These diagrams represent exactly the truth of the conclusion: “Seven-eighths of the families of this nation held but one-eighth of the national wealth;[[20]] or seven-eighths of the nation’s wealth was held by but one-eighth of the families.
The table on the next page illustrates some of the details of the above conclusion.
The upper division of that table presents the distribution of wealth among the families, where the two “per family” averages indicate |FAMILIES.| a difference in the worth of more than 11-million families that held $732 each, and the worth of little over 1½-million families that held $35,875 each. So that, each family of the latter group was worth as much as 49 families of the former. While the general average of $5,125 shows that, if the national wealth had been equally distributed among all families, every one of them would have had this average amount as its own.
| Proportions of | Number of families in groups. | Proportions of | Aggregate wealth per group, in dollars. | Average wealth per family. |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 7/8 | 11,103,883 | 1/8 | 8,129,636,399 | $ 732 |
| 1/8 | 1,586,269 | 7/8 | 56,907,454,798 | 35,875 |
| 8/8 | 12,690,152 | 8/8 | 65,037,091,197 | 5,125 |
| Number of individuals. | Wealth—the same in dollars. | Wealth per head. | ||
| 7/8 | 54,794,468 | 1/8 | 8,129,636,399 | $ 148 |
| 1/8 | 7,827,782 | 7/8 | 56,907,454,798 | 7,269 |
| 8/8 | 62,622,250 | 8/8 | 65,037,091,197 | 1,036 |
The lower division of the table represents the same amounts of national wealth, the same population, only individually considered; and both the wealth and the population |INDIVIDUALS.| were divided into eight parts each, in order to carry out the proportions between numbers of the individuals and the wealth they possessed. The result in this division is that 7,827,782 individuals have had an average wealth of $7,269 each man, woman and child, and 54,794,468 individuals had but $148 worth of wealth to every head.[[21]] The difference between the worth of one person of the one group, and one person of the other group, is $7,121 in favor of the rich person. And that, again, one person of the wealthy class, on an average, is worth more than 49 persons of the poor class.
But the most astounding fact is that we have over 54½-million inhabitants of this poverty-stricken class, and we have only a |NUMBERS NEAREST TO THE TRUE ONES.| little more than 7½-million inhabitants of the wealth-swollen class. So that, these 54½-million individuals appear to be totally dependent upon the mercies and motions of 7½-million persons who are steadily growing richer and decreasing in numbers, while the poor are growing poorer and rapidly increasing in numbers. For such has been the growth of economic slavery that the above millions have to combat with.
Besides all this, we have seen the statistical conclusion that, “Less than half the families in America are propertyless,” which certainly |THE PROPERTYLESS FAMILIES APPEAR LITTLE BETTER OFF.| means, that these propertyless families must be found included among the 54-millions of the poor. So that the present average wealth of these millions, which is $148 per every head, was made of the wealth of the upper classes, which average was not at all possessed by the poor. The economic conditions of the poor must be still worse than Table III represents them. But we shall find this out in the next chapter; while the conclusion that, “1 per cent of the families hold more wealth than the remaining 99 per cent of them,” nearly corresponds with the conclusion of Mr. Shearman, as represented on pp. [12] and [13].
CHAPTER II.
STATISTICS OF WEALTH OWNERS.
In the preceding chapter, we have dealt with ready-made conclusions of different statistical authorities, which, by the way of |RESULTS OF THE FIRST CHAPTER.| analysis, revealed to us, that 32,563,644 persons[[22]] of the population had on an average $99 worth of wealth, according to Mr. G. Holmes; that 55,984,298 persons[[23]] had on an average $209 worth of wealth, according to Mr. Thos. Shearman; and that 54,794,468 persons[[24]] out of 62,622,250 inhabitants, with $65,037,091,197 worth of wealth, had on an average $148 worth of wealth apiece, according to Dr. Spahr.
These differences in conclusions indicate that the national wealth is very strongly concentrated with a few persons, and that in order |WEALTH IN THE HANDS OF FEW.| to obtain the nominal average of $148 worth of wealth to every poor person, one has to move the line of division of wealth so far up toward the wealthy few as to include nearly all the people among the masses of the poor. While, without this unfair moving of the line, more than 30-millions of the population would have no real wealth at all. For $56,907,454,798 worth of the wealth actually belongs to one-eighth of the population, or to 7,827,782 individuals, including men, women and children. And among these, we are told, “1 per cent of the population held more wealth than the remaining 99 per cent held together.”[[25]] So that the day is not far off when these 99 per cent of the people shall absolutely depend upon the 1 per cent of the rich and far reaching.