CFTOS LUATION, TAXATION AND EXEMPTIONS IN THE COMMONWEALTH OF PENNSYLVANIA, P'? • , ■ Pic , ‘ ° ‘331 A REPORT TO THE Pennsylvania Tax Conference BY THE Commission on Valuation and Taxation JOS. D. WEEKS , Chairman. PRESENTED AT THE MEETING HELD AT HARRISBURG, I'A., October 13th, 1892. LETTER OF TRANSMITTAL To the Pennsylvania Tax Conference: We submit herewith the Report on Valuation, Taxation and Exemption with the preparation of which we were charged. The work has been prosecuted under constant disadvantages. The first difficulty was the absence of data upon which to found a report and the imperfection and unreliability of much of the available material. It soon became evident, therefore, that we must institute a system of original investigation. This resulted in delay in securing and training assistants. Our circulars letters and personal interviews developed at first a decided disin- clination on the part of those from whom we asked information, to impart it. With a unanimity equalled only by that of the guests invited to the feast “ they all with one accord began to make excuse.” Ahy investigation that nearly or remotely involves taxation is looked upon with suspicion. These difficulties were gradually overcome and, should it be deemed best to continue the investigation, it will proceed with greater rapidity. New sources of information will be available in the near future ; assistants have been trained, and those interested in the subject have been instructed as to our objects and are now ready to give information and assistance It has been impossible to secure a complete statement of assessments and taxes for 1892, and most of the figures, apart from valuation and ex* mption, as given in Tables I. to V., are for 1891. The assessments in many counties, owing to appeals from the action of the County Commissioners, are not yet complete, and the reports required are not yet filed in the office of the Secretary of Internal Affairs. We have, however the total assess- ment of real estate and actual value of the same and of certain classes of personal property for 1892. All taxes are for 1891, which are on the basis of the triennial assessment of 1889 as amended in 1891. It is not to be understood that in giving valuations of certain classes of personal property that the Com- mission recommends the taxation of this property. As a Commission we have no views on the question. We are only carrying out the instructions of the Conference to secure said valuation. Your Committee had relied greatly on the Census reports, which it was hoped would be published before this meeting, but in this respect it has been disappointed. Outside of the value of mining property and the reports on population, number of families and dwellings, but little assistance has been derived from the publica- tions of the Eleventh Census. This Commission expresses the hope that the movement, to establish a permanent statistical bureau will prove successful. As is well known, this is a measure that our late Chairman, Col. Trice, desired most earnestly to see passed at the coming session of the Legislature. The work of your committee has made manifest the necessity of such a bureau. The movement to establish it has received the sanction of the Convention of County Commissioners and the Chairman of its Executive Committee, Gen. Niles, who is also a member of this Conference, has been instructed to draft a bill to present to the next Legislature, providing for its formation. To Dr. F. C. Howe, the chief assistant in field and office work, to C. V. Young, in the Chairman’s office, and to Messrs. A. J. Howe, C. C. Laffer and C. L. Howe, in the field, great credit is due for intelligent, earnest and successful work. With a full acknowledgment of its imperfections, and a realization of the limits to an investigation of such nature, this report is respectfully submitted. Chairman. Commission on Valuation and Taxation of the Pennsylvania Tax Conference Harrisburg , October ij , i 8 q 2 . 2 33&.S. P3Slv Cfry? ,c~ 764126 Valuation, Taxation and Exemption IN THE Commonwealth of Pennsylvania. A REPORT TO THE Pennsylvania Tax Conference. SUBJECTS OF THE INVESTIGATION, DEFINITIONS AND SOURCES OF INFORMATION. Briefly stated, the duties assigned to the “ Commission on Taxation and Valuation,” by the “ Pennsylvania Tax Conference,” were to ascertain from the most reliable data that could be had, First. The actual valuation of all classes of property of the Commonwealth. Second. The amounts of taxes paid by each class. Third. The amount of property exempted from taxation not covered by the exemptions specified in the Constitution of 1874. In carrying out these duties we have had in mind no theory or method of taxation ; no views as to the relative taxation of different classes of property, nor have we stopped to inquire upon whom the incidence of taxation ultimately falls, nor who nor what ia the last analysis pays the taxes. We have sought actual valuation of all property, actual taxes paid, and from whom the power levying the tax received the same, either directly or through i r s official agents, and what property is actually, either by law or by failure to provide by law for its taxation, exempted from taxation. Actual value we understand to mean, at least so far as relates to this investigation, not what property would bring at a forced sale, but what it would sell for if it were for sale, and if there were a buyer for it. Taxes are not. only the amounts collected by the several powers having the right to levy taxes, usually by a percentage or millage on the value of the property taxed, or on income or receipts, but also include payments for rights and privileges, such as licenses, bonuses on charters and payments for services performed, such as the fees of public officers. Strictly speaking, taxes do not include revenue from interest, sales of land and other property, refunding of the direct tax, appropriation by the National Government, etc. Exetnpt Property includes all property of whatever character that does not bear taxation. It may be exempt as to certain taxes and not as to others, or it may be exempt from all taxes. These definitions are not given as accurately scientific, but as the meanings assigned to these words in this investigation. The sources from which the information embodied in this report has been derived are three. First. From the officers and the publications of the several Departments at Harrisburg, especially those of Internal Affairs, Agriculture and Public Instruction, and of the Auditor General’s and Treasurer s offices. Second. The publications of the Departments at Washington, especially those of the Department of Agriculture, the Census office and the office of the Comptroller of the Currency. Third. Special investigations either by letter or circular or through special agents detailed to visit the severa* counties. This has been the most valuable source of the three. It should be distinctly understood that this report is submitted with a full knowledge of the imperfections which are inseparable from such a paper. It is given as the best report that, in view of all the difficulties, could be secured. Limited as we were as to time and expense, an exact census was impossible. Hence its statements, whtre positive data does i.ot exist, are based upon a consensus of the most reliable opinions available Iis state- menis are, in these cases, largely estimates as are most statistics of this character. Assessments, for example, which are the basis of taxation, are always estimates. All that can be asked is that the estimates shall be made by those most competent to give an opinion, and this has been our aim. We have used official reports for our statis- tics when they were available, but where those could not be had, and in some cases where they could be secured, 4 we have sent thoroughly instructed special agents into each county town to secure from those best qualified to give the same the statements which form the bulk of the report. Upwatds of 25,000 circulars have been sent to corporations, county officials and interested parties soliciting information relative to the investigation. The mailing, recording and arianging of this information employed at times from ten to twelve persons in the office, while for three weeks four agents were engaged in the field work securing local valuations from the County Commissioners. It is impossible in an investigation so broad as this that there shall not be duplications of amounts that will increase totals. The utmost care has been taken to avoid this, however, and it is believed that amounts omitted will more than compensate for any duplications. There has been no thorough study of the tables in detail to ascertain what they might show. It is believed, however, that they furnish information that will be of the utmost value to all students of Government Revenue, both legislators and scientific investigators. The thanks of the Committee are due to all who have aided in this work, especially to the heads of the Departments at Harrisburg, and to the County Commissioners of the several counties and their clerks. Without a single exception these gentlemen have recognized the importance of the work your Commission has undertaken, and have at no little labor and sacrifice of time given us, so far as they had it, the information sought, and have when information was lacking, freely expressed their best judgment on the questions asked. SUMMARY. The total value of all property in the State of Pennsylvania, real, personal and mixed, as shown subse- quently in this report, is $9,692,125,553. The total taxes paid, including State, County and all local taxes are $49,383,906. The total value of all property actually exempt from taxation by legislative enactment, is $300,479,621 This does not include the value of any property exempted indirectly through a failure of the legislature to provide for its taxation. The method by which these totals have been reached, as well as a full discussion of the details making up the same are given subsequently. PART I. VALUATION. The Constitution of the State of Pennsylvania contemplates that all property in the State, except that tor pub lie use and that of certain educational, religious and benevolent institutions, shall be taxed, and the laws so far as they provide for taxation, declare that it shall be assessed at its full actual value and returned for taxation at the sum so assessed. It would seem, therefore, that under such a condition of affairs, all one had t j do in order to ascertain the valuation of the Commonwealth, if the books of the assessing powers were properly kept, was to turn to these and the information sought would be found. Unfortunately this is not the case. Not only is there a very large amount of property that is not taxed at all by reason of the failure to pass laws providing for its taxation, but in so me cases, m jre frequently in the past than at the present, the intent of the law providing for a valuation of that property which is taxed is evaded, in some cases under the positive directions of certain County Commissioners with whom assessments rest, in others, through the under valuation of property by assessors, and in still others by the frauds of property owners. It thus becomes necessary when we would learn the value of all property in the State, not only to ascertain assessed values, but to check and correct these, and in addition to learn the value of the vast amount of property that is not assessed at all, as well as of the wholly or partially hidden value; that fraudulently escape taxation. 5 Under the laws of Pennsylvania the County Commissioners of the several counties are required to make returns of assessments, exemptions and taxes each year to the Secretary of Internal Affairs. Notwithstanding the most earnest and persistent efforts on the part of this officer to secure these returns, the report for 1891, the last published, went to press with returns for eight counties entirely missing from the tax reports, including Berks, Carbon, Luzerne, McKean, Mifflin, Schuylkill, Snyder and Tioga. Only partial returns were received from some other counties, and from the apparently complete returns received from certain counties, taxes or assessments of certain local bodies were wanting. At the present time returns of taxation for 1892 are wanting at the office of the Secretary of Internal Affairs from something more than twenty counties, fully one -third of the entire State. From this it will be seen that no use can be made of the returns for 1892, and that in using those for 1891, we must estimate for the miss- ing counties, and for the missing information. The tabular statements given in the Report of the Department of Internal Affairs for 1891, as to assess- ments, exemptions and taxes, are by counties with details as to each assessment district. In the case of but two or three counties have these been separated by totals into townships, boroughs and cities. This has been done by the committee The results are exceedingly interesting. But the chief dependence for valuation has been on the returns secured by special agents, who have been seDt to each county, and who have gathered from the offices of the County Commissioners that vast mass of informa- tion given in Tables I. to V., which, it is believed, furnish the most complete and reliable body of statistics as to actual valuation of certain classes of property in the Commonwealth that has ever been collected and compiled. The value of the various returns will be discussed in detail elsewhere. Here it may be said that, while in many cases they are estimates, they are made by those who should know the counties thoroughly, and, while there may be errors in counties, on the whole these errors will balance, and the to'al results may be assumed to be approximately correct. It is exceedingly interesting to note how nearly total results obtain ?d from distinct sources agree. TOTAL VALUATION OF ALL PROPERTY IN PENNSYLVANIA. For certain classes of property in Pennsylvania we have secured, as is shown subsequently, two distinct valuations; thit based on the insurance carried in the State and that based on the reports of our special agents who secured the estimates at the several county seats. The former is somewhat larger than the latter, and the total valuation of all property will vary as one or the other of these estimates is accepted as the basis. The total valuation of all property in the State, accepting the insurance report as the basis of value of in- su able property and the several sources indicated hereafter as the basis of the value of all other property, is $9,392,125,555. Substituting for the insurance value the values as obtained by our special agents, and allowing the other values to remain the same in both estimates, the total value is $7,586,921,866. These estimates in detail are as below : ESTIMATE A. I. TOTAL VALUATION OF ALL PROPERTY IN THE STATE OF PENNSYLVANIA, VALUE OF INSURABLE PROPERTY BEING GIVEN ON BASIS OF INSURANCE CARRIED. Total Value Insurable Property Land — Agricultural Mining Manufacturing Other Exempt (one-half total value exempt property), Live Stock Moneyed Capital Corporation Property not Included Above..., $ 5,000,000,000 $ 725,485,439 256,705,231 129,895,624 813,691,160 150,239,511 2,076,016,965 116,108,588 1,250,000,000 1,250,000,000 Total .