Gloucester County Democrat. (Woodbury, N.J.) 1878-1932, 1882-10-05
NUMBER 6.
THE cOuNTRrs GROWTH.
Some fnteFssffEg Figures Concsrn1nx FhU
Saited stafes BY rhc SuDerInfendgmt 1g
the Census.

-saitcd stafss BY rhc superintendent pf
the Census
Francis A. Walker, tIHe superintend-
ent Of the last United States census.
contributes to The Century . paper
abounding in interesting and import
ant facts CLEANED from the census re-
turns since the first enumeration i'm
1890. III discussing the condition of
the United States, at the tenth census
in 1886, lie says:
The period between 1850 and 1880
has been marked by the astonishingly
rapid spread Of population over the
vast region brought under the flag of
the United States by the purchase Of
Louisiana, the annexation Of Texas and
the cessions from Mexico. The $780,
900 square miles Of territory occupied
by settlements In 1850 have become
100000. Of these Ss4,820 have be-
tween two and six inhabitants to the
square mile I; SIS, 1870 have between SIX
and eighteen $4,000 between eight
cen and forty-fYe; 232,O1O between
forty-fye and ninety while 24,550
have in excess of ninety inhabitants to
the square mile. The population OF
the United States is now 5O.155,7S3-
The frontier line of settlement is, In
general, the one hundredth degree of
longitude as far north as the forty
second parallel Of latitude, aud, thence
northward, the ninety-ninth and after
ward the ninety-eighth degree.
The distribution of the population
according to dominant typographical
features may be thus stated: On the
immediate Atlantic coast, north,
2,616,892; middle, 4,S75,184; south,
S75,3s7; on the Gulf coast, 1,O55,851s
in the billy and mountainous region
Of the northeast, 1865, ,226; in the
mountainous region Of the central At
lantie slope, 44,223; in the immedi-
ate region Of the lakes, 3,O49,47O; ON
the table-lands and elevated plateaus
Of the interior, 5,716,3 1926; in the south
central mountainous region, 2,695, ,085;
in the Ohio valley, 2,442. .792; ON the
south interior table-lands and plateaus,
6,627 ATS; in the Mississippi belt,
south, 710,268; north, 1891, 1862; in the
southwest central region, 1885,. .807; il
the central region, 4,4O1 ,246; in the
prairie region, 5,722, ,485; in the Mis-
souri River belt, 835, ,455; on the west
ern plains, 323,S19; in the heavily tim
Der region Of the northwest, 1,122. .S37;
in the CordiIleran region, 9S2,311; on
the Pacific coast, 715,879.
The foreign elements Of our popula-
ton have varied widely since 1850.
At that time foreigners constituted 95
\ per cent. of the total population; they
now constitute 1873 per cent. Of the
foreign residents of 1850, 43.5 per cent
were Irish; 26.4, Germans; 13.9, Eng
Iish and Welsh; 6.7, British-American;
while The Scandinavians formed less
than one per cent. Since that time.
the proportion Of Irish to the other
foreign elements has steadily declined.
Of the arrivals in the ten years ending
in 1850 the Germans were but rs per
cent; of those in the ten years ending
in 1860 they were but 81 per cent. Be
tween 1860 and 1870 other foreign
clements began to assume impor-
tance through the fast increasing
emigration Of Swedes and Norwegians
across the ocean, and of Canadians
across our northern border. We have
seen that the Irish OF 1850 constituted
43.5 per cent. of the total foreign
population. In 1860 this proportion
had fallen to 38.9, and in 1870, still
further, to 53.3. Although the statis-
tics Of nationality at the census of
1880 are not yet published, It isnot
probable that the Irish to-day consti-
tute more than twenty-seven per cent
Of the foreign population Of the
country.
To-day IL number Of foreigners
living among lis is little over $780,
600, while the members Of the colored
race reach almost tie same number
Speaking roundly, then, the following
is the table of our population
Whole eSo So1 o1
TotaI native born .4s,5oo,oO0
Col0red .........-.... .--..--.------.- osSoVso1l
Total natiyc-bOrn whites. 1000
The location Of the colored and the
foreign elements of our population, As
shown by the census, is, in high de-
gree, complemental. In general, where
the one element is largely found, the