fore, we have asked our research department, the director of which has appeared here before, to answer by charts any questions which you might wish to ask further on this specific question.

I will ask Mr. Norton to speak to you now.

STATEMENT OF MR. JOHN K. NORTON, DIRECTOR OF RESEARCH, NATIONAL EDUCATIONAL ASSOCIATION, WASHINGTON, D. C.

Mr. NORTON. Mr. Chairman, very recently there has come out the census of wealth.

Mr. ROBSION. You appeared before the committee sometime ago? Mr. NORTON. Yes, sir. At the time I appeared before, the census of wealth was not available. That census has been completed, and we are now able to answer some of the questions that have been in your minds with definite facts and figures based upon the census of wealth. You will remember that I used an estimate of the national income in measuring the States' ability to pay, and I stated at the time that the census of wealth would be in substantial agreement with the facts brought out by using the income figures. That state: ment is verified by the tables which I will distribute at the present time, so that each of you may have a copy, and I will also file one

for use in the record.

(The statement referred to is as follows:)

1 Statistics for 1923.

Mr. NORTON. This table is headed, "Total and per capita wealth, income, and expenditures for public education by States," and it gives the basic data needed in answering a number of very important questions. We have been asked about educational expenditures by States and the ability of the States to pay for education, and, also, the relationship between a State's wealth and the expenditures that it will make for education. I might reduce all of those questions down to this important one: First, are there striking differences in wealth per capita in the various States? In answering that question. let us refer to the third column of this statement which shows the wealth per capita of all the States of the Union according to the 1922 Census. You will see that the wealth per capita for the United States according to the 1922 census is $2,977. That is for the United States as a whole. Then the table gives the per capita wealth of the varoius States named. as, for example, Alabama, $1,278; for Arizona, $3,933: for Arkansas, $1,484,; for California, $4,386, etc. There you have the wealth figures that were not available when I appeared a month or two ago. Then I have also included the income figures which I used at that time, so that you may have the per capita income. I might say at this point that "wealth" covers material wealth, or the value of all tangible property located within continental United States. Then we have in the seventh column the expenditures for education per capita in the various States, and then we have each State's rank in per capita wealth, per capita income, and per capita expenditures for education. The striking thing that this table reveals is the close relationship between a State's wealth and income and the provision which it makes for its children in the way of education. Suppose we begin with Alabama: Looking at the last three columns, you will notice that Alabama is forty-eighth in wealth among the States in the Union, forty-ninth in income per capita, and forty-sixth in its per capita expenditures for education.

Mr. TUCKER. How did you get the forty-ninth State?

Mr. NORTON. By including the District of Columbia as one of the divisions, since we are dealing with continental United States.

The State of Arizona is ninth in wealth, twenty-first in per capita income, and thirteenth in expenditures for education.

The State of Arkansas is forty-fourth in per capita wealth, fortysixth in per capita income, and forty-eighth in expenditures for

education.

The State of California is fourth in per capita wealth, fourth in per capita income, and first in expenditures for education. If you will run down the column you will find that these States are representative. In short, the wealth which a State possesses has a close relationship to the provision which is made for the education of the children of that State.

Mr. ROBSION. For several years I have been observing these comparative statements which have been put out in reference to the standing of various States in educational matters, and I invariably find as many different statements of figures as there are States themselves. I was wondering why there is that discrepancy, and I should like to know upon what this statement is predicated, so that we will know whether or not we have the right thing now.

Mr. NORTON. That is explained at the bottom of the sheet, where it says:

Estimated value of national wealth, 1922, United States Department of Com merce, Bureau of Census release. "The estimates cover the material wealth of value of tangible property located within the limits of continental United States." (The above estimates do not include the value of vessels of the United States Navy and merchant marine.)

Mr. BLACK. How do you arrive at a per capita income; that is, an average per capita income in the United States, of $627 against an average per capita wealth of $2,977?

Mr. NORTON. Wealth. according to the census, covers material wealth or value of tangible property located within the limits of continental United States. Annual income, on the other hand, consists of commodities or services produced by the people of the country in any one year. Or, to make it plainer, suppose a man has a business; the value of the physical property he uses, the equipment, the machinery, etc., is wealth. At the end of the year, when he balances his books and finds out he is so much ahead, that is income. In other words, wealth is the result of the work of many years; income is the result of the work of one year.

Mr. BLACK. Wealth is a proposition involving things like building material, and income includes what that produces, as well as what the personal element produces?

Mr. NORTON. Yes.

Mr. BLACK. The figure you have named for income is greater than the income on a 6 per cent basis would be on the average per capita wealth you have named.

Mr. NORTON. Yes.

Mr. BLACK. I was wondering how an average per capita wealth of $2,977 would produce an average per capita income of $627. Mr. HOLADAY. There is a man's labor in there, too.

Mr. BLACK. I think he said he included that in the income.

Mr. NORTON. I will continue answering your question, Mr. Robsion. I explained about the wealth figures.

Mr. TUCKER. In column three, Wealth per capita," 2977; is that $29.77, or $2,977?

Mr. NORTON. That is $2,977, as it stands.

Mr. TUCKER. And the income per capita is $627?

Mr. NORTON. Yes, sir. Those figures are from a publication entitled "Distribution of Income by States, issued by the National Bureau of Economic Research, of New York." The source is given at the bottom of the table. That is the most authoritative estimate yet made of the income of the country and it is vouched for by such leading economists as Mitchell, King, and others.

Mr. ROBSION. How do you explain this item: I notice, for instance, that Nevada is first in wealth and twelfth in expenditures for education. That seems to be a very wide discrepancy.

Mr. NORTON. Nevada has very much more wealth per capita than any other State--you are referring to the two positions in rank of Nevada?

Mr. ROBSION. Yes.

Mr. NORTON. There is a slight discrepancy there, to be sure, but you would not expect them to run absolutely true to form in every case. It is probably the result of several factors. The fact that