02 A385x 949 ..I '10/ f,"-J \, HistoricalStatistics OFTHEUNITEDSTATES

I././JJ SupplementtotheStatistical of theUnited States PREPAREDBYTHEBUREAUOFTHECENSUS WITHTHECOOP,ERATIONOFTHE SOCIALSCIENCERESEARCHCOUNCIL 49 UnitedStatesDepartmentoj Commerce,CHARLESSAWYER,Secretary Bureauof theCensus,J.C.Capt,Director ForsalebytheSuperintendentofDocuments,U,S.GovernmentPrintingOffice,Washington25,D.C.- - - - - Price$2.50(buckram) sus mSTORICALSTATISTICSOFTHE UNITEDSTATES,1789-1945 REVISIONS Formorerecentdata,includingrevisions,seethecurrentStatistical AbstractoftheUnitedStateswhere,beginningwiththe 1949issue(avail-ableabout November1949),thesetime serieswillbebrought todate annu-allyinaspecialappendixwhichwillincluderevisionsforearlieryears. ERRATA Page 1,seriesA3-99(text),generalnote,line 11,shouldread"was 821billiondollars"and"was 353billiondollars,"not"milliondollars." Page112,seriesE265(table),1940figureshouldread"31,061,"not "31,601." Page 118,seriesF200-211(text),lines 9-10,weightof standr..rdcase of salmon should read "48 pounds,"not"45pounds." Page 174,series II 117and II 124(table); footnote 1 should read "Ex-cludes loans,"not"Includes loans." Page256,seriesN86-89(text),lines18-19,shouldread"For1920-1936,series N 86,"not "series N88." Page 267,series N67(table), 1933 figure should read "-9.6," not "-9.9." Page 278,seriesN124-130(table),omit headnote;table is in dollars, not thousandsofdollars. Inavolumeofdetailedhistoricalstatisticsit. isinevitablethaterrors willoccurwhichwillbediscoveredonly in useofthebOOk.Usersencoun-teringsucherrorsareurgedtocommunicatethemtotheBureauofthe Censuswhere they will belisted forcorrection in a'revised edition.In the meantime,ifasufficientnumberofcorrectionsaccumulate,additional erratasheetsmaybeissued.Thoseuserswhowishtobeplacedonthe mailinglisttoreceivesucherratasheetsshouldaddressarequestin writingtotheDirector,UnitedStatesBureauoftheCensus,Washington 25,D.C. 1UNE 1949. 846360--49 U.S.GOVERNMENTPRINTINGOFFICE,1949 (" BUREAUOFTHECENSUS J.C. CAPT,Director PHILIPM. HAUSER,DeputyDirector A.RossECKLER,AssistantDirector HOWARDC.GRIEVES,AssistantDirector MORRISH.HANSEN,StatisticalAssistant totheDirector ROBERTY.PHILLIPS,ExecutiveAssistant totheDirector CALVERTL. DEDRICK,Coordinator,InternationalStatistics FRANKR.1VILSON,InformationAssstant totheDirector Whilethisvolumehasbeenplanned,assembled,andeditedin theBureauoftheCensus,withtheadviceandassistanceofthe SocialScienceResearchCouncil,manyotherindividualsand agencies contributed to its preparation,directly and indirectly.In someinstances,individualsdevotedthemselvesfull-timeforthe periodnecessarytocompletetheirphaseoftheproject.Inother instances,contributionswerepreparedby individualswhilethey maintainedheavyresponsibilitiesintheir ownoffices.Anumber ofprivatepublishers,authors,andresearchorganizationsgen-erouslygrantedpermissiontousetheirmaterials.In somecases, theyalsomadeadditionalcontributionsintimeandenergy. ",Gener4I aregivenonp.IV; specific'aeknowledgm1entsia;jpeftrwithinthetextinthe variousThis iI?- theofficeofMorrisH.Hansen, StatistIcalAssistant totheDirector ofthe BureauoftheCensus, under the supervisionofMorrisB.mlman,Chief,Statistical Re-portsSection,byBruce L.Jenkinson,A.BenjaminHandler,and WilliamLerner.Mr.Jenkinson,Chief,StatisticalAbstractUnit, wasprimarily responsible forthe planning and preparation of the report;Mr.Handler,ExecutiveSecretaryoftheSocialScience ResearchCouncilCommitteeontheSourceBookofHistorical Statistics,wasprimarily responsibleforprocurementofdataand relationshipswiththeagenciesandindividualswhocontributed tothepUblication;andMr. Lerner,Statistician,StatisticalAb-stractUnit,wasprimarilyresponsibleforthereviewandediting of the materials as to content,adequacy,andcoverage. DorothyM.Belzeractedasstaffassistant,particularlywith respecttotabularpresentation,and wasresponsibleforprepara-tionofthematerialsfortheprinter.ClaireF.Cahillcheckedall cita)tions by reference to the original published sources and offered many constructive suggestionsas to the content of thebook. SocialScience ResearchCouncil TheSocialScienceResearchCouncilCommitteeontheSource Bookof Historical Statistics; Advisoryto the BureauoftheCen-sUSt playedanimportantroleinthepreparationofthisvolume. TheChairmanoftheCommittee and itsmembersgaveconsider-able time and thought to the review of plans, to advising on proper coursesofactiont andcontributed in other ways.In particular,J. Frederic Dewhurst,Chairman,was in alargemeasure responsible for the initiation ofthe project. The completed volume owes much p J to hisoriginaloutlineofpurpose,coverage,andarrangement.For adetailedstatementoftheoriginsofthishistoricalvolume,see introductory text. ThroughagrantbytheCommitteeonResearchinEconomic History (Arthur H. Cole,Chairman) of the Social Science Research Council,thefull-timeservicesoftheExecutiveSecretaryofthe AdvisoryCommitteeweremadeavailabletotheBureauofthe Census. The SocialScienceResearchCouncilCommittee on the Source Book ofHistorical Statistics (Advisory to the BureauoftheCensus) ShepardClough Columbia University J.Frederic Dewhurst (Chairman),The Twentieth Century Fund Stacy May Arthur H.Cole Harvard University Morris A.Copeland National Bureau ofEconomic Research Ernest S.Griffith The Library ofCongress Edward P. Hutchinson University ofPennsylvania International Basic EconomyCorp. WalterMitchell,Jr. ControllersInstituteofAmerica AmosE. Taylor Bureau ofForeign and DomesticCommerce Harold Williamson Northwestern University A.Benjamin Handler (Executive Secretary) Social ScienceResearchCouncil R.H. Coats,UniversityofToronto,attended meetingsoftheCommittee asarepresentativeofthe SocialScience ResearchCouncilofCanada Suggestedbriefcitation:U. S.BureauoftheCensust HistoricalStatistics of theUnited States, 1789-1945, Washington,D.C., 1949. II CONTENTS (The numbers follDwing subjects are series numbers) ChapterPage Introduction_ _________ ___ __ __ _______ ___ __ ________________ ______ ____V A.WeaIthand Income _ __ ____ _ __ _ ______ _____ ____ _____ ___ __ ___ ___ ______1 Nationalwealth(A1-100)includingearlyandmorerecentestimates.Income (A101-207)including nationalproduct,national income,and incomedistribution. B. CharacteristicsandMigration_ _ _ ____________ _____ ___ __ ____16 Populationcharacteristics:Decennialsummaries(B1-23),areaandpopulation (B 24-30), sex, age, and race (B31-144), urban-rural and farm residence (B145-181). Migration:Internal migration(B182-236),citizenship status andcountry of birth (B237-303),immigration,emigration,and naturalization(B304-352). C.VitaiStatistics,Heaith,andNutrition________________________________39 Vitalstatistics,includingbirths,deaths,marriage,anddivorce(C1-78).Health (C79-119).Nutrition(C120-155). D.Labor Force,Wages,andWorkingConditions_________________________55 Laborforce(D1-106).Hours,wages,andearnings(D107-212).Productivity (D213--:-217).Unionmembershipand work stoppagesCD218-238). E.AgricuIture ____________________________________ -:____ __ ___ ________ __74 Generalstatistics(E1-116).Livestock,meat,dairying,andpoultry(E117-180). Crop statistics(E181-243).Farm credit(E244-269). F.Land, Forestry, andFisheries ___________________ -------------------- 113 PubliclandsoftheUnited States(F 1-24).Land utilization(F 25-68).Forestry (F 69-154).Fisheries(F 155-219). G.Minerals andPower ____________ .:. __ __ _________ _______ _ ___ __ __ ____ ___133 Valueofmineralsandproductionindexes(G1-12).Fuels(G13-64).Nonmetals (G65-92).Metals(G93-130).Miningemploymentandinjuries(G131-158). Power(G159-233)... H.Construction andHousing ____________________________________ 160 Constructionexpenditures(H1-39).Otherconstructiondata(H 40-80).Housing units(H 81-112).Nonfarm housingcredit(H113-135). J.Manufactures_____________________________________________________176 Generalstatistics(J 1-12).Productionindexes(J 13-48).Valueofoutput (J 49-148).Capitalexpenditures(J 149-151).Physicaloutputofspecificcom-modities(J 152-180). K.____________________ __________ - _______________ 188 Railroads(Kl-93).Shippingandwatertraffic(K 94-173).Roadtransportation (K 174-238).Airtransport (K 239-273). L.PriceIndexes ________________________ 226 Generalpriceindex(L1).Wholesalepriceindexes(L 2-35).Costofliving,con-sumers'price,and retail price indexes(L36-52). M.Balance of Payments and Foreign Trade ___ .:. __ ________ __ __________ ___237 International balanceofpaymentseM1-41).Foreigntrade including imports and exportsofgold,silver,and merchandise(M42-112). N.Banking andFinance __________________________ -:- _____ __ __ ___ ________253 BankingstatisticseN1-147).CurrencyandgoldeN148-184).Moneyratesand security markets(N 185-232). P.Government ________________________________________________ 283 Electionsandpolitics(P1-61).Governmentcivilianemployment(P62-88).Fed-eralgovernmentfinances(P89-169).Copyrights,patentsandtrade-marks (P170-187).State and localgovernment finances(P188-277). Appendix1.Monthly andQuarterly Indicators ofBusinessConditions______ _ _ _ _ ___ _ _ ____ _320 Appendix II.Basic Premises forData Selection _______ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _____ ___ ____ _ _ ____ ___ __350 Time-period and alphabetical indexes_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ __ _ _ _ _ _ _ __ _ _ __ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ __ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _353 III AcknowledgmentsforChapter orSection Contributions (Acknowledgments forsingleor smallgroups of series are included inthe text forthose series) Chapter A.Wealthand Income ChapterpreparedbyHarlowD.Osborne,EconomicAnalyst, National Income Division,BureauofForeign and Domestic Com-merce,Department ofCommerce. and Domestic Commerce, Department ofCommerce. Material was also supplied by: H. E. Riley,Chief,Construction and Public Em-ploymentDivision,BureauofLaborStatistics,Departmentof Labor;andFredE.Schnepfe,Chief,LiaisonDivision,Public RoadsAdministration,Federal Works Agency. Chapter B.PopulationandMigration Materialonpopulation,internalmigration,citizenship,and country ofbirthprepared by BureauoftheCensusstaff. Basictext and series forimmigration,emigration,and naturali-zationsuppliedbyMrs.HelenF.Eckerson,Supervisorof'the Statistics Section,DivisionofResearchandEducation,Immigra,. tion and Naturalization Service,DepartmentofJustice. Chapter, C._VitalStatistics, Health,andNutrition BasictextaridseriesonvitalstatisticssuppliedbyNational OfficeofVitalStatistics,PublicHealthService,FederalSecurity Agency. BasictextandseriesonhealthsuppliedbyDivisionofPublic HealthMethods,OfficeoftheSurgeonGeneral,PublicHealth Service,Federal Security Agency. Basic text and series onnutrition supplied by Bureau ofHuman , Nutrition and Home EconomicsandBureauofAgriculturalEco-nomics,DepartmentofAgriculture. Chapter D.Labor Force,Wages,and WorkingConditions Material onlabor forceprepared by Bureau oftheCensus staff. Basictextandseriesonwagesand workingconditionslargely suppliedbyBureauofLaborStatistics,DepartmentofLabor, Margaret H.Schoenfeld,Economic Editor,coordinating. Chapter E.Agriculture BasictextandseriessuppliedbyBureauofAgriculturalEco-nomicsandFarm Credit Administration,Department ofAgricul-ture,RobertM.Walsh,SpecialAssistanttotheChiefofthe BureauofAgriculturalEconomics,coordinating. Chapter