New Britain herald., 1914-05-11
CONN. bAPT|STS DON'T
 DO ALL THEIR SHARE Church Not Keeping Up With h.
 crease in Popu alton. SMALL TOWNS GROWING SMALLER

Hartford Baptist Association Chair
 man Shows Figures to Prove Statc-
 ments Regarding Way the Church
 Fails to Care For Foreigners.
 Charts containing some facts con- corning the state of Connecticuts
 population with reference to church
 work and workers were seen at the First Baptist church yesterday. In these charts made out by w. E. Woodbury, chairman of the Hartford
 Baptist association, it is said that the Connecticut Baptist churches, like
 other evangelical churches, are in-
 cheasing in membership, but are not
 keeping up with the increase in popu-
 lation. In 1870 the population of this
 state was 50O,0O0 and in 1910 1t was
 100000. In 1910 the population of
 the state had increased 2S per cent. and from 1880, when the Baptist church membership in Connecticut was 21,755, to 1910 when it had reached 26,9O2, the membership gain in this church was but 2 per cent. Foreigners Outlumber Natives. The second chart shown makes known the startling fact that at pres- ent the Connecticut foreigners, the term meaning those whose parents were born outside of the United States, are out-numbering the native whites. Figures show that in 1890
 there were 350,000 in the state born
 of native white parents. comprising about forty-eight per cent. of the en-
 tire population. Of foreign paren- tage there were 37O,O00, or fifty-two per cent. of the entire population. In 1910 the total number born of native white parents reached 390,0O0. In the meantime, however. the foreign births had reached 100000, leaving but thirty-five and one-half per cent of the population of the old stock, while the foreign element had in-
 creased to sixty-four and one-half per cent. of the entire population. Foreigners Multiply Rapidly. Another startling statement made is that the foreigners in this state null tlply in the cities just five times as fast as native whites. From 1890 to 1910 the native whites of native par
 ents increased but eighteen per cent. while the foreign born, or of foreign parents, increased about 100 per cent. In towns of less than 2,500 from 1890 to 1910 the foreigners increased forty per cent. and the natives decreased l twenty five per cent. 1 ] Where the Foreigners Live. 1a,,- Y~. round numbers they are spread out
 over the state as follows: Russians, 1 in New Haven, 12,60O; Hartford, 10,-
 900; New Britain, $500; Waterbury,
 5000; Norwich, 2.S0O and New Lon ] don, 1,4O0. Of the Italian race New 1 Haven again leads with 21,600; Wa
 terbury comes next with 10.300, Hart- l ford has 1000; New Britain has D. 700; Bristol has 2.0o0; Torrington has
 1900 and New London has 1900.
 These figures are from the 1910 cen- sus and figures for 1914 would show 1 6 decided increase.
 In Hartford Association. In the towns and cities where the l Baptist churches of the Hartford as- | sociation are located there is a total
 population of 199,o00, of which 62,O00
 -or less than one-third-are native whites and 134,000-or more than two-thirds are foreigners. These fig-
 ures include 26,000 Irish, 22,000 Rus-
 sians, 14,OOO Italians and 1,60O Hun
 garians. New Haven's association is | four-fifths foreign and one-fifth na- 1 tive whites.
 Work for Natives
 l The Baptist state work for native | Americans-one-thi of the popula- ] tion---is carried on by 105 pastors and | 140 churches. For the other two- l thirds of the population. made up of l foreigners or new Americans as they are called, there are ten German and 1 Swedish pastors with fourteen
 churches, thirteen missionaries and
 three places where a small mission is located. but without any resident mis- l sionary.
 l Population Distribution. l Among other things asserted by these charts is that the population of
 the largest centers is increasing While 1 that of the smaller cities Is decreas- 1 ing. From 1890 to 1910 the towns l of more than 2,500 people increased | 400, 900, or eighty-nine and three l quarters per cent. On the other
 hand the towns of less than 2,500 de- | creased 5000. or ten and one-quarter l per cent.
 | 154 Churches i'm State. | Thirty-five of the 154 Baptist | churches in this state are in towns l of decreasing population In the | New London association seven out of
 ten churches are In such towns, while
 in the Stonington Union there are
 four out of ten churches in such
 towns In the Hartford association