14 Progress of Population and Wealth 



is invaluable to the philosopher and political economist, as well as 

 to the statesman and legislator. By the evidence it affords they 

 are enabled to deduce truths of sufficient importance to justify the 

 trouble and expense it involves, though it were not necessary to 

 the just distribution of political power, and to equality of taxation ; 

 and its benefits became so obvious, that the most enlightened na- 

 tions of Europe have followed the . example, and now take periodi- 

 cal censuses of their inhabitants solely for the valuable knowledge 

 they convey. As the numbers of a people are at once the source 

 and the index of its wealth, these enumerations enable its statesmen 

 to see whether national prosperity is advancing, stationary, or 

 retrograde. They can compare one period with another, as well 

 as different parts of the country with each other, and having this 

 satisfactory evidence of the facts, they can more successfully in- 

 vestigate the causes, and apply the appropriate remedies, where 

 remedy is practicable. 



They also furnish occasions for obtaining other statistical infor- 

 mation on subjects that materially concern civilization and national 

 prosperity. The same means taken to ascertain the numbers of the 

 people may be used to distribute them into classes, according to 

 sex, ages, and occupations, and different races, where such diversity 

 exists. Accordingly, the United States, and all the European 

 nations who have profited by our example, have thus improved 

 their respective enumerations of their people. Six censuses have 

 now been taken in this country in the course of fifty years, during 

 which period many new items have added to our knowledge of 

 the progress of social improvement. By their aid, speculations in 

 political philosophy of great moment and interest may be made to 

 rest on the unerring logic of numbers. 



This knowledge, so indispensable to every government which 

 would found its legislation on authentic facts, instead of conjecture, 

 is peculiarly important to us. Our changes are both greater and 

 more rapid than those of any other country. A region covered 

 with its primeval forests is, in the course of one generation, covered 

 with productive farms and comfortable dwellings, and in the same 

 brief space villages are seen to shoot up into wealthy and populous 

 cities. The elements of our population are, moreover, composed 

 of different races and conditions of civil freedom, whose relative 

 increase is watched with interest by every reflecting mind, however 

 he may view that diversity of condition, or whatever he may think 

 of the comparative merit of the two races. 



