The Birmingham age-herald., 1916-08-14
Cost of Mum -8F lities Shown to Be Seven Times That
 of States
FIGURES BY CENSUS
 DEPARTMENT GIVEN
California Leads in Having Highest Per Capita Cost of Government, While South Carolina
 Has Smallest
By HUGH w. ROBERTS

By HUGH w. ROBERTS
 Washington, August 13.-(Special) Were municipal governments more economically administered, taxpayers would be a happy people.
 This conclusion is reached as re- suit of financial studies undertaken and soon to be made public by Sam L.. Rogers, director of the federal census. As Age-Herald readers will recall, digest of municipal finances some weeks ago made public, revealed the fact that the average per capita ex- penditure for municipal governmental purposes was s34.65. According to the following statement of the financial operations of the several states, the per capita expenditure for purposes of state government was only slightly more than S5:
 In 29 of the 4S states of the union the excess of expenditures for govern mental costs including interest and outlaws for permanent improvements over revenues, during the fiscal year 1915. was s55,2S3, 404, or S6 cents per capita In the remaining 19 states the excess of revenues over expenditures amounted to SIS S,60S,917, or 54 cents per capita, Taking the entire AS states as q whole. the excess of expenditures over revenues was s36,674,4s7, or 37 cents per capita.
 REVENUES OF STATES
 The aggregate revenues of all the states during the year were S45S,232,- 597. the aggregate expenditures for current governmental costs, including interest, $399,714,2S5, and the aggre- gate outlays for permanent improve ments, s95, 5,192,7s9.
 Of the total revenues, s3S5.543,7s7. or about four-fifths, represented receipts from the various kinds of taxes. About half of this amount, S1S5,S76,319, was derived from the general property tax, made up of taxes on real estate and personal property. Of the remainder of the largest item, $S2.s70,SS2, was contributed by special property and other special taxes; $57,9S1,116 was raised from business taxes other than on the liquor traffic, $20,799.O71 came from the liquor traffic, $14,6S6,25 254 was derived from license taxes other than on business. and sS,19s,155 from poll taxes.
 The largest sources of revenue out side of taxes are found in the earnings of general departments and in inter- est The earnings of general depart ments are made up of receipts from fees, charges, minor sales, etc, by the various departments and offices of the state governments exclusive of the public service enterprises. These yield ed. during the fiscal year 1915, $o0,- 222,74S in revenues. Receipts from in terest on current deposits and on the various state funds amounted to $22,- 105396. Other sources of revenue special assessments and special charges for outlays fines, forfeits and es- cheats, subventions and grants from the feedral government, donations, pension ssessments, highway privi- leges, rents and earnings of public service nterprises-yielded a total of s20, ,36O,656.
 For all the states taken as a group, the per capita receipts from property taxes were $2.7S; from other taxes, 9S cents; from earnings of general de- partments, 51 cents, and from all other sources combined 43 cents.
 The highest per capita property taxes, SIPS, are shown for Arizona. and the lowest, 91 cents, for Missouri.
 THE EXPENDITURES
 The expenditures during the year for governmental costs, which aggre- gated $494, were. in the order of their importance: For expenses of general departments, s379,030,094 for outlays, s95,192,799; for interest, $1S,- b45,955; for expenses of public service enterprises (railroads, toll bridges, ferries, canals, docks and wharves, etc, maintained by nine states only). $2I3S,236. Expenses of general de- partments comprised payments for ed ucation (schools and libraries), $147,- 164,247; for charities, hospitals, and corrections, $S9,1S9. 400; for general government" Legislative, executive and judicial branches). $44,50S,417; for protection to person and property tpo- lice and fire departments; militia and armories; regulation of corporations, professional occupations, labor, liquor traffic, sale of certain commodities, and weights and measures, protection of fish and game, etc.), $26,294, ,69l for highways. $22,767,766; for general and miscellaneous items, including pensions and gratuities, S22,214,569; for development and conservation of natural resources, S16, 6,55S,6S5; for con- servation of health and sanitation, $9, 453,673, and for educational and gen eral recreation. parks and reserva- tions, and monuments, $S7S,646.
 The average per capita expenditures for all governmental costs, including interest and outlays, in the 4S states were $5.O3. The highest figure showr under this head for any one state $1217, is that for California, and the