$ 9,692,125,553 6 ESTIMATE B. II. TOTAL VALUE OF ALL PROPERTY IN THE STATE OF PENNSYLVANIA AS COLLECTED AND ESTIMATED. *Real Estate — Agricultural ... ■(•Mining Manufacturing All other Exempt Total Real Estate Personal Property — Agricultural Implements Furniture Live Stock Merchandise in Stores Vehicles Manufactured goods and raw material Hay, grain and other farm products on hand at farms. Moneyed capital Corporate Property not included above Total of all Land. Buildings. $725,485,439 $245,494,072 256,705,231 107,053,550 129,895,621 377,964,038 813,691,160 1,078,539,675 Total. $970,979,511 383,758,781 507,859,662 1,892,230,835 300,479,021 $4,055,307,810 57,167,016 450,000,000 116,108,588 278,664,057 10,333,303 76,906,042 42,425,050 1,250,000,000 1,250,000,000 $7,586)921,866 The difference in total value as shown in these two reports is $2,105,203,687. This entire difference is found in what, in the first table, is termed insurable property as the other items, viz., land, live stock, moneyed capital, and corporate property are the same in both tables. This would make the total value of all insurable property in the Sta l e less than $3,000,000 000 which, in view of the fact that there was actually $2,000,000,000 of insurance carried on property in Pennsylvania, is manifestly absurd, as it would indicate that all of the insurable property of Pennsylvania, including that insured as well as that on which no insurance was carried, was insured for two-thirds of its value, when no good judge whose opinion we have secured has estimated the percentage of insurance at risk to total value of all insurable property in the State at over 40 per cent, and some as low as 30 per cent. We are of the opinion, that the total of the table based on insurable value, i. e. $9,692,125,553, is nearer correct than the other. It is evident that a great deal of what we have termed insurable property, viz.: buildings, furniture, mer- chandise, contents of buildings, etc., has been over-looked or under- estimated in the reports from County Com- missioners. It is also evident that the basis of valuation of property for insurance and taxation are entirely different. ASSESSED AND ACTUAL VALUATION OF REAL ESTATE IN THE SEVERAL COUNTIES OF PENNSYLVANIA. The assessed and actual valuation of all the real estate in the several counties of Pennsylvania for 1892 as ecured by our special agents from the offices of the county commissioners is given in detail in the following table. This table shows the actual assessed valuation so far as the same could be secured, which was in nearly every case. In a few counties the final assessment or revision is not yet complete. In such cases the commissioners have given the original assessment figures. The final revision, and especially the results of the appeals to court from the assessments of the county commissioners, may make some changes in the assessed valuation of one or two counties, but can make no material difference in the total assessed value, and still less in the total actual valuation. The figures of actual valuation represent in every case the judgment of one or more of the commissioners of the several counties or of the commissioner’s clerk, usually the latter. By actual valuation, as was stated in the blank upon which the reports were made, is meant “ not what the ♦See Table III fSee discussion of mining values, page 14. 7 property would bring at forced sale but what the owners would sell it for if they had buyers ” It is the intention to include in the term “ real estate ” all land, including agricultural, mining, mineral gas oil, coal and manufacturing as w 11 as town lots with all of their improvements, buildings, machinery, etc. includ- ing everything that is usually included under the term real estate. The values of exempted real estate and of the real estate of corporations that are relieved of paying local taxes are not included in this table. r s 1 TABLE ASSESSED AND ACTUAL VALUATION OF BEAL ESTATE IN THE SEVERAL COUNTIES OF PENN. SYL VANIA. (As obtained from the offices of the County Commissioners.) ASSESSED VALUATION. COUNTIES. Township. Borough. City. Total. Township. 1. Adams 2. Allegheny 3. Armstrong 4. Beaver 5. Bedford 6. Berks 7. Blair 8. Bradford 9. Bucks 10. Butler 11. Cambria 12. Cameron.. 13. Carbou 14. Centre 15. Chester 16. Clarion 17. Clearfield 18. Clinton 19. Columbia 20. Crawford 21. Cumberland.. 22. Dauphin 23. Delaware 24. Elk 25. Erie 26. Fayette 27. Forest 28. Franklin 29. Fulton 30. Greene 31. Huntingdon.. 32. Indiana 33. Jefferson 31. Juniata.... 35. Laekawana... 36. Lancaster 37. Lawrence 38. Lebanon 39. Lehigh 40. Luzerne 41. Lycoming 42. McKean 43. Mercer 44. Mifflin 45. Monroe 46. Montgomery.. 47. Montour 48. Northampton 49. Nor,humberland.... 50. Perry 51. Philadelphia.. 52. Pike 53. Potter 54. Schuylkill .... 55. Snyder 56. Somerset 57. Sullivan 58. Susquehanna 59. Tioga 60. Union 61. Venango 62. Warren 63. Wayne 64. Washington.. 65. Westmorland 66. Wyoming 67. York $ 9,267,488 6o,435,2.f5 5,977,066 11,105,401 7,494,485 32,887,891 10,014,356 15.227,445 28,060,071 8,863,242 8, 198,960 730,456 1.544.568 8,143,472 34,252,998 6,337,510 6,515,636 3,850,888 7,257,695 11,959,913 15,771,022 16.607,634 22,631,432 2,417,010 16,708,626 24,245,390 1,931,447 14,180,297 837,945 12,502,491 3,529,582 6,372,270 9,727,111 4,193,222 4,848,577 63,530,214 8,814,427 22,233.053 17,393,026 9,749,698 8,802,316 3,782,319 15,566,240 2,623,345 4,295,115 48.138,025 1,085,964 11,448,082 6.050.568 6, \98, 716 *18,557,690 913,445 2,335,683 45,000,000 4.^85,757 7,089,195 1,094,677 3,204,062 10,746,460 3,025,722 7,794,635 2,503,146 3,6 ; 3, 276 33,192,256 22,640,374 3,028,300 25,866,710 $ 1,683,274 34,560,519 2,032,498 10,983,549 857,048 3,947,069 4,026,351 5,478,662 7,279,047 2,820,295 3,514,661 289,251 2,031,739 2,610,251 14,038, U4 1.685,004 2,093,357 724,530 3,151,254 1,452,752 5,685,675 6,791,200 9.660,168 569,150 2,612,937 8,779.717 120,097 2,269,707 40,480 1,180,604 1,581,275 2,023,899 4,062,468 613,926 4,035,246 3,996,434 1,018,666 169.069 3,890,857 6,075,608 2,497,131 717,697 5,184,467 555,219 1,804,901 22,131,240 8 '9,059 20,083,363 3,267,505 1.368.578 141,407,641 95.602 16 4,3 1 7 15,000,600 425,975 1.167.579 208,146' 669,941 3,300,150 869,210 830,198 6,503,146 1,105,343 6,743,087 9,641,585 639,516 13,658,354 $ 0 278,325,435 0 0 0 30,151,140 12,884,654 0 0 0 9,769,799 0 0 0 0 0 0 1,317,816 0 3,348,749 0 20,017,280 9,246,531 0 16,881,259 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 16,617,545 13,650,234 4,628,159 8,361,389 10,841,939 5,849,651 8,344,076 1,506,460 0 0 0 0 0 7,750,567 0 0 1672,335,561 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 3,399,492 0 0 979,235 0 0 0 $ 10,950,762 378,321,219 8.009.564 22,088,950 8,351,533 66,986,100 26,925,361 20.706.107 35,339,118 11,683,537 21,483,420 1,019,707 3,576,307 10,753,723 48,291,182 8,022,514 8,608,993 5,893,234 10,408,949 16,761,414 21,456,697 43,416,114 41,538,131 2,986,160 36,202,822 33.025.107 2,051,541 16,450,004 878,425 13,683,095 5,113,857 8,396,169 13, 789, 579 4,807,148 25,501,368 81,376,882 14,461,252 30,783,511 32,125,8 2 21,674,957 19,643,526 6,005,876 20,750,707 3.178.564 6,100,016 70,269,265 1,975,023 39,282,012 9,318,073 7,667,294 732,300,892 1,009,047 2,500,000 60,000,000 5,311,732 8,256,774 1,302,823 3,874,003 14,046,610 3,894,932 12,024,325 9,006,292 4.768,619 40,914.578 32,281,959 3,667,816 39,525,064 $ 13,901,232 130,000,000 14,942,665 14,437,021 9,992,646 32,887.891 10,014:356 21,753,490 30,866,078 17,726,484 12,298,444 2,921,824 6,178,272 10,586,613 34,252,998 9,506,264 16,289,0'40 4,813,610 12,096,160 19,933,190 15,771,u22 16,607,634 22,631,432 9,668,010 17.000. 0.10 30,306,737 2,897,170 17.709,801 2,513,835 15,628,114 7,059,164 12,744,540 12,969,389 5,590,962 16,970,019 92,118,500 13,221,640 21.703.381 23,190,701 58.497,188 17,601,632 15,129,276 17,122,864 3,672,683 5,726,820 57,765,630 4,343,856 14,310,102 22,032,284 6,298,716 *25,424,034 4,076,188 11,678,415 75.000. 000 5,618,619 9,215,753 3,284,031 11,622,009 13,433,075 7,564,305 10,392,847 3,450,788 10,989,828 41,490,329 45,280,748 6,056,600 25.453.381 $864.981,328 $331,387,861 ^1,136,406,971 $2,332,776,160 t$l,317,235,4] *Farm rate. fSuburban rale. JCity Rate. Borough. City. Total. $ 2,524,911 70.000. 000 5,081,245 14,278,613 1,142,731 3,947,069 4,831,621 7,823,800 8,734,856 5,640,590 5,271,991 1,157,004 8,126,956 3,393,326 14,038,184 2,527,503 5,233,391 1,449,060 5,250,090 2,421,255 7,107,094 6,791,200 16,100,280 2,276,600 3.000. 000 10,974,646 180,145 3,026,276 121,440 1,475,730 4,652,825 4,017,798 5,078,085 818,568 14,123,361 7,193,581 1,527,999 210,077 5,187,809 36,453,648 4,994,268 1,434,191 5,910,292 777,3,736,080 2,6 >5,275 17,103,841 J 1 ,711,989 16,792,338 18,017,474 6,409,530 89,254,787 122,8.7, Off 21,696,877 31,203,890 42,834,428 127,171,654 39,287,052 19,576,387 23,033,156 4,449,983 8,133,356 85,429,080 7,900,092 60,700.002 38,369,809 7,667,294 1,003,252,220 4.649,800 12,500,000 100 . 000 . 000 6,108,490 10,733,604 3,908,469 13,631,832 17,558,262 9,737,330 15,749,054 12,121,649 14,305,857 52.301,580 74,205,501 7,335,632 41,158,988 $563,650,033 $1.735,211.871 |$3,616,( 97,317 66 54 40 76 75 100 78 70 89 50 66 25 25 76 100 66 40 70 60 60 93 95 76 25 86 80 66 79 33% 80 43 50 76 75 28 66 , 66 75 17 50 30 90 71 75 82 25 64 24 10 ) 73 21 20 76 33 28 80 40 76 74 33 78 43 50 96 8 Valuation Briefly stated, the above table shows that the actual valuation, as estimated in the offices of the county commissioners, of all real estate in the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania in 1892 was $3,616,097,317. This is over 50 per cent, in excess of the assessed valuation. The assessed valuation of all real estate as given in the above table is $2,332,776,160, of which $864,981,328, or 37 per cent., is in townships, $331,337,861, or 14.2 per cent, in boroughs, and $1,136,406,97 1 or 48.7 per cent, in cities. The total actual valuation is given as $3,616,097,317, of which $1,317,235,413, or 36.4 per cent., is in townships, $563,650,033, or 15.4 per cent., in boroughs, and $1,735,211,871, or 47.9 per cent., in cities. The total assessed valuation of the whole State is 64^ per cent, of the actual valuation. The assessed valua ion of the townships is 65.6 per cent, of the actual ; of the boroughs 58.7 per cent., and of the cities 65 per cent. In other words, the table indicates that the ratio of assessed to actual valuation in the entire State is above the average in townships and cities and below in boroughs. The ratio of assessed to actual valuation differs greatly ia the several counties, varying from 17 per cent in Luzerne to 100 per cent, in Berks, Chester and Perry. The total assessed value of all real estate in the State in 1891, exclusive of exempt property, was $2,092,336,883. 1 he total increase of assessed value in 1892, as shown in above table, was $240,439,277, or about 12 per cent. ACTUAL VALUE OF REAL ESTATE IN THE SEVERAL COUNTIES OF PENN- SYLVANIA DIVIDED BETWEEN LAND AND BUILDINGS AND OTHER IMPROVEMENTS. The statements in the following table are based on returns from the offices of the County Commissioners and are for 1892. As will be noted, the division of the value of land and improvements between townships, boroughs and cities is not complete. A complete separation could have been secured had there been sufficient time to go through the assessors’ books in each county. Though incomplete, it is believed that the statements for the local divisions smaller than counties will be interesting, and they are given so far as they were obtained. It is again to be noted that these values of real estate do not include real estate exempt from local taxation. 9 3gffiSggSggSS3§g!£SS TABLE II. ACTUAL VALUE OF REAL ESTATE IN THE SEVERAL COUNTIES OF PENNSYLVANIA, DIVIDED BETWEEN LAND AND IMPROVEMENTS. (As obtained from the offices of the County Commissioners.) COUNTIES. ACTUAL VALUE OF REAL ESTATE CHARGEABLE TO LAND. In Town- ships. In Bor- oughs. In Cities. Total. ACTUAL VALUE OF REAL ESTATE CHARGEABLE TO BUILDINGS. In Town- ships. In Bor- oughs. In Cities. Total. 10 . 11 . 12 . 13. 14. 15. 16. 17. 18. 19. 20 . 21 . 22 . 23. 24. 25. 26. 27. 28. 29. 30. 31. 32- 33. 34. 35. 37. 39. 40. 41. 42. 43. 44. 45. 46. 47. 48. 49. 50. 51. Adams Allegheny Armstrong.... Beaver Bedford Berks Blair Bradford Bucks .... Butler Cambria Cameron Carbon Centre Chester Ciarion Clearfield. ... Clinton Columbia Crawford Cumberland .. Dauphin Delaware Elk Erie Fayette Forest Franklin Fulton Greene Huntingdon.. Indiana Jefferson Juniata Lackawanna. Lancaster Lawrence Lebanon Lehigh Luzerne Lycoming McKean Mercer Mifflin Monroe Montgomery Montour Northampton Northumberland..., Perry Philadelphia.. Pike Potter Schuylkill.. Snyder Somerset Sullivan ... Susquehanna Tioga Union Venango Warren. Wayne Washington. Wyoming York $11,120,986 74,285,712 10,267,987 12,993,319 24,665,916 17,402,792 23,149,559 13,294,863 4,118,848 7,644,298 25,689,749 9,676,928 14,949,893 13,286,107 15,842,003 23,862,705 11,721,084 8,496,360 10,202,011 16,468,920 15,460,466 14,083,706 13,698,291 3,722,433 43,324,223 3,467,085 10,732,577 16,524,213 *21,610,429 2,649,522 56,250,000 2,955,628 9,297,607 5,673,228 "7^326,552 4*845,280 & 504,982 40,000,000 1,702,076 5,711,445 1,315,689 3,129,520 2,183,714 1,410,398 2,031,739 743,665 2,807,636 2,100,036 807,085 1,697,800 4,830,084 3,658,215 1,106,793 1*011,949 3,530,840 70,026 1,729,269 1,664,756 4,728,233 721,961 8,299,215 711,247 13,388,920 4,084,381 172,083 16*006,006 208,146 502,455 724,341 1*105,343 '"319,758 $ 0 285,714,284 0 0 0 7,537,785 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 1,397,811 0 5,504,752 4,623,264 0 11,632,281 2,321,608 3,613,979 5,006,446 0 0 0 0 0 5,167,040 0 0 |335,397,507 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 $ 11,625,968 399,999,996 11,970,063 . 18,704,764 6,681,226 33,519,390 13,327,451 20,532,312 25,333,273 14,705,261 11,278,797 2,528,873 6.150.587 8,387,963 28,497,385 8,423,640 11,837,365 4.185.587 11,776,964 17,154,789 11,439,058 20,488,659 25,295,351 7,166,784 25.000. 000 23,862,705 2,307,986 15,552,060 2,108,220 12,827,877 4,684,794 9.508,309 10,828,484 5,127,624 25,365,132 81,379,300 13,965,408 18,860,554 20,803,714 84,781,168 20,754,908 6,851,735 18,426,524 2,224,991 4.444.894 51,623,438 4,178,332 29,288,537 20,608,594 6,141,835 356,007,936 2,821,605 10.000. 009 66,250,000 3,970,518 8,050,348 3,163,774 9,800,062 12,300,783 6,397,569 7,874,527 6,060,824 8.431.895 31,380,948 46,007,412 5,165,038 26,910,371 70>^ $ 2,780,247 $1,863,111,742 51,6 66%j 75 75 80 75 40 60 60 55,714,288 4,012,778 1,443,702 8,221,972 4,350,698 7,716,519 4,431,621 2,059,424 2.142,315 8,563,219 2,419,232 4,983,297 3,321,527 6,789,429 7,316,430 3,907,028 4,248,180 6,768,008 8,234,461 7,730,233 3,520,926 lj 182,039 2,004,387 14,441,407 868,771 3,577,525 5,508,071 3,813,605 1,426,666 18,750,000 328,403 2,324,401 1,891,076 *3*6*63, *276 1*211,320 368,932 3*035,849 10,592,520 140,051 3,459,538 3,329,512 "3*424,570 1,684,575 19,364,835 2,814,988 20,083,380 12,253,143 401,528 15*066,606 416,292 1.507,365 1,448,682 " 2 * 210,686 ""959*274 $ 2,019,929 $ 0 30,000,000 214,285,716 3,997,249 0 8,567,168 0 0 2,631,378 22,613,355 "4*694’, 280 0 6,551,142 0 4,230,192 0 0 '*6*095,217 0 3,549,661 0 11,230,548 0 n u 0 0 3,150,054 0 1,614,170 4,183,431 0 5,093,400 16,514,256 11,270,196 10,787,621 0 10,102,245 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 46,529,126 6,968,824 10,841,937 11,681,706 0 0 0 0 0 7,750,560 0 0 642,430,679 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 $1 4,800,175 300,000,004 8,010,027 10,010,870 4,454,151 33,466,705 20,845,504 9,044,978 14,267,661 8,661,813 20.946.336 1,549,955 8,154,641 5,591.976 19,793,797 3,610,331 9,685,116 4,185,587 5,569,286 10,780,898 11,439,058 24,929,183 28,847,246 4,777,856 17,000,000 17,418,675 769,329 5,184,020 527,055 4,275,960 7,027,191 7,284,029 7.218.990 1,281,906 63,889,654 41,477,200 7,676,470 15.343.336 21,031,708 42,390,584 18,532,144 12,724,652 4,606,609 2.224.991 3.688.962 33,806,242 3,713,759 31,411,465 17,761,214 1,535,459 646,244,284 1,828,194 2,500,000 33,750,000 2,137,772 2,683,450 744,695 3,831,766 5,267,479 3,339,758 7,874,527 6,060,824 5.873.962 20,920,682 28,198,091 2,170,594 19,120,613 29 % 43 35 35 40 50 61 31 36 38 65 38 57 40 41 45 50 33 35 50 44 53 40 40 33 % 25 25 20 25 $1,745,771,395 ■"Farm rate. fSuburban and city rate. From this table it appears that the total value of real estate chargeable to land is $1,863,111,742, and to buildings and other improvements $1,745,771,395, making the total value of real estate given in above table $3 608,883,137. This total is $7,214,180 less than the total actual value of all real estate given in Table I. It must be borne in mind that the two estimates were made on a different basis, that a discrepancy of seven million and a quarter of dollars less than one-fifth of one per cent., is immaterial