Ing IL a fine campaign document, and
we trust that our speakers who intend
10 "take the stump" during the
cheated days. TINT will intervene be-
tween now and the election, will study
II carefully and make II u telling point
In their discussions.
A correspondent of the New York
Tribune h,is collected from the census
report Of 1870, mn exhibit of the value
Of property In the Southern States.
Granting that his figures are true, the
comparison with the values Of 1860
makes startling showing of the i'm
puyerlshment Of the South within the
past decade.
Reducing the values for both periods
10 gold oasis, and deductiny $1,000
O0o, 900 for the slaves Of 1880, not rep
resented as property In 1870 (which Is
ut the valuation u 500 EACH, the
value Of property In thirteen Southern
States, excluding Delaware, Maryland
aud Missouri, was $,903, 9UD,629 In
1850, and In 1870 ~, 762, 26S, 40, or an
actual loss In ten Years Of SO per cent.
Of the value of all property. In the
three States, the valuation for 1870 was
a per cent greater for Delaware, 5b
per cent greater for Maryland, and ia
per cent greater for Missouri, than that
Of 1880.
Counting the gain IN. these States,
the. actual loss for oil the Southern
States during ten years was 81 per cent
OF the entire valuation of 1860. Esti-
mating the value u greenbacks for
1870 ut 81 cents, the depreciation ofthe
property in the former slaveholding
States, excluding the loss Of the slaves,
wns $4l3, 0OO, 000, or about $40 In gold
for every man, woman and child,
white ind black, now living In those
States. Excluding the three States
Which shuw large gains, the loss of the
other thirteen States In ten years was
VI, 81 100000 In gold, or 800 In gold to
every man, woman and child. II we
add to this the estimated value of the
slave property, which was tho largest
and most profitable the people possess.
cd, the depreciation amounts To S..
23tl, 0OO, 900, or S2S7 In gold for each
person. In other words, the value of
property In the Southern States IL not
to-day more than one-half of what 1t
was thirteen years ago.
Examining the property In detail
has led 10 the same result. The value
0f the farms In the Southern States, as
shown by the census reports, was less
IN currency IN 1870 than II was In gold
In 1850 by more than $3.50, 100000. The
loss on farm lands In thirteen of the
States, on q gold basis, was 81 ,092, 773, :
l0l, or greater than the entire value
that remains. During the ten years
intervening, $3.50 miles of railroa |
We're constructed Mt u cost of Sion, OOO,-
900. which should have added proper
ti0nntely to the value Of farm Lands.
but In spite Of this investment,
the farm lands of the South are not
worth to-day one-half Of what they
were worth In 1850, though the build
Ing OF railroads In the country at large
during the same time has Increased
the value OF farms threshold, The
shrinkage IN the value of farms Der
acre, confirms this estimate. In West
Virginia and Virginia 1t was 50 80, or
~ per cent; IN Tennessee 81 10, or 80
per cont; In Florida 81 q, or 40 per
cent; In North Carolina - "a, or AZ
per cent; In Arkansas S. 80, or SO per
cent; In Louisiana $l3 20, or 90 per
cent; In South Carolina Is %, or % ier
cent; and 10 on. The depreciation In
the value Of farm Implements In the
same time was from So, 8i6, 900 In Vold
IN 1880, TO SSH ~ In currency IN
1870, or = loss Of more than one-hslf
The decreaso In the value OF STOCKS
and crops that were raised In 1850 and
1870 was in the same proportion. The
figures, sufficiently startling them
selves, do not represent the loss hy prt-
ventlon Of natural increase, which II IA
proper to consider. The gain In wealth
In New York was 1856 per cent IN rold
values In lows, las; In Missouri, i3I:
in Pennsylvania, III; In Michignn'
1S0; In California, ll8. The average
gain In wealth IN all the States, cxcep,
the thirteen Southern States under
consideration, was III per cent in the
ten years Al this ratio the wealth Of
these Southern States would have been
Increased by M,OOO, OOO, OO0, instead Of
being diminished by 81, 1O.OOO 600
The difference to the country. there
fore, by the impoverishment Of the
Southern States is represented BY more
than z0w .0W, ono, or considerably
more Than or national debt.
~ commenting upon these flparee.
0e Chicago Tribune rightly pointn. A.
ne principal c1llso of thu oIarminu
decreege IN valuations, to the plunder.
ing and rIO(ulD rolrn or rarpethavvc,,
IN The H0uth. But We xite the III
6nne'a comments IN full:
There ore IN men at the preaen
day Who WI eoze 10 dl1pore a n
whole question b. deoI1lui the lmuos
eriqhuSul - b : ut vlS|lallon -
fz9el!l2l ~ xIlI zslels \ re y a;