Page:The New International Encyclopædia 1st ed. v. 09.djvu/206

* GHEAT BBITAIN. 180 GREAT BRITAIN. much longer than on the Continent. The term of active service is from tliree to seven years, the length of service in the reserve varying from five to nine years. The control of the people over the army is secured by the constitutional authority of the National Parliament to prohibit, if it choo.<e, the maintenance of an army in times of peace, and by the necessity of an annual grant for its financial support. A Cabinet ollicer — the Secretary of State for War — is at the head of the army administration. (For details of the army organization, administration, and statistics, see Armies.) The military relation of Great Britain to its colonies presents some interesting aspects. The Imperial forces have been withdrawn from all the self-governing colo- nies except Natal, and local responsibility for self-defense has become a recognized principle. The contributions of military forces by the colo- nies during the late Boer War proved the loyalty of these dependencies, and revealed a source of strength which is of great moment to the Im- perial cause. The British forces stationed in India are supported by taxes raised in that country. Population. The first official census taken of Great Britain was in 1801. Estimates have been made of the population of England upon the hasis of the Domesday record. These estimates place the total in the latter half of the eleventh ■century at a little less than 2,000,000. Over half of the population was then centred in Southeastern England — in the counties north and south of London — the Norman Conquest having tion from the south to the north. The lands in the north, which had been so long deserted, have finally become the most densely popuhited portion of the British Islands. This movement nortliward assumed full momentum when im- proved inventions and methods made it desirable to secure for manufacturing the aid of water- power such as was liest supplied by the streams of Lancashire and Yorkshire. Still later, when coal and iron became extensively drawn upon, the supply of these minerals also was found to be situated in tliis northern district. The greater moisture of the atmosphere in this re- gion, as indicated above, increased its desirabili- ty as a textile manufacturing centre, and con- sequently encouraged the growth of its popula- tion. The manufacturing and mining district around Manchester and extending southward to Birmingliam is the most densely populated district of equal area in Great Britain, or in the world, with the possible exception of certain districts of China. The next five most populous districts are a small region surrounding London, and the Lowland region of Scotland. The density ])er square mile of the population of the principal divisions of Great Britain in 1901 was: England, GOG; Wales, 230; Scotland, 150. The population of these kingdoms together with Ireland lor the years 1821, 1861, and 1001 will be seen in the following table, together with the percentage of the total i)opulation of the United Kingdom which each country constituted in these respec- tive years, and also the percentage of increase of each country for the decade 1891-1901: 1821 1841 1861 1881 1901 Percentage of increase 1891-1902 United Kingdom 20,893,000 26,731,000 28,927,000 34,884,000 41,454,000 9.9 England Wales 11,282.000 718.300 2,091.600 6,802,000 7o 64.0 3.4 10. 32.6 15.002.000 911.700 2,620.000 % 66.1 3.4 9.8 18.954.000 1.111.700 3.062.000 5,799,000 % 65.6 3.8 10.6 20.0 24,614.000 1,.%0,000 3,735,000 5,175.000 % 70.8 3.0 10.7 30.805.000 1.721.000 4.472.000 4,456.000 % 74.3 4.1 lO.S 10.8 12.1 •Scotland 11.1 depopulated vast districts in Northern En^and. Investigators claim that it took over five cen- turies to double this figure, the greatest increase being made in the Elizabethan reign, after which time the population remained stationary for a century and a half. The lack of communication resulted in frequent starvation periods in numer- ous localities. This, together with occasional plagues, prevented a regular and normal in- crease. The great modern growth in population is contemporaneous with the change in the in- The increasing importance of the manufactur- ing and the mining industries as against agri- culture has given England a larger percentage of urban population than is found for any other country. In 1901 the urban population amounted to 77 per cent, of the total in England and Wales, and 75.3 per cent, in Scotland. The great concentration of population is strikingly brouglit oufin the following table, which is taken from a study made of England and Wales for the ninety -year period 1801-91: England and Wales.. 283 towns including London.. ■224 smaller towns ■70 new towns Populous areas (old) Populous areas (new) Belt round London Rural districts 1.929.724 808.000 369,000 346,790 2,087.000 209.900 31.577.000 37.317,885 Population 1801 1891 3,426,000 16,881,000 462.600 1,800,000 89,800 1,257,000 227,500 660,000 629.300 2,673.800 64.600 196.200 4.103,000 6.534.400 8,892,500 29,002,600 1801-31 81 61 121 57 Inc. percent. 1S31-61 70 CO 47 63 168 136 35 38 67 85 35 74 7 decrease 3 dustrial system and the improvement in means It will be seen that the population of the of commimication. The most remarkable feature 283 largest towns was in 1891 nearly five in this development is the drift of the popula- times that in 1801, while on the contrary the