F.Land, Forestry,and Fisheries Basic text and seriesonpublic lands supplied largely by Branch ofResearch,BureauofLandManagement,Departmentofthe Interior._ BasictextandseriesonlandutilizationsuppliedbyBureauof AgriculturalEconomics,DepartmentofAgriculture. SeriesonforestrysuppliedbyDivisionofForestEconomics, ForestService,DepartmentofAgriculture. SeriesonfisheriessuppliedbyStatisticalSection,Divisionof CommercialFisheries,FishandWildlifeService,Departmentof theInterior. ChapterG.Mineralsand Power BasictextandseriesonmineralssuppliedbyEconomicsand StatisticsBranch,BureauofMines,Departmentof theInterior, HubertD.KeiserandAllanF.Matthews,formerandpresent editorsoftheMineralsYearbook,coordinating. Basic textand seriesonpower supplied by DivisionofFinance andStatistics,BureauofAccounts,Finance,andRates,Federal PowerCommission. Chapter H.Construction and Housing BasictextandseriesonconstructionsuppliedbyKeithW. Johnson,EconomicAnalyst,SamuelJ.Dennis,Chief,Construc-tionEconomicsUnit,andWilliamH.Shaw,Chief,Construction StatisticsUnit,GonstructionDivision,intheBureauofForeign IV Materialonhousingpreparedby BureauoftheCensus staff. ChapterJ.Manufactures MaterialonmanufacturespreparedbyBureauoftheCensus staff. Chapter K.Transportation Listofseriesonrailroadssuggestedby:BureauofTransport EconomicsandStatistics,InterstateCommerceCommission;and Bureau ofRailway Economics,AssociationofAmerican Railroads. MaterialonwatertransportationpreparedbystaffofBureau ofthe Census. Seriesonroad transportation suppliedbyDivisionofResearch ReportsandStatistics,PublicRoadsAdministration,Federal Works Agency. List of series on air transport suggestedbyJ. Parker Van Zandt, BrookingsInstitution,andbyCivilAeronauticsAdministration, DepartmentofCommerce.DatasuppliedbyCivilAeronautics Administration. Chapter L.Price Indexes BasictextandseriessuppliedbyPricesandCostofLiving Branch,Bureau ofLabor Statistics,Department ofLabor. ChapterM.Balance of Payments and Foreign Trade BasictextandseriesforbalanceofpaymentssuppliedbyIn-ternational EconomicsDivision,BureauofForeignandDomestic Commerce,Department -ofCommerce. MaterialonforeigntradepreparedbyBureauoftheCensus staff. ChapterN.Banking and Finance Data reviewedand basictext suppliedby DivisionofResearch and Statistics, Board ofGovernors of theFederalReserveSystem. \ Chapter P.Government Series and basic text on elections and State and local financeand employmentweresuppliedbytheGovernmentsDivisionofthe BureauoftheCensus. DataonFederalGovernmentfinancewerepreparedinthe BureauoftheCensuswiththecooperationoftheOfficeofthe TechnicalStaff,TreasuryDepartment. Seriesandbasictextoncopyrights,patents, andtrade-marks were supplied by P. J.Federico,Examiner-in-Chief,Patent Office, Department ofCommerce. Appendix I.MonthlyandQuarterly Indicators of Business Conditions ChapterpreparedbyGeoffreyH.Moore,NationalBureauof EconomicResearch.Intransmittingthemanuscript,Mr.Moore stated: "In preparing this chapter Ihave had the expert assistance of several members of the staff of the National Bureau ofEconomic Research.IamespeciallyindebtedtoArthurF.Burnsforhis criticaladviceonselectionofseries,andtoMillardHastayfor preparinganumberofthedescriptivenotes.HannaSternwas mainlyresponsibleforcompilingthedataandverifyingsources. TheF.W.DodgeCorporationandBusinessStatisticsOrganiza-tion,Inc.,have kindly givenpermissionto publish certain oftheir series." HISTORICALSTATISTICSOFTHEUNITEDSTATES Introduction ThishistoricalsupplementtotheStatisticalAbstractofthe UnitedStatespresents,incompactformforreadyreference,ap-proximately3,000statisticaltimeserieswhichcovervarious periodsfrom1789to1945.Inaveryfewinstances,figuresare shown forthe colonial period and the yearsunder the Continental Congress.Thesestatisticsreflecteconomic,social,andpolitical aspects of the development of the Nation since the Federal Govern-ment was formallyestablished. Thepresent edition isnot intended asafinalproduct.In terms oftheobjectivesofthecompilersitispreliminaryincharacter andcomprises,in effect,aworkingmanuscript.Assuch,it estab lishesapattern and providesapreliminary selectionofmaterials. Gapsandweaknessesaretherebydisclosedandproblemscrys-tallized.Onthebasisofthe experiencethus gain'ed, and the sug-gestionsand criticismsofusersofthis edition,the processofrevi-sion willmake possible amoreuseful futureedition. Thisvolumeisdesignedtoservetwoimmediateneeds.First, tobringtogetherfortheconvenienceofusersofstatisticsthe historicalseriesofwidegeneralinterest;andsecond,toprovide, throughbriefdescriptivetextandprecisesourcenotes,aguide tothetypesofhistoricaldataavailable,soasto informtheuser wherefurtherdatacanbeo,btained.Theseobjectivesaresimilar tothoseof theannualStatisticalAbstractoftheUnitedStates, except that in the annual volume the emphasis isoncurrent data with limited historicaldata as background. Thehistoricalstatisticsselectedforpresentationhereconsist primarilyofdatareadilyavailableinFederalagenciesandina fewadditionalquarters.Inthecompilationtask,theBureauof theCensushasnotengagedinnewresearchforthepurposeof establishingnewseries,revisingexistentseries,orinterpreting thecomparabilitythroughtimeofthestatisticspresented. Furthermore,theconditionsofcompilation,particularlythe timefactor,madeit impracticabletotakefulladvantageofthe researchalreadyperformedbyothers.Tolocateandbringto-gether forinitial inspection any significantproportionofthecon-tributionstohistoricalstatisticswhichmaybefound ingovern-,mentandotherreportswouldbeaformidabletaskinitself, exclusiveoftheevaluationnecessaryasapreludetopUblication. Eventheselectionandpreparationforpublicationof3,000sta-tisticaltimeseriesoutofthosemostreadyofaccesswouldhave proved impracticable without the cooperation of the many govern-mentbureaus whosematerialsare shown. Inparticular,itisfeltthatso-called"lapsed"seriesarenot sufficientlyrepresentedhere.Theseareseriesoncecompiledan-nuallybutabandonedat sometimeinthepast.Thereasonfor abandonmentvaries:Anewandmoreadequatemeasureofthe givenphenomenamayhavebecomepossible;thephenomena being measured may have ceased to exist,as in the instance ofthe statisticsonslavery; the subject fieldmay have been one in which the Federal Governmentceasedto collect data; orthe phenomena mayhaverecededtoapositionofminorimportinournational life.Acarefulselectionandpresentationofsuchserieswouldgo farto provide amorecomplete statisticalpictureofthe early and middleperiodsoftheNation'sexistence. lateresearchbyothersleadingtofillinginofgapsinhistorical knowledge-researchthatwillaffordmaterialsforinclusionin futurerevisions. TheProblemof HistoricalStatistics ThestatisticsoftheNationareanimportantandevenindis-pensabletoolintheproperportrayalofthe statusoftheUnited States invarioussubjectfieldsat variousperiodsin time.There are surprisingly fewgeneralfieldsin which existentfigurescannot supplementorclarifythequalitativehistoricalrecords-figures whichwerecompiledyear by yearduring the courseofevents,or werereconstructedlateronthebasisofexistent statisticalevi-dence. Theextenttowhichstatisticaldataarecitedortakeninto accountinhistoricalwritingsisfrequentlydependentuponthe readyavailabilityoftheneededdatatothewriters.Anunder-standablelackofknowledgeastotheexistenceofhistoricalsta-tisticsinagivenfield,andtherelativeinaccessibilityofthe volumesinwhichtheymaybefound,combinetopreventtheir morewidespreadand effectiveuse. True,insomesubjectfieldsstatisticaltimeseriesareentirely lacking,particularlyfiguresalreadyarrangedyearbyyear.In manyimportantfields,however,thepastpublicationsofthe Nation,publicahdprivate,containawealthofdata periodically compiledwhichreflectthefactthat"a strongpassionforstatis-ticsearlydeveloped itselfinthe lifeof,ourpeople..."1 Sourcesof data.Amongthenumeroussourcesofhistoricalsta-tisticsoftheUnitedStatesaretheannualreportsoftheexecu-tiveheadsofthe variousDepartments,Bureaus,and other agen-ciesoftheFederalGovernment,reportsofspecialFederal 'com-missions established from time to time, the volumesofthe various cepsuses of the United States, the printed debates of the Congress, thepublishedreportsofCommitteesoftheCongressandthe transcripts ofhearingsconductedbythemonimportantlegisla-tivemeasures,thepublishedreportsanddocumentsofState Governments, the statistical publications of private research foun-dationsandorganizationsandoftheuniversitiesandcollegesof theNation,andthegreatmassofstatisticalandothervolumes printed privately by otherorganizations and individuals. , Difficulty of accessibility.The accessibilityofthesegreat masses ofhistorical data to those who wish to use them is another matter. ,Asmattersstand,SenatorsandCongressmen,publicofficials, economic,social,and political historians,researchworkers,teach-ers,students,journalists,andauthors,tomentiononlyafew groups,whowishtoconsultthehistoricalstatistics'Iavailable" inpublishedformonagivensubjectarefacedwiththreemajor difficulties: First,thedeterminationofthe existence'ofthe dataandthe ofthe exact public or private document or volume mWhIChthedatamaybefound.Frequently,thisrequiresa knowledge ofthe responsibilities ofgovernment bureaus in years longpast,andthescope,coverage,andformaldescriptionor title oftheir official reports.The exact material whichis desired mayalreadyhavebeencompiled,butitmaywellbeburied inanobscurespecialreportorinthepublisheddocumentsof anearlyCongress-publicationswhichfewlibrariesmayhave ontheir shelves. Furthermore, the present staff of the Government Bureau now responsibleforthegivensubjectfieldmayhaveonlyameager Majorobjectivesofafuturerevisionofthisvolumeshouldin-cludepresentationofadditionalserieslessreadilyavailable,a selectionofsomeofthemoresignificant lapsedserieswhichoffer lightonearlyAmericanhistory,andseriesinafewadditional subjectfieldsforwhichstatisticscouldnotbepresentedinthis firstedition.It ishopedalsothatthepresentvolumewillstimu-1From aspeech?yFrancis A.Walker,Superintendent ofthe Ninth andTenth ofUruted (1870 and1880), deliveredbeforetheInternational Institute,ChICago,1893. v HISTORICALSTATISTICSOFTHEUNITEDSTATES knowledge of the detailed statistics contained in the early reports and published documents of their own and predecessor agencies. Second,onceanexactpublished sourcehasbeendetermined, thedatamaynotbefoundalreadyarrangedintheformofa time series. whichalsoexpressedaninterest,wasinvitedbytheJointCom-mitteetosendrepresentativestoitsmeetings. Insomehistoricalfields,suchasbanking,merchantvessel tonnage,andthefiscalaffairsofthegovernment,currentor fairlyrecentgovernmentdocumentscarryextensivestatistical summary tables whichprovide the more important data carried farback in time year by year. In other fields,the annual reports andotherdocumentspresentfiguresonlyforthemostrecent . year.Accordingly,historicaltablesmustbeconstructedlabo-riously by reference to as many volumes as there are years to be considered.This requiresaccessto acollectionofsuchvolumes possessed by fewlibraries. - Even in Washington,D.C.,at the seat ofGovernment, where theextensivecollectionsoftheLibraryofCongressmaybe supplementedby referenceto BureauandDepartmentallibra':' riesandrecords,thecompilationoflong-termtimeseriesby referencetoindividualannualreportsisalaboriousandtime-consuming task. Third, identificationofchanges inconcept