The Cook County herald. [volume] (Grand Marais, Minn.) 1893-1909, 1901-04-27
AN EN GLIS n LEW
A London Journal Regarding Our.
Late Census Returns.

Late LenSaS MetuInss
Our Great Growth During the Laat
Decade Unsurpassed by That nj
Any Other Nation-.some Com-
Dlimentary Remarks.
Statistics are frequently merely dull
and repellent hosts OF figures; occa-
sionally they strike home upon the.
imagination, and leave vivid impress
sion upon the mind. No thoughtful
person can fail to realize something at
least Of all that is signifed 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 1920 900. In the short space Of
ten years there has been an increase
of nearly 1920, 900, which 10 equivalent
to almost FL 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 900, ooo-or rather more than
the present population Of Bradford
and that 100 years ago it was but lit
tie over 100000, it will be seen with
what amazing rapidity the young giant
among the nations has built up his
strength. The first census was taken
in 1890. From that year down to 1860
the increase per cent. per annum was
about $50. s: = = -, = SO
From 1860 to 1870 it fell to 2.26; in
the next ten years it rose to 81; from
1880 to 1890 it dropped to 2.49, and
now, as we have seen, it stands at FL.
This is a slight decrease in ratio, but,
after all, the important fact, is that
there are 100000 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-
ton 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 at
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 car.
i. What the future has in store for the
United States only the future can dis
close. but that it is someth hing 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 graf
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 a close analysis is at pres
ent impossible. Yet 1t is to be observed
that the increase of population has
taken place chiefly in the eastern
states. In New York state alone the
numbers have risen by 1,25oyooo; Penn
sylvania and Illinois show similarly
striking results. AS in England the
urban and manufacturing centers grow
much more rapidly than the rural. No
one will be surprised to find that the
Indians are steadily dying out of the
land. There are now but 134,0 de-
scendants of the red man, who once
roamed in undisturbed possession of
the soil. But for the reservations on
which they drag out forlorn and
hopeless existence, they would soon
become as extinct as the bison. Civil
cation has utterly failed to preserve
the red man. Whether it is civiliza-
tons fault is another matter. In part.
doubtless, it is; in part, and probably
in greater part, it il not.
There is no room for the nomad in
the modern scheme of life. He has re-
fused to adapt himself to altered con-
ditions, and though the result may be
deplored, the law is inexorable. Prob
ably, however, the question which will
most interest the Americans is the rel
alive numbers Of the white and colored
population. The theory used to be very
widely held that the colored races in
America increased faster than the
white. Statistics, however, prove that
the inference was not warranted by the
ACTUAL figures. In 1880 there were g.
500, 600 free colored people in the
states; in 1890 there were nearly r.
5Oo,o 900. The proportion in the former
year was about two in thirteen; IN
the latter it was two in fifteen. What
1T is at the present time the published
returns do not disclose, but hitherto.
except between 1910 and 1860, the white
American has increased rather more
rapidly than the colored. The racial
d problem in the states is one Of such "a =