Every evening, Wilmington daily commercial., 1920-10-11
Story Of the Nations Census.

The complete count of the people Of the
United States gives us population OF
l05I6S3. lOs, n gain Of 14.9 per cent in the
ten years since 1910. which is the smallest
increase of any decade in our history. The
growth is l3, ,7lO,s SAP, which is almost 3
OoQLOO less than in the preceding decade,
when it was 1897 .69l, and not con-
sidfrably larger than in 1900, when the in
ere hent vns l3,046,s6l
The figures just announced from Wash
| ing ton, however, show that the new count
puts the United States far in advance OF all
European countries in point Of population,
not taking into consideration Colonial
pos sessions. England has but 81 ,045, 200,
| according to her most recent census, while
| France has 40,000,0 900, and Germany s
| population was given at 65, 900, ,0O0m 1913,
tho ough il has been declared that the figures
wete purposely deceptive and intended TO
cor cenl the man-power of the Empire, as
thd Kaiser was then preparing for war.
Aue etra's published census for. the same
year was &c. .oOO, 900, which also is open to
| QUESTION. The two nations IN alliance
VIC Re supposed 10 have had l2o,00o,cOo,
| onf-third of which were Austrians. Oi
! course the British Empire, which includes
| all the nationalities who arc subjects of
| King George, with its t35, zoo, GOO people,
| ia the largest nation, with China second,
4ob, 900 600, and Russia third, with lsO,-
OOb, 900. while Japan. another OF the great
powers has rs, ,O0O, 600 more than fourth
less than the United States.
In addition to being the largest OF all
countries, except Russia and China,
America is the richest per capita, and
richest in the nations aggregate Of wealth
of any country in the world. and 1t can
be added that she is richer al this mt nent
thin any nation of the past
While the growth of the country has
be In far behind the gains Of all preceding
deEades. this is due to the large number of
aliens absent from the country. back IN
thbir old homes, where they went tempor-
arIlv after the war. Doubtless had the
coI,nt included all who were actual citi-
seh his and contemplated citizens, the show
ink would have been much larger.
There were a. 100. 600 more immigrants
th hn e,nigrants in ten years, however, and
IN pse. with excess Of births over deaths,
mike up the more than 1900, ,oO0 gain
All snaIyss Of the birth and death rate oi
th|e country discloses the interesting Tact
that the births exceed the deaths by one
pdr eentevery year.
The growth Of the cities is strongly en-
phasizes in the report through the falling
of in the suburban population, which has
bd en- very marked. 1t is shown that more
than half the people Of the United States
lite in the cities and towns. Fer the last
ddcade the people living in cities numbered
54 SIG, 200, or 81 o per cent, as compared
With 50. SGT, ,S99, or sS.i per cent who hive
in the county. The movement away from
the country has gained in momentum l5o
pfr cent over the previous decade
The report further shows that three
States have lest IN population. They are
Mississippi, Vermont and Nevada, while
SHINE Of the Middle Western States show
VERY small increases and the list glving the
As States in order Of population is con-
sIderablv shifted. California, for example,
nBoves up from twelfth pc sition TO seventh,
which probably is the greatest gain shown.
Delaware holds her former place, forty
stventh in the list, and is followed by
wyoming, who is clcs sely approaching her, |
while Nevada. almost an empire within |
herself more than twenty times the area |
df Delaware, has one-ihird the popuiation |
sind only about two-thirds as many people /
ds live in Wilmington.
New York is secure in first place, her |
population increasing mere than ,ZOO,OOo |
III the decade, and Pennsylvania is second /
With almost as much gain. The increment /
df either the empire or the Keystone State
about equals the entire population Of
Vermont. Arizona, Delaware. Wyoming /
And Nevada, and the entire population Of
New York equals that Of about fifteen OF |
the tail-enders.
In addition TO the 1858, los people
living in Continental United States. there
bre almost 1S. .O00, 900 living in our lnsular
possessions that are governed through |
Washington They, however, may be ae-
borded independence before smother
decade.
The showing of the count Of noses OF
americans is satisfying, even though our
growth has been less rapid than was an
Eicipated. II has been normal and healthy.
Unless some unforeseen conditions arise,
the increase for the next decade will be
larger, than that reported at this time for
no doubt the influx Of aliens will be greater
than ever before, as Europeans are already
fleeing from their depressing war-torn
for this land Of plenty and oppor-
tunity.
A population of 125,000,OO0 for 1880
would be a conservative estimate.