andcoverageover aperiodoftimeisimportantsincesuchchangesmayaffect vitallytheinterpretationofthestatisticsfor aspanofyears. Coupled withthis isthe need fordefinitionsofterms employed inpublishedhistoricaltables,definitionswhichmaybeina separate publication or may never have beenpublished. Aready"solution"ofthe firsttwodifficultiesby locationof apreviouslycompiledtimeseriesmayprovedeceptive.Asa generalrule,historicaltablesingovernmentdocumentsrepre-sent compilations of figures with a minimum oftext and tabular notes.Definitions, where given,are usually for the current year; qualificationsofdata,particularlywarningsastochangesin conceptsandcollectionmethodsovertheyears,areoften inadequate. Grave risksareentailed inattempts tocompilelong-termtime seriesofannualdataby referenceto successiveissuesoftheSta-tisticalAbstractof ,theUnitedStates.Ineachissue,manyrevised figuresappear.. Generally,thesearefortheimmediatelypreced-ingyearoryears,butrevisionsinthemorehistoricaldataare notuncommon.Statisticsforthespecificyearsforwhichdata are shownin themostrecent issueoftheStatisticalAbstractmay beused with nogreater precaution than is necessary when making useofanyhighly abbreviatedpresentationofhistorical statistics. However,theattempttofillindataforomittedyearsbyrefer-encetoearlierissuesmaywellresultinseriouslackofcompara-bility through time. Inviewofthebroaddifficultiesoutlinedabove,itisappar-ent that nosinglereferencevolumecanofferacompletesolution to the problem ofhistorical statistics,as such.At best, it can pro-videaselectionofstatisticsinanumberofbroadsubjectfields andconstituteaguidetothemorebasicanddetailedsourcesof data-functionswhichcomprisetheobjectivesofHistoricalSta-tisticsof theUnitedStates. Originsof ThisVolume Thisstemsdirectly fromaresolutionofthe onProblemsandPolicyoftheSocialScienceResearchCouncil whichwastransmitted to theSecretary ofCommerce.That reso-lutionurged that the Secretary giveconsideration to the compila-tion and publication by the Bureau ofthe Censusofa source book ofeconomicstatistics. The proposal wasdiscussed by the Committee on Problems and PolicyoftheSocialScienceResearchCouncilonJuly28,1945, whichadoptedandtransmittedtotheSecretaryofCommerce the resolution referred to above.. In his reply to the Social ScienceCouncil,dated August 9,1945,theSecretaryofCommercewrote"TheBureauofthe Censusispreparedtocooperatetothefullestextentpossiblein thepreparationofthisvolumeandisincluding in its budgetre-quest fornext year(fiscalyear1947)the necessaryfundsforcom-pilation and printing." The Bureau ofthe Census wasparticularly interestedinthisproposalbecauseofthegrowingbeliefofstaff membersresponsibleforpreparationoftheannualStatisticalAb-stractoftheUnitedStatesthatahistoricalsupplementtothat volumewasneeded.Suchasupplementwouldprovideusersof theStatisticalAbstract withneededhistoricalcompilationswhich someusers now attempt to obtain by referencetosuccessive back issues,frequentlywithunfortunateresultsasindicatedabove. Also,additionalcurrent statisticscould beincluded in the annual issuesoftheStatisticalAbstract if somereductioncouldbemade in the space devoted to historical data. Funds were made available forthispurposeintheappropriationsfor1947andcompilation work wasbegun. With the formalacceptanceby the Bureau ofthe Censusofre-sponsibilityforcompilationofthevolume,theJointCommittee. wasreconstitutedanditbecametheSocialScienceResearch CouncilCommitteeontheSourceBookof.HistoricalStatistics, Advisory to the Bureau of the Census. The Committee onResearch in Economic History ofthe Social SciencaResearchCouncil made additionalfundsavailablesothattheCommitteeontheSource BookofHistoricalStatisticscouldappointafull-timeexecutive secretary to work with the Bureau of the Census in the joint effort to insurethat this book meet the widestpossibleneeds. Planning andCompilation Asafirststepintheactualpreparationofthisvolume,the Bureau of the Census staff,with the advice and cooperation ofthe AdvisoryCommittee,preparedaworkingoutlineandstatement ofbasicpremisesto guidethe selectionofmaterial.It wasneces-sarytosetupaprocedureforreviewingandsiftingthemany series available in an effort to select forpresentation in the limited spaceofasinglevolumethoseseriesthatwouldbemostwidely useful. Afteragreementonabasicframework,anumberofagencies andpersonswereapproachedtopreparelistsofsignificantavail-able historical series forspecific subjects which they would recom-mend forinclusionorto reviewand supplementlistsprepared by theeditorialstaffofthevolume.Sinceit wasrealizedthatthere weremanyquestionsandmuchroomforjudgment intheprepa-rationoftheselists,itwasintendedthatthelistsbegivena furtherbroadreviewthroughoutthefieldofpossibleusersin government, in business,and in the academic world.Most of these firstlistswerepreparedoreditedbypersonsin Federalgovern-ment agenciessincesuchpersonsweremorereadily available for consultation. It soonbecameevidentthat thebroaderreviewprocesswould beoflimitedvalueunlessthedatathemselvescouldbemade availabletothosewhoweretobeaskedto reviewthelists.This needledtothepreparationofthiseditionwithoutsuchabroad review. TheideahadbeenoriginatedbyJ.FredericDewhurstwho, inamemorandumdatedApril12,1945,outlinedtheneedfora volume which would bring together within a singlecoverthe most importantofthecomprehensivestatisticalseriesmeasuringthe economicdevelopmentoftheUnited States over the past century ormore.Dr.Dewhurstsubmittedhisproposal,whichincluded illustrativematerials,totheAmericanStatisticalAssociation andtheAmericanEconomicAssociationwhich,thesameyear, setupaJointCommitteetoexplorethepracticalproblemsof Dreparingsuchavolume.TheEconomicHistoryAssociation, Commentsandsuggestions.It istheintentionoftheBureau oftheCensustoreviewthismaterialsystematicallyinthenext fewyears.To this end, users of this volume are encouraged to send in any comments or any information they have which they believe VI INTRODUCTION will make this volumemorecompleteand moreuseful.Thestate-mentof"BasicPremisesforDataSelection,"whichcomprised thebasiccOI1siderationsfortheproject,isreproducedwithout significantchangeinAppendixII.Thisprovidesthecriteria . aga;instwhichcontributionsandsuggestionsforfutureeditions should be measured.In itself,the statement ofpremises is subject tochange,andcriticismsandsuggestionsleadingto itsimprove-ment willbewelcomed. TECHNICALNOTES Arrangementof thedata.Data finallyselectedforinclusionin thisvolumearearranged by subject in letteredchapters and num-beredseries.Thechaptertitlesareofnecessitysomewhatarbi-trarilychosenandcertainmaterialscouldhavebeenclassified under several of them. On the whole, however, it is felt that subject matterofinterestcanreadilybe foundby referenceeither to the sUbject-listingunderthechaptertitlesinthetableofcontents orto the index on the last pages ofthe book.Because ofthe possi-bleconfusionofcapitalletterIandRomannumeralIandof capital letter 0with zero(0),these two letters have beenomitted inidentifying the chapters. Eachseriesortabularcolumnisassignedanumber,thefirst seriesineachchapterbeginningwith1.Eachseriesisfurther identifiedinthetabletitlesandcross-referencesbyprefixingthe chapter letter.Thus,the 44th seriesin the chapter onAgriculture isdesignatedasE44todistinguishit fromthe 44th seriesinthe chapter onTransportation designatedasK44. Allseriesbeginwiththemostrecentyear forwhichdatahave been obtained and run backward in time.Insofar as possible,there areuniformlyplacedspacesaboveeveryyearendingin0or5. Nodataareshownforyearssubsequentto1945;thiswasdone partly becawileit facilitatedthe spacearrangement,but primarily becauseaconsiderablebodyof1946figureswerestillpreliminary at the time this volume was in preparation. Basicpremises.Whenpreparingavolumeofthistype,certain basic premisesmustbeestablishedtoguidethe staffandconsult-ants inthe selectionand preparationof the material.These prem-isesaresubjecttomodificationinaccordancewiththeproblems encounteredduringthecourseofoperations.Astatementonthe basicpremisesforHistoricalStatisticsof theUnitedStatesispre-sented as appendix II on page 350.The extent to which it has been possible,or impracticable, to adhere to the objectives and premises described willbe apparent to the user of this edition. The following specificobservationsrelatetothelimitationsofthetabularma-terialsanddescriptivetextasfoundinthispreliminaryedition. Areacoverage.Data showninthisvolumeareforcontinental United States as awhole,unlessotherwise specified in table titles, tabular notes,ordescriptive text.In some instances,however,the source material used failed to specify clearly the exact area covered. Wherepracticable,thematterwasinvestigatedandtheappro-priate qualificationadded. Timecoverage.Three majorproblemsofidentificationoftime-periodswereencountered:(1)Thesourcesoccasionallydidnot state whether thedata were foracalendar or fiscalyear;(2)if for afiscalyear,it wasnot alwaysclearwhetherthedata werefora fiscalyearendingJune30,September30,orsomeother date;(3) shifts in timecoverage,as fromcalendar tofiscalyear,during the periodcoveredby the series,werenotalwaysclearin thesource. Inallthreeinstances,particularlywheretimeshiftsseemed likely to have occurred,aneffort was made to determine theexact situation so far aspracticable. periodofyearswhenavailable.In spiteofthis, some series which are presented here ascontinuous through the yearsarecomprised ofdistinctsegments.Theseseriesare shownthusinthisvolume forthe followingreasons: 1.The serieshavebeentranscribedasshown in the sourcema-terials. The volumes from which data were taken frequently present' historical summaries in agivenfieldforthe purpose ofpermitting broadcomparisons,ortobringoutcertainparticularattributes forwhichthedatashownarecomparable,withtabularnotesse-lected in terms of the particular presentation purpose.It ispossible that notations vital to other typesofinterpretationwereomitted. Thus,aseriesshowingdatafrom1789tothepresentmaybe adequately noted foruseof those who wish to measurethe extent to whichcertain present-day phenomena have their antecedents in pasttime;thesamenotesmaywellbeuseless,andtheomitted notesvital,toapersonwhoseinterestisconfinedtotheperiod 1820-1860. Actually,theproblemofomittedqualificationsisinherentin virtually every time-series ofany length.The series presented here arenoexceptionsto that rule.In general,wherethe sourcesused provided tabular notes,qualifying the data,such noteshavebeen includedhere. 