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average size of farms in that section, according to the census of 1900, of 1900, showed how the process of disintegration was going on.

During this period a similar movement was observable also in the South. After the war the plantation system was no longer supreme. In the social and industrial readjustment that came about in that section in this period, the plantations did not meet new requirements and were gradually broken up into small holdings. The impoverishment of many of the old land-holding families contributed to this condition, for they were no longer able to retain their vast estates. The wider freedom of occupation and the increase of the family unit in industry brought a demand for small farms. In Louisiana the big sugar plantations remained, but even in cotton and tobacco cultivation there was a considerable abandonment of the plantation system for the less extensive farms. The reduction of average farm size to about 100 acres shows the extent of this movement during this period. From 1860 to 1880 the decrease was regular and considerable, from 1880 to 1890 there was but a slight increase, and for the entire period 1860-1910 the record was one of decreasing average acreage.

Most farms in all parts of the country are operated by their owners. This was particularly true of the early years of the Western frontier

expansion. expansion. In the course of time, however, there was an increase in the number of rented farms. The percentage of rented farms and the rate of increase in this later period was greater in the South than in the West. The tendency throughout the entire country has always been toward individual ownership of small holdings, whether of farms or homestead plots. The events of the first years of the Twentieth century indicated no retrogression in this respect. The public sentiment and the industrial and political conditions that prevented the establishment of a feudal land system in New England, destroyed the manors of New York, overturned the proprietorships of Pennsylvania and Maryland, broke up the plantations of the South, and forced the division of the great grazing ranches of the West, were even more in evidence and stronger than at any previous time in the history of the country.*

* Thomas Donaldson, The Public Domain (Washington, 1884); W. C. Ford, Public Lands in the United States, in J. J. Lalor's Cyclopedia of Political Science, Political Economy, and of the Political History of the United States (Chicago, 1884); S. Sato, History of the Land Question of the United States, in Johns Hopkins University Studies, vol. iv. (Baltimore, 1886); Public Land Laws (2 vols., Washington, 1838); B. A. Hinsdale, The Old Northwest (New York, 1888); annual reports and publications of the General Land Office; Census reports, 1870-1910; Report of the Industrial Commission of the United States (19 vols., Washington, 1900-1902); J. W. Powell, Report on the Lands of the Arid Region of the United States (Washington, 1879); Statistical Abstract of the United States, pub lished annually by the Government.

REAL AND PERSONAL PROPERTY VALUES.

309

CHAPTER II.

1865-1912.

REAL AND PERSONAL PROPERTY VALUES.

Between 1860 and 1870 the true value that is, the actual value as distinguished from the assessed value

Renewed prosperity in the North after the Civil War General depreciation of property in the South during Reconstruction Property in the South in 1860 and 1870 - Property in the Territories in 1860 and 1870Remarkable growth in wealth within the next decade Material conditions in the South after 1880-Wealth in the United States in 1890 — Its general increase by the close of the century Assessed valuation of property in the United States in 1909. Despite the drawbacks incidental to the conflict, there was general prosperity in the North at the close of the Civil War. Real and personal property had increased in amount and value and most industries had developed to a remarkable degree. It is true that considerable of this prosperity was factitious, but this was overlooked at first. War is always a source of gain as well as of loss. The North, profiting by the exceptional demands made upon its agriculture and industries to meet the needs of the Government during the conflict, and spurred on by the necessity of recouping itself for the enormous expenditures occasioned by the war, resumed the arts of peace with renewed energy. Much of this excessive activity proved, however, unhealthful in the end. The era of inflation which had already set in was destined to culminate in a serious financial panic, followed by years of financial and industrial depression. This was to come within a decade, but in 1865-1870 was not yet in sight.

of all the real estate and personal property in the 37 States and 10 Territories increased from $16,159,616,068 to $30,068,518,507. Although this increase was large (nearly 90 per cent.), it was a lower percentage increase than that of the preceding decade, when the figures rose from $7,135,780,218 in 1850 to $16,159,616,068 in 1860-an increase of over 125 per cent. But the Northern States and the Territories in the decade 18601870 made the largest proportion of the increase for the entire country, the average being brought down by the extraordinary losses in the States. of the South, which had not yet recovered from the effects of the war. A comparison of the figures of the ninth census of 1870 will indicate the extent to which the North had prospered at the cost of the South. The following

table shows the true value of the real and personal property in 1860 and

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1870 in the 24 States which were loyal those of 1860, and the value of other

to the Union cause:

California

Connecticut

Maine

Minnesota

Nebraska

.....

