Knoxville journal. [volume] (Knoxville, Iowa) 1874-1986, 1875-10-21

The subject Of the population of China,
says the Shanghai Courier, is the riddle of
the Sphinx, ever guessed at but never
solved. And if it were solved no one
would ever know 1t, because there can be
no verification. In connection with our
first knowledge of China we are taught
that its population Is immense. Its mill
ions TEEN. The delusion'of one or two
generations ago that JeddO and Pekin are
tie worlds great centers of population is
scarcely dispelled.. Many of the cities in
the eighteen provinces, especially in the
south, are undoubtedly enormous, and TO
the casual traveller all Chinese cities are
presumptiyely the same. He has learned
in his geography or read in his enCyClO-
p8dia that the population OF Tientsin is
100000, and that of Pekin from 100000
| to 1900, 900 These round numbers are
generally accepted without question, and
on this scale smaller cities are gagged.
Thus we meet the most confident esti-
nation of population, formed on scanty
data, or no data at all, by every latest
traveller, who, like supreme court, has
the last guess al the case. The difference
between the high scale and the low scale
of estimating Chinese cities is difference
of nearly one half There arc those who
cling to the old tradition that the pOpu-
lation of Pekin is 1000, 900, and there are
others who consider zoe, 900 liberal csti-
mate. Little or no dependence is TO
be placed on the estimates OF transient
travellers. Even long residents hesitate TO
express decided opinion, for cXpe-
rience has taught them that such
conJectures are often misleading IL
is as idle to inquire the number of tami-
lies in large city Of intelligent natives
as it would be 10 ask an intelligent ma
tive" the death-rate of Liverpool. There
is, no doubt, death rate, and somewhere
II Is recorded. But il Is not in the line of
any but physicians and coroners TO know
what 1t Is, unless 1t may have been pub.
lisbed in the morning paper. But the
Chinese have no morning paper, nor any
other paper. At certain yamens, no doubt
some approximate statistics are on file, but
such things are utterly foreign to the
thought Of ordinary Chinese. In small
villages the number Of families Is known
to all; in large cities IL Is, practically, not
known at all. II would be wrong % dis
turb the worlds faith in the proposition
that China contains 400, 900, 600 inhab-
itants, proportion now generally accept
ed, in spite Of DE Quincey's skepticism.
But let this multitude of human beings be
apportioned in fair and equitable man
ner among the smaller towns and villages,
and not thrust by hundreds Of thousands
upon halt. empty, walled towns, where
they will find no visible means of sup
port. III these remarks should lead the
casual reader to inquire the population of
Tai-yuan.fu, he is informed that, according
to the doctrine of the RELATIVELY Of human
knowledge, If Pekin still keeps her 1000.
600, as In the Biographies, then the CAPT
tai Of Shansi has 100000. But il Pekin
is reduced to $50 900, then docs Tai yuan.
fu drop TO 100000, I" be The same more or
less The average Englishman, whose
faith is said 10 DC such that if safety
valve were only labeled statistics" he
would sit on il with perfect confidence, il
invited 10 take notice.