The Manning times. [volume] (Manning, Clarendon County, S.C.) 1884-current, 1894-01-24
Wealth not well Divided.


agent on mortgage statistics, approach :
the concentration Of wealth il the cur.
rent number of the Political Scienc
Quarterly. Instead of attempting K
compute the property holdings Of th'
rich he strives to ascertain now much 0
the national wealth the masses of th;
people possess. The census bareat
took from every family 10 twenty-five
States and Territories answers to the
questions whether It owned or hired the
farm or home occupied, and the eXten
of the incumbrance on owned farms anG
homes, if any, with the value Of the
property.
The results are believed by the Spring
field Republican to be fairly representa-
tive Of the whole country. Assuming
this to be So, 80 per cent OF the farm
families and 63 per cent of the home
families in The country are tenants.
Among :armowning families 30 per cent
carry mortgage debts averaging $ ,l3O
on farms whose average Talue IS $3.50;
among homecoming families 90 per cent
carry iucunbrances averaging 81, ,l39 on
homes valued on the average at $3,254.
The census will show the number OF
farms to be about I 500,00 leaving s.
1876, ,l52 families occupying homes that
are not farms. Mr.. Holmes confines his
wealth e,tinates here to properties
valued at less than S., 900. SIco farms
encountered constitute so per cent in
number and So per cent in value ofall
encountered farms, and such encumbared
homes constitute 81 per cent in number
and 46 per cent in value of all encum-
bered homes. The census did cot take
the values Of unencunbered farms and
homes, and the percentages iu the other
case are adopted here as probably the
truth.
Accor lag to aAe ealila:ss tabula4ed
by Mr.. Holues 81 : cent CT the tami-
lies Of the coun.fyug 10 noe than
about 90 per cen! o. tls Teiis1 And
Mr.. Holmes believes his es!im .Jcs do
not overstate the case against the poor.
These conclusions are about as du ,ious
as any which have ever been reached in
the study OF lnis question. Proceeding
to divide the richer 8 per cent Of the
families as between the rich and moder-
ately we'll off. Mr. Hol nes takes the
New York Tribuae's list of r1illionaires
(4,047) aud gives them "a average OF
about $3,000,000-tlis estimate being
also partly baseo upon the results of
Tdomas G. Shearinan's claims il tie
same line.
This gives to tee 4, O47 very rich tam
nies, or three-hundredths of l per cent
Of all the families; about Sl2, 600. 900, 900
or 20 per cent Of the nations wealth;
and leaves the remaining property OF
the nation Isl per cent? to 8 per cant
of the families, including toe compara-
lively few mlllionaires. The result
seems incredible to Mr.. Holmes. That
4,047 families should possess nearly as
much vealth--3evea-tenths as much at
least-as II ,593, 1897 families is, inleed
rather startling. But it is probable. be
contends, that the statement is approx
imately correct. Excluding the million
aires, the wealth OF the LOOP, 2lS FAM :
lies lying between them and the greac
mass of people holding property val
ued at less $1,000 becomes an aver
age Of s28, 900 a family, which seems
large for so many, but which, Mr..
Holmes goes on to demonstrate. must
be about the case.