The Washington times., 1901-08-07
DENSITY OF POPULATION.

According to the last census there IL in
the United States. exclusive OF Alaska
and Hawaii. an average OF 8.6 inhabi-
tants to the square mile In other words.
our density of population is far smaller
than that Of any country Of Europe ex-
cepting Norway and Sweden But crowd
ed as Europe is. in comparison with this
country. its peoples seem to have abun-
dant elbow room when they are contrast
ed with the hundreds of millions living
in India and China.
DR.. a. Supan. the distinguished geog-
raphcr and one of the editors OF "Bcroik-
erung der Erde. Sstimat ss the population
of China at over 350O0c. 600. not including
the sparseiy peopled regions outside OF
China proper. China is only about as
large Russia, but it has nearly as
many inhabitaEss as the whole of El,rnre
New Jersey s.-......i an average or zs03 IN
habitants to the square mile. is the third
most densely peopled State in the United
states, being surpassed only by Rhode
Island and Massachusetts,. II one-half Of
our country We're as densely peopled as
New Jersey with its big cities and i'm
portant towns that half OF the United
states would have just about as large
a population as is crowded into China.
But China, like all other large countries.
has important areas in which the popu-
lation is comparatively small. II we would
know what density OF population really
means IN China we must go to the low.
rich plains which. though only a small
part OF the country, contain nearly a third
of the people. or about 1ieCoo,0so souls.
There are only two plains OF great i'm
portance, the most Of China being
mountainous or a very rugged country.
nr,a r.fr
belt near the sea frem a little south of
the Yangtse River to the north of Pekfn
1t is crossed by the Hoang River, whose
terrible floods have sometimes killed mil
lions of people. The other plain, in the
low regions of the Yangtse. does not ex-
tend Tar from the river and its larger
tributaries and II is narrow in all barts
for mountains hem it IN On these plains
about third OF the people of China gain
their living, for the most part by tiiling
the soil
If the 76.Oeo.0Oo inhabitants of the United
states lived in the State of Texas and
100000 more people were crowded amonc,
them We should have a. parallel in this
country of the density of population on
the TWO plains OF China There is moth
ing nke II even In India NO wonder that
image IN China is of the nature of gar
aen culture, that each householder has
only Two or three acres Of ground. that
mountains in most parts Of the country
49, 49, tei iaceu anu TILED and that East
China has been denuded OF its timber so
that every foot of the soil NAV be cI,lti.
waited.
The masses Of the people in any coun-
Try, nerded together like the Chinese
would perhaps be as poor as they are
OFerpopuiation is a dire evil and the Chi
ncse are suffering from it Where the
farmer tills only q garden spot that pro-
duces scarcely enough food for his family.
he has little to sell and can buy little
Such minute subdivision of the soil as
pfeVails IN China would keep any people
poor; no matter how highly the com
tnercial aptitude of the Chinese may be
developed, their part in trade will always
De small in proportion to population as
long as they are mostly farmers, each
tilins only two or three acres of land