FIFTY MILLION STRONG 



explain the wonderful records of German cities : one is the 

 strong feeling that every resident has with reference to the 

 general welfare; the other is that in all cases the people come 

 into possession of the things that belong to them. The 

 absence of these two fundamental facts in Urban America 

 explains the dismal record of the municipal governments of 

 the nation. When once the point is reached of subordinating 

 the individual to the whole body of citizens and of transferring 

 to the people those values that result from collectivity, then 

 Urban America will have taken a long step forward. The 

 tax rates of American cities have in many instances risen so 

 high in recent years that further increases will jeopardize 

 their very life. And bond issues have been made with such a 

 prodigal hand that the aggregate debt of Urban America has 

 reached staggering proportions. The Detroit Free Press has 

 the following to say on municipal extravagance : 



" Receiverships for cities are a novelty for this generation 

 in our municipal history, but Nashville has come to that low 

 ebb of civic affairs, and there is talk now of having a receiver- 

 ship for Montreal. When the blindly reckless course of 

 financing by municipalities is considered, the wonder is not so 

 much that we have one or two open bankruptcies among our 

 cities, but that we are not having a long series of such 

 disastrous and disgraceful failures. The tendency is pro- 

 gressive, however; a little more time and receivers will be 

 numerous enough. 



" Think for a minute of the financial status of some of our 

 American cities. New York, with a population estimated at 

 5,625,000, has a net debt of $757,705,000, or about $134 per 

 capita. Boston has some 746,000 people and owes $83,969,000, 

 which is about $ni per capita. New Orleans has 400,000 

 people and its debt is $37,753,ooo, or about $94 per capita. 

 Baltimore's 583,000 population owes $52,780,000, or about $90 

 each. Montreal owes about $78,000,000 and estimates its popu- 

 lation at 600,000, so that its per capita debt is about $130, 

 which puts quite enough burden on its shoulders to raise 

 doubts as to its capacity to carry the load. Nashville, already 



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