The Daily Astorian. [volume] (Astoria, Or.) 1876-1883, 1882-02-10
By and BY.

OF thougnttul men. AT late So
ciety dinner in. the East, a number
of suggestive speeches were made
in comment upon the great increase
in our population, and our prob
able future. Little that was said
was outside the limits of moderate
and justifable probability. The
president of the feast said that
there were young men present
who would live to see the popula-
ton of the United States 100000
600, and New York the CONNER
cial center of the world. Likely
enough, and yet, when that day
does come, what wonderful forces
shall have been at work to produce
the change. The facts that our
country has a peace policy, that
her mission is one Of civilization
and not of subjugation; that, hap
PLY, on new shores the process Of
assimilation can go on: that air
and soil and climate insure to ev-
cry immigrant & reminder of home
and a guarantee of contentment;
that there is room for all, and that
the latent energy of the old world
is manifested in the new, are
among the many facts and causes
that help to make up the great re-
suit that will not round to compile
tion till the causes that impel it
shall have ceased to exist. In the
course of his remarks at the dinner
we speak of, the chairman touched
upon another point that must tend
to advance the standard OF the In
dividual intellect as we'll as aug
ment numbers in general. He
said: "StiIl another lesson is that
of'international fraternity. Nations
fortifv and sentinel their bounda-
ries, dwelling apart; but the hu-
man race,is, one solid army, and
human history is one steady march
over all the continents from CEN
tury to century. There are no
aboriginal Americans. We are
all immigrants together Even
the red Indians came here, as we
did, from another coptinent.. Amer
ica is Europe over again, with
many differences. The old medic
val civilization is here granted an
other probation. Problems there
suggestive of dynamite are here
simply discussed. And long be-
fore the new continent is crowded
we may hope for institutions OF
which no Christian philosopher
will need to he ashamed. At
Yorktown, the other day, it did us
no harm, and it gave US no offense
to be reminded of our early indeht.
edness to France. Ireland is al
most half here already, and Ger
many is fast putting herself on
both sides of the Atlantic, as well
as on both sides of the Rhine"
According to a recent authority
the total area of settlement in this
country in 1880, exclusive Of
Alaska, was l ,569, $40 square miles
The total population being 90,
155,783, the average number O
Inhabitants. to the square mile o.
settled area was 80. These and
other facts are furnished by wri-
ter in the last number OF the In
ternational Review. In the frs
decade, that is from 1890 to 1880
the increase of settled area was d
little over ~ per cent. But this
settlement had not then gone be.
yond the Alleghanies. In the de.
cade from 1910 to 1920 the gair
was 25 per cent. In the next de
cade it was only fraction less
From 1880 to 1910 the gain wa:
~ per cent, and from 1910 tc
1850 it was 2l per cent. In the
decade from 1850 to 1860 100000
square miles were nominally added
to the settled area Of the country
The next decade was marked By
the civil war, and there was only
small increase of the settled area
In the next decade the former ratit
of grain was recovered.
On the supposition that in tho
year 1900 there will be popula
tion of lOO,00o,00O in the United
States aud Territories, something
like one-half of this increase NAV
be expected in the area between
the Missouri river and the Pacific
Ocean. If population were to de
pend upon natural increase tbi.