in a total of over three billion, and that this difference really proves the substantial identity of the data upon which the two estimates were made. This 10 'to Total Value. data itself is probably not in all cases complete, but it is conservative, giving results under, rather than over, the actual facts. Of the total value of $3,608,883,137, the value of land is 51.6 per cent. ; of buildings, etc., 48.4 per cent. That is, the value of real estate in the State is about evenly divided between land and improvements. The great variation in the relative percentage of land and improvements in the several counties will be noted. There seems to be no law as to percentages in agricultural, manufacturing and mining counties, or those having large cities. In Philadelphia, a large manufacturing county, with the largest city in the State, but 36 per cent, of the value of real estate is land, while in Allegheny County, which is a county very like Philadelphia in many respects, 57 per cent, is land. As a rule, however, in agricultural counties the land values are greatest, as would be expected, while in manufacturing counties, and those having large cities, the value of improvements is equal to that of land, or greater. FARMS AND TOWNSHIP PROPERTY. Speaking roughly it is often assumed that the value of township real estate may be taken as the value of agricultural property, that though there are farms in the boroughs and some agricultural land in the cities, there are also some manufacturing establishments and summer residences, not farm property, in the townships, and that these would offset each other. If the estimates given in the Tables compiled from the data furnished in the County Commissioners’ offices is correct, this assumption is not justified. The total actual value of township real estate, as shown in Table I., is $1,317,235,413, while the total actual value of agricultural realty is but $970,979,511, that is, the value of agricultural property is but 73 per cent, of the value of township real estate. And yet by far the larger portion of the property in townships is farms, and by far the larger part of the taxes paid in townships is assessed on agricultural property. CLASSIFICATION OF REAL ESTATE IN THE SEVERAL COUNTIES OF PENNSYLVANIA. In the following table the total actual value of the real estate of Pennsylvania is divided, First. Between Land and Improvements. Second. Each of the two divisions of Land and Improvements is again divided into the sub classes of Agricultural, Mineral, including Gas and Oil, Manufacturing and All Other. The latter class includes all land or improvements that do not properly fall under the three other divisions, such as city, borough and other lots, with their buildings and improvements. Railroad property not taxed by the counties and local governments, and other corporate property exempt from these local taxes are not included. Here again it is to be noted that these statements are for 1892, are from the offices of the County Commis* sioners, and that no exempted property of any class is included. 11 TABLE III. CLASSIFICATION OF REAL ESTATE IN THE SEVERAL COUNTIES OF PENNSYLVANIA ACCORDING TO US! COUNTIES. ACTUAL VALUE LAND BY CLASSES. ACTUAL VALUE BUILDINGS AND IM- PROVEMENTS BY CLASSES. Agricul- tural Mineral and Oil. Manufac- turing. All Other. Total. Agricul- tural. Mineral and Oil Manufac- turing. All Other. Total j 1. Adams 2. Allegheny 3. Armstrong ... 4. Beaver 5. Bedford 6. Berks 7. Blair 8. Bradford 9. Bucks 10. Butler 11. Cambria 12. Cameron 13. Carbon 14. Centre 15. Chester 16. Clarion 17. Clearfield 18. Clinton 19. Columbia 20. Crawford 21. Cumberland- 22. Dauphin 23. Delaware 24. Elk 25. Erie 26. Fayette 27. Forest 28. Franklin 29. Fulton 30. Greene 31. Huntingdon.. 32. Indiana 33. Jefferson 34. Juniata 35. Lackawanna. 36. Lancaster 37. Lawrence 38. Lebanon 39. Lehigh 40. Luzerne 41. Lycominjf 42. McKean 43. Mercer 44. Mifflin 45. Monroe 46. Montgomery. 47. Montour 48. Northampton 49. Northumberland 50. Perry 51. Philadelphia. 52. Pike 53. Potter 54. Schuylkill 55. Snyder 56. Somerset 57. Sullivan 58. Susquehanna 59. Tioga 60. Union 61. Venango 62. "Warren 63. Wayne 64. Washington.. 65. Westmoreland 66. Wyoming 67. York $11,120,986 50,000,000 6,909,457 12,993,319 5,641,360 25,537,313 3,759,894 17.302,792 22,782,559 13,294,863 931,350 419,039 1,045,525 7,644,298 25,689,748 5,112,135 4.337.173 3,334,075 8.906.710 13,283,275 9,111,247 13,086,107 15,842,002 I, 647,150 12,500,000 13,760,461 300,378 12.416.650 2,088,220 10,262.317 3.375.000 6.848.000 5,754,753 4.959.711 4,967,828 73,194,800 II, 238,394 13,968,920 10,509,496 11,014,908 14,083,716 900,000 13,038,839 2.014.531 *3,722,433 43,324,222 3,575, 085 10,147,577 5.389.174 4,893.468 21,610,429 2,349,522 3,644,625 6.250.000 3.919.531 6,030,348 2,650,501 9,267,608 7,000,000 5,673,224 7,794,635 2,933,169 7,101,199 23,245,035 10.771.650 4.500.000 22,762,705 $ 0 25.000. 000 3,358,530 517,245 285.000 128,605 200.000 100,000 267,750 2,000,000 5,394,250 48.000 3,073,190 0 40.000 1,801,254 3 084,560 0 1,952,120 40.000 0 220,000 320.000 1.405.000 0 20.000. 000 475,310 0 0 * 0 900.000 1,805,140 532,375 0 6,638,754 335.000 23,475 2.500.000 4,950,972 50,437,926 10.000 5.000. 000 341,432 0 0 180.000 0 585.000 10,846,722 0 0 300.000 1.000. 000 50,000,000 2,000 1,000,000 20,000 30,000 752,780 0 300.000 1,000,000 227,353 1,367,381 1,115,175 350.000 0 $ 0 25.000. 000 186,000 386,490 2,000 173,602 500,000 25.000 30.000 50.000 500,000 4,000 55,198 65.000 65.000 0 39.000 90.000 65.859 185,060 50.000 357,300 80.000 1.800 1,500,000 20,000 30,275 25.000 0 * 0 275.000 30.000 3.000 4.000 450.000 501.000 150.000 211,213 246,808 509,273 140.000 90.000 200,931 55.000 60.000 300.000 101,543 300.000 111,459 25.000 100.000. 000 10.000 1,000 65,645 0 20,000 5.000 10,(00 608,177 10,000 171,446 2.000 100.000 10,000 500,000 35,000 96,545 $ 504,982 300,000,000 1,516,076 5,711,445 752.866 8,679,872 8,861,659 3,114,620 2,153,731 1.360.000 6,642,229 1,891,784 1,976,541 678,665 2,735,636 1,511,300 4,131,295 711,512 1,881,240 2,017,286 2,277,811 6.897.500 9.373.350 3.934.350 11.500.000 7.500.922 605,563 3,110 410 20,000 368,932 134.000 1,349,266 3,226,021 163,913 28,888,549 7.684.500 4,929,143 2,181 ,421 5,093,440 21,459,115 6,669,868 3,915,278 2,149,454 155,460 661,961 8.000. 215 609,704 18,255,960 3.972.922 „ 1,223,367 2 35,397,507 162,083 7,500,000 9,934,355 48,987 1.000. 000 208,146 492,456 1,035,135 714,342 1,547,492 500.000 1,005,343 6,758,532 15,800,627 300.000 3,141,121 $ 11,625,968 400,000,000 1 1 ,970,063 19,608,499 6,681,226 34,519,392 13.321.553 20,542,3(2 25,234,040 16,704,863 13,467.829 2,362,823 6,150,454 8,387,963 28,530,384 8,424,6*9 11,592,028 4,135,587 12,805,929 15,525,621 11,439,058 20,560,907 25,615,352 6.988.300 25,500,000 41,281,383 1,411,526 15,552,060 2,108,220 10,631,249 4.684.000 10,032,406 9,516,149 5,127,624 40,945,131 81.715.300 16,341,012 18.861.554 20,800,716 83.421,222 20,903,584 9,905,278 15,730,656 2,224,991 4,444,394 51,804,437 4,286,332 29,288,537 20,320,277 0 6,141,835 3 57, 007,936 2,821,605 12,145,625 66.250.000 3,970,518 8,050,348 2,883,647 9,800,064 9,396,092 6,397,566 9,813,573 4,435,169 8,433,895 31,380,948 28,187,452 5,185,000 26,000,371 $2,780,246 5.000. 000 3,454,778 2.157.000 2.640.000 .8,054,748 1,879,947 4,350,698 7,716,519 4,431,621 931,350 73,046 928,788 1.892.315 8,563,250 1.972.000 2,168,587 1,284,535 2,275,730 4.983.315 3.466.500 3,396,427 6,789,430 549,500 4.000. 000 5.000. 000 325,137 1.828.000 424,055 5,365,797 2.102.500 3.424.000 2,877,371 616,251 1 ,767,824 18,423,700 2.148.000 7,714,318 4,809,734 7,751,998 3,520,930 180,000 3,259,710 1,153,151 2,004,387 14,441,408 868,889 3,502,525 1,796,390 1,385,450 3,8*3,605 1,426,666 376,800 15,420,598 1,666,888 1.200.000 350,000 2,319,402 5,373,230 1,891,075 2,598,212 517,618 3,463,276 5,071,200 10,771,650 1,111,320 5,690,677 $ 0 1 1,000,000 558.000 0 380/00 167,225 100.000 175.000 22,000 20,000 532,500 75.000 1,130,969 250.000 1,000 150.000 2,985,720 5.000 544,400 2.000 0 125.000 20.000 250.000 0 5.000. 000 1.000. 000 0 40.000 0 425.000 50.000 899,308 0 1,875,800 15.000 6,030 520,142 2,920,500 5,483,738 1,000 500.000 43,267 0 0 20.000 0 75.000 4,00p,000 0 0 25.000 600.000 3,329,402 0 50.000 150.000 ‘5,000 v 366,163 0 100.000 0 20.000 1,500,000 15,000,000 15,000 0 J 0 100,000,000 2,168,000 I, 827,600 100,000 1,562,418 7,350,060 215,710 501,500 950.000 II, 230,120 160.000 496,789 800,000 1.275.500 50,000 200,000 0 620,101 1,665,540 500.000 3.275.000 2.403.500 1.080.000 3.000. 000 2.000. 000 0 475.000 0 0 2.135.000 106.000 17.000 11.000 4.373.000 1.507.000 1.500.000 1,920,932 2,231,201 5,903,727 4.500.000 2,000,000 1,805,931 450.000 540.000 6.103.000 913,889 2.200.000 1,003,130 150.000 200,000,000 71.000 50.000 600.000 30.000 150.000 75.000 190.000 150.000 190.000 440.000 160.000 900.000 500.000 5,000,000 325.000 865,450 $ 2,019,929 200,000,000 1,829,249 8,567,168 I, 334,151 23,682,315 12,884,571 4,694,280 6,200,642 3.280.000 6,622,225 1,141,304 5,598,428 2,649,661 II, 230,548 1,022,005 4,186,713 2,346,052 2,782,105 4,134,410 7,472,558 7,098.550 18.057,815 2,376,600 10,000,000 10,000,000 467,731 2,881,020 63.000 1,106,798 2.354.000 2,698,532 3,656,222 654,655 31,473,296 23,053,500 1,886,094 5,186,944 12,079,274 24,298,608 10,508,551 7.000. 000 3,095,769 621,840 1,144,575 13,261,235 1,931,099 24,833,940 7,750,014 334,059 442,430,679 401,529 900.000 14.000. 000 440,884 1,283,450 416,292 1,317,368 2,481,875 1,258,684 6,084,965 . 4.848,659 1,410,686 13,849,432 14,462,377 1,334,274 12,564,486 — i $ 4,800. 306,000 8,010 12,551 4,454 33 466 22,214 9,435 14,440 8,631 19,316 1.449 8,154 5,591 21.070 3,194 9,541 4,135 6,222 10,785 11,439 13,894 27,270 4,256 17,000 22,' 00 1,792 5,184 527 6,472 7,016 6,278 7.449 1,281 39.491 42,999 5,539 15,342 22,03C 43,438 18,53( 9,68( 8,204 2,221 3,688 33,82' 3,71? 30,611 14,549 1,869 646,241 1,921 1,921 33,451 2,13' 2,681 991 3,83] 8,37! 3,33! 9,22! 5,521 5,79! 20,921 45,23- 2,78 i 19,121 $725,485,439 $212,262,298 ($134,895,624 $808,691,160 $1,881,334,522 1$245.494,072 $52,528,164 $392,964,038 $1,063,539,675 $1,754,52 *No report of mineral lands could be secured. The total valuation of all the land in the State as shown in the above table is $1,881,334,522, and of. -kll buildings and other improvements $1,754,525,949, making the total value of real estate $3,635,860,471. This with Tables I. and II. gives three estimates of the value of all real estate in the Commonwealth, the first, that in Table I., being made on the basis of all real estate divided into townships, boroughs and cities; that in Table li- on the basis of a division into land and improvements, and again to some extent, into township, borough and city property under both classes while Table III. divides the real estate into land and improvements and sub-divides these into agricultural, mining, manufacturing and other property. It is interesting, as well as an evidence of the substantial accuracy of the estimate on the basis of the information available to the County Commissioners, to notice how closely these estimates agree as the following table shows. 12 EST IM A-TcC OP VALUE OF L 4.ND AND IMPROVEMENTS AND TOTAL VALUE OF REAL ESTATE AS SHOWN IN TABLES I., II. AND III. Value Land. Value Improvements. Total Value Real Estate. Table I $3,616,097,317 3,608,883,137 3,635,860,471 Table II $1,863,111,742 1,881,334,522 $1,745;771,395 1,754,525,949 Table III The difference ^between the total value of real estate as shown in Tables I. and II. is about one-fifth of one per cent.; between the totals of Tables I. and III., less than one-half of one per cent., and between those of Tables II. and III., less than three-fourths of one per cent. A similar relation exists between the two estimates of value of lands and buildings and other improvements. This is substantial agreement, and on the basis of the information available in the County Commissioners’ offices, is substantial accuracy. As will be shown elsewhere, however, some of these totals, especially that of mining property, are too low. Of the total value of land, $725,485,439, or 38.5 per cent., is agricultural; $212,262,299, or 11.3 per cent., is mineral ; $129,895,624, or 6.9 per cent., is manufacturing, and $813,691,160, or 43.3 per cent,, is of other classes. Of the total value of buildings and other improvements, $245,494,072, or 14 per cent., is agricultural; $52,528,164, or 3 per cent., mining ; $377,964,038, or 21.5 per cent., manufacturing, and $1,078,539,675, or 61.5 per cent., other classes. Of the total value of all real estate, as shown in above table, $970,979,511, or 27 per cent., is agricultural; $264,790,463, or 7 per cent., mineral; $507,859,662, or 14 per cent., manufacturing, and $1,892,230,835, or 52 per cent., other property. VALUE OF FARMS IN PENNSYLVANIA. According to the report on agriculture of the Tenth Census (1880,) the number of farms in Pennsylvani was 213,542, the total acreage in farms 19,791,341 acres, an average of 92f acres to a farm, anddhe total value o the farms, including land, fences and buildings, was $975,689,410, an average of $49.39 'per acre. (See Table VI.) The report of the Eleventh Census on this subject is not yet issued, and we have no detailed figures of acreage and value since 1880. The estimates made at the offices of the County Commissioners given in Table III., show the'total value of agricultural land in the State to be $725,485,439, while the value of buildings and other improvements is estimated to be $245,494,072, a total of $970,979,511. This differs but slightly ($4,709,899 less) from the value of farms in the State 12 years ago, as given in the report of the Tenth Census. The data in possession of your committee is not complete enough to justify us in expressing an absolute opinion as to the correctness of the estimates. They were carefully made at the offices of the County Commissioners ; usually the party making them seemed to be more thoroughly posted as to farm valuation than as to the value of other real estate. In answer to a request from Hon. Leonard Rhone, one of the members of our commission, for his views as to the valuation of fatms, Hon. Ihomas J. Edge. Secretary of the Board of Agriculture of the Commonwealth, writes, after calling attention to the fact that his statements “ are mainly estimates, but prepared from the best data obtainable ; that Pennsylvania has about 215,000 farms, which contains about 13,500,000 acres of improved land, worth with buildings, fences, etc., about $975,000,000.” These rre practically the census figures of 1880, which as stated do not differ materially from those of Table III. These are the best estimates of the value of farms we have oeen able to secure, and are from parties who certainly are as well qualified as any person to judge of farm values. At the same time it should be noted that it is extremely difficult, in many localities, to secure an accurate valuation of farms, much more so than of borough or city property. Sales of farms are much less frequent than of town lots and buildings, and consequently the information necessary to serve as a basis for valuation is not so available. Further investigation, however, would lead to more complete and accurate results. In view of all of these facts, the figures of Table III., namely, $970,979,511, will be taken as the value of farms, including improvements, in the final statement as to the total valuation of the Commonwealth. 