LETTER OF TRANSMITTAL. SIR: DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE AND LABOR, BUREAU OF THE CENSUS, Washington, D. C., February 11, 1910. I have the honor to transmit herewith the annual report on statistics of cities having a population of over 30,000 in 1907, this being the sixth annual report on this subject prepared by the Bureau of the Census. The statistical tables contained in this report show in detail the financial transactions of the municipal governments, their indebtedness and assets, and the assessed valuation of taxed property. The statistics on financial transactions are analyzed and so presented as to show the costs of conducting the city's business both for the whole city and for its important departments, the revenue collected and debt incurred for meeting these costs, and such other transactions as are of interest to students of municipal affairs. The extension of municipal activities and the rapid increase in the cost of city government make these statistics of great importance at the present time. Accompanying the financial statistics, the report presents a thorough discussion of accounting terminology with the hope that the continued consideration of this important subject may lead to greater uniformity in the use of technical financial terms. An appendix to the main portion of the report contains a suggested uniform system of accounting for water-supply systems. The desirability of uniform accounts for these important municipal enterprises is being recognized by an increasing number of public officials. Material assistance in the preparation of the proposed accounts for water-supply systems was rendered by Mr. Albert H. Wehr, vice-president of the Baltimore County Water and Electric Company. In addition to the financial statistics which have been presented annually, this report contains a large amount of data on the number of employees and on the equipment of the more important city departments, and on sewers, streets, and other public improvements. Statistics on these subjects have been published every second year. For this report Dr. Moses N. Baker, associate editor of the Engineering News, has prepared a discussion of the economic and sanitary supervision of city milk supplies, together with an analysis of the data on milk inspection collected by the agents of the Bureau of the Census. This report was prepared under the direction of Mr. Le Grand Powers, chief statistician in charge of the compilation of statistics of cities. Acknowledgment is made of the efficient work performed by Mr. Hart Momsen, former chief of division; Mr. H. P. Childers, in charge of the office review of schedules; Mr. E. H. Maling, in charge of analysis of tables and text work; and Mr. C. H. Wright, in charge of tabulation. HAVING_A_POPULATION Statistics of CITIES HAVING A POPULATION OF OVER 30,000: 1907. FINANCIAL STATISTICS. ORD LIB INTRODUCTION. Objects of the census investigation. In its financial statistics of cities, the Bureau of the Census seeks to present in a comparable form the following data relating to the financial transactions and conditions of municipalities: The total and per capita costs of government and the similar costs of maintaining specified public services, such as those furnished by the schools, or by the police or fire department; the total costs of constructing and maintaining sewers, streets, etc., and the average costs per standard unit of work performed; the total and per capita revenue derived. from all sources and from each specified source; and the proportion of the total revenue derived from each source, and of the total expenditures made for each object or purpose. Differences in local governmental organizations.-To attain the objects mentioned, consideration must be given to the great differences which exist in the organization of American cities for purposes of local selfgovernment. In some cities, practically all municipal activities are administered by a city government having one executive head and a single set of financial officers, the various departments of municipal activity in such cases being subject to one control or supervision and all persons engaged therein receiving their compensation through the same channel. In other cities, the administration of municipal functions is distributed among a number of more or less independent but correlated branches or bodies, of which the one performing the most important functions is usually spoken of as the city corporation. The activities of this "city corporation," however, do not include all public activities that may properly be said to belong to the government of the city, or of the community constituting the city; its payments do not include all payments authorized by the citizens for the purpose of securing exclusive benefits for the people of the city and at their sole expense; its debts do not include all public obligations for which the citizens are responsible; and its receipts do not include all receipts derived from municipal activities within the city limits. The government of the city-that is, of the community constituting the city-for which data must be obtained in order to compile comparable statistics of financial transactions and conditions, is not limited to the "city corporation," as above described, but includes all corporations, organizations, commissions, boards, and other authorities through which the people of the city exercise any privilege of local self-government, or by reason of which they enjoy the exclusive benefits of any governmental function. The Census financial statistics of cities accordingly include data. obtained from all the organizations and authorities mentioned. General and departmental accounts of governments.— The accounts of American states and of the "city corporation" of the larger municipalities are readily separable into two groups: (1) The accounts kept by the general fiscal officers, such as those called treasurers, auditors, or comptrollers, for the state or city as a whole; and (2) those kept by the executive officers of the several divisions of the government for their departments, bureaus, or offices. The accounts last mentioned differ radically from those kept by the fiscal officers first referred to, and no description of or statement concerning accounts belonging to the first group is applicable to those included in the second; hence in any discussion of governmental accounts the two groups should be carefully differentiated, and statements concerning governmental accounts should specifically set forth the group to which reference is made. To facilitate this differentiation accounts kept by the treasurer, auditor, or comptroller for the state or city as a whole are here called general accounts, and those kept solely for or by individual departments, bureaus, or offices are called departmental accounts. Accounts of proprietors and trustees.-The accounts ordinarily used in private business at the present time are of two distinct types, according to the nature of (11) |