The Brutal Statistics of Poverty in 1880
A report in the Seattle Daily Intelligence uses cold, hard data to argue that the 'reproduction of capital'—human life—is threatened by the crushing weight of poverty and labor conditions.
The story, cleaned up
A cleaned-up reading of the newspaper page: spelling and layout repaired, one story lifted off a crowded page. It follows the original closely but it is not a transcription. The original page is below; read it if a detail matters.
A local paper condenses the following facts from a book of statistics by Baron G.P. Kolb: The general condition of the masses of a nation is the most valuable element in natural progress or degeneracy, and Baron Kolb shows that the reproductive capital existing in the living generation far exceeds the value of all other capital. Every needless impediment to the development of this capital and anything which tends to deteriorate the bodily condition of the population is proved to be a squandering of the nation's wealth. The influence of prosperity or poverty on mortality is also shown by Baron Kolb. Taking 1000 well-to-do persons and another 1000 of poor persons—after five years there have remained alive of the prosperous 943; of the poor only 655. After fifty years there remained of the prosperous 557; of the poor 283; at seventy years of age there remained 235 of the prosperous, and of the poor 69. The average length of life among the well-to-do was 50 years, and among the poor 32 years. The effects of professions and trades on mortality are great, the term of life varying from 65 years and 11 months for clergymen to 40 years and 10 months for lithographers and copper engravers. In England the duration of life has been found most defective among the steel workers, polishers and grinders; and next to these the collier's life is least secure, owing greatly, no doubt, to the occurrence of accidents in the mines.
“Every needless impediment to the development of this capital and anything which tends to deteriorate the bodily condition of the population is proved to be a squandering of the nation's wealth.”
This 1880 report on the 'social determinants of health' feels startlingly modern, echoing current research on how income inequality directly correlates with life expectancy. While the data sources have shifted from Baron Kolb to public health agencies, the fundamental struggle remains the same: the high cost of basic subsistence continues to dictate the length and quality of a person's life in Seattle.
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