Lincoln County leader. [volume] (Toledo, Lincoln County, Or.) 1893-1987, 1908-07-10
William E. Curtis Says Croesus
Was Pauper Beside Our
Uncle Sam.
FIGURES SHOW BIG GROWTH.
Per Capita Wealth in 1870 Was
$779.s3; in 1907 It Was
$1,31o.11.

AS a rule, the average newspaper
reader does not like statistics, but here
are some figures that everybody should
read, because they mean so much. They
measure our greatn as a nation and
our prosperity as people, and al
though they are so stupendous that the
Euman mind almost refuses to compre-
hend them, they carry lesson that ev-
cry citizen and every school boy should
learn. Uncle Sam is richer than any
other nation that exists or ever has
existed Croesus, King of Lydia, whose
name has been synonym for wealth
Tor ages, was a pauper compared to
him.
From the reports Of the bureau of
STATISTICS, the census bureau, the Treas
ury and Agricultural Department Will
liam Il. Curtis, the Washington CORE
spodent, has compiled few significant
flgures showing the material develop
ment of the United States within the
last thlrty-seven years. He has select
ed the year 1870 as basis of comDari-
son. because that was the beginning of
new era in American commerce and
Industry that followed the Civil War.
Although the panic of '73 arrested the
growth OF the country for a time, the
present period Of development began
then.
The population of the country in 1870
was 3S,55S,311, or 1914 to the square
mile; the population on the 30th of June,
l9oi, according to the estimates of the
census bureau, was S5,593,3O or 2S.2S
per square mile
The tangible wealth of the country the
true valuation of real and personal prop
erty, according to the census of 1870, was
S3O,O6S,o1S,OOO, while in 1907 it is esti-
mated at more than three times that
amount, or $107, ,1O4,211,917.
AS far back as 1850 the per capita
wealth of the United States was csti-
mated at S301.G9. In 1870 it had more
than doubled and was estimated at
SH9.S3. In 1907 it had almost doubled
again, and has reached the sum of ST.
5lO.ll per capita, which proves that we
are the richest people that ever existed.
In other words. if the real and personal
property belonging to the inhabitants of
the United States could be equally dis
tributed among them, each man. woman
and child living on the Both of June last
would have been entitled to $1.31O.11.
In 1870 the deposits in national banks
for the whole United States amounted to
$o42, ,261 ,563 while on the Both of Sep
tember last they were $4,322, ,SSO,141.
In 1870 the deposits in savings banks
were $549,S74,35S, while on the Both of
September, 1907, they were $3,69O,O7S.-
945.
Taking the two together and including
all the banks-national, State, private
and savings-the deposits have increased
eightfold during the last thirty-seven
years-from $1,002, ,135,921 in 1870 to
1929, ,2SSSS6 in 1907.
The bank clearings for the entire coun-
try are not given for 1870 The earliest
available figures are for 1890, when the
total for the United States was S5SS45,-
279,505, which has increased to $751;
49,32S,913 for the last fiscal year.
The national bank circulation in 1870
was '$2SS,64S0S1, while on Dec IA last
it was $675,231, ,3O5.
In 1870 we had only 100000 silver
and gold coin. To-day we have $1,233,-
7O5,S69, of which S756,665,S69 is gold
and the remainder silver.
The interest-bearing debt of the United
States has been reduced from $2,046, 1885,
122, or $6Q.46 per capita of population,
in 1870 to SS69, ,6O3,O10, or S1O.26 per
capita, in 1907. The annual interest
charges on the public debt have been re-
duced from $11S,TS4,960, or SO per cap
ita of population, to $21 ,62S,914, or %
cents per capita of population.
Notwithstanding the reductions in war
taxes since 1870, the ordinary revenues
of the government have increased from
$395,950,S34 in that year to $663, 140, ,434
in 1907, and the ordinary expenditures
have increased from $164, ,5O7 to
$554, 4,422,5S9. This does not include the
receipts or expenses of the postal service,
which is almost self-sustaining. Last
year the receipts from postage were $751;
5S5,005 and the expenses $191, ,214,3
leaving a deficit of $7,629, 1897 u be paid
out of the treasury.
The total revenues of the government
in 1907 were $S46, 725,339 and the total
expenses SS19, $40, $50.
The increase in the pension roll has
been enormous. The total in 1870 was
$2S,34O,202, and in 1907 it is $139,3O9,-
514. The cost of the army in 1870 was
$57,566,675, and in 1907 S122, ,576, ,465.
The cost of the navy during the same pc
riod has increased from 81, 1923 to
$9T, T,12S,469.
The imports of merchandise in 1870
amounted to S435,95S, ,40S, and our ex-
ports were $392, III, ,76S that year, while
in 1907 the imports were Slab. 4.421, ,425