The Indianapolis journal. [volume] (Indianapolis [Ind.]) 1867-1904, 1894-09-30

tina IL will ever continue to do so. for
natural conditions have marked 1t out for
no one degree that holds any such strategic
position. That one included between the
seventy-third and seventy-fourth meridians
part Of the city OF New York. holds, at
present, the distinction OF having the great
est population, but it is closely followed in
Importance by the degree lying west or
the seventy-ifth meridian. Combining lati-
tude and longitude, the most populouS
square degree has 2.5I3,0o inhabitants, and
greater part OF the metropolis. There are
a number of equal areas possessing each
less than a thousand inhabitants.
WHAT MAKES A CITY.
The vast increase of city population COM
pared with that of the rural districts is a
condition of affairs generally recognized
and widely commented on. However, a few
facts CLEANED from the statistics of this
subject will not be found without COM
parative ~novelt.'. And first. it should be a
matter of interest that the census author
tiles have adopted a rigid definition of what
sand inhabitants living in one community
is adjudged to deserve that name. To the
airs. on the strength of having a few hun
dreds of inhabitants, this mark will seem
invidiously high; and. conversely, to the
dweler in large centers of population, ride
as could any merely arbitrary division TO
making a just distinction between the two
great classes of social life. Calculated on
this basis. the urban population was, in
1890. 29.2 per cent, of the total. A nun
dred years before it had been only S.35. In
other words, during a century the proper
ton Of city population has increased from
q thirtieth to nearly a third of the whole.
During the ninety years up to 1890 the
increase in proportion was gradual and reg
ular for each decade. but between that date
and 1890 it was phenomenally great, jump
ing from 22.51 per cent. to 29.2, and illus
tratlng in a forcible manner the a~cceler-
ated tendency OF our population toward city
life. The urban element is very ~unequally
distributed throughout the various parts of
tain one-half of it, and they, together with
the north central States, fve-sixths of it.
The South has been little influenced as yet
by this tendency, and has only - per cent.
OF urban population. Mississippi has but
26f per cent. the lowest in the Union. and
even less than the average for the country
a century ago.
The cities having more than 100, 600 inhabi-
tantS now number twenty-eight; there were
twenty OF them ten years ago and fourteen
OF them in 1870. There are 124 places hav-
ing each more than $1,000 population. TAX
ing again the lowest rank of classified
habitauts. whilst there were but 2SS in 1850
and six a century ago. Coming dow to
the smaller places not reckoned as cities,
there are no less than 1,00f of these having
at least $500 population and 2,19S more hav-
ing. from one thousand up to the number
last mentioned.
In every country of Europe the males
are o~utnumbered by the female part of
the population, but ii is otherwise in the
United States. That it is so is entirely due
TO emigration. which disturbs the normal
proportions of the sexes. since male immi-
grants exceed females in the proportion of
three to two The present male prepon-
derance in population is represented by
5121 per cent. of the total. Wyoming has
very nearly twice as many males as fe-
males, and Massachusetts,. amongst the
few older States that have a majority of
the gentler sex. shows the highest proper
ton, or 51.2 per cent.
Foreigners constitute 14.T per cent. of our
population, negroes 1.93 per cent. The In
dians are about 5000 in number and the
Chinese 107,O 600. All these classes are, how
ever, declining relatively as compared to
the total, and the lapse of time will settle,
if politicians do not. the various questions
supposed to be raised by the presence Of
these elements in the body polite.