UNITED STATES. 



Izo the House against thorn. There must bo no mis- 

 taking <nir Hinffle and resolute purpose by our :i. ti,,n 

 t<> 1'riiu' ivliuf to our suffering constituents by riving 

 full employment and adequate reward t<> labor, impart 

 now lin :in.l vii;or to tlio prostruto business iiidu.s- 

 trios of the country, und give hope to the despairing 

 debtor. 



Tho extraordinary growth of the local public 

 di-lits iii tlio United States has been recently 

 animadverted upon as imposing an unbearable 

 burden up-ni the industry and business of the 

 country, und as constituting one of the chief 

 fl of the late protracted commercial de- 

 pivssion. The municipal debts of 130 cities of 

 the Union are found to have increased between 

 18G6 ami l*7i) from an aggregate of $221,312,- 

 009 to $644,378,663. The assessed value of 

 the property of the same in 1876 was $6,175,- 

 082,158, in 1866, $3,451,619,831 ; annual taxa- 

 tion of the same in 1876, $112,711,275, in 1866, 

 $04,000,914; population of the same in 1876, 

 8,576,249, in 1866, 5,919,914; increase in debt, 

 200 per cent. ; in taxation, 83 per cent. ; in 

 valuation, 75 per cent. ; and in population, 

 only 33 per cent. The municipal debt alone of 

 130 cities, representing a population of only 

 8,576,249, exceeded in 1876 by over $28,000,- 

 000 the county, town, and city indebtedness of 

 the entire country in 1870. In six years the 

 indebtedness of these cities had exceeded by 

 over $316,000,000 the bonded and floating in- 

 debtedness of .all the towns and cities in the 

 United States in 1870, which, according to the 

 census, amounted to $515,810,000. 



The municipal and county debts in eleven 

 States of the Union in 1878 are computed and 

 compared with the same in 1870 as follows : 



The following is the valuation of the prop- 

 erty in the above-named States for the two 

 periods : 



Incomplete returns from other States show 

 the municipal debt of twenty cities in Pennsyl- 

 vania to aggregate $87,329,180 ; nine cities in 

 New Jersey, $36,502,722 ; two cities in Mary- 

 land, $34,000,000; five cities in Louisiana, 

 $20,000,000 ; and five cities in Kentucky, $12,- 

 000,000. According to this calculation, the 

 total local debt of the country at the close of 

 the year 1878 was $1,051,106,112, exclusive of 

 State debts. 



The estimates of the year's crops, made in 

 December, compared with the returns of the 

 foregoing year, show an increase of over 6 per 

 cent, in quantities and 26 per cent, in values. 

 There was an increase of 12 per cent, in the 

 acreage sown to winter wheat ; the Hessian fly 

 injured some of the early-sown crops, and the 

 later-sown suffered from drought ; nevertheless, 

 the general prospects were above the average. 

 The tobacco-crop showed but a slight improve- 

 ment in average quality over the crop of 1878, 

 though a marked improvement was observed 

 in some of the States. The oat-crop was 12 

 per cent, less than in 1878. The area sown to 

 potatoes was 3 per cent, greater than the pre- 

 vious year; the yield per acre was 98 bushels, 

 against 69 in 1878 and 94 in 1877. The acre- 

 age under winter rye was 8 per cent, less, but 

 greater in New England, Texas, and the States 

 north of the Ohio River ; the condition of the 

 crop was generally above the average. The 

 hay-crop was 10 per cent, less, New England 

 and the Gulf States only having increased their 

 area ; the crops of the Southern inland States 

 and north of the Ohio were injured greatly by 

 drought, and showed a falling off of 20 to 80 

 per cent. ; the average price per ton was $9.24, 

 against $7.21 in 1878. The total estimates are 

 as follows : 



