The Seattle post-intelligencer. [volume] (Seattle, Wash. Terr. [Wash.]) 1888-1914, 1895-03-29

a vaiua-soa % s. 80 -. 90 or about SIS
Per head. ranking below Great BRIAN
and Farnce. 5U1 above he 0tAer t.lro-
pean countries. except Denmark asld Hol-
land. Denmark. however, y estimated
considerably lover by Prof Fable than
Mr.. Mllaan. and rs sgsres would slFe an
average valuation per capita OF about
s.. go. instead oS s. Ia
The la test figures for the United States
are contained II the cecsls oT 1S~3, ana
give a total valuation @ properly located
r the country % Se5. -. 9Is.lSs- No ac-
count IS taken OF negotiable securities or
Of the fact that property may not oe
owned where locAzsd. but all Tangible
properly IS valued Il thu locality where
u IS found. High valuations are placed
upon the lands OF the Western states, 50
that the per capita yaiua ton or Nevada
Montana. Wyoming, and Arizona IS sew
eral times that OF rhe great manufactur-
ing states OF the East II some allow
ance were made for excessive valuations
in these cases and for foreign capital IN
vested in the United States, a deduction
OF per cent. should probably be made
from the reported total This would al
for. a valuation OF about $1,000 per cap
ita, or S,eo for a family or nEe- ms
valuation IS very uneyenly distributed
throughout the country, but not 50 IN
evenly as II the property were reported
where owned instead OF where located
Throwing out the new states. where high
land values afford such excessive valua-
tons per capita, the District Of Columbia
stood at the head OF the list IN 1880 with
a per capita valuation Of l.i9l. Then
came Rhode Island, 81. ass; New York.
s., 49,; Illinois, 81. 394: Minnesota, $3.50. and
Massachusetts. 81. -. These figures con-
trast sharply with those OF the southern
states, among which the lower were;
- ~.1E GfSS.
North Carolina. 1851; Arkansas, $i0S; Ala
hama, sil2: Louisiana, s4i5, and Georgia,
sis+
Great Britain and France have reached
the stage where industrial development
has attained a growth more than SUM-
Gent under existing economic conditions
10 absorb the annual savings OF their own
capita! in the creation OF new enterprises
and the extension OF the old ones. They
are, therefore, large creditors OF newer
and poorer countries, 10 which they have
advanced money upon negotiable secuTi-
ties These loans were estimated by Rob
ert Giffin as far back as 1875 10 have
reached S. co, 600 90 on the part OF Great
Britain, paying her an annual interest or
about $40. go. This great balance,
which has to be settled IN merchandise.
explains why Great Britain can afford TO
show an enormous annual excess of i'm
ports over exports OF merchandise with
out the risk OF losing gold. The United
States, on the other hand, as large debt
ors 10 Great Britain and France. are
Obliged 10 export on the average much
more merchandise than they import. win
out any right 10 expect the settlement or
the balance IN coin. Their debt 10 Euro
pean capitalists was estimated by Mr..
Giffen In 1880 as s. 60. 000. 600. on which the
annual interest al per cent. would be
$50, 900 000.
The excess Of exports from the United
States in merchandise and silver during
the fifteen years ended June so. 1894. was
81 $40 81, 627, which is hardly sufficient 70
pay this foreign debt. The fact that the
alance is not greater is due partly to de-
fects in the figures. but partly also 10 the
circumstances mentioned by Air. Arthur
Raffalovfch in his annual review of the
financial markets for 1898 and 1884, that
1.-The real Indebtedness of the United
States abroad has been completely hidden
by the influx Of foreign capital" The in
crease in British investments abroad was
about $3.50 001, 900 per year for the ten years
from 1915 TO ISSs. in spite OF some heavy
losses in South America during that time.
The foreign securities held in France are
estimated by Prof Paul Leroy Beaulieu
and ~. Alfred Newmarck at twenty mil
lizards of francs. or about Si.0e0. 90. GO. of
which 500 600 no is invested In Spain. $li.-
5n0 600 i'm England. 81. SO eo,ooo in Italy and
81 so. 900 In Germany.
II is the great wealth OF England ana
her large investments abroad which en-
able her 20 dominate the money market
through the London Stock Exchange.
Prof. Jannet declares that in 1890 there
were quoted on the London market 2,i2
securities. and at Paris only so