APPENDIX B 
SOURCES AND METHODS 
The sources of the data used in compiling the statistical tables 
presented in this study have been indicated in the tables. It is, 
therefore, unnecessary to list in this Appendix the various sources 
used. However, there are a number of matters concerning which 
a more detailed explanation is desirable than could conveniently 
be included in the text of the study or in footnotes to the statistical 
tables. 
In compiling expenditures data for state and local governments, 
the classifications used by the United States Bureau of the Census 
have been used, with a few important exceptions. Corrections are 
included under protection in this study, as are expenditures for the 
relief of soldiers and sailors, policemen, and firemen. However, it 
was not possible to make any change in the Census data for 1913, 
and the amounts shown for protection, social welfare, and miscel- 
laneous for that year in Tables 2, 10, 12, 13, 14, and 15 are not com- 
parable to the data for 1918 and later years. The net totals in 
these tables, however, are entirely comparable. 
It should be noted that in compiling the data inTable3 and other 
tables in Chapter I that deal with state expenditures, expenditures 
for public utilities are included under net expenditures, while in the 
tables in which data for cities over 30,000 are presented, public 
utility expenditures are excluded from net expenditures. In pre- 
vious studies the Conference Board has followed the latter practice. 
However, in the present instance it was found that no public utility 
expenditures were reported for the state of Missouri for any of the 
years for which data are presented and that the amounts reported 
for other states used in this study for comparative purposes were 
of negligible importance. Public utility expenditures were reported 
for only four of the eleven comparable states, as may be seen in 
Table 6, and for only one of the four states did public utility ex- 
penditures amount to more than 1% of the net total for the period 
1923-1928. It was therefore immaterial whether state expendi- 
tures for this function were included or excluded in compiling the 
net total, and it was decided to include them, thereby making it 
necessary to compile only one additional comparative table, that 
for interest payments, which is included in Chapter II, in order to 
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