13 VALUE OF MINERAL LANDS AND MINING PLANT. It is exceedingly difficult to arrive at a fair valuation of mineral lands and mining plant, more so perhaps than of any other class of property. The vein or deposit is hidden and in many cases its continuance and character are so uncertain that any value placed upon it to-day may be too high or too low to-morrow. In coal, iron and oil production much land has to be held for future working at a large cost in interest and dividends if they are made. It is almost impossible to estimate the value of this land. This same difficulty arises in estimating the value of mineral land that is being worked. Each ton of coal or barrel of oil produced destroys so much value that cannot be renewed or restored, as can be a piece of broken machinery that is renewed. So too with the plant at mines, the haulage system, the breakers, derricks, etc., the value of these depends on the continued and successful working of the plant. All of these conditions make it exceedingly difficult to arrive at a fair valuation of mining property. In Table III., page 12, the total value of all mineral, including oil and gas lands, is given as $212,262,299, and the value of the plant at the same that would be classed as real estate at $52,528,164. A moment’s thought as to the extent of our anthracite and bituminous coal fields and the annual production of coal, as well as of oil, natural gas, iron ore and the various stones, such as sand stone, limestone and slate, will convince one that this is an underestimate. From the several census bulletins, and the “Mineral Resources of the United States,” published by the United States Geological Survey, the following table has been compiled, showing the capital reported as invested in the production of minerals in Pennsylvania in 1890. TABLE SHOWING CAPITAL INVESTED IN MINING IN PENNSYLVANIA. Bituminous Coal Anthracite Coal... Petroleum Natural Gas Nickel Iron Ore Sandstone Graphite Soapstone Mineral Paint Slate Granite Blueatone Ochre, etc... Limestone Value Land. Buildings. etc. Tools, Im- plements, etc. Cash Capital. Total Capital. $ 38,094,010 104,412,802 82,752,800 7,589,908 184,800 14,812,357 1,081,894 10, <00 32,500 126,500 5,087,507 525,178 154,100 40,900 1,799,915 $ 7,118,900 36,733.648 57.386,971 3,759,068 43,200 547,010 250,484 4,000 6,100 29,100 268,432 155,937 5,260 14,50'' 730,040 $ 5,020,10! 14,110,617 $ 3,081,319 7,978,706 $ 53,322,330 161,781,473 140,139,771 34,398,832 279,000 16,249,313 1,927,410 14,800 54,300 207,700 6,863,002 516,924 204,646 60,600 3,402,345 11,955,018 51,000 649,427 382,781 800 14,700 26,100 '718,373 149,894 27,786 4,500 633,358 4,095,885 250,519 212,251 1,000 26,000 788,690 99,400 17,500 700 239,032 $256,705,231 $107,053,550 $ 33,734,455 $ 16,794,002 $419,425,415 These figures are certainly not excessive. The table includes the value of but 231,136 acres of bitumi nous coal, 213,938 acres of anthracite coal and 827,528 acres of oil land. The value of the oil land is placed a- $100 an acre; of the anthracite coal, a little less than $500 per acre, and of the bituminous coal, some $174 per acre. According to the estimate of Mr. Wm. Griffen, of Scranton, the total workable area of anthracite coal is over 500,000 acres. In the column “Buildings” is included all the plant and improvements at mines, quarries and wells that could be called real estate, including derricks and the value of the wells themselves. In the total figures of valuation it will be assumed that mining lands, including oil and gas lands, are valued at $256,705,231, and the buildings and other improvements at the same $107,053,550, instead of the amount given in Table III. This is certainly conservative. REAL ESTATE EXEMPTED FROM TAXATION. In the following table is given the value of real estate exempted from taxation. This table includes the value of that real estate only that is exempt by the Constitution of the Commonwealth, viz. : “ Public property used for public purposes, actual places of religious worship, places of burial not used or held for private or corporate profit, and institutions of a purely public charity.” The real estate of corporations that pay taxes to the State, and are by the payment of such taxes exempt from county or local taxes is not included, it being assumed without any expression as to whether adequately or not, that the real estate of such corporations, is taxed directly or indirectly by the State. 14 TABLE IV. REAL ESTATE EXEMPTED FROM TAXATION. COUNTIES. United States. State . County. City, Bor- ough or Township. Schools, etc. Churches, Hospitals, etc. Total. 1. Adams $ o $ 0 $ 70,000 $ 2,000 $ 646,000 $ 640,325 $1,358,325 2. Allegheny 4,500,000 3,500,000 4,000,000 10,000,000 7,500,000 15,000,000 44,500,000 3. Armstrong 0 0 150,000 10,925 153,885 402,077 716,887 4. Beaver 12,000 100,000 See Total See Total See Total See Total 1,478,134 5. Bedford 0 0 629,000 2,500 240,000 350,000 1,221,500 6. Berks 120,000 250,000 304,000 267,700 693,600 2,137,349 3,772,649 7. Blair 0 0 200,000 40,000 365,500 980,800 1,586,300 8. Bradford 0 0 185,000 19,210 275,000 382,095 861,305 9. Bucks 0 0 180,000 18,000 822,400 1,233,600 2,254,000 10. Butler 0 0 200,000 See Total See Total See Total 739,600 11. Cambria . 0 0 300,000 No Return. No Return. No Return. 300,000 12. Cameron 0 0 100,000 6,200 35,100 58,250 199,550 13. Carbon 0 0 40,000 600 110,449 200,898 351,947 14. Centre 100,000 900,000 125,000 150,000 275,000 350,000 1,900,000 15. Chester 0 0 304,000 24,000 579,000 650,000 1,557,000 16. Clarion 0 100,000 160,000 7,720 151,775 297,270 716,765 17. Clearfield 0 0 225,000 2,000 226,385 39 o ,685 849,070 18. Clinton . 0 200,000 100,000 9,500 123,700 268,600 701,800 19. Columbia 0 200,000 100,000 24,101 261 ,900 650,670 1,236,670 20. Crawford 0 0 554,265 12,290 472,360 989,750 2,028,665 21. Cumberland 200,000 0 120,000 25,000 500,000 1,000,000 1,845,000 22. Dauphin 280,000 2,000,000 400,000 200,000 700,000 2,000,000 5,580,000 23. Delaware 0 575,000 300,000 48,000 1,407,000 2,103,000 4,433,000 24. Elk 0 0 100,000 3,000 74,200 85,500 262,700 25. Erie 150,000 208,000 100,000 210,000 634,000 635,000 1,937,000 26. Fayette 0 0 312,000 2,000 30 ,239 924,716 1,546,955 27. Forest 0 0 30,000 20,000 50,000 20,000 120,000 28. Franklin 0 0 1,000,000 10,000 225,000 755,000 1,990,000 39. Fulton 0 0 15,000 0 36,500 35,000 86,500 30. Greene 0 0 369,855 0 72,000 287,855 729,710 21. Huntingdon 0 1,105,000 115,000 12,500 177,500 300,000 1,710,000 32. Indiana (•; 100,000 125,000 0 162,550 303,405 690,955 33. Jefferson 0 0 150,000 0 458,200 229,100 837,300 34. Juniata 0 0 65,000 0 88,200 122,601 275,801 35. Lackawanna 0 0 690,000 702,670 1,096,900 2,240,726 4,730,296 36. Lancaster 100,000 0 350,000 525,000 1,713,650 2,500,000 5,188,650 37. Lawrence 0 0 85,000 See Total See Total See Total 1 ,043,775 38. Lebanon 0 0 290,000 25,382 513,228 769,228 1,597,838 39. Lehigh 0 0 375,000 125,000 623,397 1,569,891 2,593,288 40. Luzerne 0 0 500,000 100,000 953,390 1,893,410 3,446,800 41. Lycoming 225,000 0 130,000 121,800 400,025 729,375 1,606,200 42. McKean 0 0 225,000 10,000 100,000 250,000 585,000 43. Mercer 0 45,000 45,000 0 21 1 ,630 634,890 936,520 44. Mifflin 0 0 55,000 10,000 90,400 152,935 308,335 45. Monroe 0 0 125,000 0 93,850 93,850 312,700 46. Montgomery 0 1,000,000 350,000 300,000 1,200,000 2,130,000 4,980,000 47. Montour 0 1,500,000 110,000 70,000 168,600 644,400 2,493,000 48. Northampton 0 0 250,000 210,000 1,725,000 1,475,000 3,660, 000 49. Northumberland 0 0 300,000 0 2,644,510 3,966,675 6,911,185 50. Perry 0 0 522,700 250 150,000 372,450 1,045,400 51. Philadelphia 6,427,760 1,370,000 See City 52,603,296 8,905.000 58,600,635 137,906,691 52. Pike 0 0 85,000 0 lli ;320 50,675 246,995 53. Potter 0 0 65,000 0 95,000 50,000 210,000 54. Schuylkill 0 30,000 635,000 110,000 6,000,000 10,000,000 16,775,000 55. Snyder 0 0 25,000 1,000 50,000 70,000 146,000 56. Somerset 0 0 60,000 6,000 262,000 300,000 628,000 57. Sullivan 0 0 10,000 0 32,000 25,000 67,000 58. Susquehanna 0 2,400 20,000 2,055 89,194 171,625 285,274 59. Tioga 0 150,000 100,000 25,000 438,360 292,240 1,005,600 60. Union 0 0 25,000 3,500 101,930 603,075 733,505 61. Venango 0 20,000 315,000 31,350 277,669 481,905 1,125,924 62. Warren 0 966,000 200,000 In Churches In Ghurches 807,533 1,973,533 63. Wayne 0 0 300,000 0 128,325 142,674 570,999 64. Washington 0 525,000 126,000 0 800,000 1,175,000 2,626,000 65. Westmoreland 0 0 375,000 10,000 521,175 1,106,750 2,012,925 66. Wyoming 0 0 40,000 0 15,700 97,800 1 53,500 67. York 20,000 0 200,000 200,000 732,400 1,045,600 2,198,000 $12,135,760 $14,846,400 $18,111,820 $66,319,548 $47,970,096 $138,231,888 $300,479,021 The character of the exempted property included in the first four columns needs no comment. That included in the fifth column, is educational institutions of all kinds that are exempt. The sixth column includes the exemp properly of all religious and benevolent institutions. From this table it appears that $300,479,621 of real estate is exempt from taxation in Pennsylvania, an amount equal to about 10 per cent, of the actual total valuation. This is in round numbers double the valuation of exempt real ©state reported by the County Commissioners to the Secretary of Internal Affairs in 1891, and 50 per cent, in excess of the amount reported in 1890, for it is a notable fact that nearly $50,000,000 more of exempt real estate was reported in 1890 than in 1891. Of the total value of exempt real estate given in the tables, $12,134,760, or 5 per cent., is property of the United States; $14,846,400, or some 5 per cent., is State property; $18,1.11,820, or 6 per cent., is County property; $66,319,548, or 22 per cent., the property of local governing bodies, as cities, boroughs, etc.; $47,970,096, or 16 per cent., is in schools of various kinds, and $138,231,888, or 46 per cent., is churches, hospitals, and other religious and benevolent institutions. 15 VALUATION OF PERSONAL PROPERTY IN PENNSYLVANIA. In the following table is given the value of certain personal property in the several counties of Penn- sylvania, so far as information regarding the same could be procured. The figures are for 1892. These statements are from the offices of the County Commissioners, but were furnished with no little reluct ance, and are the merest estimates. Their value and accuracy, as measured by other sources of information, wil be discussed in connection with each class of property. TABLE VALUE OF CERTAIN CLASSES OF PERSONAL PROPERTY COUNTIES. Value of Agricul- Value of Furniture and Con- tents of Dwellings LIVE STOCK. i tural im- plements. Horses and Mules. Cattle. Sheep. Swine and Hogs. Total. 1 . $ 377,400 5,000,000 1,332,450 895,300 495,000 1,506,750 $ 1,156,500 50,000,000 638,739 3,000,000 1,545,800 15,404,150 $1,132,351 4,000,000 711,600 567,629 $ 672,260 i 825,000 i 399,080 $503,260 25,000 88,830 0 i $1,509,780 7 50,00C 94,596 i $3,817,651 1 5,000,000 2. 8 . ! 1,294,106 4. i 683,604 80,000 i 1,331,233 5. 6. Bedford Berks 820,000 2,008,000 629,066 1,200 000 1,621,211 1,600 000 831,140 68,250 380,400 ' 25,000 i 1,120,650 54,450 10,500 42,270 66,000 i 180,815 i 965,450 3,320,565 ' 1,001,661 1,970,000 2,590,768 3,194,100 Blair '221,350 5,053,070 259,875 70,450 10,000 8. Bradford 1,170'760 1,000,000 3,184,400 i 750,000 782,552 ' 1,125,000 10,000 10,965 9. '749'275 1,383,570 176,040 10. Butler 4,200,000 4,059,840 234,550 22,350 234,550 11. 129,375 ' 306,480 i 25,000 44,700 1,204,670 12. 13. 66'000 137,700 7,920 6,160 107,330 Carbon 204^200 2,042,850 3.450.000 6.176.000 2,284,504 1,939,885 No report 2,104,650 5,818,750 8,181,500 5.400.000 8,710,200 337,400 150,780 0 20,104 551,284 14. Centre 331,625 1,102,000 742,492 171,234 1,829,408 45,480 45,480 1,004,686 15. Chester 1,522,600 32,000 132,240 3,516,248 16. Clarion 1,176,000 203,250 514,800 642,200 1,702,500 887,588 1,109,130 342,336 49,700 20,325 99,400 1,379,024 17. Clearfield 393,532 127,328 56,910 38,320 1,579,897 18. Clinton 351,748 48,000 565,396 19. Columbia 1,218,600 229,760 42,000 120,000 1,610,360 20. Crawford 2,063,630 1,092,050 166,250 88,775 10,000 3,060 3,187 102,150 3,424,080 21. 22. 28. 24. Cumberland Dauphin Delaware Elk 924,400 1,000,000 357,000 164,700 1,172,692 1,800,000 1,250,408 140,316 368,624 800,000 620,158 141,390 750,000 73,952 80,000 30,600 13,176 1,704,043 2,690,000 1,904,226 298,069 25. Erie 1,000,000 2,500,000 1,500,000 712,235 116,066 100,000 42,325 200,000 2,550,000 26. Fayette 848,000 4,800,000 209,251 432,930 84,750 1,272,240 27. Forest 2,000 57,183 250,806 59,309 4,185 1,362 58,200 178,796 28. Franklin 582,000 150,900 679,400 7,250,000 962,708 58,200 1,329,914 '307,671 29. Fulton 769,750 964,000 210,134 18,108 20,120 30. Greene 707,000 479,700 278,000 679,700 101,900 1,968,300 31. Huntingdon 175,000 1,369,600 001,500 2,100,000 464,480 255,000 93,250 84,840 1,090,730 32. Indiana 1,151,325 1,201,600 415,480 358,200 146,400 1,848,320 33. Jefferson 609,252 666,663 327,756 17,500 70,000 1,112,363 34. Juniata 347,775 1,510,800 5,002,600 10,274,700 107,700 25,038 41,730 502,224 35. Lackawanna 1,750,750 1,500,000 18,000 15,000 5,000 1,538,000 6,623,148 1,229,014 1,684,718 36. Lancaster 2,277,200 653,450 520,800 3,627,908 636,498 1,199,690 1,551,420 1,750,000 498,716 400,650 17,500 227,740 37. 38. Lawrence Lebanon 5,600,000 884,000 75,040 1,050 18,760 83,328 118,398 0 39. Lehigh 1,129,600 6,863,800 18,194,600 705,120 8,750 2,383,688 3,040,565 40. Luzerne 4,158,000 2,332,160 682,800 25,605 41. Lycoming 1,200,000 500,000 1,451,520 631,360 25,000 0 0 1,476,520 42. McKean 129,300 2,000,000 397,072 12,930 7,758 1,049,120 43. Mercer 1,947,766 3,140,800 2,100,520 363,765 576,720 1,551,916 332,800 892,684 389,553 64,512 3,447,269 44. Mifflin. 538,000 2,007,000 76,568 16,140 26,900 483,3^3 45. Monroe 304,200 452,100 201,800 12,102 3,000 _ 134,784 793,622 46. Montgomery 982,800 10,217,600 969,000 812,586 8,424 2,507,710 47. Montour 223,500 75,500 5,600 8,000 421,900 48. Northampton 424,000 4,674,600 913,367 346,170 6,360 89,049 1,354,937 49. 50. Northumberland Perry 583,750 300,400 4,432,000 2,703,300 1,269,750 464,835 184,880 151,473 See Total. 6,000 36,048 62,875 30,040 1,523,505 682,396 51. Philadelphia No report 101,250,000 See Total. 0 0 4,851,260 52. Pike 50,000 75,000 212,800 107,600 7,000 4,000 331,400 53. Potter 125,600 773,000 415,525 488,850 363,775 22,608 8,792 884,025 54. Schuvlkill 10,843,300 1,685,400 107,725 14,000 72,000 1,879,125 55. Snyder 231,350 291,081 800,000 423,300 91,728 800 31,728 547,556 56. Somerset 727,500 506,313 304,613 36,385 72,750 920,061 57. Sullivan 242,800 250,000 244,000 65,000 10,000 5,000 324,000 58. Susquehanna 800,000 600,000 520,000 625,000 200,000 20,000 1,365,000 59. 60. 61. 62. 63. 64. 65. 66. 67. Tioga Union Venango Warren Wayne Washington Westmoreland Wyoming York 1.500.000 450,900 1,064,100 692.200 853.200 1,267,800 2.154.000 349,400 1 .792.000 2.500.000 750,600 1,064,100 1,730,500 1,000,000 No report 7,508,151 262,050 2.700.000 762,320 611,280 747,194 936,116 654,375 1,268,000 1,699,557 331,049 5,739,100 261,765 168,480 235,153 200,690 563,250 478,099 595,160 200,150 803,552 50.000 7,371 70.000 31,149 200,000 73,950 129,240 15.000 18.000 75.000 67,392 70.000 41,528 100,000 84,520 129,240 10,000 153,600 1,149,085 854,523 1,122,347 1,209,483 1,517,625 1,904,569 2,553,197 556,190 6,714,252 $57,167,016 $ 1368,083,142 $72,031,967 $28,821,168 $4,386,933 $6,017,260 $ 116,108,588 16 V . !n THE SEVERAL COUNTIES OF PENNSYLVANIA. COUNTIES. Merchan dise in Store. Vehicles Manufac turing . Stocks am Raw Materials Hay, d G and n 3 Feed. Moneyed Capital. Total Personal Property. ]. Adams $ 1,860,000 85,000,000 1 291,500 1.480.000 505,666 3.796.000 3.140.000 1.094.000 1.180.000 1.586.000 1.684.000 ' $ 180,000 ' 1,000,000 1 14,250 i 8 c 1 8 1,200,000 1 1 ,000,000 I 1,332, 45 J 1,004,000 330,000 1 $ 2,448,272 ' $ 11,039,823 272,000,000 10,328,084 13,420,822 2. Allegheny 1 50,000,000 i 2,000,000 i 75,00O,00C 8. Armstrong , 2,424,589 4. Beaver.. .7. 50,000 0 225,530 10,820 • 300,000 i 5,660,289 5. Bedford 6. Berks 300,000 i 8,776,415 16,615,926 12,91 8, '831 39,868,921 7. Blair 5,000,000 3,123,810 17,550,711 10,594,930 20,945,994 8. Bradford 5,060,180 9. Bucks 176,750 13,064,801 10. Butler 156,000 1,876,000 357,600 5,253,056 17,648,726 11. Cambria 9,000 1,758,600 9,202,985 0 1,141,000 66,000 208,936 1,726,966 1 ,042,500 630.000 2.400.000 1.285.000 1.440.000 403.000 1.572.000 1.642.000 838.000 6.058.000 2.102.000 685.000 55,242 2,951,970 6,848,046 0 3,500,000 8,916,311 350,000 23,164,482 36,708,730 16. Clarion 17. Clearfield 9,566 20,488 0 100,000 3,703,600 1,420,000 585,360 586,500 2,623,064 3,098,372 10,277,158 12,570,852 4,069,696 18. Clinton 2,000,000 19. Columbia 204,350 302,785 2,652,114 8,785,674 19,528,277 20. Crawford 6,638,162 21. Cumberland. 