New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1899-10-07

|
the United States were leaders must probably have
been powerful factors in the redistribution Of people
In 1900 Philadelphia in country, had only
60 403 inhabitants New York was behind it with only
GO4S9 Boston and Baltimore seemed important
though with bare 5000 The cities grew in the
decade 1910 but from 1910 to 1870 there was IN
nearly all the States decline in the proportion OF cry
dwelers to the whole population. Early in the next
decade opened the of canals, followed closely by
the Of railroads. which not only built up great
commercial centres but stimulated the industrial cities
by immensely extending their market. The rate OF city
growth jumps from hardly holding its own with the
rate Of growth for the population OF the entire country
to two and orehalf times that rate in S2O-a0. The
phenomenon of modern city increase has appeared
Its history, as so rapidly outlined here, proves to be
widely repeated. The general causes Of it in Cd nat
ural advantages and C2) transportation facilities de-
serves more serious discussion.
The author groups the industries of the human
race as follows l. EXtractlye including agriculture
and mining; > Dstributiye including commerce whole
sale and retail trade transportation, communication,
and all the media Of exchange; ., Manufacturing; t.
Services and free incomes including domestic serv-
| ants. officials professional men and women students,
&c Speaking generally. the extractye Industries have
yet required the dispersion Of the persons engaged
in them. But the distribuve are on the other hand,
ulSlncIY cenlldlZlNg IN theT lHlutI't lhc SdlHc
may be said of the manufacturing; and the fourth
class the unproducye" Adam Smith has called il,
must reside where people who demand its services
numerous and money is plentyin other words it must
80 swell in size the centres of population. Thus
appears that the efficient industrial organization Of
nation on modern lines requires the concentration Of
population in virtually all the industries except agri-
culture Gor even mining encourages some density)
and since this industry for several decades has been
able to deliver it's product by employing constantly
smaller proportion Of the total population we obtain
at once a simple but philosophical explanation Of The
Drift to the Cities" The continuance Of the move
ment regarded from this broad standpoint seems to
depend largely the future OF agriculture Though
commerce and manufacture yet favor it, and it seems
fairly certain to continue in the immediate future too
many agricultural problems await solution to make
long prediction sure
But is city growth due merely to the drift from
farm to town? The author makes study Of this mi
grafton and decides hat it is not He finds that cent
uries ago the country paid dear tribute OF its and
daughters to the city. In England both Elizabeth and
James l. issued proclamations forbdding migration
into London: in France the Etats GenerauX recon-
mendcd similar restrictive measures and the move
ment is spoken of in other countries The old cities
did NOT grow rapidly because OF a high death rate.
immigration little more than made up the deficiency
Of births to deaths. And at brel periods came vista
tions of the plague supplement the ravages Of the
death SO the modern growth Of cities has taken
place rather through the turning Of the balance be
the births and deaths in cities than through in
creased immigration from the rural districts. 1t is
only in the nineteenth century the period Of great
urban growth that cities have commonly shown a sur
plus Of births deaths. and tina, immigration has
been able therefore, to count.
In the study OF the migratory movement other
points as important but interesting brought
out. Careful compilations show that the immigration
the cities is for the part a short distance
men but that the larger the city the greater its power
Of attraction and the wider its sphere OF influence.
Thus currents OF population may and actually do flow
great city from long distances. We learn, also.
perhaps surprise. that women more often
migrants than men. They come TO the cities in targer
numbers though from shorter distances. finding in
marriage and domestic service the levers Of action.
And see, in the fact that the migrants nearly
all young explanation of the small percentage Of
citys adult population (ony about - per cent in big
cities that were born within limits
The conclusions thus far reached LEAD gradually to
thought of the structure of city populations II must
be recalled that the author illustrates and yerifos all
his judgments with convincing AM exhaustive figures
that concrete evidences of the focte thar