living would, other things equal, justify a measure of increased per capita cost.
The treasury statistics of public expenditures in Oregon show the following averages of per capita cost during the first four decades and the first six years of the last decade:[1]
| '60-'70 | '70-'80 | '80-'90 | 90-'00 | '00-'06 |
| $1.63 | $2.52 | $2.32 | $2.57 | $2.92 |
Expenditures and Wealth.—Comparisons similar to the above, in which statistics of population and state expenditures are used, may be made by taking the property valuations and the public expenditures. Since throughout nearly the whole period of statehood the almost exclusive source of state revenues was the general property tax, the state levies from year to year indicate how the state's needs grew in comparison to the growth of wealth.
These tax levies for state purposes were as follows:
| Year. | Mills. | Year. | Mills. | Year. | Mills. |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1858 | 1 | 1875 | 5 1/2 | 1892 | 5 |
| 1859 | 2 | 1876 | 5 1/2 | 1893 | 7 |
i860. . . .2 1877. ...,7 1894. . . •4 3/10 1861.. . .2 1878. ...7 1895... •3 1862. . . .2 1879. ...7 1896. . . •4 3/io 1863.. •3 1880. ...7 1897... •4 1864. . •3 1881. ••5 1/2 1898. .. •3 1/2 1865.. ••5 1/2 1882. . ••5 1/2 1899... •5 7/io 1866. . ••5 i/ 2 1883. ..5 6/10 1900. . . .6 3/10 1867.. . .5 1/2 1884. . . .4 6/10 1901 . . . •5 7/io 1868. . . .5 1/2 1885. . ••3 7/IO 1902. . . .6 51/100 1869. . ••5 1/2 1886. . ..3 1/10 1903... .5 13/100 1870. . ••5 1/2 1887.. . .2 1/20 1904. . . .7 6/100 1871 . . ••5 1/2 1888. . ••5 i/5 1905. .. •5 45/ioo 1872. . ••5 1/2 1889. ..4 1906. . . .2 21/1000 1873. • ..5 1/2 1890. ..6 1907. . . . 2 4/10 1874. . .♦5 1/2 1891. . .-4 12/35
- ↑ In securing these per capita averages of state expenditures the annual distribution of the income from the different trust funds was not taken into account. These annual distributions, beginning with the first in 1872, have grown from about $40,000 to more than $250,000. Included with the expenditures from the other sources the per capita expenditure series would then show a slightly accentuated tendency to increase.
