Page:Catholic Encyclopedia, volume 11.djvu/57

 NEW YORK

31

NEW YORK

centre at the Bat tory (tlic sanio area as that of Greater London) thcio air dwclliiis six millions of pooplo, or scarcely a million less than in the London district, which it is to be remembered is not a municipality. This metropolitan district is the most cosmopolitan community in the world. Its urban character is most varied and interesting. One division of it, the City of New York proper, is so large that if divided it would make three cities such as Chicago, Philadelphia, and Pittsburg. Yet nearly a million and a half of people live outside the limits of the city and within the indi- cated area.

The cities of Buffalo, Rochester, Syracuse, Albany, and Troy are the five next in size; according to the census of 1910 they include respectively 42.3,715, 218,149, 137,249, 100,2.'53, and 76,813 people. In 1905 there were 4821 Indians still on the State Reser- vations. There were 47 municipalities in New York in 1900 having a population of more than SOOO people, and in them 6S'5 per cent of the people dwelt. In 1900 there were 3,614,780 males and 3,6.54,114 females in the State. There were 99,232 coloured people. 1,900,425 of the population or a little less than one quarter were foreign born. Of these there were 480,- 026 Germans, 425,5.53 Iri.sh, 182,248 Italians, 165,610 Russian (mostly Hebrews), and 135,685 English — to mention only the largest groups. The population of the whole State in 1790 was 340, 1 20 by the first Federal Census. In 120 years it has increased more than twenty-six times.

In i906, according to the Federal Census Bureau, there were 2,285,768 Roman Catholics in New Y'ork, forming 63.6 per cent of the total of 3,591,974 reli- gious communicants or church members in the State of New York. It is the largest religious denomina- tion in the State. However, only 43-7 per cent of the people of the State claimed membership in any church or denomination. In 1906 there were 278 Roman Catholics for each 1000 of the population, a gain of 8-6 per cent over the figures of the census reports of 1890. The number of Protestant Episcopalian com- municants at the same date in theState was 24 for each 1000 of the population. In 1906 the Federal Census reports show that in the State of New York the num- ber of churches and halls for worship was 9193, having a seating capacity of 3,191,267. There were also presbyteries valued at $22,283,225. The Sunday schools were 8795 in number and attended by 1,247,- 051 scholars. The entire value of all church property was $255,166,284, on which the debt was .$28,382,866. The Catholic Annual for 1910 shows the following carefully gathered for the dioceses of New York State. All these dioceses, it should be noted, are wholly in- cluded within the State boundaries and together com- prise the whole State;

Dioceses

"S p.

i

1

■a

ll

l^ 3*0

New York —

Albany

Brooltlyn. . ..

Buffalo

Ogdensburg... Rochester. . . . Syracuse

1,219,820 193.525 700.000 244.739 92,000 121,000 151.463

331 171

195 194 154 129 106

929 232 426 346 135 163

"•

148 47 76

111 15 54 18

101.087 20,362 78,567 36,405

4,079 19,779

9,141

Totals

2,722.547

1280 2350

469

269,420

These Catholic estimates are interesting for the pur- poses of comparison with those of the official docu- ments, and particularly as being in advance of the re- sults of the Federal Census of 1910, which are now being prepared but cannot be published in detail for some years to come. The present population of the

State of New York, according to the census of 1910, is 9,113,279, about one-tenth of the entire population of the United States.

Wealth and Resources. — New York is the wealth- iest State in the Union. The aggregate value of all the property within the State in 1904, as estimated by the Federal Census Bureau, was $14,769,042,207, (if which $9,151,979,081 represented real property and improvements. The revenue of the State Govern- ment in 1908-9 was $.52,285,239. The City of New York received the enormous revenue of $368,696,334 in 1908, and had in the same year a funded debt of $598,012,644. _ The resources of the State of New York lie first in its commerce, and then in its manu- factures, agriculture, and mining.

Commerce. — In 1908 New Y'ork City was the third shipping port of the world, being surpassed only by London and Liverpool. Its imports were of the value of approximately 780 millions and its exports 600 millions. The tonnage movement of foreign trade for the year ending 30 June, 1909, was: entered, 12,- 528,723 "tons; cleared, 11,,S66,431 tons. The shipping of the inland waters and of the Great Lakes controlled by the State of New York is of equally vast extent. Buffalo, with a population of over 40(5,000, receives in its port on Lake Erie a large portion of the shipping trade of Canada and of the Lake States of the Union. The other ports of Lakes Erie and Ontario are simi- larly prosperous.

Manufactures. — New York is the leading State of the Union in manufactures. In 1905 it had invested in manufactures more than $2,000,000,000, and the value of its manufactures products was approximately $2,.5OO,O0O,O0O. In the .same year it produced 47 per cent of the men's and 70 per cent of the women's clothes made in the LTnited States. The value of its textile output in the same yearwas $114,371,226.

Agriculture. — In 1900 there were in New York 226,- 720 farms of a total area of 22,648,100 acres, of which 15,599,986 acres were improved land. The principal crops are maize, wheat, oats, potatoes, and hay. The wool clip in 1908 was estimated at 5,100,000 pounds. The largest dairy interests in the United States are within the State of New York.

Mining. — The mines of the state in 1908 yielded products valued at $45,609,861 ; the quarries produced building stone valued at $6,137,279. The Onondaga salt springs produced in the same year products of the value of $2,136,738, while the petroleum wells yielded $2,071, .533 worth of crude petroleum.

PnBLic Debt. — The State of New York has no funded debt except for canals and highways. Its out- standing bonds for these purposes on 30 September, 1909, aggregated $41,2,30,660. It has no direct taxa- tion. It has a surplus in its treasury. The assessed valuation of the taxable propertv within the State for 1909 was just short of $10,000,000,000. The title of "Empire State", given to New York by common consent, is well deserved.

Educational System. — The public educational system of New Y'ork is extensive and arranged upon broad plans. It is governed by a general revised stat- ute of more than 2000 sections called "Education Law", adopted in 1910. This law provides for a cen- tral organization called the "Education Department" composed of the regents of the Lnivrrsity of the State of New York, who are the legislative branch, .and the Commissioner of Education, who is made the chief executive officer of the system and of the regents. The work of the Educational Department is divided into three parts, the common schools, the academic or secondary schools, and the colleges and universities. The head of the regents of the miiversity is the chan- cellor. Executive control, however, is entrusted to the commissioner of education, who, with his a.ssi8t- ants and subordinates, has charge of the enormous de- tails of the entire educational system of the State