The Republican. [volume] (Oakland, Md.) 1877-current, 1884-05-31
The Drift Toward Cities.

No development of modern civiliza-
ton is more striking or significant than
the steady drift of population from the
country to the cities. 1t is not char
acteristic of any one nation or race.
With so few exceptions that they only
establish the rule, it holds true of the
civilized world.
A recent report by Consul Ryder, OF
Copenhagen, calls attention to this feat
ure of the last Danish census. The
kingdom contains 1850, 57inhabitants,
which is an increase of 1856, 52G over the
previous census ten years before. BY
far the largest proportional gain was
made in the capital, the population of
Copenhagen having grown at the an
nual rate of 2.62 per cent during
the last decade. The provincial towns
throughout the country show uniformly
large gains while the growth of the
rural districts was slower than ever
before, being only 81 per cent. for the
ten years, as against 81 per cent. in
the first decade of the century. The
result of this movement from country
to town is seen in the much smaller rel
alive difference between the population
of the rural districts and that of the
cities than that which formerly existed.
In 1910 the population of the rural dis
tricts was nearly four times that of all
the cities. Now the ratio is only % to l.
The relative growth of the urban
population in the United States has
been still more rapid. In 1900 less
than four per cent. of the inhabitants
lived in the six cities, and the proper
ton increased during the next forty
years only S.5 per cent. in the forty
four cities that existed in 1910. But in
the succeeding forty years this percent
age was nearly trebled, rising 1875 per
cent. in 1850, 16.1 in 1860, POS in 1870
and 22.5 in 1880, when the number of
cities had grown to 2S6. The census
of 1890 will almost certainly show that
full quarter of the inhabitants of the
United States live in its cities, against
only thirtieth of the whole population
in 1890. The change is even more
striking when the metropolis alone is
considered in 1900 New York City
had 60, 4S9 inhabitants out of the $780,
051 in the State, and the 5,30S, 1888 in
the country. In 1880 it had 1,206, 299
inhabitants, out of 5.0S2, S71 in the
State, and 80, 155, 7S3 in the country.
In other words, at the beginning of the
century New York City contained only
about one-tenth the whole population
of New York State, and one-eighty-
seventh part of the population of the
whole country; in 1880 it contained
almost one-fourth of all the people in
the State, and nearly one-fortieth of all
the people in the country.
There is abundant food for reflection
in such figures and comparisons as
these. They show how very different
a country is the United States of to. day,
with about one-fourth of the people
living in cities, from the United States
of President Washington's day, when
the half-dozen towns dignifed with the
name of cities had altogether but
1871 ,472 inhabitants to a rural popula-
ton almost thirty times as great. They
indicate the gravity of the new prob
lens in government with which such
massing ofpopulation within city limits
confronts modern civilization. -Broob-
lynn Union.