0 400,000 2,311,000 1,017,300 6,000,000 20 358,943 22. Dauphin 59,000 322,600 6,000,000 22,224,300 23. Delaware 11,724,403 25,120,429 24. Elk 8,450 75,000 1,750,000 750,000 164,700 943,246 4,351,565 25. Erie 2,680,000 1,026,600 238,000 500,000 339,400 10,000,000 20,055 000 26. Fayette 0 3,884,387 12,170,627 27. Forest 1,760 0 0 500.000 300.000 15,000 o 30,000 363,750 75,450 339,700 127,679 1,287, 486 28. Franklin 29. Fulton 816,000 80,666 4,000,000 250,000 14,641,664 1,649,437 30. Greene 284.000 533,500 1.170.000 1.164.000 198.000 2,607,225 4.059.000 1,164,800 1.088.000 2,730,500 0 4,235,400 7,764,830 31. Huntingdon 175,600 9,700 6,315 850.000 150.000 229,680 565,000 2,275,000 32. Indiana 1,284,000 802,000 2,590,264 9,573,209 33. Jefferson 2,211,368 1,000,000 7,000,000 45,956,424 3,258,974 5,898,796 9,362,226 14,077,436 4,000,000 6,736,478 34. Juniata 0 417,300 3,976,099 35. Lackawanna 750,000 18,648,575 83 5 31,472 36. Lancaster 685,000 14,706,000 37. Lawrence 90,000 89,800 11,996,238 38. Lebanon 10,166,114 39. Lehigh 148,656 22,608 470 40. Luzerne 5,586,000 1,656,250 1,187,500 854,182 45,910,783 41. Lycoming 25,000 8 857,770 42. McKean 50,000 350,000 387,900 3,971,914 9 125 734 43. Mercer 971,500 189,960 3,186,397 12 883 691 44. Mifflin 246,000 0 403,500 1,500,000 5 177,873 45. Monroe 392,500 100,000 1,317,468 3 359 890 46. Montgomery 1,215,000 232,000 475,000 21,465,336 36 ’863 446 47. Montour 60,000 148,000 1,644,168 3 *698 568 48. Northampton 2,103,000 360,000 8,168,885 8,041,626 1,500,000 17*085 422 49. Northumberland 1,454,000 140,650 16 175 531 50. Perry 400,000 0 250,000 450,600 6*286*696 793*957*168 51. Philadelphia 107,000,000 134,000 1 602,000 579,253,908 1,164,528 52. Pike ’ 30,000 100,000 1 884 928 3*195 982 53. Potter 830,000 30,000 910,832 54. Schuylkill 2,734,000 51,000 146,350 0 4,794,000 800,000 21 *1 69*775 2*694 306 55. Snyder 264,400 56. Somerset 472,600 210,000 0 109,000 3,000,000 500,000 5*520*242 57. Sullivan •422,265 242.000 942.000 1*891*065 58. Susquehanna . 592,250 150,000 1,753.025 3,000 000 2,618,716 5,593,820 2,301,452 3,278,220 6*202,275 59. Tioga 1,650,000 10,000 9*809,085 5*128,329 60. Union 363,000 1,476,500 1,112,000 90,590 «1. Venango 62, Warren 8,167 18,125 5,162,762 53,100 484,540 15*544,896 7,548,300 7 342,045 10 718,869 28,893,223 4,007,950 63. Wayne 493,000 200,000 64. Washington 1,046,500 2,154,000 499,000 6,500,000 7,482,523 1,974,310 2,969,470 65. Westmoreland 66. Wyoming 3,280,000 267,000 11,352 100,000 73,000 3,750,000 67. York 95,000 2,586,000 16,929,722 i 278,664,057 810,333,303 : $76,906,042 : $42,435,050 $ 1,004,263,739$ 1,953,960,937 In a consolidated form this Table shows the value of the several classes of personal property, so far as such values could be procured, to be as follows : 17 ESTIMATED VALUE OF CERTAIN CLASSES OF PERSONAL PROPERTY IN PENNSYLVANIA. Agricultural Implements $ 57,167,016 Furniture and other Contents of Dwelling Houses 368,083,142 Live Stock 116,108,588 Horses and Mules, $72,031,967 Cattle 28,821,168 Sheep 4,386,933 Hogs, etc 6,017,260 Merchandise in Stores December 31, 1891 278,664,057 Vehicles, including those for hire and pleasure 10,333,303 Manufactured Stock and Raw Materials on hand at Manufactories Dec. 31, 1891 .. .. 76,906,042 Hay, Grain and other farm products on hand at farms Dec. 31, 1891 42 435,050 Evidence of Indebtedness 1,004,263,739 Total $1,953,960,937 In some cases, as will be noted by the blanks in the Table, it has been impossible to secure any information under the several heads. In other cases it is evident to one at all acquainted with the several classes of property that the amounts are underestimated or overestimated. As has been so often before stated, however, these are only estimates, but made by persons who were as competent to judge as could be found. [Note : The live stock in Philadelphia County is not classified so that total value of live stock exceeds value of the four classes by $4,851,260.1 VALUE OF AGRICULTURAL IMPLEMENTS AND MACHINERY. The total value of agricultural implements in the State of Pennsylvania, based on the estimates from the several counties, is $57,167,016. In this are included net only agricultural implements proper, as mowers reapers, threshtrs, cultivators, plows, etc , but farm wagons, mills, hand implements, etc. There is the greatest divergence of views as to the value of these implements. The usual method is to as ume a value per farm of 100 a assume that stock in stores was a certain percentage of sales, varying with the county. Without some consideration it would appear that the total value of merchandise in stores as given in Table V., viz : $278,664,057 was excessive, but a little examination will dispel this belief. The report for Philadelphia shows that there are in that city 14,404 stores doing a business of above $1,000 a year, that have paid licenses, and over 2,000 whose sales amount to less than $1,000 a year which pay no tax. In addition to this there are 3,500 stores assessed in Class 14 that have not paid the license, and 500 in the other classes. This would make a totaj of 20,404 stores in Philadelphia The report for Philadelphia is as follows : MERCANTILE APPRAISEMENT OF PHILADELPHIA. Class . Amount of Sales. 1 Number of Licenses Paid. 1 Class. Amount of Sales. Number of Licenses Paid. 14 Below $5,ooo oo 8,308 4 85,000 00 66 13 5,000 00 2,295 3 100,000 00 258 12 10,000 00 1,113 2 200,000 00 101 11 15,000 00 436 1 300,000 00 80 10 20,000 00 650 A 500,000 00 50 0 30,000 00 272 B 1,000,000 00 20 8 40,000 00 237 C 2,000,000 00 2 7 50,000 00 223 D 3,000,000 00 1 6 60,000 00 137 E 4,000,000 00 1 5 75,000 00 151 F 5,000,000 00 and over 3 14,404 To these are to be added the 2,000 stores whose sales are below $1,000 and the 4,000 assessed that have not paid taxes. In view of these facts, we do not think that $107,000,000 as the value of stock in stores in Philadelphia is excessive. This leaves as the total value of the stock in all the stores of the entire Commonwealth outside of Phila- delphia but $171,664,057- Of this $85,000,000 is reported by the County Commissioners as contained in Pittsburgh leaving but $86,000,000 for the entire balance of the Commonwealth. VALUE OF VEHICLES. The total \alue of vehicles of all kinds, for hire, pleasure and work, is given in Table V. as $10,333 303. This is beyond doubt an under-estimate, but as we have no method of checking the same, we allow it to stand. STOCKS OF FINISHED GOODS AND RAW MATERIALS AT MANUFACTURING ESTABLISHMENTS. This was an exceedingly diffic tit investigation, more so, probably, than any other of the entire series. There does not exist the least basis for a calculation. Possibly when the census returns of manufactories is complete by industries, it may be assumed that raw materials and stock in process of manufacture, as well as finished goods on hand bear a certain relation to total product for the year, and in this way an approximate value for these items may be reached, but these reports are not yet published. The estimate given in Table V., viz : $76,906,042, is beyond ques'ion far below the actual amount of goods and material on hand. Should the value of manufactures in Pennsylvania amount to $1,500,000,000 in 1890, as it probably will, it wou'd not be unfair to assume that stocks of finished goods on hand and in process of man- ufacture, as well as raw materials on hand, would amount to at least 10 per cent, of this, possibly to more. As we do not have the data necessary to arrive at even an approximate estimate of'the value under this head, we can do no better than to let the figures of Table V., viz: $76,906,042, stand. 20 FARM PRODUCTS ON HAND AT FARMS. The Secretary of the Pennsylvania State Board of Agriculture, Hon. Thos. J. Edge, estimates the tota value of all the farm products of Pennsylvania in 1892, at not less than $130,000,000. The estimated amount and value of certain of these productions are as follows : AGRICULTURAL PRODUCTS OF PENNSYLVANIA IN 1892. Amount. 1 Value. Amount. When.t 18,375,0C0 bus. 42.750.000 “ 29.750.000 “ 11.750.000 “ 2,250,000 tons $14,750,000 23,750,000 Wool 7,200,000' lbs, 146,000,000 qts . 80,000,000 lbs. Corn Milk (sold) Oats 12,750,000 Butter (sold) Potatoes Hay Total 7,750,000 23,500,000 $82,500,000 Cheese (sold) 1,100,000 “ If in production are included all products, both consumed and sold, and all the productions of the farm, dairy, orchard* market and truck garden, apiary, the barnyard, etc., we are of the opinion that $130,000,000 is exceedingly conservative. On the basis of this estimate of production it is evident that the estimate given in Table V., of hay, grain, feed and all other farm products on hand December 31, 1891, viz., $42,435,050, is not too high. On the basis of 213,000 farms in the State our report would show that the total produce of farms on hand at each farm, including winter supplies for man and beast, as well as all unsold products, and seed for the next year, was $200. From this point of view, also, our estimate does not seem too great. Indeed, it is estimated by good judges of such matters that the amount of farm products on hand at farms at the close of the year is from 10 to 20 per cent, of the total value of farms. The value taken as our final estimate will be, therefore, that of Table V., viz : $42,435,050. EVIDENCES OF INDEBTEDNESS AND MONEYED CAPITAL. The amount of all evidences of indebtedness, such as bonds, mortgages, notes, book accounts bearing in* terest, money at interest, stocks, etc., held December 31, 1891, in Pennsylvania that should be taxable under the laws of the State, was, as estimated at the office of the County Commissioners, $1,004,263,739. This does no include any of the moneyed capital of corporations which pay taxes direct to the State that exempt them from taxes on this class of property. There was the greatest diversity of opinion among the county officials as to what proportion of moneyed capital was reported for taxation in their counties. Almost without exception it was conceded that some amounts escaped. In certain counties it was believed that not one-half of said property was reported ; in others that nearly all was fisted. The amount given in Table V., $1,004,263,739, is nearly double the amount of such capital returned to the assessor in 1891, this latter amount being according to the report of the Secretary of Internal Affairs, $579,036,227. Of course it is impossible to state whether the reports as secured by our special agents are correct or not. The general opinion has been that the listed moneyed capital has not been more than one-half the actual amount. We are inclined to the opinion, however, that the total of Table V. is too low, and that $1,250,000,000, exclusive of the moneyed capital of banks, insurance corporations, etc., whose property of this kind is not listed, would not be excessive. Possibly even this is too low, but until we have more detailed reports this figure will be used. VALUE OF SALARIES, EMOLUMENTS OF OFFICE, ETC. Under the laws of Pennsylvania the assessors are required to “ assess the occupations of all the male residents of their districts who are upwards of 21 years of age and to value them at what they believe to be the actual annual income derived therefrom.” When it is stated that the total assessment under this head in the entire State of Pennsylvania for the year 1891 was but $79,204,079, it will be needless to suggest that the valuation must be a farce. The courts have decided that under this provision of the Constitution “ All taxes shall be uniform upon the same class of subjects within the territorial limits of the authority levying the tax,” and as this is a tax upon an occupation and not on an income, that all occupations must be assessed at the same rate without reference to differences of income. If the “actual annual income derived” by each male over 21 years old from his occupation was listed, the amount assessed would not be a tithe of what the actual valuation would be. When the census is completed, some idea as to the actual value of incomes can be obtained In the mean- time the figures given in the assessment returns are so absurd they will not be considered m the final statement of the value of property. TOTAL POPULATION AND ACREAGE OF PENNSYLVANIA, AND NUMBER, ACREAGE AND VALUE OF FARMS. In studying more carefully and thoroughly tne statements as to valuation and taxation given in this report, . it is important to have the latest available information on the points covered in the following Table. The first column, that of Population in 1890, is from the Census Bulletin on Population of Pennsylvania, (No. 105) ; the second column, that of Total Acreage, is from the Report of the Secretary of Internal Affairs of Pennsylvania ; the remaining figures are from the report of the Tenth Census. 21 TABLE VI POPULATION AND TOTAL ACREAGE OF PENNSYLVANIA IN 1890, AND NUMBER, ACREAGE AND VALUE OF FARMS IN 1880. 1 . 2 . 3. 4 . 5 . 6 . 7. 8 . 9 . 10 . 11 . 12 . 13 . 14 . 15 . 16 . 17 . 18 . 19 . 20 . 21 . 22 . 23 . 24 . 25 . 26 . 27 . 28 . 29 . 30 . 81 . 32 . 33 . 34 . 35 . 36 . 37 . 38 . 39 . 40 . 41. 42 . 43 . 44. * 5 . 46 . 47 . 48. 49 . 50 . 51 . 52 . 53 . 54 . 55 . 56 . 57 . 58 . 59. 60 . 61 . 62 . 63 . 64 . 65 . 66 . 67 . COUNTIES. Popula- tion, 1890. Total Acreage, ,1890. Number of Farms, 1880. LAND IN FARMS, 1880. Value of Farms, in- cluding Land, Fences and Buildings, 1880. Improved Acres. Unim- proved. Acres. Total. Acres, j Adams 33,486 339,840 3,614 221,184 63,603 284,787 $14,386,576 Allegheny 551 ,9-9 480,480 5,530 333,277 82,894 416,171 40,411,956 Armstrong 46,747 391,280 4,026 273,168 105,792 378,960 13,577,665 Beaver 50,077 289,280 2,653 186,959 64,733 251,692 12,596,009 Bedford 38,644 641,920 3,240 252,659 229,358 482,017 9,975,163 Berks 137,327 576,000 6,847 405,288 82,895 488,183 36,989,274 Blair 70,866 326,400 1,536 128,068 64,295 192,363 8,895,772 Bradford 59,233 473,680 6,658 477,416 173,595 651,011 22,916,557 Bucks 70,615 380,800 6,493 324,763 44,387 369,150 36,151,958 Butler 55,339 520,960 5,384 341,459 144,136 485,595 20,644,143 Cambria 66,375 426,240 2,437 148,050 163,299 311,349 6,213,058 Cameron 7,238 243,840 244 9,786 29,460 39,246 609,820 Carbon 38,624 257,280 889 39,603 52,679 92,282 2,487,175 Centre 43,269 785,280 2,400 189,080 120,888 309,968 12,634,448 Chester 89,377 488,320 6,116 401,714 66,268 467,982 39,217,513 Clarion 36,802 366,080 3,147 181,818 106,740 288,558 10,375,428 Clearfield 69,565 723,200 2,730 144 419 159,335 303,754 8,088,943 Clinton 28,685 548,480 1,108 66,443 61,889 128,332 5,304,751 Columbia 36,832 306,560 2,629 157,570 61,808 219,378 7,893,876 Crawford 65,324 643,200 7,444 394,056 184,192 578,248 21,200,940 Cumberland 47,271 354,560 2,983 232,093 45,075 277,168 19,776,980 Dauphin 96,977 334,720 2,702 187,143 48,329 235,472 15,974,915 Delaware 74,683 124,800 1,683 95,327 12,023 107,350 18,437,510 Elk 22,239 495,360 718 30,190 61,688 91,878 1,450,588 Erie 86,074 494,080 5,579 301,669 127,285 428,954 21,613,613 Fayette 80,006 531,200 3,231 286,606 147,856 434,462 20,270,434 Forest 8,482 275,840 299 15,573 24,742 40,287 603,490 Franklin 51,433 483,840 3,602 280,302 100,393 380,695 19,542,673 Fulton 10,137 282,880 1,294 95,890 103,191 199,081 2,486,621 Greene 28,935 396,800 2,900 271,049 89,797 360,846 • 13,748,657 Huntingdon 35,751 575,360 2,579 201,699 186,628 388,327 8,936,461 Indiana 42,175 529,920 4,438 312,321 144,774 457,095 13,553,842 Jefferson 44,005 413,440 2,576 154,636 126,193 280,829 7,311,371 Juniata 16,655 260,480 1,772 103,002 83,998 187,000 6,314.374 Lackawanna 142,088 271,360 1,707 89,768 71,510 161,278 6,343*348 Lancaster.. 