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.