The Cambria freeman. [volume] (Ebensburg, Pa.) 1867-1938, 1894-09-21
INCOMES IN ENGLAND.
We ealthy Men Not So Numerous
as in America
Notwithstanding which the Wealth of
This Country Is More Evenly Dis
tributed- Facts Cleaned
from Figures


If the evidence of the British govern
ment returns showing the number of
persons assessed for the income tax i
trustworthy the number of very rich
people in the United Kingdom Is small.
Only 25O.OOO subjects of the queen CON
feSS to an annual income of over II ono
a year derived from trades or profeS-
sionS- The whole number of them who
live on the scale represented by a fam
ly income above the 81 900 mark de
rived from any source, is set down at
about 2,0O0.OOO, or one in nineteen of
the population. In other words. SAYS
the baltimore sun. not more than per
cent of the inhabitants of England
Wales. Scotland and ireland are living
in the moderately vvell-to-do state. i'm
piled 10y family income of so per
week. Going up in the scale of in
comes we learn from these official re-
turns that 80. 900 British families. Az
grcgating Gl5.OOO persons, are all who
are in receipt of incomes of 81 800 a
year and over Commenting on these
figures the Westminster Gazette saws
of the limits of wealth and income in
the realm of Victoria: The possession
of what Is ordinarily termed a modest
income. of anything. in fact. above
$50 tor $3.50 il rare stroke of fortune.
which comes To- very few in this world.
while the chance of becominga a Cr,pSuS
IL 80 wildly remote that IL will hardly
enter into the calculations of a reason
able man" 1t appears that about
1000 persons in the whole United King
dom have incomes of over Ss5.ODn a
year. Gen. Booth some time since took
a servant girl census of London and
found that only $1,000 houses in that
city hired any servants at all. and that
in one-half of that number there. was
only one maid-of-all work employed.
And this in the richest city of the. coun-
try, containing one-ninth of its entire,
population
Making due allowance for the fact
that BritiSherS. like mankind general
ly. can Ice trusted not To uverStat, their
incomes for purposes of taxation. il i
still evident that the wealth Of this
country il not only greater than that
of Great Britain. but that IL i better
distributed. Far more American fami-
lies than british have incomes exceed
ing any given figure above II 900 a
year As against the 1000 british fam
lies with incomes of S.5.OOO a wear or
larger. the famous tabulation made. 10y
tl''lAlsiN ~ SHOWS ttllf There
are more than twice a. many American
families possessing that degree Of
wealth These Sh-arman figures have
not been disputed 10y anybody. AMI If
true. they show that at least .nuO
American families. or =. .Opu. .Upp persons
live ON "a level nf comfort represented
10y an income of :. 90 a year or more.
a. against the same number living ou
the - .Opu Il Year plane in En-lauI II
il estimated that 5000 persons will h,
called upon in this country To- paw the
new income tax ON incomes eNcc-din.
Si.ooo year. The British parliamcn-
tary returns indicate that this i three.
times aS many persons "a are assessed
over that figure 10y the queens tax col
lectorS. ON the whole ii seems Saf, t.
concledc that the average incomes of
families in the United States are still
higher than in the most favored or at
any rate the best governed. country in
Europe Wealth il still distributed
more evenly here than anywhere sls-
in the world.