SOCIAL STATISTICS OF CITIES. 615 



directly, by an assessed tax, or indirectly, through the increased 

 cost of articles of consumption, of rent, etc., the cost specified. 



The column for water is not particularly satisfactory, although 

 it is indicative of the actual expense. The census tables show 

 only expense of annual charge for water for an average dwelling, 

 meaning by an average dwelling one that is occupied by one 

 family and not exceeding seven rooms, with one bath-room, in- 

 cluding hot and cold water, and one water-closet. If an average 

 dwelling is one occupied by one family, then one fifth of the 

 annual charge for water as given in the census reports would 

 show with reasonable accuracy the charge for each individual, 

 and on this basis the column for water has been constructed. 



Looking at the items for each of the fifty cities named in the 

 last table and the total, we easily ascertain what a man receives 

 for the tax which he is obliged to pay directly or indirectly, and 

 also in which city he receives the most for his money, or, rather, 

 where he receives all his protection of police, his use of streets, 

 his protection from fire, etc., for the least expenditure, and the 

 analysis also leaves in each man's mind this question : Could he 

 secure so great a return for his money by any other method of 

 expenditure ? 



There are a few blanks in the table just given ; as, for instance, 

 in New Orleans the expense for the maintenance and repairs of 

 sewers is missing, and this item is also omitted from the reports 

 for Newark, St. Paul, Indianapolis, Toledo, Fall River, Trenton, 

 Los Angeles, Lawrence, Mass., Binghamton, Canton, Taunton, 

 La Crosse, Wis., and Newport, Ky. There are also a few other 

 points missing ; as, for instance, the expense of street-cleaning in 

 Milwaukee, Minneapolis, Denver, and some other cities. These 

 points, however, comprehend nearly all the omissions, and in so 

 far as they occur the total expense in the cities named is vitiated, 

 although to a very small extent. 



Taking the table as it stands, it is seen that Rockford, 111., 

 offers the most for one's taxes of the smaller cities, it being $4.14 

 per capita. Camden, N. J., comes next, with $4.22 ; and Trenton 

 follows, with $4.24. Among the larger cities, those having over 

 300,000 inhabitants, Baltimore offers the very lowest expense for 

 her great departments of government, the per capita expense for 

 all being $4.66. Brooklyn, N. Y., comes very close, the expense 

 being $4.71, and Philadelphia ranks third as to cheapness of mu- 

 nicipal government for the items named, the expense being $4.96. 

 The great city of New York, about which so much is said relative 

 to her expensive government, furnishes the seven items of expense 

 named in the table at $7.05 per capita, being lower than St. Louis, 

 Chicago, Boston, San Francisco, Cincinnati, or New Orleans, and 

 ranking almost exactly with Washington. The most expensive 



