22 THE FISCAL PROBLEM IN MISSOURI 
a period of years provide a better basis for interpretation 
than do the data for individual years, since there are ordi- 
narily considerable variations from year to year. Considera- 
tion of the variations in the several states over a period of 
years might be valuable, but the summary data are to be pre- 
ferred for the present purposes. 
Table 6 shows that for the six-year period only Illinois 
expended a larger amount for highways than did Missouri. 
On the other hand, expenditures for education in five states 
exceeded those in Missouri! These five states and Iowa 
each expended a larger sum for social welfare. Missouri 
ranked fifth in expenditures for protection, fourth in those for 
general government, and seventh in those for economic de- 
velopment. 
The data in Table 6 form the basis for the derivative data 
in Table 7. This table shows that for the six-year period 
highways accounted for 47.39, of the net total expenditures 
of Missouri, a larger proportion than in any other state in 
the group. Likewise, the proportion of total capital ex- 
penditures attributable to highways was not exceeded by 
any state, and reference to Table 6 indicates that the pro- 
portion of highway expenditures for capital purposes was 
larger in Missouri than in any other state except Illinois. 
The predominance of highway expenditures in Missouri 
fiscal affairs during the period in question, which has been 
noted previously, is thus exhibited in a striking way by the 
comparative statistics of expenditures in Missouri and in 
other states. The figures indicate clearly that Missouri’s 
expenditures for highways, particularly those for capital pur- 
poses, were unusually large. 
The proportion of total Missouri expenditures assignable 
to the other functions, considered as a group, was smaller 
than in any other state, in consequence of the high proportion 
of highway expenditures in Missouri. One comparison that 
can be made may be significant. In relation to net total state 
expenditures, Missouri’s expenditures for social welfare were 
smaller than those of 8 other states? in the group, while 
Missouri’s capital expenditures for this purpose were rela- 
1 Minnesota, Illinois, Indiana, Ohio, and Wisconsin. 
2 Only Kansas. Arkansas, and Kentucky show a smaller proportion than Missouri.