CHAPTER X. 



PERILS. —WEALTH. 



The wealth of the United States is phenomenal. It is 

 now (1890) estimated at $61,459,000,000.1 In 1880 it was 

 valued at $43,612,000,000; more than enough to buy the 

 Russian and Turkish Empires, the kingdoms of Sweden 

 and Norway, Denmark and Ital}^, together with Austra- 

 lia, South Africa and all South America— lands, mines, 

 cities, palaces, factories, ships, flocks, herds, jewels, 

 moneys, thrones, scepters, diadems and all — the entire 

 possessions of 177,000,000 people. The most remarkable 

 point of this comparison is the fact that European 

 wealth represents the accumulations of many centuries, 

 while more than half of ours has been created in twenty 

 years. 



Between I860- and 1870 a million producers were de- 

 stroyed by war, and not only were two great armies 

 withdrawn from productive occupations, but they de- 

 voted marvelous energy and ingenuity to the work 

 of destruction. But, notwithstanding all this, during 

 those ten years we created wealth enough to cover all 

 the losses of the war in both North and South, with 

 $116,000,000 to spare. 3 

 From 1870 to 1890 our wealth increased $31,391,000,000, 



^ Tlie World Almanac, 1890. These statistics were compiled from returns 

 made by the financial officers of the several states and territories, and 

 based on the assessed valuations. 



2 In the first edition, our wealth in 1860 was given as $16,160,000,000. This 

 was the value of taxed property only. Taxed and untaxed property 

 amounted to $81,202,000,000. and in 18<0 to $30,068,000,000. 



3 That is, not counting as a loss the $1,250,000,000, which emancipation 

 subtracted from the assets of the nation, we were $116,000,000 richer in 1870 

 than we were in 1860. 