149,095 622,720 9,070 490,922 65,392 556,314 69,004,919 Lawrence 37,517 240,640 2,636 162,521 47,026 209,547 12,040,772 Lebanon 48,131 227,840 2,476 154,548 38,457 193,005 17,146,608 Lehigh 76,631 232,960 3,546 173,104 27,602 200,706 17,977,977 Lu zerne 201,203 592,640 2,957 153,858 136,502 290,360 12,695,779 Lycoming 70,579 776,320 3,452 197,588 157,224 354,812 12,833,435 McKean 46,863 644,480 1,207 52,445 66,523 118,958 3,424,549 M ercer 55,744 426,240 4,835 300,597 111,469 412,066 20,414,614 Mifflin 19,996 215,680 1,131 99,408 60,884 160,292 8,013,471 Monroe 20,111 380,800 1,774 100,803 95,770 196,573 5,095,275 Montgomery 123,290 309,760 6,114 270,056 30,327 300,383 36,688,601 Montour 15,645 89,600 858 57,533 13,865 71,398 3,783,609 Northampton 84,220 244,480 4,004 190,970 27,274 218,244 18,405,888 Northumberland 74,698 295,680 2,534 168 542 48,627 217,169 11,006,245 Ferry 26,276 304,640 2,469 152,362 119,565 271,927 8,478,217 Philadelphia 1,046,964 82,603 780 35,902 2,261 38,163 13,633,460 Pike 9,412 304,640 869 33,169 106,884 140,053 2,391,693 Potter 22,778 685,440 2,100 112,793 115,700 228,493 4,341,945 Schuylkill 154,163 537,600 2,805 141,085 78,919 220,004 9,829,814 Snyder 17,651 202,880 1,900 107,966 46,260 154,226 6,061,330 Somerset 37,317 705,280 3,393 298,300 228,256 526,556 11,858,391 Sullivan 11,620 277,769 926 62,218 48,082 110,300 2,1 74,096 Susquehanna 40,093 529,920 4,814 324,882 144,105 468,987 13,479,029 Tioga 52,313 719,360 4,469 297,246 236,313 533,559 13,550,131 Union 17,820 201,600 1,301 86,048 32,043 118,091 7,705,281 Venango 46,640 421 ,120 2,808 177,661 114,490 292,151 7,956,538 Warren 37,585 584,960 2 696 129,199 143,207 272,406 7,719,618 Wayne 31,010 478,080 3,586 . 173,285 186,268 359,553 8,392,507 Washington 71,155 568,960 4,481 446,463 92,972 539,435 35,284,957 Westmoreland 112,819 669,440 5,389 421,440 148,664 570,104 30,550,823 Wyoming 15,891 137,920 1,647 100,872 60,607 161,479 5,67 1 ,915 York 99,489 589,440 7,327 415,173 101,096 516,269 31,142,021 5,258,014 28,808,442 213,542 13,423,007 6,368,334 19,791 ,341 $975,689,410 The column of « Population in 1890” explains itself. In “ Total Acreage, 1890,” is included the area of all of the land of the State. According to a Census Bulletin (No. 23), the total area of Pennsylvania is 45,215 square miles, of which 44,985 square miles are land surface and 230 square miles water surface. The 44,985 square miles of land surface would equal 28,790 400 acres, which differs from the total given in above table, which is from the report of the Secretary of Internal Affairs, but 18,042 acres. It should be noted that the figures of acreage include all tLe land surface, roads, streets, parks, mountains, land owned by the Commonwealth, as well as farms, city lots, etc. The total acreage of manufacturing, miting, lot property, etc , therefore, would not be the difference between the acreage of farms and total acreage. 22 The columns regarding number of farms, the land in the same, and the value of farms, including land, fences and buildings, as stated above, are from the census of 1880. These are the very latest statistics on these points that could be secured. It will be noted that the total of the value of farms, which, as given in the above Table is $975,689,410, is $4,709,899 more than the value of farms as ascertained from the offices of the County Commissioners and given in Table III. VALUATION OF CORPORATE PROPERTY. There is a prevalent belief that there exists at Harrisburg a complete list of all of the corporations of the State ; that all corporations pay taxes to the State, and that as the basis of their taxation is the actual valuation of their capital stock, there is in some one of the State Departments an appraised valuation of all corporations . It is needless to say to those who have made the least investigation into the facts that not one of these assumptions is true. A list of corporations exists at Harrisburg, but it is by no means complete or correct. It does not contain the names of corporations that pay no taxes to the State, and it includes the names of many defunct companies of whose actual demise the State officer has no positive knowledge. Many corporations do not pay taxes to the State, and many that are subjects of State taxation do not pay on appraised value, but on receipts and dividends > and there are corporations, that under the law, should pay taxes, which have never reported. Under the revenue act in force prior to that of June 8th, 1891, corporations paying dividends in excess of 6 per cent, per annum were not required to appraise their stock, while those that paid less than six per cent, were. As the proportion of corporations, therefore, which appraise their stock depends upon no other principle than the payment or non-payment of dividends, it is impossit le to draw any conclusion as to the total value of cor' porations from the appraised value on record at Harrisburg. The act of June 8th, 1891, requires that appraisals of stock shall be made in all cases, but the first returns under this act were those due at the Auditor General’s office after November 1st, 1892. We have the assurance of the Auditor General that our committee may have access to this information as soon as it is obtained, should we desire it. In a report made by Auditor General McCamant in Match, 1892, the authorized and appraised capital stock of the corporations which, under the law then in force, were required to appraise their capital stock, is given as follows : Corporations Chartered by the State and Foreign Corporations Doing Business in the State. a. Authorized capital stock $1,211,841,867 b. Paid in capital 875,368,000 Limited Partnerships. a. Authorized capital stock $ 3,740,447 b. Paid in capital. 3,671,154 Total authoiized capital stock.... $1,215,565 314 Tot.l paid in capital 873 671,622 To al appraised valuation 671.911,311 This sta'ement does not include manufacturing companies exempted from taxation under the laws of the Commonwealth. In the report of Mr. McCamant as a member of the Tax Commission, pp 32 et seq ., the capital stock of corporations engaged in purely manufacturing enterprises is estimated at $175,000,000, to which it is safe to add from 15 to 20 million to bring it up to the present date. Building and loan associations are likewise exempted from taxation, but in the same report their capital stock is esdmated at $75,000,000. The above table does not include foreign insurance companies. In this appraised value are included mining, oil and natural gas companies, who^e capital is also included in the va’ue of land and improvements given in page 14. Much of the capital of manufacturing companies is reported in the value of manufacturing propert' in Table III., and the funds of building and loan associations are largely, if not entirely, represented in the value of lands and buildings given elsewhere, in which they are invested. So, too, if any estimate of the value of railroad property is to be made on the basis of the returns of these corporations to the Secretary of Internal Affairs the valuation of such property, included in the appraised value of capital stock, must be deducted for the purpose of arriving at the total valuation of the Commonwealth. When that part of the values of corporations represent* d by their bonds is sought, it is comparatively a n easy task to learn the par value of the bonds issued by certain corporations, as railroads, etc., but there is no record of the issue oi bonds of other corporations. The Auditor General’s report of taxes paid on loans does not give it, as these taxes are not collected from the entire issue of bonds, but only on those held in the State. It would seem that an accurate tstima’e of the valuation of corporations must be deferred until the returns under the Act of June, 1891, are available. These checked by the Census figures may give an approximation that will 1 e substantially correct. In the meantime the value of corporate property not included elsewhere in the report may be assumed to be $1,2-50,000 000. The basis of this estimate, tearing in mind what we said above as to mining and manufac- turing companies and building and loan associations, is as follows : The total mileage of railroads located in whole or in part in Pennsylvania is, according to the Report of 2 * the Secretary of Internal Affairs, 20,014 miles. Of this total but 11,702 miles, or 59 per cent., is in Pennsylvania While it is not strictly accurate, there is no better method with our present knowledge than to assume that the pro- portion of the value of these roads belonging in Pennsylvania is the same as the proportion of the mileage in the .State, that is 59 p er cent. According to the State report on railroads the total cash realized on sale of capital stock of all railroads was 1859,535,921 ; 59 per cent, of this is $507,126,193. Based upon information obtained at the Auditor General’s Department, the appraised valuation is assumed to be but 53 per cent, of the cash realized thereon, or $268,776,882. The total bonded indebtedness of these railroads is $918,771,210 ; 59 per cent, of this is $542,075,014. These two sums make $808,851,896. The cost of road and equipment given in the tables of the railroad report is $1,413,852,336 ; 59 per cent, of this is $834,172,878. In maDy cases the cost of road and equipment is made to balance with the amount of stock and bonds so that this sum is in excess of actual value. In view cf these facts, and without any expression as to its accuracy, we have assumed, until more reliable data is available, that the value of the railroad property in Pennsylvania is $800,000,000. The value of street railways is some $50,000,000, of canals some $30,000,000, of telegraph and telephone companies some $6 000,000, of express companies some $1,000,000. The value of the property— that is, the loans on bonds and mortgages and collaterals and the stock and bonds held by the stock fire insurance companies of the State, exclusive of the real estate, which is taxed locally — is $33,024,332 ; that held by mutual companies, $8,036,004. It is assumed that the value of similar property of other State fii e companies, that in accordance with the business done in the State should be assigned to the State’ should be $6,497,512. The life insurance policies in force in the State December 31d, 1891, amounted to $486,719,502. A portion of the premium reserve of the companies carrying these policies should be held as against this and should be regarded as Pennsylvania property. The reserve is about one-sixth of the policies, usually The personal property, or what is termed elsewhere moneyed capital or evidences of indebtedness, held by State banks, is some $40,000,000 ; by national banks, some $275,000,000. The value of such property held by private banks and bankers has not been ascertained. It is conceded for the reasons already stated that this estimate of the value of corporate property not given elsewhere in this report is defective, but in view of the figures just given we have placed it at $1,250,000,000. VALUATION OF PROPERTY BASED ON INSURANCE. In pursuing its investigations your committee was led to the belief that the amount of fire insurance at risk on property in the State December 31. 1891, would furnish a basis, possibly the best obtainable, for estimating the total actual value of what may be somewhat inexactly termed insurable property. This would include all build- ings and their contents, practically everything except growing crops, land, money and stocks, bonds, notes and other evidences of indebtedness. Live stock has not been included in the estimate given below so far as it was possible to separate it from other property. From the “ igth Annual Report of the Insurance Commissioner of the State of Pennsylvania ,” the report f r 1891, we compile the fol’owing table. While this report gives the amount of insurance written on property in Pennsylvania in 1891, it does not show, exmpt in the case of the Mutual Fire Companies, and of perpetual ins ranee, the amount at risk at the close of the year. It was assumed that the amount of insurance written in 1891, purely on Pennsylvania property bore the same ratio to the total amount at risk in Pennsylvania at the close of the year that the total amount wri ten in all States by the companies doing business in Pennsylvania in 1891 bore to the tot'd amount at risk December 31, 1891. It is also assumed that all of the risks of the Mutual Companies are in Pennsylvania. Reports showed that some 98 per cent, of the perpetual insurance reported was also carried on Penmylvania property. TABLE SHOWING INSURANCE WRITTEN IN PENNSYLVANIA IN 1891, AND TOTAL AMOUNT OF INSURANCE AT RISK DECEMBER 31, 1891. 1 Written. Percentage of business written to amount at risk. At Risk. Penn’a Mutual Companies 1 $ 578,292,027 293,507,720 441,030,140 260,967,278 333,353,929 879,600 $1,908,030,314 2,033,585 1,066,215 2,350,828 $ 5,450,620 $1,913,481,314 Stock Companies — Pennsylvania Companies $271,766,407 364,487,719 233,006,498 108 Other State Companies Foreign Companies 121 112 Perpetual Insurance 98 per cent, total Excess in unauthorized. Companies . .. Total Fire Marine and Inland— Pennsylvania Companies 36,492,285 13,682,414 47,016,394 5.6 Other State Companies 5.6 Foreign Companies 5. 1 Total Marine and Inland Total at risk 24 In addition to the insurance reported there is a large amount of what is termed “underground” insurance, or that placed in companies not authorized to do business in the State. How much of this is carried is pure conjecture. It is claimed that in Philadelphia alone the premiums on this business amount to $150,000 annually. There are about 180 factories in Pennsylvania insuring in mutual companies whose insurance is not recorded in Pennsylvania. These risks range from $30,000 to $2,000,000. An average of $400,000 a risk, would indicate, $72,000,000 of insurance on these works. Some estimates place the total “ underground ” insurance in Pennsyl- vania at $150,000,000. Good judges estimate it at an amount sufficient to raise the total risks in Pennsylvania at the close of 1891 to $2 000,000,000, and this will be taken as the amount at risk at that date. To arrive at the relation between the actual value of the property insured and the amount at risk upon the same, as well as to get the opinion of the best judges as to the percentage of all kinds of insurable property in the State covered in whole or in part by insurance, and so far as possible to cla'S'fy this insurance, circulars were sent to all of the insurance companies doing business in the State as well as to all registered and licensed insurance brokers. The average of something over 201 replies showed that in the opinion of those making returns, property was insured for 67 per cent, of its value. A table on pages 16 to 27 of the ‘Philadelphia and Pennsylvania Insurance Directory ” for 1892, gives the whole value of property insured in Philalelphia at the close of 1891 as $1 ,122,918,000, and the amount of insurance carried on this as $727,332,80). This would indicate that the property was insured for 61.77 per ce it. of its value A very large percentage of all of the insurance carried in this State is written in Philadelphia ; full one-half it is estimated. A consideration of all of the facts that came to our notice having in view not only the reports we have received, bat the experience and amount of business done by those making them, leads us to assume that 6 of per cent, of the value of property insured is covered by the risk. This would mrike the total value of property covered by insurance $3 000,000,000. The question as to what proportion of the insurable property of Pennsylvania is covered, either in whole, or in part, by insurance was a more difficult one. The reports received gave the amount at from 30 per cent, to 80 per cent. It was almost impossible to make an average that would have much value, as so many of the reports were from mutual companies that only took local insurance. The reports from those most experienced and doing the largest business, checked and modified by correspondence, seem to indicate that not over 60 per cent, of the insurable properly of Pennsylvania is protected in whole or in part.. On the basis that the full value of property on which insurance is carried is $3,000,000,000, and that this is 60 per cent, only of the total insurable property, the total value of all insurable property in Pennsylvania at the close ^1801 would be $5,000,000,000. This is an under estimate rather than an over statement. It has been found exceedingly difficu t to secure any satisfactory distribution of this total into classes. The attempt was made to divide the insurable property in the State into the following four classes : CLASSES OF INSURABLE PROPERTY. Class 1 . Houses, barns, dwellings, store rooms, etc., not including manufacturing establishments. Class 2. Contents of same as furniture, crops, etc. exclusive of stocks of merchandise. Class 3. Stocks of merchandise on shelves or in store house. Class 4. All other property, as manufacturing establishments, carpenter shops, etc., and their contents. It nny be said in a general way, though to the statement there are notable exceptions, that most of the mutual companies, which had at risk nearly 30 per cent, of the entire insurance in force in the State, December 31st, 1891, take no risks in the last two classes. Most of the perpetual insurance, which amounted to nearly on -sixth of the total insurance, was non-hazardous and was chiefly on dwellings and dwellings with connected stores, schools, churches, hospitals, etc., chiefly brick and stone buildings and the r contents ; in a wo d, these two classes of insurance were special and not genera’, and would, therefore, to an extent, render inaccurate any average drawn from the repo ts received. Allowing, as far as possible, for ihese and other dLturbing factors, an inspection of ihe reports made to your committee would indicate that every $1,000 at risk in the State would be divided as follows : CLASSIFICATION OF EVERY $1,000 OF INSURABLE PROPERTY. Houses, barns, dwellings, store-rooms, etc., not including manufacturing establishments $ 537 Contents of same, as furniture, crops, etc., exclusive of stocks of merchandise 145 Stocks of merchandise on shelves or in store-house 120 All other property, as manufacturing establishments, carpenter shops, etc., and their contents 198 Total $1,000 It is conceded that this is not a very satisfactory division, but it is the best that could be secured. It is hoped that this subject will be pursued more thoroughly in the future. On the basis of the above classification, the $5,000,000,000, which represents the value of insurable prop- erty in Pennsylvania, will be divided as follows : Class 1. Class 2. Class 3. Class 4. 