2.In some instances,the linkageof serieshad already been per-formedandpublishedbycompetentresearchworkerswhohad made acareful study ofthe factors involved.Such serieshave,of course,beenpresentedhere,citingthesource.Evenhere"how-ever,it shouldbenoted that theresearchmay havebeencarried onintermsofspecificobjectives.Consequently,thedataare subjecttoincreasedqualificationswhenusedf o ~purposesother thanthosecontemplatedbytheoriginalresponsibleanalyst. Omissionsof data,"blank"cells.The significanceofdashesin tabular cells requires explanation, since their meaning tends to vary fromseriestoseries,andevenwithinthe same series.Ingeneral, thepresenceofcell"leaders"or"dashes"indicatesmerelythat no information was provided for this volume. In respect to possible significance,dashentries may mean that (1)noinformation exists forthe given year,(2)that the entry,if shown,wouldbe zero(0), (3)theinformationwasnotavailable,whetherbecauseitwas neverrequested,orwhetherit wasrequestedbutwasnotforth-coming,or(4)theinformationisbelievedtoexistinpublished fOfmbutitwasnotpracticabletodotheresearchnecessaryto locate theappropriate source. Further,thepracticesoftheseveralgovernmentagenciesand private sources of information differas to the meaning ofdashes in cells,theextenttowhichtheylabelmaterialas"notavailable," themeaningoftheterm"notavailable,"theuseofthezero(0) entry,etc. Ingeneral,the policyadopted inpreparing thisvolume,was to retain"notavailable"notationswheretheyappearedforinter-mediateyearsin the series;tochangethem to dasheswherethey appearedatthebeginningorendoftheseries.Wherecellswere left blank in the sources, they were filled with dashes in this volume. Series linkage. No formal attempt has been made in this edition to extend a single series farther through time by linking it to another serieswhichterminatedatornearthedateonwhichthefirst seriesbegan,or stopped,asthecasemay be.However,inanum berofinstances,notably inthechapteronagriculture,such series havebeenpresentedinadjoiningcolumns,withanoverlapfora Finally,sinceseriesofvaryinglengthtakenfromdifferent sourcesarefrequentlyfoundinadjoiningcolurp.ns,thestublist-ings foryears necessarily encompass the earliest and latest date for whichanyoftheseriesareshown.' Initself,thistendstocreate many additionalblank cells,as inthecase whereaseries for1885 to 1926 is placed next to the same stub as a series for1880 to 1945. VII HISTORICALSTATISTICSOFTHEUNITEDSTATES Hereagain,the"blank"cellshavebeenfilledbydashesinorder' to makeit easier fortheuser'seyetotrace the entries foragiven year acrossthe entire table,through the otherwiseblank columns. accept responsibility forthe accuracyor limitationsofdata other than those which it collects.Every attempt hasbeen made insofar astimeandpersonnelpermittedtoverifyandlabelproperlythe material included here. The places where this was not" always possi-bleare indicated inthe remarks,just precedingthis section.Final responsibility for selection of the material, foraccurate transmittal, and forproperpresentation,rests with the .Bureau oftheCensus, even thoughcarried out with the cooperation ofmany individuals andagencieswhodevotedmuchtimeandenergyinproviding data and descriptionsof series forthis publication. Thepresenceofdashesinthecellsmaythushaveseveral meanings-it doesnot necessarily mean that the value iszero,not obtainable,ornonexistent.Theuserwillhavetojudgefromthe contextwhichmeaning isappropriate ineachparticular instance. Responsibility.Becauseofthemultitudeofsourcesandthe variedsubjectmattercovered,theBureauoftheCensuscannot FORADDITIONALINFORMATIONONDATAPRESENTED writetotheagencyindicatedinthesourcenotein the descriptivetext forthegiven statistical series. SUGGESTIONSANDCOMMENTS should be sent to: TheDirector Bureau of theCensus Washington 25,D.C. STATISTICALABSTRACTPUBLICATIONS AnnualVolume StatisticalAbstractof theUnitedStates.Since1878,theofficial statisticalyearbookoftheUnitedStates-issuedannually. Includesstatisticsfrommanysources,publicandprivate.Cur-rentfigureswillbefoundthereformanyofthetime-seriespre-sentedto1945inthehistoricalsupplement.1948issuenow available.1054p.Price$2.75(buckram). HistoricalSupplement HistoricalStatisticsoftheUnitedStates,1789-1945.Contains 3,000 statistical time series, largely annual, extending back through time-to1789wherepossible.Washington,D.C.,1949.363p. Price$2.50(buckram). Small-AreaSupplements CountyDataBook.Acompactpresentationof91itemsofsig-nificantsocialandeconomicdataforevery~ o u n t yinthe United Statesandforeachof138metropolitanareas.Amapforeach State showsthegeographicrelationshipofcounties,metropolitan areas,andprincipalcities.Washington,D.C.,1947.431p. Price$2.75(buckram). CitiesSupplement-StatisticalAbstractoftheUnitedStates. Includes79itemsofstatisticaldataforeachofthe397cities having25,000inhabitantsormorein1940.Statisticsonsocial, economic,andgovernmentalsubjectsforeachcityhavebeen assembled fromanumber ofsources.Washington,D.C.,Septem-ber 1944.47p.(Out of print.) Purchaseordersshouldbe addressedtothe Superintendent ofDocuments,U.S.Government Printing Office,Washington25,D. C. UTTT Chapter A.Wealth and Income(SeriesA 1-207) NationalWealth:Series A 1-100 EARLYESTIMATESOFNATIONALWEALTH(A1-2) A1.Totalvaluationof aUthe realandpersonalpropertyinthe UnitedStates,1774-1807.SOURCE:For1774-1805,seeBlodget, Samuel,Jr.,Economica;AStatisticalManual fortheUnitedStates ofAmerica,1806edition,p.68;for1806,1807,seearticlesigned "S.B." and entitled "Thoughts onaPlanofEconomy (Suited to theCensusof1808)fortheUnited StatesofAmerica"inColvin's Weekly Register,vol.ICVlashingtonCity,1808),p.235 . ..7I.lote:The Library ofCongress fileofColvin'sWeeklyRegisterisincomplete. However,thecopyofBlodget'sEconoinicafoundintheDepart-mentofCommercelibrary(Washington,D.C.)includes,within the same binding,acopyofthe articlecitedabove.For adetailed statemEnt for1805,seeEconomica,p.196,and table1,below. InterestinthenationalwealthoftheUnitedStatesaroselong beforeinterestinnationalincome,justasmodernbalance-sheet concepts developed earlier than the concepts of the income account. Thefirstseriousattempttoestimatethewealthofthiscountry appearstohavebeenmadeby SamuelBlodget,Jr.,thecompiler ofanearlycollectionofstatisticsoftheUnitedStates.HisEco-nomica:AStatistical1l1anual fortheUnited States of America (1806 edition)includesadetailedstatementoftheestimatedvalueof alltherealandpersonalpropertyintheUnitedStatesforthe year1805andalsoaseriesofnationaltotals(seriesAI),unsup-port,edby details,extending back to 1774. No statement is made by Blodget as to the source material under-lying either of these two tabulations. It seems likely that the totals givenfor1774-1804werederivedinmuchthesamewayasthe, 1805figure,sincethedetailsofthelatterarepresentedasbeing related to the former,and since mostofthe material whichwould beneeded forestimating prior-year valueson the same planasfor 1805isactuallyincludedinthetablewhichshowstheprior-year wealth totals. The 1805 classification given by Blodget (Economica, 1806 edition,p.196)is shown below in table 1.According to Blod-get,"Slaves are rated too high till they are better managed; every-thing elseisbelowthe mark." TABLE1.-ANESTIMATEOFALLTHEREALANDPERSONAL PROPERTYINTHEUNITEDSTATES(EXCLUSIVEOFLOUISI-ANATERRITORY):1805 ITEMMillionsof dollars Total valuation for1805____________________________________2,505.5 1millionofhabitationsandapparelfor6millionsofpersons,with shops,barns,implements,tools,furniture,etc.,each 360 dollars:' _ _360 39millionacresoflands averagedat 6dollars_____________________234 150millionacresadjoiningandnearthecultivatedlandsaveragedat 3 Yzdollars_ _ ______ __ ___ __ ___ _ __ _ _______ ___ ____ _ ___ ________ __525 451million acres, the residue of allthe lands in the United States aver-agedat 2dollars_____________________________________________902 Carriagesand all livestock @70dollarseach family________________70 Turnpike,canal,andtoll bridge stock____________________________15 10,000flour,grist,saw,iron,andothermills,valuenotlessthan400 dollarseach ___________________ _ __ _ _ _ ___ __ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ __ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _4 1million slaves,average value 200dollars_________________________200 Country produce onhand for.'export,manufacturing, etc ________26 Stockintrade:1,000,000tonsshipping; European,India merchan-dise,etc.;specie;bankstock,insurancestock,andallincorpor-ated funds___________________________________________________150 Publicbuildings,churches,Wash.citylots,arsenals,navalandmili-tary stores,arms,ammunition,frigates,dockyards,timber, 19.5 Thesecondgroupofwealthstatisticstobeconsideredbegins with the year 1813, when the Congress laid a direct tax on property. The valuations required forthe administration of this tax were not tabulated,but wereusedinpart as thebase forasubsequent tax leviedin1815,when thevaluationsweretabulated.Thetotalso derived forthe valueof"houses,lands,and slaves" was1,902mil-liondollars(theLouisianaTerritorywasexcludedasitsreturns wereincomplete),accordingtoTimothyPitkin'sAStatistical Viewof theCommerceof theUnitedStates(1835edition),p.313, Ofthistotal,Pitkinestimatesthevalueofslavesincludedat roughly300million dollars. Sinceunder-assessment has been the rulerather thanthe excep-tioninpropertytaxadministration,thetotalgivenbyPitkinis probablyanunderestimate.It is,moreover,toolowtobeconsis-tentwithBlodget'sfigure.Butitisimportantpartlybecauseit, illustratesthecrudebeginningofthemethodlaterdevelopedby the Census,and partly because it was used by another nineteenth-century statistican (Burchard,seeseriesA 2)asthe starting point foraseriesofannual interpolationsextendingfrom1825to 1880. A2.Estimatednationalwealth,1825-1880.SOURCE:Annual Report of theDirectorof theMint,1881,p.71. Horatio C.Burchard included in hisAnnual Report of theDirec-torof theMint,1881,ahistoricaltableofpricefluctuationsover this56-yearperiod,andaddedseriesofannualestimatesofthe Nation'swealthand populationforcomparativepurposes.These wealthestimates(seriesA2),purport tobebasedfor1825-1850 onPitkin's figurefor1815 and the Census total for 1850.The deri-vation of the 1851-1880 estimates is not explained, but was appar-entlytheresultofinterpolationbetweenthedecennialcensus totals.l Burchard'sestimatesincludetaxablepropertyonly,andprob-ably excludeagoodshareofthat in 1849and prior years.His fig-ures for1850-1879 share the characteristicsofthe census totals of theperiod,describedbelow. MORERECENTESTIMATESOFNATIONALWEALTH(A 3100) A 3-99. General note. During the period 1850-1922, that is, from' the Seventh DecennialCensusto the date of estimates included in theFederalTradeCommissionreport2 onnational wealthand in-come,therewasarapiddevelopment,bothintechniqueandin basic data forstatisticsof wealth.The BureauoftheCensuspre-pared estimates ofnational wealth for selected years, from 1850to 1922(seetable2andseriesA 42-74).TheFederalTrade'Com-missionestimates for1922,however,wereconsiderably broader in scopethantheCensusestimates,coveringitemsnot includedin theCensus total.In consequence,where theCensus totalfor1922 was321milliondollars,theCommission estimate was353million dollars.2Thesefiguresarenotpresentedindetailheresincethis investigation was not repeated. After1922the BureauoftheCensusdiscontinuedmaking esti-matesofwealth,but the serieswereultimatelycarriedforwardto 1937bytheNationalIndustrialConferenceBoardinthesame general form(seeseriesA 75-99).Also,a revisionand extensionof someofthecensusestimateswasmadebySimonKuznets(see seriesA 3-41). 1A footnote in the 1880Census Report on Valuation .. reads as follows: ."Since theabove[statementofCensusestimateasbeing$43,642,000,0001was WrIttenI have discovered in the report of the Director of the Mint for1881 (Table XXVII), an estimate of$43,300,000,000asthe true valuation. Thedifferencebetween thesetwoestimates,amountingtoonly8/10of1percent.,ISremar!rable,when it is considered that they were made by very differentthe above quoted[Burchard's]havingbeendeducedfromtheestImatesat censuses, by usingthe ratesofincrease."SeeGannet,Henry,"Tl;e. True 0'Real andPersonalPropertyintheUnitedStates,"compr!smgthe PartI:ValuationandTaxation,inReportonValuatton,TaxattOn,andPubltc Indebtednessin theUnitedStatesasReturnlldattheTenthCensus(June1,1880), u. S.Department of the Interior, Census Office, Washington,D. C., 1884, footnote p.11...,.. 