The anti-monopolist. [volume] (Saint Paul, Minn.) 1874-1878, 1877-02-22
SOME STARTLING FIGURES.

Hon. John O. Whitehouse, a wealthy
member Of fCongress from Poughkeep-
sic, N. T., and one of the larg est man
ufacturers in that State, has been inter
viewed lately upon the reasons of the
present deplorable condition Of COM
mercial affairs, in the United States, ,and
he gives some startling figures drawn
from the United States census. He
shows that in the past twenty-five years,
and especially since the opening of the
late civil war in 1861, the towns have
grown at the expense Of the country =
in other words the manufacturing and
commercial interests have been enriched
at the expense ofthe agricultural popu-
lation. This result,in our judgment, has
been due to the protective tariff policy,
which has paid premiums to the manu-
facturer out of the farmers pockets.
Here are some of Mr.. Whitehouses
figures:
"Mr. Whiteheuse then stated as
general proposition that in twenty years
there had been no increase Of farmers
and farm labor in the Eastern and Mid
die States, and he gave the following
compilation of the facts:
The State Of New York has seventy
five manufacturing and trading cities
and towns: They had q population in
1850 of l, 1869, 400 persons. BY the year
1870 they had increased to 2,282,413.
Thus in twenty years the nrban manu-
featuring population had grown 1,113,-
009 And in the same period of twenty
years the whole OF the remainder Of the
States population had only grown 172, :
$50 souls. The towns and cities were
eating up the country. And if you add
to that list of seYsntysone places, other
manufacturing boroughs and villages
which have not considered, may say
that there has been no rural growth
whatever in twenty years.
1T is worse in New England. Take
Massachusetts. In twenty years her
sixty-six towns have increased 90 per
cent :, and her rural parts only 6 pei
cent. in population. There are but a.
1876 people more in the country parts ol
Massachusetts than there were in 1850.
In New York State the percentage OF
growth is 95 per cent for the towns and
per cent. tor the remainder OF the
State.n
is not Vermont an exception, where
the agricultural interest appears to be
paramount"
! "Eo. Her eighteen towns have 81,
375 people more than in 1870, while
there are fewer people in the remainder
. Of the State by IL, 964 The rural de-
) crease il per cent. and the town in.
crease 7G per cent. in twenty years.
) s'Sir,n he said, "take nine States, SIX
in New England, and the States of New
! York, Pennsylvania and New Jersey
, There are 297 cities and manufacturing
} towns in these nine States. They hav.
] increased 2,6l8,867 souls in twent,
years, prior to 1870. They had in
: creased 81 per cent. But look At th
: country parts, or all that vast territor,
outside Of 297 towns. There the increas
is only 19 per cent, or, in persons
} 1,053.014 human beings. There is
positive decrease Of 8 per cent. in th
] rural population of New Hampshire
; while her five towns have grown 76 pc
: cent. 1t is now only IL per cent ii
Q Connecticut Of rural increase, and tha
{ State has more than doubledher civic
. population. New Jersey has grown
SOC, ,514 in her thirty-three towns, an,
only 116, ,027 in all the rest of the State.
! These figures are certainly enough t
set farmers to thinking. Is that
healthy condition Of things which ina
!. poverishes the land TO build up th
: towns? Lock It 1t now! The cite
! stepped to the lips in poverty and mis-
| cry, while the sole exports OF the nation
. 70 pay it, dskts abroad. are the product