Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1935-10-06

|NAradio address one of America share
the-wealth advocatessaid: "Asaresult of
foreclosures, of mortgages and bank
- ruptcies it is the estimate of conser-
vative statisticians that rs per cent of the
people in the United States don't own any
thing today; that is, not even enough to paw
their debts
This is striking statement. The question
which naturally arises is whether or not the
estimate of conservative statisticians" just
referred to is based upon adequate evidence
If statistics of wealth were easy to secure,
there might be no ground for questioning the
estimate. The truth is. however. that to
measure private wealth is a most difficult
task so difficult indeed, that the United
States Census Bureau no longer even attempts
it. True, it has published data purporting to
represent the results of censuses of wealth,
but the figures are nothing more than a COL
lection of estimates resting, in many cases.
upon very slender foundations.
Since. in taking the census of population.
enumerators must visit every household in
the United States and secure detailed in
formation about many things. it would seem
the simplest matter in the world to append one
more question and inquire directly concerning
the wealth of each family. Why is this not
done?
There are two reasons. First, the feeling
is ingrained that wealth and income are
strictly man S own business The widespread
demand for the repeal of the pink slip"
SectiOn 0f the income tav lau n fou, y,oot he
ago clearly evidences this sentiment. Since,
however, census figures concerning any in
dividual are kept entirely confidential, this is
far from being the sole reason. The out
standing reason is that the enumerator cannot
get the information because. in the average
family, no one knows the facts
This is sweeping statement and may we'll
arouse your skepticism. However, you do not
need to take it on faith. You can easily test
its correctness, experimentally by proceeding
as follows:
Approach one of your close friends who
does not happen to be seuetive in such mat
tiers and ask him to record on slip of paper
careful estimate of his present net worth in
dollars. After you have secured this slip.
request Till 10 I'LL OUT d statement OF MS
assets and liabilities, itemized in the manner
suggested in the schedule which appears at
the end of this article
You will be surprised to find how markedly
the aggregate of the items in the list exceeds
the total entered on the original slip. As
might be expected, the chief source of error is
found in the estimates of the respective values
of household effects and personal belongings.
The following are perhaps the outstanding
reason for the underestimate:
In listing personal property for the tax
assessor, there has grown up, for obvious
reasons, the custom of counting as the value
Of an article merely its cash value at a sheriffs
sale-a figure which is usually far below the
true worth of the object to its owner.
At forced sale, an automobile which, a
month before, cost $1,000. might not sell for
more than $780, An ancestral portrait for
which the artist was paid $1,000 might be
knocked down for SO cents. Though such
valuations are entirely unreal and are useful
Copyright, 1895. United Newspapers Magazine Corpor