Lewisburg chronicle. [volume] (Lewisburg, Pa.) 1850-1859, 1853-01-07
The Census-The Race.


?, The Report Of the Superintendent of IL
Census is beyond comparison the most in
!, portant Of the late official documents.
,,1 is literally Of Uital importance, since, III
re like the others, which deal with modes
r administration alone, it has to do with ii
J. very ritai elements of the nation. 1t NJ
r merely sets forth the amount of the popr
;. lotion, which Was the sole object of tn
! ancieut census, but analyzes the bloc
which flows in its veins, and lays bare i,
> whole physical, moral, and intellectus
! stamina to the inspection of the world
1t exhibits not only "the limbs, the sin
ews, the stature, bulk, aud big assem-
blancc" Of the nation, but uumistakeabl
reveals its esprit" also. 1t is q work t.
interest not the statist" or the student o
social economies alone; it has its instruc
ton aud significance for every thoughtful
mind. though Il rotation rather than al
went, i marks an rpoch in the life of til.
nation. Ii not only accumuiaies aud clas
+ f. ox,sting facts, BAT furhi hes the out,
slse ..oanJs f'r ppi:;ics! prophecy Ii
answers not only the momcntous question
! Hho; are sce ? but also that other INQUIRY
Of far Mis!.tier coucernment, WAither ore
ace t-mi'nyP
! Talk as We like about the universal
identity Of human nature, and the success
slvc rise and fall of nations in the past
speculate as we please upon the relative
merits Of different types Of civilization
nay, denounce as We may the ,nateriaiizing
tendencies and the subtle, malignant inAu-
ences OF modern progress--recall to mind
that in days Of yore there were greater
intellec:s, greater achievements in reasou-
ing, in eloqucnce, in poetry, and in art,
greater personal strength, greater energy
IN government, more devoted loyalty in
the governed, and grander displays of na-
'ouai and individual hcroism-and yet the
fact remains indisputable that there are
social f"rccs now in operation such as the
world has peScr before seen since its birth
from chaos. This planet of ours is now six
thousand years old, and, without the least
risk Of exaggeration, it may be affirmed
that no public document exists, or ever
has existed, in its archives Of such vast
10 regard to its future destinies
as the census of the United States of
America made in the year of our Lord
one thousand eight hundred and fifty.
Never before has such record been made
Of things thr. are and are to be- This
nar!un, wonderful as has been its past
progress, never before exhibited such de- /,
cennial increase of population, either abso-
lutely or proportionately aud no other na-
ton, either modern or ancient, ever expe-
rienced anything approaching to it. The
Roman empire was the most extensive and
pcpulous in the third century after the
Christian era. Its subjects at that time,
as estimated by Gibbon, uhe computation
is probably far too high, was one hundred
md twenty millions. Yet for two centu-
les preceding, the increase of the popula-
ion of Italy, Spain, and Portugal was,
to the most reliable data, only
'bout twenty-five or thirty per cent each
,un0red gears our increase during the
asst ten years was nearly thirty-sevcn per
'ent. Our decennial increase is three
lines as great as was the centennial in
rcase Of the European population at any
line prior to the crusades of the twelfth
o the middle Of the eighteenth century
italy has not much larger population
low than it had in the days Of the elder
Pliny, Spain has positively less popula-
ion than it had fifteen hundred years ago,
nd scarcely more than it had three hun
lrcd years ago. France has not FIVE times
IS many as it had in the days Of Julius
'a>ar, OF three times as many as it had
u rhe re,cu Of Francis First England
lrrsc;f Notwithstanding her wonderful de-
;"' ,pmgU; sirce the reformation. is not
oar times aorc popu!ous than it was in
he reign of Heury the Eighth. What
altos are these to G. 'mpare with our growth
luring the last ten years, or any ten years
ince our existence as nation?
Our vast increase is not to be mainly
attributed to the accretion of foreign pop
,latiop. The exteut of the foreign ele-
neat is greatly overrated. Of our entire
population of 23,347,ss4, only 2,210,O2S
we've born in foreign countries. Unless
,ficial figures lie, it can not be denied tha.
,1r increase is to be ascribed chiefly to the
productive and expansive energies of the
Anglo-Saxon stock of this continent-
the same agency that impelled US
30 rapidly forward in our earlier history,
when immigration was comparatively un-
,nown. From 1912 to 1921, according to
official documents printed by the House of
Commons the cptirc emior,t;op fro,, tho |