Huntsville gazette., 1891-02-28
NEV YORK IN '92.
Enormous Growth of the Cities
in the Empire State
Makes Democratic Success in
1892 Almost Certain.

What the Census shows-ihe interior
Counties Actually Losing Population,
and Losing Voters in a Greater Ratio.
York state Outnumber Country Voters.
New YORK, Feb. 27.-The Sun prints
the following on the political outlook in
the empire state:
New York city, as is well known. fell
short by Porter's census, 2OO,oW OF the
police figures, while i'll Brooklyn the
proved discrepancy was 5o,ooO. Not
withstanding these facts, and despite all
efforts OH the part of the Republicans to
hide them, the growth of the Demo
cratic counties during the past ten years
has been steady and continuous. while
the population of the interior counties
which are Republican strongholds Is ac-
tually diminishing. To just what ex-
tent this thing has gone, is shown by
comparison of the population of the sure
Republican counties in 1880 with what
it was in 1890.
In other words, even according to the
partial and partisan census made by the
Republican enumeratorS, there are In
the twenty-seven strongest Republican
counties in the state, from which, chiefly,
for the past thirty-five years the big Re
publican maiorities have been recruited,
30, 600 fewer inhabitants than they had
ten wears ago; and it must be remem-
bered, as a significant and not uninter-
esting fact in connection with 1t, that
where the population diminishes, the
falling off in the number of electors is
always in still greater ratio, for of those
who leave declining or decaying COM
munities to strike out In new fields for
themselves, the number of men, and es-
pecially of young men, is much greater
than the number of women. This has
of late wears been seen in New England,
and it is coming to be the rule in many
of the interior rural counties of New
York, as the late census figures prove.
While the population in the Republi-
can counties has been falling off the
population of the Democratic counties,
even according to the Porter figures, has
been on the increase. There are ba-
ker's dozen of sure Democratic counties
in this state. and this is how the census
figures of 1890 compares the population
admitted to have been found in each
with that of 1890; and these figures fail
to do more than partial justice to the
facts; gain in Democratic counties in
ten years $50, ,295.
Remarkable as is the growth in pOpu
lation of the Democratic counties, and
the falling off in Republican counties, it
is far less significant and far less impor
tant than the gain of population in the
cities and its decrease in the country
districts, when regarded wholly apart
from political lines.
According to the final figures Of the
late census the number of persons count
ed in this state last year was 5,997 ,o53,
against 5,0S2, 9S2. The increase during
the past ten years, as given by the fig
ures, thus amounted to 100000 toward
which the seven largest cities Of the
state alone contributed 739, $50, against
about lis, 600 from the whole remainder
of the state. The latter increase, too,
was wholly in the cities Of second-class,
and in the big townships Of the state,
the country districts showing uniform
falling off.
1t is evident from all this, that the
sceptre of political power in the Empire
State is, by the inexorable logic of
events, passing from the country dis
tricts into the cities Of the state, which
this year, for the first time III its history
haye collectively more than half of the
voting population Of New York. There
are sixty counties and thirty cities in
the state, and in every previous year the
vote cast by electors in districts not in
corporated as cities exceeded the vote
cast in the cities. 1t would not be fair
OF wise to conclude from this that this
change necessarily betokens Democratic
ascendancy in the future. Such a state
ment could not, indeed, be supported by
the facts, the Republican party haveing
in the past twenty years made much
greater headway in securing recruits in
the cities than in the country districts,
where the Democrats have rather more
than held their own. The meaning of
it is that the cities of the state can, if
they choose, dominate the politics of
New York hereafter by numerical su-
periority, quite apart from all other con
siderations, and that the cities are
naturally Democratic all experience
teaches