The Saint Paul globe. (St. Paul, Minn.) 1896-1905, 1902-10-31
LONDON SRAPlD GROWTH
MAINTAINS HER TITLE OF GREAT
EST IN THE WORLD
But Greatest In Population, II Is Not
Greatest In sobriety, Virtue and
Sanitary conditions-Greater New
York, Next in Size, Has Only About
Half the Number.

The statistics contained in the re-
port show that Greater London has a
population of 6,581,372, nearly twice
the population of Greater New York,
the next in size of the cities of the
world. There are more people in Lon
don than in Paris, Berlin and Chicago
Greater London has as many people as
Belgium or Morocco, and nearly half
as many more as the whole of Portu-
gal, or Ireland, or Scotland.
This Greater London is not the CITY
of London, but an undivided mass Of
cities. This feature of the growth and
present position of the British capital,
in many respects the central city of
the world, is striking. For every forty
people in the city itself, there are TO-
600 Londoners living outside. The in
crease Of population in ten years has
amounted to $4,000, or more than the
total population of Dublin, Edinburgh
and Bristol combined.
From the above comparisons 1t is
readily seen that the leading city Of
the world is not likely to lose her pre-
em1nence very shortly. But the fig
ures contained in the report show
cause for alarm on the part of loyal
Britishers, on account of the lowness
of the marriage rate and the birth
rate. The death rate is also below
SAAS Il,
and this, of course, counterbalances in
part the low marriage and birth
rates.
In recent years the marriage rate in
London has increased without cor
responding increase in the birth rate.
A state Of affairs which is quite gem
era1 in large cities prevails in Lon
don, in that the birth rate in the poor
districts is much greater than in the
rich sections.
In 1884 the marriage rate reached
its lowest point, II per thousand. In
1889, the last year for which figures
are given, it was 1874 per thousand.
The birth rate is now at the lowest
point 1t has ever touched Thirty
years ago 1t was 1874 per thousand;
in 1898 1t had sunk to 1913. In this
matter the state of affairs in London
corresponds in a surprising degree to
the whole country, where the fall has
been on parallel lines. The poorest
two districts, st. Luke's and Bethnal
Green, are proportionately the most
prolific. st. Martini in the Fields,
kensington, Hampstead and ST.
Georges, Hanover Square, are the
least. There are over four times as
many births, proportionately, in st.
Luke's as in ST. Georges
London is one of the healthiest cit
les in the world, though she is far less
so than Amsterdam, where the average
death rate is 1853 per thousand. The
rate in London is 2O.e, the figures show
ing an increase in the proportionate
number of deaths over the three pre-
vious years.
conditions. The figures show beyond
shadow of doubt that timely action
on the part of the municipal authorities
would have beneficial effect Nearly
tWo-thfrds as many more persons of
all ages die in the over-crowded ten
ement quarters of London as in sub
urban districts.
Drunkenness seems to be fast becom-
ing LondOn's beSetting sin. Pauperism
has shown a tendency to decrease, and
there is a corresponding dinninution in
commissions Of every crime, with the
single exception of drunk enness which
has been rapidly on the increase. Out
of every hundred thousand people, SGT
were arrested for drunkenness in 1890.
In 1899 the proportion had risen to
$40. This was no temporary matter,
but part of a steady upward growth. ).
The total Of pauperS in London is ap-
palling. Twenty one per cent of the
entire population over sixty-flve years
old are in receipt of poor relief On
Jan. 1, 1901, 123,520 were being given
public charity, either as indoor or out
door paupers, Migrants or lunatics.
The returns given by the police to
show the number of bad characters
are believed to be exaggerated in the
natural desire of the London police to
make it appear that they are working
hard.
The police give returns showing the
number of bad characters at large
known to them. They give the num-
Der of thieves at large as SIG, the per-
sons under police supervision 1,155,
and the houses of receivers of stolen
goods, 101.
The total of lunatics for whom the
county of London has to find accom-
mediation has increased over so per cent
in twelve years. In 1890 it was 10,104;
in 1901 it was 1851. The total num-
Der of lunaticS in London in 1901 was
21,848.
The fact that the fire service in Lon
don can be improved upon is evident
from the report. In 1900. "a persons
lost their lives in fires, and the report
states that of these deaths, "a large
majority occurred before the Fire
Brigade was ever called
The list Of deaths is monotonously
followed by such remarks as: "Call not
received till more than three hours af-
ter the occurrence of the fire." The re-
turns of the Fire Brigade only cover
1900, though the figures for 1901 have
been available for many months.
HE WANTED TO KNOW, AND