1860. $207,874,613 444,274,114 46,242,181

871,860,282

1870. $638,767,017 774,631,524 97,180,833 2,121,680,579

528,835,371 1,268,180,543

717,644,750 188,892,014 348,155,671 643,748,976 2,132,148,741

719,208,118 228,909,590 69,277,483 31,134,012 252,624,112 990,976,064 6,500,841,264 2,235,430,300 51,588,932

3,808,340,112

property about 40 per cent. The condition has been concisely stated by a Southern historian:

"During the Reconstruction the value of real and other property declined in the black belt, the lands, buildings, cattle and implements, not being under proper care and the labor being inefficient; the emancipation of slaves had destroyed a form of property valued at about two billions of dollars; the coast districts producing rice and long staple cotton suffered the most rapid decline in wealth; the white counties during Reconstruction gained slowly in wealth, and in them developed a few cities like Atlanta, Birmingham and Galveston (some railway lines also being constructed); the census of 1870 showed that in the white districts economic conditions were becoming normal and by 1880 they were, on the whole, wealthier than in 1860." *

In the 13 Southern States the true value of real and personal property in 1860 and 1870 was:

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Total

$9,717,096,694 $25,194,604,634

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In the South an exceptional condition of things existed as a result of the war. In some sections property, except the bare land, had nearly all disappeared and in others what was left had depreciated in value. Even the land had become well-nigh worthless through devastation of military operations and the destruction of agriculture and other industries. Immediately after the war land prices were high, but by 1870 they had fallen in some States from one-fourth to onesixth what they had been ten years before. In general, the land values. throughout the South during this period averaged about 50 per cent. of

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The only Territories politically existing in 1860 and the true value of their real and personal estates were: District of Columbia, $41,084,945; New Mexico, $20,813,768; Utah, $5,596,118; Washington, $5,601,466; total, $73,096,297.

The Northern States increased their real and personal estates from a value of nearly $10,000,000,000 in 1860 to over $25,000,000,000 in 1870 (over 150 per cent.). Every Northern State showed an increase. On the other hand, there was a decrease during the same period in every one of the 13 other States except Missouri, where there was an increase of nearly 140 per cent., and Tennessee, where there was a very slight increase (less than one-tenth of one per cent.). The total falling off in these States was from more than $8,000,000,000 in 1860 to a little over $4,000,000,000 in 1870 (about 50 per cent.). These figures These figures of 1870 include the recovery after 1865 and therefore do not represent the gross loss of the South during this decade.

In the next decade, despite the business depression that began in 1873, there was another remarkable growth in the aggregate value of the various

311

The cen

sus figures of 1880 of property taxed were $43,642,000,000. This was distributed as follows:

Real estate (with improvements). $22,078,000,000
Live stock, farming tools and
machinery

Mines and quarries (including
product on hand).
Specie...

Railroads and equipment....
Telegraphs, shipping and canals..
Average annual agricultural prod-
ucts, manufactures and imports
on hand ... . . .
Household goods and supplies..
Miscellaneous

2,406,000,000

781,000,000

612,000,000 5,536,000,000 419,000,000

6,160,000,000 5,000,000,000 650,000,000

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States, according to the census of 1890, 383,411,495. Government and other was as follows:

exempt real estate was valued at $6,212,788,930 and residential real estate at $20,041,106,350.

According to the census of 1900, the wealth of the United States was as follows:

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3,306,473,278

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749,775,970

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Live stock on farms and ranges, and farm implements..... Mines and quarries (including product on land)..... Gold and silver (coin and bullion) Machinery of mills (including products on hand)............ Railroads and equipment (including street railroads).......... Telegraphs, telephones, shipping and canals Miscellaneous

Total

Real estate (with improvements). $52,537,628,164 Live stock

$65,037,091,197

It was then estimated that a little more than $33,000,000,000 of this wealth was employed in productive industries, while the balance of a little more than $31,000,000,000 was in the hands of those not engaged in productive industries. "The non-producers of the population control about 47 per cent. of the entire volume of wealth, exclusive of what shares they may have in the capital invested in productive industry. Or we might say that 47 per cent. of the total wealth is used exclusively for speculation and the exploiting of the industrial population." *

The agricultural property, including farms, stocks and implements, was valued at $22,939,901,164, and of other industries at $32,443,510,331, making the total of property employed in purely productive industries $53,

*J. A. Collins, Distribution of Wealth in the United States (Senate Doc. 75, 55th Congress, 2d session, January 19, 1898).

Railroads and their equipment...
Street railways...
Telegraph and telephone systems,
shipping and canals, waterworks
and electric light and power
stations ...

Agricultural products
Manufactured products..
Clothing and personal adornments
Furniture, carriages, etc..
Miscellaneous

Total

1,576,197,160

1,919,031,191

1,455,069,323

6,087,151,108

2,000,000,000

4,800,000,000

751,122,109

$88,517,306,775

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