Page:Popular Science Monthly Volume 64.djvu/182

178 cent., decreased during the last decade. New York shows little change, the figures for the two decades being nearly identical. In Massachusetts, only 34 per cent, of the townships show a decrease in population during the last decade.

The above table presents several important and interesting facts regarding distribution of the increase in population of the nine states studied. All except Delaware show a greater increase in the population of the large cities during the period 1890-1900 than during the preceding decade. Delaware and Ohio, outside of the large cities, increased less during 1890-1900 than during 1880-1890. In Delaware alone the entire population of the state increased less during 18901900 than during the decade preceding. In these nine representative states, the population of the large cities increased 347,327 more during 1890-1900 than during 1880-1890; while the remaining portion of the states, the rural districts, increased 517,313 more (hiring 1890-1900 than during 1880-1890.

These figures indicate that, although the growth of our large cities is still more rapid than that of the remaining parts of the country, the rural districts are not being depopulated; but, on the contrary, are rapidly increasing in population. The growth is by no means uniform. The counties near the rapidly growing cities of Chicago, Cleveland and Toledo are increasing in population; while many in central and southern Ohio are decreasing. The contrast between New Jersey and Delaware, as shown in the table, is undoubtedly to be attributed to the influence of New York City and Philadelphia in the case of New Jersey, and the lack of such influence in the case of Delaware. The writer attributes much of this growth in the vicinity of these cities to the development of an extensive suburban electric railroad system. This may be objected to on the ground that the electric roads were not in operation long enough before 1900 to produce an appreciable effect. In order to prove or disprove definitely the census of 1910 will be required.

In the state of New Jersey only one county, Huntingdon, decreased in population during the last decade. Of the 104 cities, towns and boroughs in this state separately returned in both 1890 and 1900, 86 increased during that period. Only two counties, Barnstable, in the Cape Cod district, and Nantucket, an island, in the state of Massachusetts, show a decrease in population during the last decade. The three New England states, Maine, New Hampshire and Vermont, report only two cities having a population of more than 25,000 people; they may, therefore, be called 'rural' states. An examination of the population of these three states reveals one significant common tendency—the percentage of increase was greater in each state during 1870-1880 than during 1880-1890; but the percentage for 1890-1900