25 CLASSIFICATION OF TOTAL INSURABLE PROPERTY. Class 1. Houses, barns, dwellings, store-rooms, etc., not including manufacturing establishments.. $2, 685, 000, 000 Class 2. Contents of same, as furniture, crops, etc., exclusive of stocks of merchandise 725,000,000 Class 3. Stocks of merchandise on shelves or in store-house 600,000,000 Class 4. All other property, as manufacturing establishments, carpenter shops, etc., and their contents 990,000,000 Total $5,000,000,000 The accuracy of these estimates will be discussed elsewhere. PART II. TAXES. The revenues of the various bodies in the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania authorized to levy taxes are de- rived not alone from what are properly called taxes, but include payments for privileges, chartered and otherwise, and for services performed, as well as income from other sources; as from the sale of bonds or other property, in- terest, etc. Our investiga’ion is concerned chiefly with taxes proper and the revenue from privileges and for services. TOTAL TAXES. The total taxes, licenses, etc., paid in 1891 to all bodies in the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania authorized to levy taxes, so far as the same could be ascertained, amounted to $49,564,536. This is divided as follows : Total Taxes, Licenses, etc., Paid in Pennsylvania in 1891* — To Sta'e $12,022,527 00 County 5,630,488 00 Local Bodies 31,730,891 00 Total $49,383 907 00 The methods by which this result was reached and the sources of the information, as well as the details as to these taxes, and division, so far as possible, into classes, are given below. The amount of certain taxes, chiefly poor and dog taxes, could not be a'certained. It is possible that the total taxation of Pennsylvania will reach $50,000,000 annually. STATE TAXES.f The revenues of the commonwea’th may be divided into two classes, according to the methods by which they are collected : 1. Those paid directly or through other State officials to the State Treasurer. 2. Those collected by county officials and by them paid to the State Treasurer. CLASS I- Revenue Paid Directly to the State. 1. Bonus on Charters of afl corporations organized for profit except railroad, turnpike, bridge and ceme- tery companies. (Rate, ^ of 1 per cent, on authorized capital.) 2. Tax on Capital Stock of a'l corporations and limited partnerships except banks, saving institutions and foreign insurance companies and corporations “ organized exclusively for manufacturing purposes ” Brewing and distilling companies and such manufacturing companies as enjoy the right of eminent domain are not exempted from tax on capital stock (Rate, 5 mills on each dollar of ascertained valuation of capital stock, except in case of Pennsylvania fire and marine insurance companies, when rate is 3 mills.) 3. Tax on Corporate, County and Municipal Loans, held in the State. (Rate in 1891, 3 mills ; in 1892, 4 mils.) 4. Tax on Gross Receipts of transportation, transmission and electric light companies (Rate, 8 mills.) 5. Tax on Bank Stock levied on incorporated banks and savings institutions (Rate, banks may elect to pay 8 mil s on par value of stock when all property not invested in real estate shall be exempt, or share holders must pay State 4 mills on ascertained value of stock. Banks also pay fees to defray cost of oank examination.) 6. Tax on Gross Premiums of insurance companies levied on the bu-iness done in Pennsylvania of all companies, except those doing a purely mutual business. (Rate on Pennsylvan : a companies 8 mills ; other State and foreign, 2 per cent.) 7. Tax on Net Earnings or Income of brokers, private banks and unincorporated banks and saving institutions. (Rate, 3 per cent.) * See explanation, page 27, regarding certain State taxes collected by counties. t See “A Synopsis of the Tax Laws of Pennsylvania,” by Frank M. Eastman, of the Auditor General’s office. 26 8. Bonus on Commissions of Notaries Public. (Rate, $25 each ) 9. Tax on Gross Receipts of Notaries Public. (Rate, 5 per cent.) 10. Tax on Sale of Fertilizers. (Rate, from 10 to 30 dollars per article according to amount of sales.) 11. Annuity for Right of Way from N. Y., L. E. & W. R. R. for privilege of constructing road through portions of Commonwealth. 12. Miscellaneous Revenue Received directly by the State is from Sales of Land, Pamphlet Laws, Bonds, Old Material, Payment of Bonds received for sale, Public Works, Interest, Fees and Commissions of Public Officers, Penalties and Fines, Escheats, Unexpended Balances of Appropriations, Appropriations from National Government. Conscience Money. CLASS II Revenue Collected by County Officers on State Account. 1. Tax on Personal Property. a. On all moneyed capital and evidences of indebtedness, including loans, bonds, stocks, mortgages, notes, judgments, agreements and accounts bearing interest, etc. Exceptions are bank notes, notes discounted at banks, and all building and loan associations. b. All annuities of a yearly value of over $200. c. All passenger vehicles for hire except steam and street passenger rail way cars. All moneyed capital, including mortgages, is exempt from local taxation. Rate on all above, 4 mills. 2. Tax on Collateral Inheritances. (Rate, $5 on every $100.) 3. Tax on Writs , Deeds , Wills and Commissions of Inferior Officers. (Rate varies. See Law and the Fee Bills.) 4. Licenses. (Rate, Auctioneers, $200 to $3,000 a year ; Billiard Tables and Bowling Alleys, $30 for first ; $10 for each additional ; Wholesale Liquor Dealers : cities 1st and 2d class, $1,000 ; 3d class, $500 ; all other cities, $300 ; boroughs, $200 ; townships, $100; Bottlers, cities, $300; boroughs, $200; townships, $100 ; Retail Liquor Dealers, nothing to State ; Brokers, 3 per cent, on receipts ; Peddlers, on foot, $8.00; 1 horse and wagon, $40 ; 2 horses and wagon, $50 ; Theatres, etc., Philadelphia, $500 a year; Allegheny County, $200 ; other counties, $50; mercantile license, $7 to $1,000.) 5. Fees Public Officers. (Rate as per Fee Bill.) COUNTY TAXES. 1. Tax on Real Estate. All real estate is taxable for county purposes, except that of radroads necessary for the exercise of their franchises ; that of other corporations exempt by reason of payment of State taxes and that used for public, charitable and religious purposes. (Rate varies with relation between actual and assessed valua- tion, and with amount necessary to be raised for county purposes.) 2. Tax on Live Stock. All horses, mares, geldings, mules and neat cattle over 4 years of age. (Rate as on real estate.) 3. Tax on Occupations. Value of all salaries and emoluments of office, offices, posts of profit, professions, trades and occupations. These are supposed to be assessed at actual yearly income, and are uniform on each class for each county. (Ra^e as on real estate.) 4. Licenses. Under the law of 1891, all retail liquor licenses go to the county and local governments Of the sums received, $100 from city licenses and one-fifth from borough and township licenses, go to the county, 5. Tax on Vehicles. The counties of Allegheny, Crawford, Delaware, Huntingdon, Lackawanna, Luzerne and Schuylkill assess vehicles for county purpose • . 6. Return of State Tax. In 1892 and thereafter three-fourths of the taxes on propeity, collected by counties for the State, are to be returned to the counties to cover cost of assessment and collection of same, and to pay for certain duties or services performed by the county for the State. 7. Miscellaneous. As with the State, so wiih the counties; there are sources of revenue that are neither taxes nor licenses, but arise from sales of property and bonds, fines, penalties, fees, unexpended balances, etc. These need not be considered for the purposes of this investigation. 27 LOCAL TAXES. By local taxes are in -ant those levied by townships, boroughs and cities, wards, school and poor districts, and all bodies in the Com nonwea'th, other than the Sta'e and counties, authorized to levy taxes. As a rule, the subjects of taxation for local purposes are the same as those for county, the county assess- ment being taken as the basis of taxation for these local bod es. The except ons will be notel be'ow. The rates of taxation vary with each local body, even for the same purposes. 1. Tax on Real Estate. Subjects same as county. (Rate varies with district.) 2. Tax on Live Stock. Subjects same as county. (Rate varies with district.) 3. Tax on Occupation. Subjects same as county. (Rate varies with district). 4. Licenses. The remainder of retail liquor licenses, after deducting county’s share, goes to city, borough or township, respectively. 5. Tax on Dogs. Dogs are taxed in boroughs and townships and licensed in cities. 6. Tax on Vehicles. Some local bodies tax or license all vehicles. 7. School Money from State. The State appropriates a certa’n sum each year to the several districts for school purposes. 8. Poor Taxes. There are in Pennsylvania certain poor districts which have ihe po.ver to levy taxes for support of poor. Some of them are older than the State, and but little information concerning them is available. 9. Miscellaneous. Regarding revenue from miscellaneous sources, the same remark may be made as under county taxes. In addition, there are water taxes and others of a similar character for special services. STATE TAXES. The total revenue of the Commonwealth for the year ending November 30th, 1891, as given in the Report of the Auditor General, (pages 1 and 2), was $13,007,062.39. These were unusually heavy. The sources of this revenue may be classified as follows : TOTAL REVENUE OF THE COMMONWEALTH OF PENNSYLVANIA FOR 1891. Taxes — ^Corporation Stock and Limited Partnerships $2,378,911 54 fGross Receipts (Corporations) i 696,176 62 Gross Premiums (Insurance Companies) 55,040 68 Bank Stock 413,177 45 J Loans (Private Corporations) 1,289,220 41 P'oreign Insurance Companies 395,307 97 Net Earnings (Banks and Bankers) 68,405 44 Personal Property 1,906,244 67 Collateral Inheritance 1,232,766 80 Sale Fertilizers 8,710 00 | Loans (County and Municipal) 122,800 20 $8,566,761 78 Licenses and Privileges — Eating Houses $ 11,339 99 Liquor, Retail 440,249 18 Who’esale 422,479 77 Brewers 144,801 39 Bottlers 94,196 62 Retailers 571,074 48 Billiards 45,296 24 Brokers 41,224 46 Auctioneers 26,093 18 Peddlers...^ 2,706 44 Theatre, Circus, etc... 29,832 25 Bonus on Charters 243,831 87 Notary Public Commissions 20,200 00 Erie Railroad Annuity 10,000 00 $2,103,325 87 *8440,000 of this amount is payment of arrears of former years. 18180,000 of this amount is payment of arrears of former years . 18725,000 of these sums is payment of arrears of former years. 28 Fees, Commissions, etc., to Public Officers — Notaries Public, Commissions on Receipts $ 4,402 22 Writs, Deeds, etc 172,443 82 Land Sales 994 08 Fines (Miscellaneous) 101 50 Fees, Public Officers 92,541 10 Miscellaneous 21,075 07 $ 291,560 78 Sales — Lands (Some Interest Included) $ 1,948 27 Old Material (Miscellaneous) 25 09 Pamphlet Laws 530 45 Allegheny Valley Railroad. (State Works Bond) 100,000 00 $ 102,503 81 Interest — Allegheny Valley Railroad $ 92,500 00 U. S. Bonds 132,843 75 Interest Accrued 14,531 87 $ 239,875 62 Miscellaneous Sources — Penalties (Chester City) $ 121 95 U. S. Government, account Soldiers’ and Sailors’ Home, Erie 38,331 26 Refund Direct Tax 1,654,711 43 Escheats 1,895 13 Conscience Money • 215 00 Refunded Cash (Chiefly Unexpended Balance of Public Officers) 7,759 76 $1,703,034 53 Recapitulation — Taxes $ 8,566,761 78 Licenses and Privileges 2,103,325 87 Fees, Commissions, etc 291,560 78 Sales 102,503 81 Interest.. 239,875 62 Miscellaneous, 1,703,034 53 Total $13,007,062 39 Of the above only the first three items, amounting to $10 961,648, are such payments as fall within the scope of this report, and are the only sums included in the statement of “ Total Taxes Paid.” The items of tax on personal property and all licenses, except bonus on charters, notary public commis- sions and Erie Railroad annuity, appear in the report of county and local taxes as they are collected through the county officials. The amounts of these taxes given in the Auditor’s Report differ from those given in the Reports of the County Commissioners, as printed in the Report of the Secretary of Internal Affairs. The differences arise in part from the different periods the reports cover, and in part from the portion of fees retained by county offices. Still another classification of the revenues of the State, based on the civil status of the parties paying the taxes, is as follows, using the figures of the Audito General’s Report. It has been difficult, in some cases, to properly classify the items. It is not claimed ihat the classification is in all cases exact. TOTAL REVENUE OF THE COMMONWEALTH OF PENNSYLVANIA CLASSIFIED ACCORD- ING TO CIVIL STATUS OF PARTIES MAKING THE PAYMENT. PERSONAL.— Taxes — Net Earnings, Banks and Bankers $ 68,405 44 Personal Property 1,906,244 67 Collateral Inheritance 1,232,766 80 Sale Fertilizers 8,710 00 $ 3,216,126 91 29 Licenses and Privileges — Eating Houses Liquor, Retail Wholesale Brewers Bottlers Retailers . . Billiards. Brokers Auctioneers Peddlers . Circus, Theatres, etc Notary Public Commissions, Sales — 11,339 99 440,249 18 422,479 77 144,801 39 94,196 62 571,074 48 45,296 24 41,224 46 26,093 18 2,706 44 29,832 25 20,200 00 1,849,494 00 ten Lands (Some Interest Included) Old Material (Miscellaneous) Fees, Commissions, etc., to Public Officers— Notary Public Commissions on Receipts...... Writs, Deeds, etc, Land Sales jj ,i„. Fines (Miscellaneous) Miscellaneous — Escheats . . . . . . Conscience Money .V.\ T. j'/. rr A CORPORATIONS. Taxes — 1,948 27 25 09 4,402 21 122,443 82 iorso 133 ] or IL 1,895 13 215 00 'C'!5 1,973 36 177,944 61 2,110 13 $5,247,649 01 Corporation Stock and Limited Partnerships $2,378,911 54 Gross Receipts 696,176 62 Gross Premiums (Insurance Companies) 55,040 68 Bank Stock 413,177 45 Loans, Private Corporations 1,289,220 41 Foreign Insurance Companies 395,307 97 Licenses and Privileges — Bonus on Charters 243,831 87 Annuity for Right of Way, Erie Railroad 10,000 00 Sales — Allegheny Valley Railroad (State Works Bond) Interest — Allegheny Valley Railroad on Bonds Total $ 5,227,834 67 253,831 87 100,000 00 92,500 00 $ 5,674,166 54 CORPORATIONS AND PERSONAL, MIXED.