Page:Popular Science Monthly Volume 52.djvu/613

Rh the same fact in his brilliant work on Municipal Government in Europe. This is particularly true of great German urban centers. Berlin has outgrown our own metropolis, New York, in less than a generation, having in twenty-five years added as many actual new residents as Chicago, and twice as many as Philadelphia. Hamburg has gained twice as many in population since 1875 as Boston; Leipsic has distanced St. Louis. The same demographic outburst has occurred in the smaller German cities as well. Cologne has gained the lead over Cleveland, Buffalo, and Pittsburg, although in 1880 it was the smallest of the four. Magdeburg has grown faster than Providence in the last ten years. Düsseldorf has likewise outgrown St. Paul. Beyond the confines of the German Empire, from Norway to Italy, the same is true. Stockholm has doubled its population; Copenhagen has increased two and one half times; Christiania has trebled its numbers in a generation. Rome has increased from 184,000 in 1860 to 450,000 in 1894. Vienna, including its suburbs, has grown three times over within the same period. Paris from 1881 to 1891 absorbed four fifths of the total increase of population for all of France within the same period.

Contemporaneously with this marvelous growth of urban centers, we observe a progressive depopulation of the rural districts. What is going on in our New England States, especially in Massachusetts, is entirely characteristic of large areas in Europe. Take Prance, for example. Most of us are aware of the distressing demographic condition of affairs in that country. One of the finest populations in Europe is almost at a standstill numerically; nay, some years show an actual decrease of population. This is not due to emigration abroad, for the French are notably backward in this respect. Nor can it be ascribed to a heavy mortality. The death rate has appreciably fallen during this century, in conformity with the great advances made in hygiene and sanitation. The marriage rate is lower than usual. Yet for some reason children do not come to cheer the land. The practical result is that Germany, the great political rival, seems destined to control the European military situation in future. Such is the condition, viewing the country as a whole. Studying it in detail, the evil is still more magnified; for, with a stationary population for the entire country, the cities continue to grow, draining the life blood of the rural districts year by year, with ever-increasing vigor. The towns are absorbing even