Page:Walter Renton Ingalls - Wealth and Income of the American People (1924).pdf/99

Rh circumstances is usually very small indeed, for a large part of the cost of any property is represented by the labor that has been put into its construction and never can be recovered.

I have attempted to make comparative inventories of the national wealth at the ends of 1916 and 1920 according to the above principles. I have not been able to conform to them absolutely, for in many cases it has been necessary to make use of the only available data without looking very closely into the matter of its validity. I had previously, in an economic study published in the Annalist of Sept. 13, 20 and 27, 1920, made such an estimate for 1916. This afforded a basis for the present investigation, as a result of which many of the figures previously given for 1916 have been revised. In computing values for 1920 I have conformed to the hypothesis that pre-war figures are the only safe bases for present calculations, unless there be positive indications that higher or lower figures will obtain for sound economic reasons. Thus, the value of ships is computed at a lower figure per ton than prevailed previous to the war, for the reason that there is now a great surplus of ships and market prices are lower on that account and probably will so continue for a long time. On the other hand agricultural land is becoming increasingly scarce and its value per acre is enhancing by virtue of scarcity. In the main I think that my estimates have eliminated most of the influences of inflation, but there are some figures that are open to suspicion. Following the summarized tabulation there are discussions showing in detail how the several figures were determined and illuminating some of the main industrial features.