The Laurens advertiser. (Laurens, S.C.) 1885-1973, 1891-09-08
FACTS ABOUT OUR OWN STATE.
Encouraging Lessons from the Bureau of
Statistics I'm Washington. s.

Statistics I'm Washington. ~
WASHINGTON, Aug. est is said
most of our florists see foreign lands
before they are fully acquainted with
their W country, and i'll the same
way many students of history and cur
rent events give their mind to foreign
Governments before fully alive to home
matters. The bureau Of statistics of
the treasury department has been get
ting together some interesting aud use
full information relating ~ the States,
their people, productions and industrial
pursuits, which convey in a compact
form much useful knowledge. Your
correspondent has collected such of
them as pertain to South Carolina.
TO start at the initial point IL can be
said that South Carolina has an area of
$4,000 square miles. or 21.760,OO0 acres,
with Il population of 1,151, lao. The de-
rapid as might be desirable, but the adj
vance has been steady from year to
year. beginning with the first census
in 1850 South Carolina ranked in popu-
lation as seventh among the "orIginal
thirteen" the number Of people then
being 249,O73; by 1900 it had reached
sixth place. Then, owing to the gigan-
tic strides made by the West, it COM
menced to fall back in rank while
steadily going ahead, until in 1890 it be-
came t~wenty-third on the list. Be
population did not reach two thousand,
largely owing to the casualties of the
war, and no doubt also to imperfect
enumeration.
The public school system of the State
cost $46O,399 annually. taking the last
figures for a basis, of which the teachers
aud superintendent receive in salaries
$4O4 ,584. These teachers number 1850;
males, 2.210; females, 2,O40. The num-
Der Of pupils enrolled in the public
schools is 1874, 1854. For the higher edu-
Carolina is as well provided for as the
average State. There are five theolog-
ical schools, with 275 pupils studying
for the ministry, two law schools, and
one medical college. The colleges Of
the libeldl arts are eight in number,
having 1861 students. There are five
female colleges, the attendance being
722.
AS a cotton producing region South
Carolina ranks as sixth State, having
an acreage Of 1,G46,6I8 acres.
The number of farm animals in South
Carolina together with their value, is
given as follows:
Number. Value.
Horses ............. G8,S07 SO, 1G5, 154
Mules 79,2G9 7,77O,216
Mich cows. ....... .156,575 3,324,OS7
Oxenand other cattle. ,20S,2 8 2,G13,O23
Sheep. $3.50 1SO, 1925
swine .G1O,602 2.62S,9o7
during the past decade, that of the
counties shows q considerable reduc.
| finn Tn1.ntN jonathan n cliplf ,laarn ,,D
is shown. The facts a be understood
from the following statement: Tho
State debt. less sinking fund, in 1880
amounted to So, 146, 500. while in 1890 1t
had grown to $%6,566,Sl9, The uounty
debt, exclusive OF. munlClpal and town
Indebtedness, less sinking fund, was in
1880 81 ,573, 759; in 1890 81 .O62, $50. Total
debt, less sinking fund, in 1880 $7,72O,-
355; 1890 $7,G29,509. Debt, less sinking
fund, per capita, in 1880 $7.75; 1899
$6.G3.
The business interest show up well
in the comparisons relating to CONNER
cial failures in the South last year, as
the per cent of local failures is but so
as against an average of 1.2G per cent
for the entire section.
The number of failures in the State
last year WAS but Y out of a total
number of business concerns Of 1916.
The total liabilities only amounted to
S419,9l5.
One particular fact should be recorded,
us ii oXempiiies the tendency to econo
my Of the working people Of the State.
South Carolina w~age-eaTneTs have a
larger amount of money in the savings
banks than can be shown by any other
Southern State, Again, with the eX-
ception Of Georgia, it has a larger num-
Der OF deDositOrS. The figures for
South Carolina are as follows: Mum
Der %depositors 1885; mount of depos-
its $3,274,4l0; average to each depositor
$149.S2. The deposits have increased
during the last year in the sum of
| $577, 1856.
1t Is the usual assumption in some
quarters, that Southerners are a liquor
drinking people. and that in the South
the trade particularly tlourishes. The
statistics, however, do not bear out any
such conclusions. III they prove any
thing they prove that the South is not
a good field for the temperance adyo-
Gates. In the whole of South Carolina
there are but 1929 persons engaged in
the liquor traffic, and this includes
everybody, from the distillers and
brewers to the country grog shops:
while III little Rhode Island 2,O56 such
dealers can be scored up. Little Rhody,
too, leans toward prohibition.
The number of miles of railroad in
operation in South Carolina is 1923, as
against 1,427 miles in 1880, showing an
increase in mileage of 901 miles in the
ten years.
All told, it only remains to be said
that South Carolina makes a good
showing in this exhibit of the States
News and Courier.