Shenandoah herald. [volume] (Woodstock, Va.) 1865-1974, 1892-07-15
HOME AND FAMILY.
INTERESTING STUDY OF CENSUS
STATISTICS.
How the Population is Massing in the
Large Industrial Centers-Efect
OF This Change on the Agri-
cultural Communities.
NOPULATION is massiug in large
; - industrial centers; the size OF
l. the family is decreasing, but the

lively greater than the population,
writes Robert ?. Porter, Superintendent
of Census, in Frank Leslie's Weekly.
First, as to the surprising growth OF ur-
ban population: The Eleventh Census has
established the fact that from a country
in which about three per cent. OF the
population were dwellers in towns OF
5000 inhabitants and upward, we have
developed into a vast industrial Nation In
which nearly thirty per cent. of the popu'
lation is concentrated in places OF over
5000 inhabitants; over thirty-six per
cent. in places of $500; or, if the limit
is extended down to small towns and vii
lagos of 1000 and upward, therein may
be found about forty-two per cent. OF
the population. To ascertain the
effect of this concentration OF
population, upon the occupations, the
health, the mental and moral conditions,
and the future Of the people fthe United
States, is one Of the most interesting and
important problems OF the age. Is this
tendency which is depopulating the
rural districts and bringing to a stand
still the agricultural population really
adding to or sappiug away the Nations
strength Is this enormous growth OF
urban population due to change in the
character of immigration, or does 1t
mean the migration of the American
population to the cities, and the sub'tl-
tuition of the foreign element upon the
farmsl l express this fear because par
tial returns indicate that we may expect
to find a much greater proportion of
tenant farmers than ten years ago in the
Western States. If in addition to the
lack Of social advantages, the ability OF
owning and working small farms IS
diminishing for any cause may we not
anticipate a radical change in the char
acter of the rural populations
The absorption of population by large
cities may add to the civic splendor OF
the Nation, but it nevertheless deepens
the lights and shades of society and
makes more apparent the gulf between
the very rich and the very poor. 1t in
tensifes life, perhaps, and makes it in
some respects more enjoyable, bnt the
tenement house and the berding Of hui
man beings undermines the family ana
the home, and thereby weakens the
strongest pillars of the Republic. The
very core of this Nation is its homes and
its families. By this | mean its separ-
ate dwellings, occupied aud owned or
rented by single families In spite OF
this concentration of population in cities
the homes of the people, it is gratifying
to know, are not dwinding. Although
only 16 1-2 per cent. of the population
of the great city OF New York live 10
persons or less in a house, while those
who live 10 persons and upward
to dwelling represent So IL per cent.
of the entire population, thus obliterat-
ing to a large extent the ideal home, the
homes of the Nation taken rs whole
are increasing. The Eleventh Census
shows a total of IL, 4S3,31S dwelling
houses returned, as against total OF
S,955, Sl2 for 1880; gain of :, 1927, 5O6,
or about 2S IA per cent. during the de-
cade. As the growth of population was
a trihe less than Is per cent, it is ap-
parent that the gain in homes has kept
pace with the gain in population. While
the tendency in many of our large cities
is to mass population in tenement houses,
the returns for the country show a salts
factory diminution of the number OF
persons to a dwelling from 5.9i in 1851
to $50 in 1880, and 5.45 in 1890. 1t
has been said often that Pnila'
delphia is the most American
large city in the Union. In
the matter of homes this is GER
tainly true. While SO IL per cent. OF
the population of New York City live
over 10 to dwelling, only II "a per
cent. of the population Of Philadelphia
are found over 10 to dwelling, and 81
IA per cent. in dwellings having less
than 10. In this remarkable city OF
homes over 95 1-2 per cent. of dwellings
col ain less than 10 persons; and less
than 4 IL per cent. more. The other
CITY of over 1, 900, 900 inhabitants, Chi
cago, is about evenly divided between
the two classes Of dwellings. In New
York nearly 20 per cent. of the dwell
lngs contain more than % persons to
each dwelling, and 66 "a per cent. Of
the population there live over 20 to
dwelling.
In this connection it is interesting to
note the increase of families in the United
States. The total number of families in
the United States in June, 1890, was 49,
$50, 152, with an aggregate population
of 62, 1922, 25O, or ABB persons on an
average to each family. In 1880 there
were returned 1861 families, the
average size of a family at that census
being 5O4 for the entire country, with a
population Of so, 1861 1888.
There has been an increase in the
United States since 1880 of 2,744, 1868