Pittsburg dispatch. [volume] (Pittsburg [Pa.]) 1880-1923, 1890-12-23
PITTSBURG C0MPLIMENTED.

Census Superintendent Porter Wrote More
Detailed Returns From Cities-The Iron
City Will Stand Near the Head-Control-
Ter Morrow's Statements All Right
Controller Morrow received communica-
tion from Superintendent Porter, of the
Eleventh Census Bureau, yesterday, inclos-
ing blank form to be filled out, showing
the bonded debt, floating debt, sinking fund
and net debt of the city at the beginning of
the present fiscal year, as compared with a
SINH lar period in 1880. The object of the
inquiry Is to ascertain definitely the exact
financial condition of l, 100 municipalities of
the United States having a population of
over 500, and the result of all these inquiries
is to be published in a bulletin by the Gen.
sus Bureau as soon as they are all in.
The information asked for was ldentically
the same as furnished by the Controller
when the Census Bureau sent him blanks to
fill out showing the city's financial condi-
tion several months ago. The reports from
many cities were not satisfactory, however,
as they had used the original blanks to show
the assets of their cities, including in these,
as against the municipal Indebtedness, every
piece of property they owned, even down to
lamp posts gas and water pipes
Several large cities, which have heretofore
figured away up in the financial world as
solid corporations, free of debt, have main
tanned their regulations in this way, while
others, whose officers were honest enough to
submit only the actual indebtedness Oh one
side and the cash and bonds on the other,
were marked away down.
Controller Morrow was very much pleased
when he received the communication from
the Census Bureau. He said:
Now. when this bulletin is issued, you will see
Pittsburg loom away up above many munich
palities that have in the past been ranked
ahead of her. Philadelphia has been figured
comparatively free of debt and held up a
model to u.s. because of the last census figures.
In our own county McKeesport has figured as
entirely out of debt How is it done? Why,
they counted as assets their school property,
fire department property, engines, buildings
and all. water works, water. pipe, gas lamps
and posts, in fact everything that could be
called the clty's property: This amount footed
up against their debts would overbalance and
then they claimed they were free of debt
Now. if we did that, where would we be?
Suppose we set against our liabilities the actual
value OF all our school property, of our excel
lent fire department and engine houses, our
police stations and the lots they occupy, our
city hall property, our market house properties,
our parks, our water works and reservoirs, our
wharves and numerous other things We as a
city, own. why we would be able to count up a
large surplus, instead of an Indebtedness of be-
tween y, UOOOUU ana SlU,UVUVUU. NOW tnatSwhat
many of oCr big cities have been doing. They
reckoned as assets, at tkeir original cost every
thing they owned We have not been doing
that, because it would not faithfully show our
real financial condition. Our parks for in
stance, are worth 81, ,O00 0O0 but they cannot be
used for anything else than parks, and we could
not realize on them because they are only to be
used as parks. Our market house. our wharves
and many other things are the same way. They
are valuable, but cannot be fairly counted as
assets. and its the same way in other cities. 1
am very glad the Census Bureau has taken this
STEP for it will show pittsburg up in a much
better light than she has appeared in hereto
fore.