The Leon reporter. (Leon, Iowa) 1887-1930, 1911-01-26

of the state, has only two bordering
on the river-Allamakee and Clay
ton. Neither one of these counties
have big river towns, and since the
tendency seems to be from the coun-
try toward the city, no gains are
shown. In fact the entire district
lost 9,455.
The only county out of the ten
making a gain is Cerro Gordo. of
which Mason City is the county seat,
which jumped from 2O,672 ten years
ago to 25,011 in 1910.
Everything goes to show that the
counties along the eastern part of
! the state have to large degree
counterbalanced the big slumps in
the southern, north central and
western counties. The fifth district,
of which Cedar Rapids and Marshall
town are the principal points, lost
1927, though Linn went from 55,-
392 to 60,720, and Marshall from
29,991 to 30,279. All other coun-
ties in the district lost.
The Sixth, which is also an inter-
ior district, helped to pull down the
gains made in the river counties.
Wapello (Ottumwa) made the big
gest gain, going from 35,426 to 81
TAB, while Mahaska (Oskaloosa)
slumped from 34,273 to 29,s80.
The Seventh, of course made the
heaviest gain of any district in the
state, Des Moines being responsible
for the increase. The gain in the
district is 1887, but Polk and Dali
las are the only counties in the dis
trict that did go ahead. Polk county
increased it's population from 49,
624 to 11O,43S, while in the same
period of ten years Dallas contribut-
ed only about 5000 gain. Losses in
the other counties are heavy.
The greatest damage to the census
totals was done by the Eighth, Ninth
and Tenth districts, the loss in these
being 4O,641. The Eighth, which is
composed wholly of southern and
southeastern counties, lost the heav-
the state, the total being 1885.
These counties embrace large farm
ing interests, some of which were
controlled by the late David Rankin,
of Tarkio, the millionaire farmer.
Pottawattamie Council Bluffs)
is the only county in the Ninth dis
trict which gained, the increase being
! about 10000. Every other county
in the district lost heavily, the total
being 1890, or about as much as
Pottawattamie gained.
Every one of the fourteen counties
of the Tenth district except Webster
fort Dodge) fell down in population
bringing the total loss of the district
to 1926. Webster made gain of
from 31,754 to 1859.
Woodbury. (Sioux City, pulled the
Eleventh district out of hole by
going up in ten years from $3.50 to
67,616. Two or three other of the
thirteen counties of the district gain
ed slightly but to Woodbury. belongs
the honors.
The Eleventh and last district in
the state is believed to hold the key
to the situation as it will exist dur
ing the coming decade, which will
undoubtly bring forth an increase
in Iowa's population. Taking the
district outside of the county of
Woodbury., it is made up largely of
farming communities, nearly all of
which have made gains, revealing
the dawn of an era of intensification
IL tASOO IA OIACA pJ0IOo Oo0I u AcIc,
are attributed to the movement of
the farmers to the newer communi-
ties of the west and southwest. These
new countries have been rapidly fill
ed up ever since the exciting days
on the Cherokee Strip. Conditions
have reached such point that west
ern and southwestern land has be-
come scarce, unless one wants to
pay high figures for it, The result
is intensification in the older and
deserted farming districts. This is
proven by the vast number of in
quiries that are pouring into the
Offices of the land commissioners of
the middle west from eastern rail-
roads. The tide has just begun to
drift eastward, and during the next
ten years there is bound to be an
increase in the population of Iowa
and other states east of here which
have suffered losses, by the over
whelming movement to the west and