Page:Popular Science Monthly Volume 85.djvu/203

Rh towered head and shoulders above the other sections of the United States in her production of eminent persons. Two other sections, the Middle Atlantic and the East North Central States, alone approach her record, and they lag far behind her pace.

The second question is not so susceptible of positive answer—"Has there been any change in the proportion of distinguished persons contributed by New England?" Such a change has undoubtedly taken place. Until 1880 New England took first rank. Up to that time her supremacy can not even be disputed. With that decade, New England drops behind the Middle Atlantic States. Whatever the cause of the change, the change is itself forcing the New Englander's lead very hard.

The third question: "What contribution of distinguished persons is now being made by the various sections of the United States?" may not be answered in any dogmatic way. New England is evidently contributing a less high proportion of distinguished persons. The Middle Atlantic States, the East North Central States, and the Pacific States are striding rapidly to the front. Thus far (the decade of 1880-1889) the Middle Atlantic States lead, with New England second, and the East North Central States third.

All the facts at hand point to New England as the one-time birthplace of the largest proportion of distinguished persons. The center is shifting, however, into New York, Pennsylvania and Ohio. That New England once held the palm is a statement that must go without challenge. That she can or will continue to hold it seems doubtful. Meanwhile, of the persons whose names found their way into "Who's Who in America" an overwhelming proportion seem to have been born in that section of the northeastern United States bounded by the Mason and Dixon line on the south, and the Mississippi-Missouri River on the west.