2Federal Trade Commission,NationalWealthandIncome,69thCong., 1stsess SenateDocumentNo.126,Washington,D.C.,1926,p.28. 1 Text:A 3-41WEALTHANDINCOME The materialbasedonthesesourcesembracesthebulkofthe statistics available on trends in national wealth and its components fortheUnitedStatesasawhole.Anattempthasbeenmadeto arrange the data ofthe National Industrial Conference Board and theBureauoftheCensus in such away astobringout suchele-ments ofcomparability through time asexist,and to facilitatethe linkingtogetherofdiscontinuouscomponent series.Certainchar-acteristics of the data are thus made very evident: (1)The National IndustrialConferenceBoardseries(seriesA 75-99)arecompara-ble for1922-37 but are clearly not in fullagreement with thecor-responding1922Censusfigures;(2)theCensuscomponentsfor 1900-1922are fairlycomparable fromyear to year inmost cases, butmanyofthecomponentsdisappearintootherbroadercate-goriesfor1880and1890(seriesA42-74);and(3)furtherdisap-pearanceofdetailsforyears back of1880leavesonlyenoughofa breakdownfor1850-70(seetable2)toserveasareminderthat the estimates areat least partly built up fromcomponents rather than global. Perhaps the basic weakness olthe 19th century figures isthatimportanttypesofwealthwerecoveredincompletelyor not at all.Theoutstanding gapofthis sort isthe omissionoftax-exempt property in years prior to 1880,but there are many minor gapsaswell.Ontheother hand,the Censustotalofpersonalty in 1870 included the value ofmortgages secured by.real estate which wasalsoincludedassuch. The census totals for1850-1870 wereactually compiled asmeas-ures ofthe"value oftaxable property" rather than ofthenational wealth.Thesetotalsrepresentedthevaluesasassessedfortax purposes,adjustedbytheestimatedratioof"true"toassessed value.During this periodthere wasagrowingbelief thatpersonal propertyshouldnotbetaxedlikerealty.Asaresult,theStates begantoexemptvariousclassesofpersonalproperty,andthe public consciencebecameincreasingly lenient towardtheconceal-mentofpersonaltyfromthetaxassessors.Inconsequence,the aggregatevalueofassessedpersonalty declineddecadeby decade. Availabledetailsfor1850-1870areshownintable2,below,to-getherwithfiguresfor1880forpurposesofcomparison.Because ofthesedifferencesinscope,the1880datashownintable2, exceptinsomeinstances,disagreewithdatapresentedinseries A 42-74. TABLE2.-VALUATIONOFPROPERTYANDRELATEDDATA: 1850TO1880 [Inmillionsofdollars.Figures areasshowninsourcescited;theydifferat times from figuresin the originalCensus reports] 1870 ITEM1880(currency18601850 basis) -------VALUATIONDATA Property assessedfortaxation: Estimated true value ______________ 43,64230,06916,1607,136 Assessedvalue ____________________ 16,90314,17912,085 --------Real estateor property __________ 13,0379,9156,973 --------Personalestate orproperty _______3,8664,2645,112 --------nation into the true value ofproperty." A broader base was there-uponadoptedandthe1880"estimatedtruevalue"wasderived by making use,forthefirsttime inthisconnection,ofdata from theCensusofAgriculture,Manufactures,andMining;fromthe BureauofCustoms;andfromnongovernmentalsources,particu-larlytheBradstreetCompany.Thenationalwealthin1880was estimated as the sum ofa dozencomponent types ofgoodsinstead ofasanadjustedtotalvalueoftaxableproperty. Inaddition,thevalueofchurches,schools,asylums,public buildingsofallkinds,andotherexemptrealtywerespecifically included forthe firsttime.Thegeneralstatistical approachwasa compromisebetweenthecomparativefirmnessofestimatesfor lateryearsandtheuncriticalglobaladjustingprocessformerly used.Firmbaseswerenotavailableforestimatingmostcom-ponents, but such data as were obtainable were exhaustively sifted, analyzed,andcompared.For example,the estimate forhousehold belongingswasbasedonroughaveragesforeachindividual item inthe hands offamiliesclassifiedby socio-economic groupandby Stateofresidence;theresultswerecheckedagainstasecond estimate derivedby assigningaverageperiodsofusefullifeto the itemsannually producedorimported. TheCensusestimatesfor1890showedfurtherimprovement both in the technicalquality ofthe report and insourcedata.Full usewasmadeofdatafromvariouscensusreports.Termsand methods weredefinedin specificrather than ingeneral terms.For instance, in 1890, tax-exempt realty was explicitly stated to include the publicdomainforthe firsttime,whereasthe,1880reportwas silenton this point.3 The 1900Census, authorized by the 1899 law, provided for direct investigationintothevalueofpropertyemployedinagriculture andmanufacturing.The1902lawestablishingtheCensusOffice ona permanent basis also authorized a report on "public indebted-ness,valuation,taxation,andexpenditures,"andtheselawsre-sulted intwocompilationsofnationalwealthonly 4yearsapart, one asof1900and another as of1904.Most ofthe basicdata used relatedtotheyear1900,and estimatesforthat year wereextra-polated to1904by useoffiguresfor1900and 1905 fromtheCen-susesofManufactures,ofestimates by the Department ofAgricul-ture,andother information.There were some major exceptionsto thisorderofprocedure.Thus,inthederivationofestimatesfor bothyears,1902CensusofMiningdatawereusedaswere1900 and 1904valuations made inconnectionwithState and local real property tax administration.A 1904benchmark wasused in esti-mating both the 1900and1904valuesof railroad property. The1904estimatesarenotableinthat themethodofbringing prior-yearvaluesuptodatebyuseofproductionfiguresforthe interimwasemployedextensively forthe firsttime.This method wasusedinderivingorintestinganumberofestimatesat later censuses,andit wasusedextensivelyfortheannualestimatesof 1923-37,preparedby theNationalIndustrialConferenceBoard. RELATEDDATA Manufacturing:Capital invested 1 _____22,78132,118 Agriculture:Valueof-Farm lands _______________________ 10,1979,263 Machinery and implements _________407337 Farm livestock ____________________ 1,5001,525 1,010 6,645 246 1,089 533 3,272 152 544 The estimates for1912and1922differ fromthose for1904,pri-marily asaresultofprogressiveimprovement inmethodsofesti-mating component details.These are indicated in the detailedtext presented forthe individual series,below. 1Figuresareasshowninthe1870and1890CensusReportsonManufactures; figuresfor1880and 1890 includeadjustments forcomparability throughtime. 2Modified figure.1880published totalwas 2,790milliondollars. SSubsequentCensusreports: give1,695asthe goldequivalent. Sources:ReportsofBureauoftheCensusandpredecessoroffices.Forfigures onpropertyassessedfortaxation,1850-1880,seeTenthCensus(1880),Reporton Valuation,Taxation,andPublicIndebtedness .. ,part I,pp.3-12.For figureson capitalinvested inmanufacturing,1850-1880,seeEleventhCensus(1890),Report onManUfacturingIndustries . .., part I, p. 4.For figures on agriculture, 1850-1880, eeEleventhCensus(1890),ReportonStatisticsofAgriculture,p.84-85. By1880,itwasrecognized(1)thatvaluationsmadefortax purposeswerenotasatisfactorybasisfordeterminingtrendsin nationalwealth,and(2)that thedecennialvaluationtotalswere coming to be used more and more as measures of the Nation's prog-ressrather thanofits taxablecapacity.Accordinglytheplans for theTenthCensus(1880}providedfor"amoresearchingexami-2 A 3-41. Value of land, rea]estate improvements, and equipment, Censusdates,1880-1922.SOURCE:Kuznets,Simon, .National ProductSince 1869,National BureauofEconomic Research,New York,1946.For seriesA 3-37,seepp.201,202,and213;and for series A 38-41 (data in 1929 prices), see p. 231of the source volume. PartIVofthesourcevolumeanalyzesandrecalculatesnational wealthestimatessince1880,"primarily inordertoallocatecapi-tal formationby categoriesofusers."The data shownarederived fromanumberofsources,particularlyCensusreports.Kuznets 3The 1922report (Burea uofthe Census,EstimatedNatural Wealth:19.'22,p.17) hasconfusedthe issueby listing"valueofpublicdomain"asoneofanumberof itemswhichwere includedinthe estimates for1880and later years.The reference to 1880isprobably an error.This points upageneralproblemwithrespect to the earlyCensus Bureau reportsonwealthorvaluation; statementsmadeconcerning reportsorestimatesof previousyearsneedtobecheckedcarefully tothe reports oftheyears inquestion. NATIONALWEALTHText:A 3-60 providesadetaileddiscussionoftheadjustments andthe sources ofdata.For the area whichthey cover,these figuresare farmore satisfactoryforcomparativepurposesthantheCensusfigures. Theyaredesigned,astheCensusestimatesarenot,tomeetthe exactingmodernstandardsofstatisticalresearch. A42-74.Itemsofnationalwealth,1880-1922.SOURCES:Re,.. portsoftheBureauoftheCensusandpredecessoroffices.In particular,seeWealth,Debt,andTaxation,1907 ;Wealth,Debt, andTaxation,1913,vol.1;andWealth,PublicDebt,andTaxa-tion:1922,sectionentitled "EstimatedNationalWealth."These volumesaretheprimary sourcesofdatagatheredintheirivesti-gationsof1900and1904,1913,and1922,respectively.Each providesahistoricalsummaryofthestatisticsforthedecennial inq1:liriel!!of1880and1890.Thesourcesforthe1880and1890 investigationsareReportonWealth,Debt,andTaxationatthe EleventhCensus:1890,PartII,"ValuationandTaxation";and Report onValuation,Taxation,andP'ublicIndebtedness... Tenth Census(June1,1880).In addition,as indicated in specific listings below,certaindetailsofdistributionhavebeendf;:rivedfromthe Censusreportsonmanufactures,agriculture,etc.,oftheseveral censuses. A 42.Total national wealth. SOURCE:See text for series A 42-74. Representsthe summationofstatisticsshownforseriesA43-74. A 43-46.Real property andimprovements,taxed.SOURCE:See textforseriesA42-74,above.Theseareestimatesoftruevalue basedon ratios oftrue to assessedvalues.The ratioshaveusually beenderivedfromStatereportsandfrommailquestionnaires addressed to tax assessors and others familiar with property valua-tiO: 47.Real propertyandimprovements,exempt.SOURCE:SeeI textforseriesA42-74,above.Thesefigureshavebeenderived frominquiriesaddressedtotheownersoftheproperty,inmost years.Coveragewasmarkedly incompletein1880and1890,and the 1912estimate wascalculated by applying to the valueoftax-ablerealty theratioofexempttotaxableproperty approximated by extrapolation on the 1900-1904 trend and by reference to figures for four States forwhich figureson both types were available. A48-49.Livestock,etc.SOURCE:SeetextforseriesA42-74, above.These seriesarebased largelyonestimates by the Depart-mentofAgriculture, supplementedforstocknotonfarmsby ref-erencetoCensusofAgriculturereports.For 1880and 1890,prin-cipalreliancewasplacedontheCensusesofAgriculture.The 1880nationalwealthtabulationshowedthevalueoflivestock combined with that offarming toolsand machinery; the livestock figure(2,000million dollars)has been obtained by deducting from the combined total the value of farming implements and machinery (407milliondollars)asshowninthe1880AgricultureCensus report(p.4).Theresultdiffersconceptually fromthe 1880figure for farm livestock shown in table 2,above, in that the latter makes noallowance forlivestock notonfarms.The impliedestimate for nonfarm livestock is,ofcourse,subject to awidemarginoferror. For1890,theamountof394milliondollarsforlivestocknoton farmshasbeendeductedfrom"Miscellaneous"andaddedhere, making seriesA 49largerand seriesA 73smallerby thisamount thanindicatedinthepublishedreports.SeeWealth,Debt,and Taxation,1907,p.25,andWealthoftheUnitedStates,Census OfficeBulletin No.379(March 19,1894),p.2. A50.Farm implementsandmachinery.SOURCE:Seetextfor seriesA 42-74,above.TheCensusesofAgriculture were thechief sourcesofdataforthisseries,withadjustmentsforintercensal years made by useofCensusofManufactures data onproduction. A 51. Manufacturing machinery, tools,and equipment. SOURCE: See text for series A 42-74, above. These estimates are based mainly onthe capital investment items reported to the manufacturescen-sus,interpolationsforintercensalyearshavingbeenmadeby use ofstraight-linetrendsintheearlierperiodandsampledatafor 1922.The1890figureshownisan arbitrary estimaterepresenting halfthecombinedvalueofmachineryandproductsreportedas capitalto the manufacturescensus.