The Manning times. [volume] (Manning, Clarendon County, S.C.) 1884-current, 1894-02-14
StartlinG Fls .es.

George X. Eolnes, special census
agent on mortgage statistics, ap-
proaches the concentration of wealth
in a recent number of the Political
Science Quarterly. Instead of attemp pt-
ing to compute the property holdings
of the rich he strives to ascertain how
much of the national wealth the masses
of the people possess. Ihe census bu-
Teau took flom every family in twenty
two states and territories answers to
the questions whether it owned or hired
the farm or home occupied, and the ex-
tent of !he incumbrance on owned
farms and homes, if any, with the value
of the property. The results are 5e-
lieved to be fairly representative of the
whole conntry. Assuming this to ce
so, 80 per cent Of the farm families and
63 per cent of the home families il the
country are tenants. Among farm
owning families 80 per cert carry mort
gage debts averaging Sl.13C on farms
whose average value is So, lS0; among
home owning families 20 per cent carry
incum brances averaging Si,139 "a
homes valued On the average at 50, ,234.
The ceGsus will show the nun Der IF
farms to be about 100000. leaving
s, 1856, l32 families occupylug Ii mes SGat
are cot farms. Mr. II lines coniG"S
his wealth estimates here to properties
valued al less than s., 900 Suck farms
incUln bsred constitute 50 PER cent in
nun h-r aud 81 per cent ir value of al
ipcumbered farms; and such lncum-
bered homes constitute 81 per cent in
number and As per cent in value Of all
incumbered nom S. The census did
not take the values of unincum bered
farms and homes and the percentages
in the other case are adopted here as
probably the toa n. According to the
estimate tabuialed by Mr.: Holmes 81
Der cent of the families of the country
own no more than about 90 per cent
of the wealth, and Q per Cent oWp II
| per cent of the wealth. And Mr..
Holmes believes his estimates do not
oversta'e the Case against the poor.
These conclusions are about as dubious
| as any that have ever been reached IN
the study of this question. Proceeding
| to divide the r,cner per cent Of The
families as between the rich and the
| moderately Well off, Mr.. Holmes takes
| she New York Tribune'S list OF million
aires 4C47) and gives them an average
of about $1,000 600, this estimate being
| also partly based upon Thomas e.
Shear'nau's claims in the Same linz.
This gives TO the 4,047 very rich fami-
Iies,or three hundredCns Of one DER cent
of al the families, about 81, ,0OO, 900, or
20 DER cent of all the nations wealth;
and leaves the remaining property OF
the nation (5l per cenD to 9 per cent OF
the miles, including the very few
millionaires. The result seems ihcred-
| lbe Co Mr. Holmes. That 4O47 tami'
lies should possess nearly as much
weaDth-ssven-teuths as much, at least
Is II .593. .SS7 families, is indeed, TataeI
startling. But it is probable, be con-
teLds, that the statement is approx
mately correct. Excluding the million
aires. the wealth OF the 1,O92,2iS ami
lies lying between them and the great
mass of people holding property -T.aiued
at less than $4,000, becomes an average
of $4,000 Il family, which seems large
for so many, but which, Mr.. Holmes
goes on 10 demonstrate, must be about
the case.