The Jackson standard. [volume] (Jackson C.H., Ohio) 1847-1888, 1854-05-11
PoPULOTsNEss or CuINA.

"''"iSi VI VIZ IlIIHus L MS COMES iron
) adopting without sufficient examination 0
( the census Of 1879, which makes th,
! population to be 3G2,OOO,000. Accor
ding to this same census, the province o
, hlang-su has, on an area, Of Al ,5OC
square miles, population Of 80, 100000
wanting fraction--tbat is $50 TO a squar,
mile. The same density Of population
would give to Illinois the enormous mum
; Der 44,O00,000, and to France 17G, 900,
900. Virginia, which is certainly not sur
passed in fertility by China, taken as {
whole would, at the same rate have 50,
OOO,000! Can any one believe in sucl
astonishing populousness? From A. D
/ 1893 to the present time there are more
than a dozen censuses referred to in Chi.
ma authorities, the lowest Of which makes
the population only 100000, while
the highest goes up to $4,000, ,OO0.-
Why disregard utterly the lowest and re-
ceiye undoubtedly the highest? The
truth is, none of the censuses can be de-
pended on--for, Wien compared together,
they are so inconsistent with each other,
and so at war with what we know to be
the capabilities Of The Empire, that we are
forced to reject tldma all. Considerable
portions, ot China are known to be noun
famous and dfPf6ddcti2e. Even the cen
sus of 1912 make the population of one
of the largest Of the eighteen provinces
only fifty one to the square mile, while
the aggregate Of nine eastern provinces,
with an area of 100000 square miles, is
made to average 45O to the square mile.
Now, if we take an area Of the same size
in the heart of Europe, selecting It's most
fertile and populous countrics-France,
Belgium, Holland, Hanover, Austria,
Lombardy-wc find the population of the
whole is not quite $4,000 600. Yet the
population of the area in China has, ac-
cording to the census 130,000,000, ma
king the population three times as dense,
and in one province four times as dense,
as in the very grand Of Europe. In re.
gard to Chinese agriculture. Barrow one
Of the best authorities on China, who
travelled in the country before the great
agricultural Improvements, and conse-
quent increase Of population in Europe,
says that, las horticulturalists, they may
perhaps be allowed a considerable share
of merit, but on the great scale of agri
culture, they are certainly MOTT be men,
toned with many European nations He
says, further, that the careful cultivation
is mostly in the vicinity of cities and
towns, and that much of ne open coun-
try is infested with robbers, thinly inhab-
tied and poorly cultivated The testi-
mony Of Davis is to the same effect, and
50 is that Of Williams. The land, then,
cannot feed and clothe the vast popula-
ton of the books. Evidently the census
must be rejected, and we are left TO form
our estimate Of the populousness of this
country as we do that OF other countries
where no trust worthy census has been
taken. Malte Brun estimates the popula-
ton at $50 700, 900. and that is probably
high enough Chinese authority is not Of
much value. It's often of piece with a
statement gravely made by one of their
greatest statesmen, that the closing of the
Chinese ports would stop the supply OF
rhubarb, and thus cause the English and
other outside barbarians to die of consti-
patton
The population of Chinese cities is
overrated. Canton, for instance, is put
down in most Of the books at a million
and half, and lower than million.
Yet the number probably does not much
exceed half a million. One may walk
around the walls (Which inclose two thirds
or more of the inhabitants, in less than
two hours. The number of people crow
dcd into a given area in China is not so
large as in the cities of Europe and Afri.
ca-for, though the streets are much mar
rover, the houses are much lower; sell
dom more than a story and half, and
without cellars. In these low houses
(most of which are shops with lofts over
head for families, it is impossible to stow
away one quarter of the number often
found, from cellar to garret, in the lofty
houses of our ctieS.-N Y. Tribune.
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