The St. Johns herald., 1901-02-09
AN ENGLISH VIEW.
A London Journal Regarding Our
 Late Census Returns.
Our Great Growth During the Last Decade UnSuRpasssd by Thet of Any Other NattOa-some Com.
 Dlimentaxy Remarks.

1 Statistics are frequently merely dull and repellent hosts of figures; occa- sionally they strike home upon the imagination, and leave 6 vivid impress sion upon the mind. No thoughtful person can fail to realize something at least of all that is signified by the cen sus returns of the United States, says the London Telegraph. That mighty nation has been numbered and it Is found that her population now stands at 76,25O,O0O. In the short space of ten years there has been an increase Of nearly 13,250, ,0OO, which is equivalent to almost 21 per cent. for the decade. or rather more than 2 per cent. per annum. When we remember that 200 years ago the population of the states was under 300, ,000-or rather more than the present population of Bradford and that 100 years ago it was but ht- tie over 5,000,OOO, 1t will be seen with what amazing rapidity the young giant among the nations has built up his strength. The first census was taken in 1790. From that year down to 1860 the increase per cent. per annum was about $50.
 From 1860 to 1870 it fell to 2.2o; in the next ten years it rose to 3.1; from 1880 to 1890 it dropped to 2.49, and now, as we have seen, 1t stands at 2.1. This is slight decrease in ratio, but, after all, the important fact Is that there are 13,o00, 900 more people owning allegiance to the American constitution than there were ten years ago. And the growth of population is the infal- lible test of national prosperity and advancement. No nation has ever yet risen to greatness with dwindling population, and probably none ever will. Declining numbers have been the invariable concomitant of national stagnation and decadence. The growth of the power of Great Britain, Germany and Russia bears witness to the truth of this sweeping generalization, and there is nothing which gives French publicists more serious grounds for disquietude as to the future of their country than the evidence of stagna- tion shown in their census returns. Americans, therefore. may be we'll con- tent with the progress they haze made in the last decade. These figures af- ford them ample reason for pride and jubilation. The only great power of the present day which can vie with them in numbers is Russia. and in wealth, in energy, in adaptability, in education and in that cunning indus trial skill which is the foundation of material prosperity, they far outstrip the subjects of the czar.
 What the future has in store for the United States only the future can dis close, but that it is something great, something vast and magnificent far be- yond anything hitherto witnessed in history, no one can doubt. and there are few Englishmen who do not well come the prospect with hearty grat ification, owing to the community of race, ideas and language which links both the heart and brain of the United States with the heart and brain of the British empire. Full details of this latest census have not yet been pub lished, and close analysis is at pres ent impossible Yet it-is to be observed