The Helena independent. [volume] (Helena, Mont.) 1875-1943, 1892-07-14
HOW RICH WE ARE.
kAo West Appears to Ne Growing Hichof
Than the East.

u - WSst Appears to ne Growing Richef
sa 1ha the East.
Thsre u ! nach-worn aneodote about the
81 SDnooiAIists Who informed the Rothsohilds
Nkat ~ equal diyision Of property had been
n oF6ered. ~ beginning 70 be mAdo wisn
49,. esys M Nsw York Times. Az the
ntety soes. ~ bankers save the bulk OF
xkelr millions By producing pocket coins
SnonRh, to nav on the spot the per CAPITA
ehSsSn 81 their visitors. In our tims tne
~ As1uye and VandsIbilts. the Carnegies ahu
b Rpckefellers could not escaps 80 sss!iy.
THE entire amount Ct tho wea, y ~ g csn no
"a scales, and, since noses were slso
sountsd. u now know officially Just now
isosiveiy. The total $$6s,64ao oo: ooo-is
q s~tnpsadoas - t. dWar' mil.
ilos 81 two. millionairss sp-
nsssiass tAsir own wealth only By thei, 40,
Sornts. The mind cannot grasp the pill. OF
1eaIth. To appreciate the meaning OF =
municipal debt OF $lO0.O oo, 700 is as hopeless
o 70 appreciate as~tronomicsl dls.an 90 ~ a.
Jan. 1, 1865, our national debt was $S,t'o.-
100000. and now our aggregate wealth. y
Ihirty timss that. while the share OF escn
Of ~ u over $1,000.
While these figures arc official and tho
bsst 10 bs had, they must be taken wisn :
n0Hn0 OK UAIvs KAT II ITO @ol ~ ookA~
She assessed valuation for taxation. wnicn
ranges from near par for real essase ~
MASSACHUSETTS, down TO about one-quarte.
of 4hs market value in Illinois. PERSONS.
propArty ID even more elusive OF aocursss
satinase . any given M.e .1 anu au nttt
even 81 gold itself, which will not buy equal
vaiChfs Of iron or lengths OF fabrics IN any
tvo decades. So the figures must be taken
for what they are worth. ana VIM 'nt
Sssollsction that even suon i.sns %
vealth 40 railways arc dealt with quite ar
bitfaIily and neither wholly included nor
vhaiiv excluded. Even rememb erlng
these necessary defects. and sddlnQ 70
fhsm that the preparation OF me nRu1es
was In hands friendly to . good moving
that The round 81, 900 for every man. woman
and child IL = very plump and pleassns ne.
nre. we'll adapted to make efete Europe
gasp with awe and MY England, for In,
stance. is the synonyln OF wealth. heapso
No for generations and divided among 4
comparatively few people. But Mr.. Gitiin
estimates the aggregate of British wealth
q only G8 ,548, 600, 900 in 1875, and no more
than $40. 900, 600, 600 in 1886. The British
census does not 20 into side issues IKE QUIZ
own, and Mr.. Giffin makes his personal GAL
culetions on the basis Of the tax returns,
With cuesses on foreign Investments, etc:
Computed on the censuses OF 1851 ana
1891 the per capita share was no moro than
81, 21O for 1875 and $1,000 for 1885.
Abandoning these somewhat odious IN
terpational comparisons. the figures Tor the
United States can be turned in several very
interesting lights. For instance. each
American is now worth approximately
double what he was worth ($5l4) ''befo' dc
wah' in 1860. But while the personal share
has doubled, property has increased 30
much fastee than population that the az,
Rregate has almost quadrupled. the total
for 1860 being ZIG. 1853, 0O0. 600. Turning
from the long range comparison OF locnll-
ties, precision is givOn to some familiar
but rather'ysgue ,deas, and there are some
surprising disclosures. The estimated true
values herstofors spoken OF are arrived at
BY assuming that the relation between
assessed and actual values is the same as 1t
was found to be in 1880. But these esti-
mates of true values are not yet given
MS in detail. Speaking, therefore. OF total
assessed values. tho scepter OF wealth
OF us in the north Atlantic states is assessed
III 500; but in the west, the really and truly
wild and woolly west, and not the halfway
station of divorces and worlds fairs, the
average assessment is $666. They nave In
creased 1877 per cent in wealth III ten years.
nearly twice as fast "a theft population has
grown, while our pelf is greater by only Az
per cent. However. the east has the cham
pion for the greatest wealth. namely. MAS
sachusetts t$962), for reasons already ex-
planned. Our national Ilnderella Still slts
in her chimney corner in Alabama and
Mississippi, where the average person is
assessed at only about $135. approximately
one-third Of the averaged assessed value
of the whole union ($394). The most
surprising increase of wealth has not
been where the growth of population
is greatest. Population has multiplied
365 per cent in the state of Washington,
but wealth has grown only 1856 .psr
cent. South Dakota. on the other hand. IS
actually ten times (104O per cent? richer
than she was in 1880, although her popula-
ton percentage is only 234. Mr.. Giaen's
figures show a growth for England Of three
to four per cent per annum; but here is Il
state which averages 100 per cent for each
of ten years and Il nation that shows a de-
cade's growth of 500, 600. Goo 600 against
81. 800. 600. 900 Crom eS, 800. 900, GOO to 60
COO. 600, 600 in 1850 or the worlds richest
people.
These are gross and material compari-
sons, and favor somewhat too much OF our
national weakness to brag. But we can't
help the facts, and we leave morallZing
upon them to Others. merely quoting the
terse but eloquent sermon embodied IN the
hackneyed courlet:
Mfa1es the land, to fastening ills a prey,
Where wealth accumulates, and men decay.