The general wealth of the United States is attaining large
proportions. The Census Department, in a report issued on August 18th, and prepared with exceptional care on special data furnished by every county in the Union, estimate the assessed value of property, real and personal, at £4,849,917,961, and the " absolute wealth" at £12,522,000,000, equal to £200 a. head, or £1,000 for every household. There is always some doubt about such figures, and the immense difference between the "absolute wealth" and the assessment is suspicious ; but it seems certain that the wealth of the Union has increased one-third during the decade,—that is, much faster than the population. This result is the more remarkable because the people of the Union, taken as a mass, are not yet housed in stone or brick structures, such as in other countries constitute a grand item in the national wealth. Outside the great cities the houses are still built mainly of wood.
Previous page