(SeeWealth,Debt,endTaxa-tion,1907,p.25.)The valueofthis item for1880 isprob:.:ll:-;lycon-cealed in the figuresforrealty and stocksofgoods. A 52.Railroadsand theirequipment.SOURCE:See text for series A 42-74,above.Reportsto the InterstateCommerceCommission were the chief basis ofthe estimates for 1912and 1922.The figures for 1900 and 1904 were derived by capitalizing earnings.The figure for1890(8,296milliondollars)constitutestheremainderafter subtracting the street railway item (seeseriesA 53)fromthe 1890 Valuationreportfigureof8,685milliondollarswhichwasde-scribedas"Railroadsandequipment,including$389,357,289for streetrailroads."Accordingtothe1890Valuationreport(p.8), thisrepresentsthecostofconstructionandequipment,"about 7,000milesbeing estimated." Incontrastthe 1880figurewasderivedfromthecombined balancesheetof"allrailroads,':representingtotalassetsminus "profitandlossaccount."(See1880TransportationCensusre-port,pp.4and5.) A 53.Street railways.SOURCE:See text forseriesA 42-74. The series as far back as 1912 isbased onreports of the Census ofElec-tricalIndustries.Values for1900and 1904wereobtained by capi-talizingearnings.The1890figureisdescribedmerelyasbased onthereportedcostofconstructionandequipment,andwasde-rivedfromtheStreetRailwaysSectionofthe1890Transporta-tionCensus report,p.690.The item isnot mentioned in1880. A54.Telegraphandtelephonesystems,shippingandcanals. SOURCE:SeetextforseriesA 42-:74andforseriesA 55-56 and A57-58.The1890figurerepresentscapitalizedearnings.The 1880total(of419milliondollars),whichexcludestelephonesys-tems,appearstorepresentthe summationoffiguresappearing in the 1880TransportationCensusreportasfollows:For telegraphs, 93milliondollars;formerchant tonnage,alldraft steamand sail, 156 million dollars;and foroperating canals,170 million dollars. A55-56.Telegraphandtelephonesystems.SOURCE:Seetext forseries A 42-74.Estimates forthese werederived fromthe same sourcesandbythesamemethodsasthoseforstreetrailways. A57-58. Shipping and canals. SOURCE:See text for series A 42-74, above.Thevaluesforgovernmentvessels,particularlythoseof the Navy,represent cost figuressupplied by the departmentscon-cerned.Estimatesformercantileshippinghaveusuallybeende-rived by applying cost-per-tonratios(fromthe manufacturescen-susandothersources)totonnagesreportedbytheCommerce Department,and allowing fordepreciation.Censusreports (either oftheCensusofWaterwaysorofTransportation)alsowere available for 1880,1890, 1906,and 1916, and were utilized in:vary-ingdegrees.Valuesforcanalsandinvestmentincanalizedrivers for1922 were taken fromthe Census of Waterways report of1916; those for1912were based chiefly on State reports and figures from the U. S.WarDepartment;thosefor1890werefromtheTrans-portationCensus report ofthat yearand were used again without change in 1900 and 1904; those for1880 were fromthe 1880Trans-portationCensusreport.The1890figurerepresentedearnings capitalized at 5 percent; the 1880 figureswere values set by owners. A 59.Pullman andother cars notownedbyrailroads.SOURCE: Seetext forseriesA 42-74,above. ICC reports weretheprimary source forthe1912and 1922estimates.Valuesfor1900and1904 wereapproximatedfromthenumberofears reportedbythe:car-riers.This item isnot mentioned inthe reports for1890.In1880, the Transportation report(seeStatisticsof Railroads,p.4)makes clearthat thevalueofPullmanandothercarsnotownedbythe railroads isnot included in the total shown forrailroads and equip-ment,but providesnoestimate. A60.Pipe lines.SOURCE:Seetext forseries A 42r-74 , above.The 1922figureisanunofficialgeneral-:purposeestimatesuppliedby the Bureau ofMines.No estimate wasmade forthis item in tabu-lations for earlier years; it may well be included with realproperty and improvements. 3 Text:A 61-86WEALTHANDINCOME A 61.Privatelyownedwaterworks.SOURCE:See text for series A42-74,above.Thisseriesisbasedonafiguresuppliedbythe Bureau ofInternal Revenue for 1922,a Bureau of Labor report for 1900,andaconstantarbitrary rate of increasefrom1900through 1912.The item was not mentioned inthe 1880-90tabulations,but isprobably includedunderoneofthegeneralheadingsforthese years. A62.Centralelectriclightandpowerstations.SOURCE:See text for series A 42-74, above.Data are fromtheCensusofElectri-calIndustries. A63.Agricultural,manufactured,andimportedcommodities, total.SOURCE:The1880figureisfromthe1880reportonValu-ation,p.11,where it is described as"Three-quarters ofthe annual productofagricultureandmanufactures,andoftheannualim-portationofforeigngoodsassumedtobetheaveragesupplyin the handsofproducersordealers." A 64.Stocks of goods:Agricultural products.SOURCE:See text forseriesA42-74,above.The1922estimatewasbasedforthe mostpartoninventory figuresfromAgricultureDepartmentand CensusBureausurveys;forcertainminorcrops,itwasassumed that stocksonhand wouldrepresent40percentofthe year'spro-duction.The approach basedoncarryover as apercentageofpro-duction was used in deriving the figuresincluded in tabulations for theearlieryears,outputfiguresbeingderivedfromagricultural censusdata. It shouldbenoted that theCensusBureau seriesfor stocksofproductsdifferfromthe National Industrial Conference Boardseries,beingdefinedintermsofnatureofproductsrather thanofnature ofholder. A 65-66.Stocksofgoods:Manufacturedproducts.SOURCE: See text for seriesA 42-74.These figures,likethose for farmprod-uctsbefore1922,arebasedchieflyonproductiondatafromthe BureauoftheCensus.The 1890 figureshown here isthe estimate giveninWealth,Debt,andTaxation,1907.Itwasdesignatedin that volumeasthevalueofproducts inthehandsofthe factory owners. A 67.Stocks of goods:Imported merchandise.SOURCE:See text forseriesA 42-74.Thisseriesrepresentsafixedproportionofthe totalvalueofimportsintothecontinentalUnitedStates.The item was included in "Miscellaneous" and in "Mill stocks" in 1890. A68.Stocksof goods:Miningproducts.SOURCE:Seetext for seriesA42-74.The 1922valueofcoalstocksisestimated froma surveyofcommercialstocks;andfor1890stocksofminingprod-ucts areas reported to the Census ofMineral Industries in the case ofminestocks and theCensus.ofManufactures inthecaseofmill stocks.With these two exceptions the figuresavebasedonproduc-tiondatawhichwereobtainedeitherfromtheGeologicalSurvey or fromthe Bureau oftheCensus. A69-73.Personalandmiscellaneousproperty.SOURCE:See textforseriesA42-74.The1922valueisbasedonamailques-tionnaireforcomponentsotherthanvehicles.Theestimatefor motor vehicles wasderived fromproduction and average price and lifedata,andthat foranimal-drawnvehicleswascomputedfrom thereportednumbersofhorsesand mules.Forearlier years,esti-mates werebasedchieflyon statistics ofimportsand manufactur-ing production,usually without allowanceforwholesaleand retail markups.The 1890method reliedonastudy ofinsurance policies onhousesandcontents,andthe1880figureisbasedpartlyon assumedaveragevaluesper familyineachsocia-economicgrqup. The 1890valueof7,894milliondollarsgivenfor"Miscellaneous" inthe source hasherebeenreducedby reclassificationofnonfarm livestockto seriesA 49. A74.GoldandsilvercoinandbulUon.SOURCE:See text for seriesA42-74,Thesefiguresaretakenfromofficialgovernment reports.The1922figureisfromtheTreasuryDepartment;those forprevious yearsare fromtheDirector oftheMint. A 7G-:J9.Classification of wealth in the United States, 1922-1937. ferenceBoard.FiguresarefromEnterpriseandSocialProgress, NewYork,1939,p.60jtextisfromEconomicRecord,Oct.5, 1939,p.131. A76.Realpropertyandimprovements,taxed,1922-1937. SOURCE:Seetext forseriesA 75-99.Acontinuous recordisfound inthe assessmentsofproperty in the various States for the general propertytax.Insomeinstances,thesumofcountyassessments wasused.In someinstancesrealestatehadtobe separated from a record ofall taxable property. When the assessment wasbiennial, or when the figuresfor1936had not been published, missing years hadtobeestimated.ForeachStateandyear,aratio wasfound expressingtheprobablerelationofactualtoassessedvaluation andthe truevaluecalculated. A77.Realproperty.andimprovements.exempt,1922-1937. SOURCE:SeetextforseriesA75-99.ForsevenStates,official appraisalsbytheassessorsofthevalueofexemptpropertyare available,andfromthemtruevaluewascomputedinthesame way asfortaxedrealestate.TheannualchangefortheseStates wasappliedto the Census recordof1922 forother States. A 78.Livestock, 1922-1937. SOURCE:See text for series A 75-99. Based onthe recordsofthe Bureau ofthe Census and other infor-mation,the Department ofAgriculture hasprepared estimates for eachyearofthevalueoftheprincipalformsoflivestock.These weresupplementedbyfiguresforminorformsoflivestockcom-piled by the BureauoftheCensus inits five-yearCensusofAgri-culturewith interpolationsforthe intervening years. A79.Farmimplementsandmachinery,1922-1937.SOURCE: Seetext forseriesA 75-99.BasedonreportsoftheBureauofthe Census,theDepartmentofAgriculturehaspreparedannualesti-mates.Theyincludemotorvehicles,andsincesuchmotorvehi-clesfigureelsewhereinthewealthestimate,itwasnecessaryto compute for each year the value of farm motor vehicles and deduct it fromthe totalestimateofthe Department ofAgricJllture. ,A80.Manufacturingmachinery,tools,andequipment,1922-1937.SOURCE:SeetextforseriesA75-99.Thebasisoftheesti-mate is the value ofcapital assets (land, buildings, and equipment) reportedbymanufacturingcorporationsintheannualStatistics of Incomefortheyears1926-1936.It was adjustedtocovernon-reportingcorporationsandnon-corporateenterprises.Astudyof alargenumberofcorporationsreportinginMoody'sIndustrial Manual for1936their machineryseparately fromlandandbuild-ingsyieldedaproportionwhichwasappliedtothetotalcapital assets.Fortheyears1922to1925,thevalueofmachineryob-tained,asabovenoted,wascarriedbackonthebasisofchange during this period in horsepower equipment reported in the Census ofManufactures. A81.Railroadsandtheirequipment,1922-1937.SOURCE:See text forseriesA75-99.Thevalueofrailroadslessdepreciationis givenannually inthe reportonStatisticsof Railways oftheInter-state CommerceCommission. A82.Streetrailways,1922-1937.SOURCE:S'eetextforseries A75-99.Plant investmentlessdepreciationwasobtainedforthe years 1922,1927,and 1932 from the Census of ElectricalIndustries. Interpolationwasmadeforinterveningdates,andfortheyears 1933and 1936change wascomputed at the