The Helena independent. [volume] (Helena, Mont.) 1875-1943, 1891-06-29

$500 -
ernment starts out to take a census Il
starts to take a census. We do not
| According to the gospel of Benjamin
Harrison and his administration, the
primary object Of ths decennial census
in the United States is, not to obtain
statistics Of the growth Of population,
industries, etc. The real reason for its
existence is the opportunity it provides
for allotting fat berths and lucrative
%sinecures to ward politicians and mer
of similar caliber. A suitable provision
for Robert Porter and his fellows is Of
far more Importance than any tritline
matter of accurate statistics and correct
returns. Naturally, the results are in
direct ratio to the methods employed.
Contrast the census recently taken OF
the population of the British Indian
possessions. 1t is absolutely difficult to
grapple with the meaning OF the under
taking. But when we learn that the
completed returns show in British India
a population Of 220,5O0,0oO, and in the
feudatory states under British control
a grand aggregation of no less than Co.
100000 souls, we slowly begin to grasp
the immensely of the work accomplished.
And yet the census was completed in a
single day, and more than a million
enumerators were engaged in the
task. A grand total of 2s6,o00,-
900 people, nearly one-fifth of
the worlds entire population.
In the extent Of territory covered, IN
the grand total of statistical informa-
ton secured, and in the admirable
methods employed, this Indian census
is without a rival in modern times.
Industries, we gather, flourish in Hin
dostan. The native has proved himself
an apt and painstaking pupil, and his
rapid and skillful manipulation is sim
ply wonderful. Indian cotton already
threatens the dominance of the Ameri-
can supply. AS a natural result the
country furnishes proof Of a tendency
that we ourselves find on the increase
every year. The urban population is
constantly increasing at the expense Of
the rural districts. Educational facili-
ties, improved means of communication,
and the conveniences Of modern civiliza-
ton are all important factors in helping
to accelerate the same result.
We recently referred in these col
to the gigantic irrigation works
under the auspices of the
British authorities in India. The sta
%tistical tables furnish proof of what
these works have accomplished in sus-
tanning q high percentage of population
in purely agricultural districts. The
province of Bengal is not one twenty
third part Of the size Of the United
States. But it contains a population
greater by nine millions than that of
own republic. 1t average 474 per-
sons to the acre, and that computation
includes swamp and desert land. If we
include only agricultural land, Bengal
supports on every square mile OF her
soil 715 individuals, and that almost ex-
clusively by means of agricultural pur-
suits. Another farmers province, that
Of Dude, provides for 442 persons to the
square mile. Such results show to what
extent irrigation may be proftably m
ployed in the conquest Of natural diff
culties. What the British government
has accomplished for Hindostan, the
grit of M%ontanians should some day ac-
complish for their own state, and place
it in the forefront of agricultural, as
we'll as mineral production.