Pioneer press. [volume] (Martinsburg, W. Va.) 1882-19??, 1914-08-01
INDEBTEDNESS OF
NATION AND STATES
Full Report From 1870 to 1913 Is Is
sued BY Director Harris On
His Report.

His Report.
WASHINGTON, July 25.-The full
report on national and state indeb.pl
ness and funds and investments from
1870 to 1913 has just been issued bv
Director William J. Harris, of The
Hrleau of the Census Department Of
Commerce. The bulletin gives mfor-
cation for the United States as a
whole and for each state separately,
and it is now ready for distribution
According to this bulletin, the total
Ccbt of the 4S state governments ON
June 80, 1913, amounted to $422, 1885,
525. OF this total, $403,36G, ,564 repre-
sented funded debt, and $19,429 ,956
represented floating debt. or the
funded debt, $364,S36,427 are repre-
sented in bonds and $3S, ,530,142 arc
special debt obligations to public
trust fur6;.
AS an otfffsetting item against this
total debt. the 4S states reported S7G.-
9S0,571 in sinking fund assets, laav-
ing their debt Qess sinking fund as.
sets), $345 ,942,305. The per capita
debt for the 4S states amounted to
't.57 Oh June 80, 1913.
In contrast with the debt Of the 40
tate governments. the national gov
irnmcat had total debt on June 80,
1913, of $2,916, ,204,914. Of this total
he funded debt amounted to $780,
523 329 while the floating deb;
amounted to $375,681,585. Or the
funded debt, the bonded Indebtedness
amounted to $967,366,160, while the
special debt obligations amounted to
$1,573, ,157,169. The sinking fund as
sets, or cash in the United States
treasury available for the payment Of
debt, consisting Of accumulated trust
funds, gold and silver and general
treasury cash, not only were sulii-
cient to eliminate entirely the special
debt obligations but also to reduce
the bonded debt. The national debt,
less cash in the treasury available
for the payment Of debt, amounted to
only $1,O28, ,5e4,O55, or a per capita
debt of s1O59.
The net debt Of the national gov
er1ment rpresents three times the
total net debt of the state govern
meents. Of tn total per capita debt
Of $14.15 (national and state), the
debt Of the national government is
$1O.59, or Is per cent, while the debt
Of the state governments amounts to
$751; or % per cent Of the total.
The debt OF the national govern
ment was higher In 1870 than A. any
time since that date, the per capita
debt that year being $60.4G. This
amount, though large, was a mater
ial decrease over the debt as it stood
August 81, 1865. On that date the
Indebtedness Of the national govern
nent 0ess funds available for the
payment of debit amounted to ST.,
6,431, ,571, an average Of $79.4i for
every inhabitant Of the county. The
rate of decrease between 1865 and
1870 was continued until in 1886 the
indebtedness Of the national govern
lnent had decreased SO that, together
with the rapid increase in the popu-
ation the per capita debt had been
reduced to only $38.27. Ten years
later 1890 it had been reduced to
$3.50 at which point 1t remained
with only coDpalotively slight fluciu-
atoms, increasing somewhat during
the Spanish-American war and de-
creasing somewhat since that date,
until. at the latest date reported
1913), the Indebtedness Of the ma
tional government amounts to only
s1O.59 per capita, an amount slightly
higher than in 1907, when the per
capita indebtedness was $10.05, the
lowest recorded.