City Debts

One result of the high surtaxes on incomes has been the demand for tax-exempt municipal bonds. That politicians have ably satisfied this want is shown by the constantly growing debt of our cities.

The eleven American cities of over 500,000 population owe the following sums: New York, $1,330,732,039; Chicago, $122,435,900; Philadelphia, $263,796,000; Detroit, $140,163,430; Cleveland, $136,480,932; Boston, $124,891,151; Baltimore, $119,991,060; Pittsburgh, $59,993,400; Los Angeles, $110,347,229; Buffalo, $56,850,581; San Francisco, $68,538,600.

The proportion borne by these city debts to the population shown by the per capita debt figures, gives an idea of the comparative expensiveness of different city administrations. New York leads with a per capita debt of $193.46, followed by Los Angeles with $178.51; Cleveland $147.72; San Francisco $130.29; Detroit, $128.28; Baltimore $116.85; Philadelphia $110.63; Boston $109.77; Buffalo $101.51; Pittsburgh $95.10; Chicago $45.32.

Two features of these city debts are often overlooked: first, the larger the per capita debt the higher rents are bound to be; and second, all the inhabitants of each city must thus pay interest and sometimes sinking-fund charges upon them: