New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1869-08-05
THE POPULATION OF NETWORK

THE POPULATION OF NEW-fORh.
carefully prepared article which we prinS
this morning analyses the reports OF tne Doa's
Of Health. the Registrar of Vital Statistics, anu
the Censnses of 1860 and 1865, and deduceS
from them conclusions for which our reaueiS
can hardly be prepared. Without attehlp'in6
IN recapitulate the writer's arguments, "e may
briefly state the results of his inquiry " 10
that the population of the city IS mucn Slii'iioi
than it is supposed to be, and the r".io VI
mortality far higher than it is set down III 'no
official reports. In 1866 the death rate was
"a in the thousand now it Is represented
70 he only o.. Yet during the lhterVai
there has been no Improvement III Oui
hygienic conditions great enough W
count for such an unparalleled ueoi."'0' ="
spite of all the Board of tHealth has uono' oul
streets are still dirty and our tenehen'S arc
still crowded. Nay, if there mas Dech s,rTn "n
increase of population as the Boaru VI iio"iV''
assumes. the tenements must po i'oio
densely inhabited now than they were Ich Vi
fifteen years ago. The report OF the super
intendent of Buildings shows that from May
+ 1862. to January /, 1862 the total number
of dwelling houses erected III TINS Guy was
about 64O0. During the same period IL may
sofolv Inc estimated that Mt least 400 dwell
ling houses were demolished TO make
room for stores. Many others were altered
for business purposes, and many OF the
new ones only replaced houses which had
been burned down. OF the remainder, at least
1000 were intended for the occupation OF
single families This leaves fewer than 1000
tenements (perhaps 1900 would be nearer the
number) to accommodate seven years growth
of population. If the figures of the censuses
and the estimates of the subsequent increase
are near the truth, this growth in the tene-
ment population must have been ABOUT
100000. OF course, it is preposterous 10 sup
nose so many could be crowded into 2OOO
houses The conclusion is inevitable that the
population of the city is grossly overestmated'
The census of 1865 placed it at 10000 which was
nrobably near the truth. The fraudulent census
of 1860 placed the figures as high as $4,000
at least 100000 above the truth. The 5000 new
dwellings do not afford accommodation ior
more than 10000 people. If the city was over
crowded in 1862 and has since acquired 100000
new inhabitants while it has built homes for
only 10000, why does not the death-rate show
the inevitable result of such gross violation oil
the laws of health
This article proves in fact, that movement
to which we have repeatedly called attention
has acquired greater Roadway than has even
been suspected; We mean the exodus of our
merchants and professional men to the suburbs
of New-Jersey, Long Island and Westminster
| Comfy. The lower half of New-IOrk threat
ems soon to become mere city OF shops, from
which men will hurry away across the rivers rs
soon as their daily work is done, earning ther
money here, and spending it in another county
| or another State. All this is for lack OF proper
means of communication between the opposite
ends of the island. Dwellings are crowded
together as near the business streets as pos
| sible and rents are enormously inflated, be-
carse men cannot afford to spend an hour
and half or two hours day
| in travelling between their homes ana
their shops or offices. If We had built two or
three underground or arcade railroads several
years ago, our population would have been
two or three hundred thousand larger than II
is and the pressure upon the ovor-crowded
tenements would have been relieved But for
the last ten OF fifteen years We have been
driving our inhabitants out into the surround
ing country, and building up NewJersey with
out any advantage to ourselves We doubt
in fact if New-YOrk contains to-day more than
100000 people; and though the population in
creases so slowly, it probably ranks III the
mortuary tables below London, Manchester,
Liverpool, Paris, and Berlin.