USEFUL FACTS ABOUT THE COUNTRIES 

 OF THE WORLD 



ONE of the most useful annual 

 volumes issued by the govern- 

 ment is the "Statistical Ab- 

 stract of the United States," which is 

 published by the U. S. Bureau of 

 Statistics. The volume for 1906, pre- 

 pared by Hon. O. P. Austin, Chief of the 

 Bureau, has just been distributed and is 

 aptly described as a series of panoramic 

 views of conditions in the United States 

 from 1800 to the present time in area, 

 population, production, commerce, circu- 

 lation, wealth, intercommunication, pub- 

 lication, and education. The 700 pages 

 of solid figures supply much more of 

 actual information, both historical and as 

 to the present conditions, than could be 

 placed in any other form in equivalent 

 space. 



All kinds of puzzling questions will 

 here find an answer. For instance, if the 

 manufacturer of boots and shoes wants 

 to know the countries in which American 

 boots and shoes are being sold, and those 

 in which the gains are most rapid, he will 

 obtain the information from the abstract. 

 Similarly, any merchant who desires to 

 know the quantity and value imported or 

 exported of any given article or class of 

 articles in which he deals, may find not 

 only the values of the imports or exports 

 of the article in question, but the coun- 

 tries from which imported or to which 

 exported and the growth in trade with 

 that country year by year. 



The American citizen who wants to 

 know the sources from which the large 

 and rapidly growing revenues of the 

 Government are drawn and the purposes 

 for which they are expended, here finds 

 the detailed statement. 



Through the courtesy of Mr Austin 

 several tables showing the material 

 progress of our country since 1870 are 

 republished on the preceding pages. 



The wealth of the United States, which 



in 1850 was set down at 7 billions of dol- 

 lars, is given at 107 billions in 1904, the 

 latest year for which figures are avail- 

 able ; and the per capita wealth, which 

 in 1850 was $307, was in 1904 $1,310. 

 The public debt, which in 1864 was 2,675 

 million dollars, is now but 964 millions, 

 and the per capita indebtedness which in 

 1864 was $76.98 is now but $1 1.46 ; while 

 the annual interest charge, which was 

 then $4.12 per capita, is now but 28 cents 

 per capita. The money in circulation, 

 which in 1800 was 26 million dollars, in 

 1850 278 millions, and in 1880 973 mil- 

 lions, was in 1906 2,736 millions ; and the 

 per capita circulation, which in 1800 was 

 $5, and in 1850 $12, was in 1906 $32.32. 



Bank deposits, for which no record is 

 available earlier than in 1875, were in 

 that year a trifle over 2 billion dollars, in 

 1900 7>4 billions, and in 1906 12^4 bil- 

 lions. Deposits in savings banks in 1820 

 amounted to i million dollars, speaking 

 in round terms ; in 1850 they had reached 

 43 millions, in 1875 924 millions, in 1900 

 21/3 billions, and in 1906 3K billions ; 

 while the number of depositors, which in 

 1820 was only 8,635, in 1850 251,354, 

 in 187s 2,359,864, and in 1900 6,107,083, 

 was in 1906 8,027,192, or nearly a thou- 

 sand times as many as in 1820, while the 

 deposits were more than 3,000 times as 

 much in 1906 as in 1820. 



Imports of merchandise, which in 1800 

 amounted to 91 million dollars, were in 

 1906 1,226 millions ; while exports, which 

 in 1800 were 71 millions, were in 1906 

 1,744 millions. The per capita of im- 

 portations, which in 1800 amounted to 

 $17.19, was in 1906 but $14.42, while the 

 per capita of exportations, which in 1800 

 was $13.37, was in 1906 $20.41. 



In the great manufacturing industries 

 evidences of progress are equally appar- 

 ent. The page devoted to this subject 

 shows that the number of people em- 

 ployed in manufacturing has grown from 



