62 PROCEEDINGS OF THE 



accurate figures, I can nevertheless give some idea of their amount in the 

 United States. 



In 1870, according to the Census Reports, the indebtedness 



of Slates and Territories was $352,866,698 



Of Counties, 187,565,540 



Of Cities, Towns, etc., 328,244,520 



Total, $868,676,758 



In the last five years this amount has, no doubt, mucli increased. The 

 local indebtedness of New York State alone, amounted in 1873 to $188,- 

 373,280, or thirty millions more than reported for the same State for 1870. 

 James G. Blaine, late Speaker of the House of Representatives, in an ad- 

 dress at Oshkosh, Wisconsin, in 1874, gave as the result of his investiga- 

 tions the following later figures : 



State Debts, $390,000,000 



County, 180,000,000 



Municipal Debts, 570,000,000 



Total, $1,140,000,000 



The national debt at the same time, Mr. Blaine stated, amounted to 

 $2,140,000,000; so that we had a grand total of $3,240,000,000 of public 

 debt to be carried by about 40,000,000 of people, worth about $30,000,000,- 

 000 of property. That is, each man, woman and child of America owes for 

 public purposes $81 ; or each family $412.29 (81 x 5.09). If these public 

 debts could all be paid oflF to-day by an equitable assessment on the val- 

 uation of property it would take 10.8 per cent, of the thirty billions to 

 meet the debt. Every man worth $1,000 would have to pay $108 of it to 

 redeem the remainder of his little estate. Every man worth $10,000 would 

 pay $1,080, and soon, assuming that the debts are simply carried, and 

 average 6 per cent, interest, which is too low, each person must pay on the 

 average $4.86 interest on his share of the national debt, and each family 

 about $25 annually; on each $1,000 worth of property, $6.48 annually. 



NATIONAL EXPENDITURK. 



In addition to this interest as I have said, current expenses must be met. 

 Take the report of the Secretary of the Treasury for the year ending June 

 30, 1874, and you find the following account of expenditures: 



War Department, $42,313,927.22 



Navy, 30,932,587.42 



Indians, 6,692,462.09 



Pensions, 29,038,414.66 



Miscellaneous, 85,141,593.61 



Current Expenses, $194,118,985.00 



Premiums 1,395.073.55 



Interest, 107,119,815.21 



Paid on Debt, 2,344,882.30 



Total, $304,978,756.06 



