Daily Kennebec journal. [microfilm reel] (Augusta, Me.) 1870-1975, 1905-06-26
How MANY Chinese Are There7


ceeds to upset the generally accepted
idea that China has population some
where around the 400.0O0.000 mark
with which it has been credited in the
BIOGRAPHIES. encyclopedias and books
OF travel for many years. OF course.
the total of China's population is
matter OF guesswork as no reliable
census has ever been made or could
well be made but 400.Oo0.O00 has been
the figure guessed to often that most
Of US have accepted it as final and
conclusive. Rear Admiral Clark.
however. takes another guess and in
the National Geographic Magazine for
June he gives his reasons for believing
that China has no more than 100000
900 people. II he is right. the yellow
peril is of less dangerous proportions
than has been supposed.
The admiral was on the China sta
ton for three years, spent several
months in each Of the great ports. and
made q trip up the Yangtse river as
far as Ichang. a town 1000 miles from
the sea. He noticed that the agricul-
turaI population lived mostly in viii
lagos, that these were generally small.
and widely separated. and that the in
tervening spaces were comparatively
empty Of population. Speaking of the
cities, too, he remarks that the houses
are small, mostly one or two story af-
fairs, and that the areas they cover are
less in extent than our own cities.
which are full of tall sky-scrapers,
which lodge thousands Of people on
comparatively small spaces of ground.
Canton covers little more than six
square miles, although. next to Pekin,
it is supposed to be the most populous
of Chinese cities, while New York.
with its 2O-story buildings. covers %
square miles. without going off Man.
haitian Island. 1.-The presence" he
adds, 'all over China. of tigers does
not suggest land densely populated"
He comes to the conclusion from these
considerations that China, in spite of
the stories of travellers and missiOnar-
les, would not foot up in a correct GEN.
sus quite 20O.OOO.000.
This estimate, however. of the adj
mirars, is open to the same suspicion
that he casts upon the bigger ones
heretofore believed. 1t is based upon
no accurate examination, and a sailors
familiarity with few sea ports. and a
few months run UP the Yangtse. hard
ly fits one to estimate the population Of
a country nearly as big as the United
States, which like China has but slight
modern means to disseminate informa-
ton. The greater estimates. while they
are not based upon anything like accu-
rate information. have this to be said
Of them. They have been credited, and
indeed made, by intelligent men whose
travels in China have been vastly more
extensive and prolonged than Admiral
Clarks, and who were at the same
time familiar with the conditions in
India. where a most accurate census
has been made by government. Those
who know from official sources that
the Indian peninsula has considerably
more than 300.OO0,000 of people. and
are at the same time perfectly familiar
with the aspects Of the two countries.
would certainly have long ago OBJ
served and commented upon the great
er sparsity of population in China. If
It were only two-thirds that of India.
No such comment has been made by
any Of the authorities. and this gives
occasion for the inference that there
was no occasion for 1t.
At the same time. Admiral Clarks
suggestions are pertinent and impor-
tant II China has really no more
than 200,O0O,000 of people, any develop
ment she may reach within a century
or two under Japanese or other tute-
lage. presents no serious threat to Eu-
Topean predominance. Russia alone
has nearly 14O.OOO.OOO. and in spite Of
Togo and Oyama. in spite of Bushido
Banzai and hari-kiri, there is some
thing still left In the Slavic race which
will show itself in good time. There
are nearly 100000 of Germans be-
hind the Slavs, and the French, Ital-
ians and other Latins are still to be
counted. But II there are 100000
Of Chinese. that. as Mr.. kipling. would
say. is another story. 1t is really a
matter Of much interest to the rest
Of the world to know with some ap-
Proclamation to truth, how many there
are of them. Perhaps the Japanese
will tell US.
The latest move toward honoring the
memory Of a neglected Revolutionary
patriot takes the form of a memorial to
Capt. Burr Mcintosh. the leader Of the
famous Boston tea party. This is