samerateasobserved inthe preceding fouryears. A83-84.Telegraphsystems,1922-1937.So URCE:Seetextfor seriesA 75-99.The data forinvestment lessdepreciationfromthe Censusof ElectricalIndustriesforthe years1922,1927,1932,and 1937 were supplemented by interpolations which took into account thechangesnotedintheannualreportsofalargegroupofcom-panies to the InterstateCommerceCommission. A85.Telephonesystems,1922-1937.SOURCE:Seetextfor seriesA 75-99.Data forthe years1922,1927,1932, and 1937 were fromthesame sourceasthosefortelegraphcompaniesandinter-polationsweremade inthesame manner. A 86. Pullman and other cars not owned by railroads, 1922-1937. SOURCE:AdaptedbypermissionfromNational'IndustrialCon- SOURCE:Seetext forseriesA 75-99.Data forcars ofthePullman 4 NATIONALWEALTH.Text:A 86-101 Company -andoftheexpresscompanieswereobtainedfromthe annual reportonStatisticsof Railways ofthe Interstate Commerce Commission.Thenumberoffreightcarsownedbyshipperswas furnishedby the AmericanRailwayCarInstitute.Thisorganiza-tioncomputedthetotalvalueofsuchcarsfortwoyearsand,on thebasisofaveragevaluesandnumberofcars,interpolations weremade forother Years. A 87.Pipe lines, 1922-1937. SOURCE:See text forseries A 75-99. AnnualdataareavailableinthereportonStatisticsofRailways oftheCommerceCommission. A88-89.Shippingandcanals,1922-1937.SOURCE:Seetext forseriesA 75-99.The valueofshipsofthe United StatesNavy is reportedannuallyby the Navy Department.Valueofother ship-ping and canals wasbased ondata forcapitalassets(lands,build-ings,and equipment)for1930to 1936 forcorporations engaged in "Water Transportation,"definedas"oceanandfresh-waterlines, canals,docking,drawbridgeoperating,lighterage,salvaging,' piloting, wharfing,andlessors."Theinformation wasdrawnfrom its worksheetsby theBureauofInternal Revenueand furnished theNationalIndustrialConferenceBoard.Forearlieryears figureswere computed in proportion to changes in the documented shippingoftheUnited States and with consideration ofchanges in the prevailingprice levels. A90.Privatelyownedwaterworks,1922-1937.SOURCE:See text forseriesA75-99.Data forthe years1930to 1936 were fur-nishedfromunpublishedrecordsbytheBureau ofInternalRev-enue.Forearlieryears,populationchangesoftownssuppliedby privatewaterworksweretakenintoaccountincomputingthe investment. A 91.Privatelyownedcentralelectriclightandpowerstations, 1922-1937.SOURCE:Seetext forseriesA 75-99.Thedata forthe years1922,1927,1932,and 1937 were obtained from the Censusof ElectricalIndustries.Theinterpolationfortheinterveningyears wasmadeonastraight-linebasisforeachStateindividually, and the results added to obtain the totals. A 92.Stocks inthehandsofproducers:Farmers,1922-1937. SOURCE:SeetextforseriesA75-99.Forafewoftheprincipal crops,theDepartmentofAgriculturehascomputedthe, valueof cropsremaininginfarmers'handsunsoldattheendoftheyear. Forothercrops,holdingsexpressedinbushelscanbeconverted intovalues.Forotherimportantcrops,figuresareavailablefor productionandfarmvalue,butnotforstocks,andthesewere computedinthesameratioasforthegroupofcropsforwhich figureswereavailable.Thecropsforwhichvaluesweregivenor, computed represent practically all the important crops of which an appreciableamountremainsunsoldinfarmers'handsat theend ofthe year. A 93.Stocksinthehands of producers:Manufacturers, 1922-1937.SOURCE:Seetext forseriesA 75-99.For theyears1926to 1936,theinventoriesofmanufacturingcorporationsgiveninthe StatisticsofIncomeweresupplementedbyproperallowancesfor' nonreportingcorporationsandnoncorporateenterprises.Forthe earlier years'inventories werecomputed in the same ratio to gross sales(data forwhichare available)as in the later years. producedintheUnitedStatesascomputedbytheBureauof ForeignandDomesticCommerceforcensusyean:;with interpoJa-tjonsforotheryears.Inventorieswerethencomputedasaper-centageofsuchestimated sales. A96.Stocksinthehandsofdealers:Retailers,1922-1937. SOURCE:Seetext forseriesA 75-99.Data forstoc!Isand salesof retailersparalleltothoseforwholesalersareavailableintheCen-sus of Distribution. It wasobserve.d that retail sales were an almost constantproportionoftheestimatednationalincome,andthis ratiowasusedtoestimateretailsalf'sbefore1929,fl'omwhich salesestimates,the inventoryestimates werecomputed. A97.Stocksofgoodsinthehandsofconsumers.1922-1937. SOURCE:See text for seriesA75-99. These figuresare aprojection of those foundintheBureauof theCensusestimatefor1922.A study ofthe production, exports,and imports ofa large number of articlesofpersonalconsumption wasmadeandan index ofchange since 1932 was computed.The application of this indexto the Cen-susestimatesprovidedtheestimatesusedby theBoard. A98.Motorvehicles,1922-1937.SOURCE:Seetextforseries A75-99.Acomplexstudyofmotorvehicleproduction,registra-tion,mortality,prices,and depreciation wasrequired.From regis-tration figures the number of vehicles in use was obtained; from pro-duction and mortality figures,the number ofeach age in each year; fromtheoriginalpriceofeachyear'sproductandtheamountof depreciation,the valueofcarsofeachageineach year wasdeter-mined,and the sumofthe latter gavethe total valueof all cars in use. A 99.Goldandsilvercoinandbullion,1922-1937.SOURCE:See text for seriesA 75-99.Monetary gold was figuredat official rates; monetary silver,at the New York price forfinesilver. \A 100.Value of land and buildingson ManhattanIsland,1833-1945.SOURCE:LawyersTitleCorporationofNewYork.These amounts represent totals forwhichallland and buildingsonMan-hattan Island might have sold under pricelevelsprevailing at the time.They arecomputed fromtotalassessedvaluationofallland and buildings at the percentage aboveorbelowassessments shown by considerations paid in all sales at the time of sale. Income:SeriesA101-207 A 101-207.General note.The general ideaunderlying thevary-ingdefinitionsofnationalincomeis inthehypotheti cal case of a nation populated solely by subsistence farmers,each farm familybeingself-sufficient.Insuchanation,theincomeofeach farmerwouldbe the produceofhis farm.Asaproducer,hecould be thought ofas earning wages,profits,rent,and interest fromhis farm in the formofproduce.Asaconsumer,hecouldbethought ofas"buying" fromhisfarmallthe goodsand services needed for hisfamily's living,and "investing" the remainderofhisoutput to maintainand improvethe farm. Thenationalincomeofthishypotheticalnationwouldbethe valueofthe' aggregateproduceofallfarms,classifiedintowages, profits, rent,and interest received in kindby farmersas producers. Thenationalproductwouldalsobethevalueoftheaggregate produce ofall farms,classified into output "purchased" by farmers as consumers plus the output "invested." Inordertosummarizethesenationalaggregates,ofcourse,it would benecessary to placevaluesonthe variousitemsofoutput andthentototalupthevalues.Fordifferentpurposes,different basesofvaluationareappropriate.Forexample,itmaybefelt A 94.Stocks inthehands ofproducers:Mineoperators,1922-1937.SOURCE:SeetextforseriesA 75-99.For the years 1926 to 1936, data for the inventories of mining and quarrying corporations areavailableintheStatisticsof Income,andtheywereextended backward to1922in the same ratiothat theseinventoriesbore in the later period to the total valueofallmineralproduction. A 95.Stocksinthehandsof dealers:Wholesalers,1922-1937. SOURCE:Seetext forseriesA 75-99.Information regarding stocks andsalesofdealersisavailableintheCensusofDistributionfor 1929,1933,and1935.By meansofasamplecensusin1937,esti-matesmaybemadefor1936.Officialestimatesforsalesinother yearshavebeenmadebytheDepartmentofCommerceandin-ventoriesmay becomputed.For the yearsbefore1929,total sales werecomputed as a percentage ofthe total value of movable goods . that the contribution ofa given item of output to the national wel-farejsmeasuredinsomesenseby themarket valueofthat item. Toobtainanationalaggregaterelatedtowelfare,then,output wouldbevaluedat marketprices.Ontheotherhand,theuseof laborandcapital requiredtoproduceagoodmaybemeasuredin somesenseby thelaborandcapitalcostsofproducingit.Toob-tainanationalaggregatemeasuringcostorinputofeconomic effort,then,output would bevaluedat the laborandcapital costE' ("factor -Cost")ofproduction. 5 Text:A 101-117W.I1}ALTHANDINCOME The logicunderlyingthisisthat the market pricesofgoodsare proportionaltothemarginalutilities(ormarginalsubstitution ratios)ofthosegoods,sothatadeflated seriesofestimatesofna-tionalincomeatmarketpricesisacompositeindexofphysical quantitieseachweightedbyitsmarginalutility;similarly,factor costsofgoodstendtobeproportionaltothemarginalcostsof those goods, so that a deflated series of estimates of national income valuedatfactorcostisacompositeindexofphysicalquantities each weighted by its marginal cost.(See J. R. Hicks,"Valuation of theSocialIncome"inEconomica,vol.VII(newseries),No.26, May 1940.) Fordifferentpurposes,differentbasesforclassifyingtheitems ofoutput areappropriate.Those interested in marketing want dif-ferent classifications than those interested in utilization ofavailable the questions:"Who purchases the output?" and"How isthe out-put used?"Thesequestionsare salient fromthe marketing stand-point.Thevaluesareatmarketpriceswhicharemoresuitable than factorcosts fordealing withproblemsofmarketing and con-sumption. A101.Grossnationalproduct(revised,July1947).SOURCE: SeetextforseriesA101-144,above.Grossnationalproductor expenditureisheredefinedasthemarketvalueoftheoutputof goodsand servicesproducedby theNation's economy,beforede-ductionofdepreciationchargesandotherallowancesforbusiness andinstitutionalconsumptionofdurablecapitalgoods.Other businessproductsusedupbybusinessintheaccountingperiod areexcluded.TheNation'seconomy inthiscontextreferstothe laborandpropertysuppliedbyresidentsoftheNation.Gross resources,or in human welfare.The data are presented in the tab- nationalproductcomprisesthepurchasesofgoodsandservices ular in such a way as to reflect these and other interests.byconsumersandgovernment,grossprivatedomesticinvest-Extensive discussions of national income and product theory andment,and net foreigninvestment. statisticsare foundinthe following:A102-105.Personalconsumptionexpenditures(revised,july NationalIncomeandProductStatisticsoftheUnitedStates,1947).SOURCE:Seetext forseriesA101-144,above.Thesecon-1929-46,comprisingtheNationalIncomeSupplementtoSurvey of CurrentBusiness,U.S.GovernmentPrintingOffice,Washing- sist ofthe market value of purchases of goodsand services by indi-ton,D.C.,July 1947viduals andnonprofitinstitutionsandthe valueoffood,clothing, Hicks,J.R.,andAlbertGaylordHart,TheSocialFrameworkhousing,and financialservices received by them as income in kind. of theAmerican Economy, Oxford University Press, New York, 1945Theyincludetherentalvalueofowner-occupiedhousesbutex:" Kuznets, Simon,NationalIncome andIts Composition,Nationaleludepurchasesofdwellings,whichareclassedascapitalgoods. Bureau ofEconomicResearch,New York,1941 Kuznets,Simon,NationalIncome:ASummaryofFindings,A106-111.Grossprivatedomesticinvestment(revised,July NationalBureau ofEconomicResearch,New York,19461947). SOURCE:See text forseries A101-144, above.This consists Kuznets,Simon,CommodityFlowandCapitalFormation,N a- of acquisitions of newly produced capital goods by private business tional Bureau ofEconomicResearch,New