Putnam County herald. (Cookeville, Tenn.) 1903-1922, 1914-05-14
TENNESSEE STATE DEBT

Washington, D. c., April 21, 1914
Preliminary figures from the forthcom-
ing bulletin pertaining to national and
state indebtedness ad fuds ad invest
ments have been given out by Director
w. ]. Harris, of the Bureau of the Cen
sus, Department of Commerce. The
bulletin carries information for the
state of Tennessee, as well as for the
other states and the United States.
The data were compiled under the
supervision of Mr.. John Lee Coulter,
expert special agent in charge of the
inquiry on Wealth, Debt, and Taxation.
The bulletin, which will soon be is
sued. will contain statistics for each
state for each year from 1890 to 1913.
inclusive, as far as statistics are avail
able, and will also contain details for
the year most nearly corresponding TO
1880, thus making it possible to show
the general movement during a period
of thirty years. The bulletin will show
the total debt of the safes as well as
many deails, such as the various class
es of outstanding bonds and special
debt obligations to public trust funds.
1t will also show the floating debt and
its component parts. Under Funds
and investments" will be shown sepa-
rately all the different funds, and in
each case cash and securities Will De
shown The population of the states
for each year under consideration Will
be used, and the per capita debt Qess
sinking-fund assets) will be given.
An inspection of the tables for Ten
nessee in the bulletin soon to be lssu-
ed shows that only biennial reports
were obtainable The bonded indebt-
edness decreased from $16, 4O6,OOO
in 1890 to $11,794,000 in 1912. The
special debt obligations to public trust
funds and the floating debt bob declln-
ed throughout the period covered, the
special debt obligations falling from
SO, lac, 900 to So, $4,000 and the float
ing debt from $151, 900 to $4,000.
In the case of funds and investments
the securities show no material change
though a genera decrease of $396,O0
occurred as between the amounts held
in 1890 and 1912. The cash changed
naturally from year to year, reaching
the maximum amount of S1,259,0O0 In
1906.
No sinking-fund assets, as such,
were recorded until 1902, and during
the remainder of the period the a.
mounts were too insignificant to make
any appreciable difference between the
total debt and the debt Qess sinking
fund assts).
The decrease in the state debt and
the increase in population served to
lower the per capita debt during the
30-year period.
In 1880 the total debt of Tennessee
at the close of the fiscal year, Decem-
ber 20, was $30,S03,0 900; in 1890, it
was S19.696, 900, and in 1912 had fallen
to $14,324,OOO.T he population OF the
state increased from 1,542,000 in 1880
to 1922. 900 in 1912, this increase being
sufficient to still further reduce the de-
clining per capita debt In 1880 1t fell
to $1113, decreasing steadily thereaf-
ter until in 1912 the amount was $6.45.
In contrast with the state of Tennes-
see. we find that taking the entire
debt (less sinking-fund assets) for the
4S states the per capita debt, accord
ing to the latest report, is$3.52, or W.
SO less than the per capita debt for
Tennessee. Comparing the decrease
in the per capita debt of Tennessee
and the 48 states, for the 30-year periol
we find that $5.4S fell to 1882 in the
average for the 48 states, and $19.97
to $645 in Tennessee.
At present time about 2.3 per cent
of the total population of the United
States will be found in the state OF
Tennessee, and AZ per cent OF the to-
tai debt Qess sinking-fund assets) is
attributed to that state.
Not one dollar of the state debt has
been paid during over three years
that the Republican party has been In
power in Tennessee. Tax payers
should remember that this is fact
and should be made an issue in the
coming campaign.