— Interest — Interest accrued Fees, Commissions and Public Officers — Fees, Public Officers 92,541 10 Miscellaneous 21,075 07 14,531 87 13,616 17 NATIONAL, STATE AND LOCAL GOVERNMENTS.— Taxes— Loans, County and Municipal I Sales— Pamphlet Laws Interest — United States Bonds..-. Miscellaneous — Penalties, (Chester City) $ 121 95 United States Government, Soldiers’ and Sailors’ Home, Erie, 38,331 26 Refund Direct Tax 1,654,711 43 Refunded Cash (Unexpended Balances) 7,759 76 $ 128,148 04 $122,800 20 530 45 132,843 75 $1,700,924 40 $1,957,0.98 80 $5,247,649 01 5,647,166 54 128,148 04 1,957,098 80 $13,007 062 36 The total State taxes, using the term taxes to include taxes proper, licenses and fees, will, in the report on total taxes be taken, as $1 2,022,537 , divided as follows : Taxes $8,566,762 00 Licenses, as per County Reports 2,890,172 00 Bonus on Charters 243,832 00 Commission, Notaries Public 20,200 00 Erie Railroad Annuity 10,000 00 Fees, etc.... 291,561 00 $12,022,527 00 RECAPITULATION— Personal Corporation Personal and Corporations, Mixed - Governments COUNTY AND LOCAL TAXES- The basis of the statement regarding the local taxa ion of the State is the reports of the Secretary of In- ternal Affairs and of the Auditor General. The firs't is supposed to show all of the taxes collected by the several counties, cities, boroughs, townships, wards, precincts, school and poor districts and by all other taxing bodies in the commonwealth, except the State. This report also shows certain moneys collected by these local bodies on behalf of the State, and by them sent to the State Treasurer. The' report of the Auditor General is supposed to show the entire revenue of the State government, including not only that received directly by the State officers, but that collected by the counties on account of the State and forwarded to the State Treasurer. The amount of taxes shown by the reports from the several counties as collected by the counties and other local bodies, either on their own account or that of the State, was $37,377,866. (See Report of Secretary of In- ternal Affairs for 1891, Part II., pages B 303 and B 305.) The counties of Berks, Carbon, Luzerne, McKean, Mifflin, Schuylkill, Snyder and Tioga failed to make returns of taxes assessed, except those for county purposes and State tax on moneyed capital and vt hides. The Secretary of Internal Affairs estimates that if complete re- turns had been received from all counties, the total would probably have amounted to not far from $42,000,000. (Report A. 159.) That is, the total would have been 112.4 per cent, of the amount reported. The totals reported may be increased, therefore, some 12£ percent, to secure an approximately correct total. Assuming that the amount of taxes collected for local purposes is $42,000,000, less the county taxes, the State taxes on moneyed capital and the amount received from licenses, the $42,000,000 will be divided as follows : STATEMENT SHOWING THE TAXES PAID THE SEVERAL COUNTIES OF THE COMMON- WEALTH OF PENNSYLVANIA AND TO LOCAL GOVERNMENTS IN THE COUNTIES EITHER ON THEIR OWN ACCOUNT OR ON ACCOUNT OF THE STATE. County Tax $ 5,630,488 00 Local Taxes 31,730,891 00 State Taxes on Moneyed Capital and Vehicles..., 1,748,449 00 State Licenses (12% per cent, added to amount reported.) 2,890,172 00 $42,000,000 00 The first two amounts will be given as the totals of county and local taxes in the final statement of total taxes. From the table given on pages B 304 and B 305 of the Report of the Secretary of Internal Affairs, we have the following as to the sources and objects of this amount. We have added 12% per cent, to certain of the amounts given in the table to compensate for the missing counties. STATEMENT SHOWING THE SOURCES AND OBJECTS, IN PART, * OF TAXES COLLECTED BY COUNTIES AND LOCAL GOVERNMENTS. For Poor $ 2,182,492 00 Roads and Bridges v 7,561,762 00 Schools, not including State Appropriations 11,136,305 00 From Personal Property : 2,186,875 00 Occupations 941,616 00 Licenses 2,890,172 00 Real Estate, Railroads 665,961 00 Corporations 927,407 00 Other Sources and Objects 12,507,410 00 31 $42,000,000 00 TAXES PAID BY CERTAIN CORPORATIONS. As has been stated elsewhere the fact that there is no complete appraisal of the stock of corporations on file at Harrisburg, and will uot be uatil November, mikes our report on the taxition of corporations fragmentary and tentative. We have ascertained certain facts of interest which we give in this report. Final conclusions must be delayed until fuller information can be had. In the meantime some of the facts learned are of interest. The following table shows the relative taxation by State and local bodies, of certain corporations. Character of Company. N umber of Com- panies Reporting. State. County and Local. Total. Electric Light 3 $ 1 ,826 $ 139 $ 1,965 Express 2 7,080 5,082 12,162 Gas and Water 23 9,481 1,013 10,494 Limited Partnership 48 16,062 30,186 46,248 Mining, Manufacturing and Oil 326 125,093 515,709 640,802 Miscellaneous 486 536,124 480,775 1,016,899 Miscellaneous 10S 25,029 77,187 102,216 Telegraph, Telephone, etc 38 49,619 11,218 60,837 Turnpike Road, etc Street Railways 11 512 1,886 2,398 16 153,200 133,289 286,489 Total 1061 $924,026 $1,256,484 $2,180,510 That is, of the $2,180,510 taxes paid by those 1,061 companies, $1,256,484, or 58 per cent., was paid to county and local bodies, while but $924,026, or 42 per cent., was paid the State. No valuation of these companies has been secured; hence, no estimate as to millage of taxation could be made. TAXATION OF FIRE INSURANCE COMPANIES. According to the Nineteenth Pennsylvania Fire and Marine Insurance Report, 1891, (pages xxii and xxiii) the total taxes paid by the joi&t stock Fire and Fire Marine Insurance Companies of Pennsylvania, in 1891, was $407,386. There is no way to distinguish between taxes paid in Pennsylvania and those paid by these compa- nies in other states. These companies are taxed in Pennsylvania not only on gross premiums and capital stock, by the State, but on all real estate owned. The total value of property held by these companies is as follows : ACTUAL PROPERTY HELD BY JOINT STOCK FIRE INSURANCE COMPANIES OF PENNSYLVANIA. Real Estate $ 3,616,056 Loans on Bonds and Mortgages 13,151,017 Stocks and Bonds 17,534,148 Loans on Collateral 2,339,167 $36,640,388 This is all the property held, and it is listed at its full value as it goes to make up reserve and reinsurance fund. If all the taxes paid are based on this property the rate will be a little over 11 mills. TOTAL VALUE OF RAILROAD PROPERTY. In view of the meagerness of our returns regarding railroads at the time this report closes, we refer to the subject of the taxes paid by them w ith a good deal of hesitation. There seems to be no disinclination on the part of railroads to give information, only the delay incident to work of this character. The figures given are only tentative. It must be recalled that for many railroads we have no appraised valuation from Harrisburg, for reasons elsewhere pointed out, chiefly that railroads paying over 6 per cent, dividends are not required to make affidavit, so that our total valuation is an estimate subject to revision. We have received reports from railroads operating 4528 miles of road, in Pennsylvania, that is 38.7 per cent, of the total mileage of road in the State. These reports show as follows : STATEMENT OF TAXES, ETC., OF 4528 MILES OF RAILROAD IN PENNSYLVANIA. State Taxes— On Gross Earnings $ 267,737 Capital Stock 679,295 Funded Debt 173,719 $ 1,120,751 County Taxes 38,741 City, Township, Borough, etc 549,535 Total Taxes Paid...., $ 1,709,027 32 Assuming that the total value of the railroads in’Pennsylvania is $800,000,000 and that the value of the 4,528 miles bears the same proportion to the total value, that this mi eage does to the total mileage, that is 38.7 per cent., the value of this 4528 miles would be $309,600 000. This would make the millage 5£ mills. It must be distinctly understood that it is not asserted that this is the rate of taxation, as the information at hand justifies no such assertion. With the information that will be available after November, more satisfac- tory conclusions can be drawn. VALUATION AND TAXATION BY TOWNSHIPS, BOROUGHS AND CITIES. In view of the fact that the reports of assessments, taxation, etc , for 1892, were not available, a hasty analysis of the figures of 1891, as given in the Report of the Secretary of Internal Affairs for that year has been made in order to show the valuation and taxation by classes in townsh ps, boroughs and cities. This has involved many thousands of calculations and in all cases the totals do not agree with the totals given in the report from which the figures were derived. As the differences will not materially alter any calculation based on the figures, it has not been thought best to delay the report. One or two facts should be borne in mind in considering these statements. In the first place several counties made no returns of taxes, while all counties gave assessments. For this reason the millage shown will be a little less than the full return of taxes paid would show. Again, in the case of some counties that have made returns, the report is not complete as to the taxes of the minor local divisions, and this again will slightly increase the millage. It must be distinctly understood that these calculations are not final, and that in all probability, 1892 returns will show somewhat ditierent results. The total valuation of all property assessed in the Commonwealth, arranged by classes of property, and by townships, boroughs and cities, is as follows : A-TOTAL ASSESSED VALUATION OF PROPERTY IN PENNSYLVANIA IN 1891. AS RETURNED TO THE SECRETARY OF STATE, CLASSIFIED BY TOWNSHIPS, BOROUGHS AND CITIES. Township. Borough. City. Total. Total Value Taxable Real Estate Total Value Live Stock Taxable Total Value Occupation, etc Total Taxable for County and Local Purposes Money at Interest, etc Value Vehicles for Hire Total Taxable for State Purposes Total Taxable by Counties and Local Bodies for State, County and Local Pui poses $795,926,769 35,423,469 20,074,330 $236,724,089 3,723,740 25,170,299 $1,071,133,345 5,722,277 24,067,625 $2,103,784,203 44,869,486 69,312,254 $351,424,568 124,540,219 42,120 $215,618,128 81,880,700 245,556 $1,100,923,247 374,017,303 347,701 $2,217,965,943 580,438,222 635,377 $124,582,339 $976,006,907 $82,126,256 $347,744,384 $374,365,004 $1,475,288,251 $581,073,599 $2,799,039,542 Of the total valuation of all property taxable for county and local purposes amounting to $2,217,965,943, $2,103,784,203 or 95 per cent, is real estate, $44,869,486 or 2 per cent, live stock, and $69,312,254 or 3 per cent, occupation. 37.8 per cent, of the real estate in townships, 11.2 per cent, in boroughs and 51 per cent, in cities. Of the total of $2,217,965,943, the value of township property was $851,424,568 or 38 per cent., of borough $265,618,128 or 12 percent., of cities, $1,100,923,247 or 50 per cent. Of the total value $581,073,599 moneys and vehicles, $124,582,339 or 22 per cent, was in townships, $82,126,256 or 14 per cent, in boroughs, and $374,365,004 or 64 per cent, in cities. Of the total value of property assessed, amounting to $2,799,039,542, the sum of $976,006,907 or 35 per cent, was in townships, $347,744,384 or 12 per cent, in boroughs, and $1,475,288,251 or 53 per cent, in cities. The total taxes paid as shown in the following table was $38,249,447. Regarding this amount, the state- ment made above as to its imperfections must be remembered and this includes all the taxes collected by the County or Local Bodies whether on their own or the State account, but does not include any State taxes collected directly by the State. B.— TOTAL TAXES PAID TO COUNTYjOR LOCAL GOVERNMENTS IN PENNSYLVANIA IN 1891 EITHER ON AN ACCOUNT OR ACCOUNT OF STATES, AS SHOWN IN REPORT OF SECRETARY OF STATE. Township. Borough. City. Total. For State County Poor Road School Real Estate, Railroads Other Corporations On Personal Property Occupations Licenses *Total for all Purposes $ 384,907 3,379,319 709,486 3,177,331 3,080,655 64,330 251,988 672,957 411,643 108,699 $ 271,062 1,046,835 344,896 1,376,938 1,613,229 45,906 224,379 258,270 328,334 305,068 $1,117,321 1,405,296 1,034,158 1,689,099 5,623,109 480,966 347,994 1,042,664 154,304 1,975,168 $1,773,290 5,831,450 2,088,540 6,243,368 10,316,993 591,202 824,361 1,973,891 894,281 2,388,935 $10,076,374 $4,814,056 $23,359,017 $38,249,447 ♦These are not the totals of the items given above, but the total taxes. 33 Of the $38,240,449 taxes paid, $10,076,374. or 26.3 per cent., were paid in townships, $4,814,056, or 12.6 per cent., in boroughs, and $23,359,017, or 61.1 per cent., in cities. The only taxes reported in the above table that are not taxes on some kind of property are license: Deducting the amounts paid on licenses, township taxes would be $9,967 675, boroughs $4,503,918, cities $21,383,851, and total $35 86u 51 2. On the basis of these figures as taxes collected, and the totals given in Table A above, the millage in townships would be 10.2 mills ; in boroughs 13 mills, and in cities 14 mills and total on all property 13.4 mills. PART III EXEMPTED PROPERTY. I ! P , , ' , . / * T> x*.. ' °*’l V -0 In view of the fact that we have given in detail in Part II. all the classes of property that are taxed, i seems hardly necessary to give here any detailed statement as to classes that are either exempted or not taxed. The only classes of property that can, under the constitution, be exempted by law from all taxation an “ public property used for public purposes, actual places of religious worship, places of burial not used or held fo private or corporate profit, and institutions of a purely public charity.” The total estimated value of these classes of property exempt from taxation as given in Table IV. 1 $300,479,621. In addition to the real estate actually exempted from taxation by statute, there is a very large amount o property, chiefly personal, that is exempt from all taxations by reason of a failure of the legislature to enact law for its taxation, while there are larger classes of property that are taxed by the state and not by county or loca bodies and vice versa. Broadly speaking all personal property is exempt from taxation except moneyed capital, represented b} stocks, bonds, etc., collateral inheritances, and passenger vehicles for hire, which are taxed by the State, an horses, mules and cattle over 4 years of age, and in some cases vehicles and dogs, which are taxed by the corn ties and local authorities. Real estate is exempt from all State taxes, but pays county and local taxes, except that named above < being exempt under Constitutional provisions and laws passed in accordance with the same, and except furthe the real estate necessary to the franchises of certain corporations which are exempt from local taxation by reaso of paying State taxes on their stock, etc. Corporations, except those engaged wholly in manufacturing, that do not enjoy the right of eminen domain, usually pay taxes as corporations to the State and pay no taxes as corporations to counties or loca bodies. In some instances no tax is paid on real estate, while in others the counties and local bodies tax th real estate of corporations. There were $1,416,329 of taxes Collected in 1891 from the real estate of railroad; and other corporations by these local bodies. Theoretically, all real estate is taxed except that of public, educational, religious and benevolent institutions and no personal property is assessed except moneyed capital, collateral inheritances, vehicles for hire, horses mules and cattl^over 4 years of age, and dogs. Should tods investigation be continued and a more detailed statement be desired as to exemptions of cer tain classes of property for certain taxes, it can be secured. 34