York,1938andnonprofitinstitutionsandofthevalueofthechangeinthe ConferenceonResearchinIncomeandWealth,StudiesinIn-comeandWealth,NationalBureauofEconomicResearch,Newvolumeofinventories held by them. York,1937and annually thereafterA112.Netforeigninvestment(revised,July19(7).SOURCE: Fabricant,Solomon,CapitalConsumptionandAdjustment,Na-,SeetextforseriesA101-144,above.Netforeigninvestmentis tionalBureauofEconomic Research,New York,1938 Shaw,W.H.,"TheGrossFlowofFinishedCommoditiesandthe net change in inter..:i1ationalassets and liabilities, including the NewConstruction,1929-41," Surveyof CurrentBusiness,XXII,monetary gold stock,arisingout ofthe current international flows Washington,D.C.,April 1942,pp. 13-20ofgoodsandservices,factorincomes,andcashgiftsandcontri-Merwin,Charles L.,"National Income.What It Is;How It Isbutions. Measured,"Dun'sReview,vol.50,No.2172,August 1942,Dun and Bradstreet, Inc.,New York, pp. 16-19and 32-33A113-116.Governmentpurchasesofgoodsandservices(re-Merwin,Charles L.,"National Income,aPractical Yardstick,"vised,July1947).SOURCE:Seetext forseriesA101-144,above. Dun'sReview,vol.50,No.2175,November1942,pp.12-15andThe total measures purchases ofgoods and services by government Milton,and .J aszi,George,"NationalProduct andIn- bodies,exclusiveofacquisitionsoflandanduseddepreciableas-comeStatistics asan AidinEconomic Problems,"Dun'sReview,setsandofcurrentoutlaysofgovernment enterprises.It excludes vol.52,No.2190,February 1944,pp.9-11and 30-38governmentinterest,subsidies,socialinsuranceandveterans' Gilbert,Milton,and J aszi,George,"National Product Statisticsbenefits,directrelief,etc.Salestoabroadanddomesticsalesof HelpInterpretWartimeEconomy,"Dun's vol.52,No.consumptiongoodsand materials(seriesA115)arenettedout. 2191,March 1944,pp. 12-14and 26-37 NationalResourcesCommittee,ConsumerPurchasesStudy:A117-133.Nationalincomebydistributiveshares(revised, ConsumerIncomesin the UnitedStates,Washington, D.C.,UnitedJuly1947),1929-1945.SOURCE:SeetextforseriesA101-144, StatesGovernment Printing Office,1938above.Fromthestandpointofproducersandothersinterested A101-144.Estimatesofgrossnationalproduct,nationalin- primarilyintheproductiveprocess,thesalientquestionstobe come,andpersonal (revised,July1947),1929-1945.4 answeredrelatetotheutilizationofavailableresourcesortothe SOURCE:Department ofCommerce,OfficeofBusiness Economics,distributionofreturns.Theutilizationofavailable resourcesmay NationalIncomeandProductStatisticsoftheUnitedStates,1929- occasionally,asinwartime,becomeofimmediate interest tocon-46, theNationalIncomeSupplementto SurveyofCur- sumers.Normally,however,thoseprimarilyconcernedarethe rentBusiness,July1947,p.19.In1948theOfficeofBusinessproducerswhoaremakingtheresourcesavailable,becausesuch Economicswaspreparingadetailedexplanationoftheanalyti- utilizationrepresentsthedemandfortheirservices and hencethe calsignificanceoftheseseriesandthestatisticalmethodologysourceoftheirincome.Theseseriesillustrateoneoftheclassifi-underlyingthem.Thedefinitionsforspecificseriesgivenbelowcations most frequently used inthisconnection. Z t:1 ~ ~ ~ 1-1 Z (.":)() o Z t:1 1-1 t-3 1-1 o Z r:nLABORFORCEData: D62-89 SeriesD62-76.-LABORFORCE-INDUSTRIALDISTRIBUTIONOFEMPLOYED(NICB): 1900TO1945 [Inthousandsof persons.Series D62,D'64,andD74include allpersons in military forces] GAINFULWORKERSEMPLOYMENTSTATUSINDUSTRIALDISTRIBUTIONOFTHEEMPLOYED Percent Serviceindustries Trade, Number 1of popu Un- Agri-ForestryExtrac-Manufac-Con- Trans-Publicdistribu- Exclud- Miscel-YEAR lation Employe demployed2 cultureS andtionof turing struc- porta-utilitiestion, anding mili- laneous 10yrs.fishingmineralstiontion finance Total tary and over forces ----------- ---62636465666768697071,7273747576 ---- --- ---1945 ________ 56,76953.261,653-4,9099,83316259013,2881,3603,2009607,58423,27011,9531,408 1944. _______ 56,18453.163,308-7,14110,03017364215,4371,3692,9329467,48422,84911,4741,447 1943 ________ 55,56453.062,026-6,47210,26418870216,2051,7642,4761,0217,47920,52311,5941,406 1942 ________ 54,85952.955,762-92510,39220978014,6322,6242,2761,0377,63314,94711 ,2171,231 1941. _______ 54,15652.851,4342,69910,35521575813,1982,6122,1351,0157,84312,19010,4761,114 1940 ________ 453,46652.746,6836,99510,58020875611 ,2881,9071,9489567,63110,4329,859978 1939 ________ 53,81149.144,9938,78610,73919870710,5171,6101,8719347,5119,9789,609928 1938 ________5322949.0~ 8,4169,79610,7942017509,5381,8751 t7999427,3179,3168,98l.884 1937 ________ 52 ;69249.046,2796,40310,88422786511 ,3611,9242,0169757,5499,5189,196958 1936 ________ 52,23749.144,8307,38611,03721282510,4852,0141,9059227,3499,1658,864915 1935 ________ 51,76949.242,6539,09211 ,1301927989,7571,3441,7578857,1678,7708,501854 1934. _______ 51,26749.341,4749,76110,8551777949,1791,5181,7248837,0978,4168,158830 1933 ________ 50,69149.338,82711 ,84211 ,0271576777,9791,1141,6568586,7287,8777,625753 1932 ________ 50:13249.338,72711,38511 ,0681386687,3481,3121,7199326,7798,0147,760750 1931. _______ 49,59749.442,5307,03711 ,1571608258,4232,2252,0061,0417,3008,5438,283851 1930 ___ ---- 49,00649.446,0812,89611 ,1722219739,7702,8422,2871,1517,8028,9178,654945 1929 ________ 48,35449.647,92542910 ,5392671,06711 ,0593,3402,4651,1678,0079;003 ---------1,012 1928 ________ 47,91449.846,0571,85710,5522521,05310,3123,4382,4311,1437,4448,471 --------- 961 1927 ________ 46,93949.545,3191,62010,5192531,12210,1643,4682,5081,1267,1058,112 ---------942 1926 ________ 45,96249.245,49846410,8012601,19810,8868,4972,5231,1047,0547,786 ----,.-- ... - 939 1925 ________ 45,00949.044,19281710,7252661,12010,2223,2792,4531,0666,8927,264 --------- 905 1924 ________ 44,54949.442,5152,03410,6622551,1359,8962,8972,4131,0406,4006,956 --------- 861 1923 ________ 43,76049.543,01174910,6972621,25110,5922,5912,4791,0046,3776,884 ---------874 1922 ________ 42,96649.640,0492,91710,7662339549,3912,3112,2329405,9356,495 ---------792 192L _______ 42,44549.937,6914,75410,7512029598,5991,7042,2659135,3606,209-- -_ .. ---- 729 1920 ________ 41,89750.341,33955810,7182361,23211,0131,5822,6039325,6436,552 ---------828 1919 ________ 41,15950.242,029-87010,4892291,13110,9891,8082,4328775,8477,373 ---------854 1918 ________ 41,08850.844,187-3,09910,7312141,34111,4461',7672,3118515,7318 ;889 ---------906 1917. _____ ~ _ 40,75251.242,685-1,93311,1612281,35711 ,4361,7222,1728315,8087,117---_ ... ---- 853 1916 ________ 40,31451.440,12718711,3822391,27010,1841,6942,0727995,4636,247 ---------777 1915 ________ 40,08351.837,7282,35511 ,3712251,1448,9111,6442,0357554,9625,969-----_ .. _- 712 1914 ________ 3 ~ ,78952.237,5752,21411 ,4042281,1328,7691,8012,0617444,7425,987 ---------707 1913 ________ 39,50052.638,4821,01811,4512331,2539,0992,1262,1237294,7975,940 ---------731 1912 ________ 39,08952.938,16992011 ,4732301,1818,9092,3742,1126974,7265,745 ---------722 191L _______ 38,66853.237,0971,57111 ,4932161,1448,6282,1312,0296594,5885,517 ---------692 1910 ________ 38,133f53.337,58055311 ,6102141,1688,9902,1772,0156154,6225,467 ---------702 1909 ________ 37,45453.336,73571911 ,5992111,1038,4462,3331,9335694,5225,339 ---------686 1908 ________ 36,58053.134,2842,29611 ,4131999947,4312,1431,8005384,1704,978 ---------618 1907 ________ 35,63152.834,87575611,0642091,1007,9352,3321,8765124,1845,020 ---------643 1906 ________ 34,64752.534,790-14311,2462079717,6662,5671,9184824,1724,925 .. -- --- ---636 1905 ________ 33,65352.033,03262110,7951979497,2782,2851,7724373,9784,740 ---------601 1904 ________ 32,60551.531,1751,43010,5871958406,7541,9541,6593923,7304,508 ---------556 1903 ________ 31,842'51.430,3191,52310,1171888346,7141,9621,6243593,5804,395 --- ------546 1902 ________ 30,90551.130,40550010,1451837346,5032,6141,5703243,5204,265 --- ------547 190L _______ 29,95950.628,2381,7219,4811757036,2121,9541,4483003,3734,085 ---------507 1900 ________ 29,02550.227,3781,6479,5521666536,0901,6391,3552763,2243,942 ----- ... ---481 1Estimates beginning in1930areformidyearratherthanannualaverage.Be-cause of this, from 1930 on,employment plus unemployment, shown in series D64, D65willnot exactly equalthe numberofgainful workers shown in seriesD62. 3Data for1900 to 1929 not directly comparable with series for later years. 2Unemployment isderived asthedifferencebetweenthe employment estimate andtheestimated labor forceor totalnumberofgainfulworkersshowninseries D62.Negativeunemploymentintheestimates shown in thistablearisesduring periodsofhighindustrial activity whenthe numberofpersonsactually employed isinexcessofthe projected estimateofthe labor forceortotal. numberofgainful workers. 4This figureand those of subsequent years are based on the 1940Censuslabor-forceconceptandthereforearenotcomparablewiththose forprioryearswhich arebasedonthegainful-workerconcept.The1940figurebasedonthegainful-workerconcept is54,808,000.Figuresforyearspriorto1940areallbasedonthe gainful-worker concept.(See text for.seriesD1-7 fordiscussionof these concepts.) SeriesD77-89.-LABORFORCE-SOCIAL-ECONOMICGROUPOFTHEEXPERIENCEDLABOR FORCE,1940,ANDGAINFULWORKERS,1910TO1930 (For persons14years oldand over] PROPRIETORS,MANAGERS,ANDOFFICIALSUNSKILLEDWORKERS OtherClerksSkilled Semi-Profes- FarmersWholesaleproprie- andworkers Totalsional(ownersandtors,kindredand skilled Farm Laborers, Servant Totalworkers Total except YEARpersonsandretailmanagers,workersforemenlaborersclasses tenants)dealersand farm officials 77787980818283848586878889 19401____ 52,020,0233,381,9939,233,6435,274,7062,037,9001,921,0378,923,9396,104,985 10,918,31213,457,1513,708,1915,566,4934,182,467 1930 _____ 48,594,5922,945,6059,665,4896,012,0121,786,9961,866,4817,936,2856,282,6657,972,711 13,791,8374,187,2016,272,7003,331,936 1920 _____ 41,236,1852,049,919'9,180,4836,387,3581,401,7511,391,3745,682,1505,570,5336,631,733 12,121,3673,857,8336,018.9442,244,590 1910 _____ 37,271 ,3601,632,1858,579,4586,132,3681,245,8011,201,2893,804,4744,363,9845,489,315 13,401,9445,407,1025,461,9572,532,885 1Unrevised. 65 Data: D90-116LABORFORCE,WAGES,ANDWORKINGCONDITIONS SeriesD90-106.-LABORFORCE-SELECTEDOCCUPATIONSOFTHEEXPERIENCEDLABOR FORCE,1940,ANDGAINFULWORKERS,1870TO1930 [Classiftcation isaccording to the 1940occupation-classification system] Book-Mine Bar- Blec-Plum- Musi-Brick-Board- Practi-Farmers Farm Teachers, keepers, opera-bers, Jani-Trainedtricians bers, Physi-cians masons, Design- ingandcal laborersac- beauti- nursesandciansstone-(owners (paid not count-tivesCar-cians, tors and andgas and anders andlodg- nurses andelsewhereandpentersand power-andmusic masons, drafts- ing- and YEARandants,andstudentstationsur- and tenants) unpaid) classified and labor-mani" sextons nurses steamteach-tile menhousemid-ers opera-fitters geons erskeeperswives cashierscuriststorssetters ---- ----------9-7-1-9-8--9-9-/100 --------------- ---90919293949596un102103104105106 I labo, 14 old =d 0,"," IIIIJ II Gainfulworkers,14years oldand over 1930 ____ ___ 6,012,01'1',078 ,61 t,044,0161939 ,9541887 ,48'1'20, 1St 74,2151306,52t" ,1891277,5141235,4361153 ,8031'66,69t 70, 9031" ,032 142,927146,018 1920 ________6,387,358 3,765,447752,055742,035982,470 878,505 216,095176,446 149,128 210,834204,651144,977 131,467131,26466,689132,058145,795 1910 ________ 6,132,3685,296,320595,28549.1,517 882,587 808,949195,124111,73982,327119,039146,821151,132140,503169,40244,103163,7