The Republican. [volume] (Oakland, Md.) 1877-current, 1885-04-11
THE AMERICAN PEOPLE.
i'upation as Shown in the Census-De
cline of Domestic Service.

I fhe ninth lecture in the census course
nov running in the Lowell Institute was
uelvered last evening by General
walker the subject being, The Occu-
patton of the American People" The
Vaiae of labor statistics in national cen
suSes has been recognized in all manu-
iacturlng countries. One-third OF the
last British census report is devoted to
the subject alone. But the difficulties
encountered in classifying and tabu-
latlng the great variety of gainful occu-
patlons are almost infinite In the
British report, Sir Charles Gibbs gives
llst OF the occupations. the names of
which as returned to the bureau would
convey no idea whatever of the nature
OF the labor signitied to person of
general education. In America the case
| Is still worse, owing to the greater variety
OF labor and the makeshifts of frontier
settlements. The problems of classif-
cation are further increased by the
number OF separate functions performed
| by the same person in country and I'M
settled districts, and the caprices of
| laborers add still further to the diff
| Guilty. For instance, in 1860 an attempt
| to classify the different varieties of
| domestic servitude brought forth ludi-
crouS results. Three hundred and fifty
three cooks were found scattered over
the whole country, and of these New
York, Pennsylvania and Massachusetts
had absolutely none.
49, The number of residents of the United
| States engaged in gainful avocations is
| 1892, 900, or 34.6 per cent of the total
population, while of the whole popula-
tion over 10 years of age As per cent.
are workers. Students, those incapable
of work from injuries received, and
criminals. are not included in the work
ing population. 1t is noteworthy that
thosemales who have no occupation,
but I've upon their private fortune,
forman insignificant part of the total
popuhtion. The rapid increase of the
| proportion of workers in late years is
! due to the increase of factories and the
EXTENSION of the principle of the di-
| visionOf labor. The former cause has
been Instrumental in bringing women in
the fed of labor, and thus largely in
creasing the percentage, while the in
! tiuence of the latter cause constantly
creates a new demand for labor.
Thenumber of persons engaged in
agriculture is largely in excess of that
in any other occupation, forming All
per cent of the total working popula-
ton. The omission of slave labor in
the seventh and eighth censuses has
left 10 standard of comparison with the
latter censuses, as the enormous amount
of lsbor engaged in cotton production
in the Sout was wholly unrepresented
before 1860. At the present time about
4,5W,000 of the $500, 900 engaged in
agriculture are independent farmers and
planters, nearly 100000 are farm la
borers. and 10000 are florists, garden
ers, etc. 1t is safe to assume that az
riculture furnishes the means of susie
nance to one-half of the total popula-
ton of the country. A vast increase of
those engaged in mining has taken
place in late years.
Among the artisans, carpenters take
lead in numbers, having increased from
5000 in 1850 to 373, 900 in 1890
A reduction in the rate of in
ffF3s@9ss7er, Que f 6 the 1lkdtfu8eATfe
Ivy HdCIluCIN VI uOOISt SdSlltS, tbC-,
work which was formerly done by the
job. The number of coopers and wheel
wrights has suffered little change since
1850 for similar reasons. Among those
engaged in personal and professional
service, amounting to 4, 424, 000persons,
many grades of labor are included,
from the lawyer, clergyman, physician,
and teacher on the one hand to the
barber, bootblack, and household
drudge on the other. The number of
clergymen has increased from 26.S42 in
1850 to 64,69S in 1880; lawyers from
1899 to 4,137; physicians, from 49,,
| 500 to $4,000; teachers, from $4,000 to
| 238, 900; dentists, from 1928 to 1854.
There are now 1872 actors. $500 archi
tects, 1,131 authors and literary men,
1,168 chemists, S,261 civil engineers,
| and 12,30S journalists.
In the statistics of domestic service, q
curious fact is observed-namel that
| in spite of the increasing wealth and
prosperity of the American people, the
| number of domestics in proportion to
families has, in nearly all the States,
| steadily declined in late years. there
| being at present about nine families per
servant on the average. In the good
old days before the war;" when each
Southern plantation was oyerrun with
blacks of every size, age, and descrip-
ton, the proportion of domestics was,
of course, high, and even now the
Southern States are well situated in this
matter; but in New England the Cen
trail States, and the West the decline in
the rate is unaccountable. In the Paci-
| fic States the introduction of Chinese
labor has somewhat raised normally
low proportion. The figures showing
domestic service in England are inter-
esting in this connection. From them
il appears that there are 1887, 900 in
door servants, as against 1,076,000 in
America, while of all females in the
United Kingdom between fifteen and
twenty years of age one-third are do
| nestle servants - BOStOn HPrnLH