Birmingham state herald., 1896-01-19
GROWTH OF THE CITIES.
Both European and American Urban Con munities Are Increasing in Population.


 munities Are Increasing in Population. In 1901 Scotland had 1600,000 people, nearly all living in the country. In 1891 she had 4,000,000 people, 2631 300 living in cities and BPS, 300 in the country. In 1888 there were in Manchester, England, only 250 900 people, while now within a radius of twenty miles from the town hall there are 3,00O,000 people, all living on the manufa ctories The census shows that in all England there are 20, SOC, 900 people
 in cities and S2000o0 in rural districts,
 an increase of 15.3 per cent from 1881 to
 1884, while the rural districts increased
 only 3.4 per cent. That wonderful growth
 in these cities is almost all to be credited
 to the steam engine.
 If we go across over into France we find that the population since the dis covery of steam has more than doubled in it's manufacturing towns. In Prussia, since the Franco-Prussian war, the pop
 ulation has increased 20 per cent in de- cade. Berlin, the capital, is eight times as large as it was in 1881, just about the time when steam began to be introduced. Holland and Belgium show steady in- crease in the city population over the rural districts The most wonderful growth of cities has been in the United States, and all this great growth since the introduction of steam, and the real life of these cities Is manufacturing It Is this industrial life which has increased the population Of cities and made them the greatest power. Up to the beginning of the war of the re-
 bellion perhaps per cent of the popula-
 ton of this country was in our cities; to- day 33 per cent live in cities.
 This new industrial life, this large
 growth of cities this immense popula- tion under city government presents new conditions in law and in all the laws or life. The population has outgrown the ordinary ideas of government and the 1au fo nf far Ia will have to be free and almost independ- ent of state governments. If 1t was wise policy in the rural age of the repub- lie, or if it Is today, for these rural dis tricts to take care of themselves and all their local affairs, certainly the principle Is just as applicable to the government of the cities of today This question Is fast coming to the front-it cannot be long | put off. This is great age of develop | ment of industrial and commercial life, | and this new life requires different con- | ditions from the ordinary country life. | The people who live in localities know | best what they want, and If they pay the | bills they ought to have what they want, | provided it does not interfere with the l rights of others.
 | Tn 1900 we had in the United States six | cities, but only one with over 12,000 peo- | pIe In 1850 we had but one city with | 500 900 people and only three with 250,000 | people. In 1880 we had 176 cities with | over 12,000 people, thirty-five with 75000 people and fourteen with 250,000 people. | In 1900 the total population of the United | States was 5,3O8, ,483 in 1890 it was 62,622.- | 250 people. The total city population In | 1900 was 210873 and the rural population
 was 5,097, ,610 3.f per cent of the total
 population then living in our cities In | 1850 the city population was 2,897 ,bS6 and
 the rural population was 20.294, ,290, or | 12.49 per cent in the cities In 1890 the | city population was 18,2843S5, while the rural population was 44,337, 1885, our city | population being 29.20 per cent of the | total popula tion. This shows that while our rural population In forty years dou- | bled, the city population increased six | fold.
 | Today one-third of all our people live | in the cities. In 100 years our total pop | ulat has increased sixteen-fold, but | the city population Is 140 times greater | than 1t was 100 years ago. This increase | has been almost entirely since the in- | troduction of steam power and the con- | sequent industrial era which 1t created. Funeral cars on several of the Brook | lyn trolley lines are to be placed in op- | eration next spring. The system has
 worked successfully in several western cities, notably Abilene, Kan, Lincoln, l Neb., and Chicago. The cars making up | the train will be appropriately painted | black. The first car Is especially con- | structed for the purpose. A bier in the center will support the casket Opposite | it will be seats for the ministers and the | pallbearers. The next car, with sable | blinds drawn down. will be reserved for 1 the immediate mourners, and will be att | tached to the funeral car as trailer. l The trolley pole of the first car will be draped with crape. The main body of l the mourners and sympathizng friends | will follow in ordinary cars at as close a | headway as possible.
 | 1.-:-- C--al.