The San Francisco call., 1895-05-20
OUR POPULATION.

The Federal census of 1890 gave San
Francisco population of 29S, ,S9O-in round
numbers 100000 The school census taken
in the early part of this month reported a
total of 93,558 children under the age
of seventeen years. Multiplying this
by 81, the basis that has been gener-
ally adopted in this country for estimating
the population of cities, we find that the
present population of the city is 327, ,453.
We must therefore conclude either that
the population of the City has increased
$4,000 since 1890 or that the Federal census
underestimate the number of inhabi-
tants.
The chances are that the Federal census
did not fully report the population, for it
is notorious fact that many cities, dis
satisfied with the Census Bureaus work,
followed it up with census-t -takings of their
own and found that the bureau had done
its work imperfectly, Of course these To-
cal censuses could not go into the National
records, and hence there was no appeal
from the bureaus bungling work.
For certain local purposes, however,
various cities of the Union have started
the plan OF taking a police census every
five years. This is an admirable idea, for
the police are manifestly the best agents
to perform the work intelligently. They
are familiar with the neighborhoods which
they patrol, and, given two or three days
in which to do the work, can perform the
task accurately. We are now half way be-
tween the last census and the next, and
hence this would be the proper year in
which to take a police census of the City.
M 0ol lot caI
sus for any purpose can be as reliable as a
direct census of the whole population.
This is made conspicuous by the claim
that considerable discrepancy exists be-
tween the number of names published in
one of the City directories and those in
another.
1t is not at all likely either that the Fed
eral census of 1890 omitted $4,000 persons,
or that the population of the City has in
creased that much within the last five
years. A rough averaging of these two
conditions would place the growth of the
City at about 5000 year during the last
five years. 1t could hardly be much less
than that, and likely has been more. At
the lowest estimate this is growth of 10
per cent year, which, in view of the hard
times that have prevailed during that
period, makes a comfortable showing.
One interesting feature of the school
census is that of the 1858 children be-
tween the ages of 5 and IL, 91,215
are native born and 2343 foreign born.
In view of the fact that the foreign
population of San Francisco is very
large, the small proportion of foreign
born children is an instructive fact. It
means that the population of the City, al
though it is clearly growing at healthy
rate, is not receiving an appreciable accre-
ton from foreign sources.
1t has been remarked now and then the
large number of "to let'' signs in the City
indicates anything but an increase of the
population. Such calculations omit three
important considerations First, the rapid
extension and multiplication of streetcar
lines induce builders to find inexpensive
lots, removed from the heart of the City
second, many new houses have been built,
and as rule they are more desirable tLan
the old; third, rents in the more populous
sections of the City have not as yet fallen
in proportion to the reductions observable
in the other items of housekeeping ex-
pense. 1t is generally old houses that have
the 'to let" sign in the window.