The Wichita daily eagle. [volume] (Wichita, Kan.) 1890-1906, 1892-07-20
WEALTH OF THE STATES.
Figures Which Show That It "a
Not Evenly Distributed.
The Riches of the Country Lie More
Largely East Than Was Generally Sup
posed Facts Learned from the
Census Bulletin.

l Largely East Vhan w as 1tnerdhy sup
posed-Facts Learned from the
| Census Bulletin.
The detailed figures of the assess
ment by states, in the census bulletin
lately issued, shows how unevenly
wealth is distributed in the different
sections of this country. OF course
these locals are not perfect for purposes
OF comparison, as the assessment laws
differ in the various states, but the
| Louisville Courier-Journal claims that
with few provisos they serve well
enough to give one fair idea of the
relative riches or poverty of the sec
| tons. One of the most important OF
the provisos is in regard to Illinois,
where the state board Of equalization
estimates that the 1890 assessment rep
resents only one-fourth the true valus
of the property. This estimate is up
held by the fact that the assessment Of
! Illinois is but little more than one
| third that of Ohio and is considerably
! less than that of Indiana, although
Illinois has the great city of Chicago
within her borders and possesses pop
ulation nearly double that of Indiana.
| In Massachusetts the assessment is like
! ly to be little high as compared with
that of other states, as property there
| is rated at pretty nearly its true value
The figures indicate that the wealth
of the country lies more largely
in the east than had been generally
supposed, although it was universally
known that the east, because of greater
age, was the richer section.
Massachusetts,, though one of tho
smallest states in size and but sixth in
population, is the third in assessed
wealth, falling less than 20 per cent
behind Pennsylvania, while New York,
with population nearly three times as
great, exceeds her only go per cent
Her assessment is greater than that Of
Ohio, more than four times that Of
kentucky, six times that of Tennessee.
more than fourteen times that of South
Carolina and nearly three times that Of
Missouri.
More than one-third of the assessed
wealth of the United States Is in the
three states. of New York, Pennsylvania
and Massachusetts,, and nearly one-haf
of it is in the five states Of New York,
Pennsylvania, Massachusetts,, Ohio and
California. The assessment of CaEfor-
MIA, though that state is only about
forty years old, exceeds that of any
other state except New York, Pennsyl-
vania, Massachusetts and Ohio, though
Illinois would be far ahead of her if
property there were properly assessed,
The six New England states, with
about one-thirteenth of the population
of the union, contain one-seventh OF
the assessed wealth; Massachusetts, with
one-thirtieth of the population having
one-eleventh of the assessed wealth.
The fifteen states that were formerly
sfaveholding contain about % per cent.
of the assessed wealth and about So per
cent of the population of the union.
What was the old northwest territory,
which Great Britain endeavored to hold,
now the five states of Ohio, Indiana, Ill
inois, Michigan and Wisconsin, contains
% per cent of the population and Is.
per cent. of the wealth, Illinois being
given her proper assessment, about
equal to that of Ohio.
Some of the far western states, be-
sides California, are rising rapidly in the
scale of wealth. Thus the assessment
of Washington or Colorado is larger
than that of South Carolina or West
Virginia or Arkansas. In fact, the as
sessment of Washington exceeds that of
Nebraska, but we must take into con-
sideration that values are placed on a
much higher scale in the new and
western states than in the old and
eastern states It is safe to say that
the newer a state is the more inflated it's
assessment is. There is also another
important item to be taken into consid-
Grafton in estimating the relative wealth
of east and west A large portion of
the west is owned in the east, while
very little of the east belongs to the
west.
The smallest state in the union is by
no means the poorest. Little Rhode
Island, with her 300 square miles, has
q higher assessment than those of
twenty-six states and territories. Of
the strictly southern states only Vir-
ginia, Georgia, Tennessee and Texas ex-
coed her in assessed wealth, and her as
is more than three-ffths that |
of Kentucky. Delaware, the next |
state, has an assessment less
than one-fourth as large as that Of !
Rhode Island. The highest assessed /
valuation per head is in Massachusetts,,
where it is about 1865, and the lowest is
in the three states of North Carolina, /
South Carolina and Mississippi, where /
it is about S185 each per human being.
In Kentucky the average is about S265, |!
in Ohio about $500, in New York about |
$3.50, In Pennsylvania about $500, in /
Rhode Island about $500, in Michigan
about $40, in Virginia about S285, in /
Tennessee about $500 and in Georgia |
about sos.
The Population of China
The empire of China, according to the
Lloyd. covering an area