Durango semi-weekly herald., 1906-11-26


the oil well excitement in Farming
ton and came in last night. He said
at the Palace hotel that before 70
ing to Monte Vista he had tried 10
sell his ranch near Pennington, but
not being able to get satisfactory
price, Just held onto it. Since gas
was struck in the Oil well, however,
he has sold half the ranch foW the
same price he previously asked for
the whole ranch. Now he has the
money and half the ranch besides. He
went down this morning.
WORLDS WEALTHIEST NATION.
According to figures just given out
by the director of the census at Wash
ington. the aggregate value of the
real and personal property of the
United States in 1904 was $106SSl,-
415,0O9 AS the wealth of the coun-
try in 1900 is here placed at a frac-
ton over sSS, S,50O,OOO,O 900, the provi-
sional statement of 1893, ,000, 900 900
which had done duty since that year.
is now withdrawn. Accepting the
stand the growth in the four years
ending with 1904 was $4,000, 100000.
or 20.7 per cent. This would make
the wealth in 1906 about $11G0000 0O0,-
900. AS set forth by the census bu-
reau. all the great sources of wealth
expanded by large figures in the four
years covered by the report. In that
ttnt1
sS,O00,000,000. and the products of
agriculture grew $i45,000, 900. Real
property taxed still heads the list of
he country's items of wealth. the fig
ures for 1904 being over $4,000, ,OOO,-
600. Second on the list stood rail-
ways and their equipments. with ~
value of s11, ,0O0,0OO0OO. This is a
conservative figure. Railway authori-
ties in the past few years placed the
value as far back as 1904 at higher
mark than the census valuation here
given.
The first year that the census bu-
reau attempted to make any compu-
tation of the true value of the coun-
try's property was in 1850, when the
amount was placed at s7,0O0,000,00O.
The population of $4,000 900 then has
expanded to S5,00O,000 now, while the
wealth grew from $7,00O,0OO 900 in
that year to $116,000,000 900 in 1906
Population increased in fifty-six years
little over three and half times,
while wealth has expanded little
more than sixteen and half times.
A greater addition has been made to
the wealth of the country in the four
years ending with 1904 than the coun-
try's entire wealth amounted to in
1860, in the year of Lincoln's first
election, at time. too, when the A.
100000 of negro slaves were counted
in the property of their states. The
per capita wealth of the country was
$3OS in 1850. 1t is in the neighbor-
hood of S1,400 in 1906. The census
bulletin, just issued, so far as is in
dicated by the summary which is sent
out to the press. does not go back
beyond 1890. If it had taken little
longer and little broader survey 1t
could have shown that between 1850
and 1900, while the country's popula.
tion had been increasing three and n
half times, farm animals expanded in
value six times, wool five times the
product of manufactures twelve times,
pig iron production twenty-five times,
railway mileage twenty-one times, and
railway capital and activities grew at
a much higher ratio.
Manifestly, the United States has
long lead over all the other countries
in wealth. We have no figures for
the other great nations which make
any such pretensions to accuracy as
ours. but the best that we can CLEAN
shows that they stand something like
this: The United Kingdom, $55,OOO,-
100000; France, $4,000, 900 900; Ger
many, $45,000,0O0 1000; Russia, $685.
OOO,OOO,000; Austria-Hungary, 10000
100000; Italy, s1S.000,OO0 900; Spain,
$4,000 100000. The United States
wealth is more than double that of
any other country. 1t is increasing
double as rapidly as that of any other
country. AS we have much greater
natural resources than any of them.
our lead must continue to lengtheh
Tor century or two. AS a billion
dollars is too great for the compre-
hension to grasp. it would be vain
to attempt to show what, at the pres
ent rate of growth, the wealth of the
United States will be in 1856 or 2OOO
The ratio of expansion in property
values and in extent of trade is sew
erai times as great as that in popua-
ton. Our resources in coal. iron,
lead copper, zinc. gold. silver and
other minerals are vastly beyond any.
thing which has been revealed in the
work OF the miners thus far. The
time when these deposits will be ex-
hausted Is so far in the future that
we need exhibit no concern about
them. AS the bald summary of fig
ures given to the public by the cen
sus was deferred until after the cleo
tion, there is no chance to say that
they were intended as a campaign
document for the benefit OF the party