No. 4.] LESSONS FROM THE CENSUS. 73 



the nation, but these may be best brought out by study of 

 the final statistics themselves. 



Transportation in its various lines of employment occupies 

 the time of a large proportion of the citizens of the country. 

 Naturally we are approaching conditions in which the devel- 

 opment of the railroad is slower than during the decade from 

 1880 to 1890. At the census of 1890 railroads represented 

 15 per cent of the wealth of the nation ; in 1900 they will 

 only stand for about 12^ per cent. 



Without asking your attention to the many other lines of 

 inquiry concerning the resources and the productive power 

 of the nation, I will close this brief statement with a few 

 facts concerning the population. The aggregate population, 

 as fixed by the new census, is 76,295,220, as against a trifle 

 more than G3 million ten years ago. The gain is something 

 over 13 millions, or 21 per cent. 



There are many interesting developments shown by the 

 figures of the census as to the relative growth of States and 

 of sections. Thus, New York State still remains much the 

 largest in population, having gained the full 21 per cent of 

 increase. All the States, with the exception of Nevada, 

 show increases. That singular State, with large area, with 

 resources for a population of a half million, shows a net 

 decrease of 71^ per cent. There is food here for the political 

 economist who desires to struggle with a real question in 

 economics, which demands a real solution. 



Of the larger States, having a population of 1,000,000 and 

 more, the State which makes the smallest gain is Nebraska, 

 whose population increased just 9,991 in ten years, or at the 

 rate of a little less than 1 per cent. It may be that there is 

 also a story here not without interest and not without value, 

 but this is scarcely the time to trace it out. It is significant 

 that the adjoining State of Kansas, with approximately the 

 same population, gained only 3 per cent, while its neighbor 

 on the east, Iowa, gained 18 per cent. 



The largest percentages of gain were those of Idaho, 

 Montana and North Dakota, which were respectively 92, 84, 

 and 75 per cent, — a gain in large measure accounted for by 

 the develo})ment of new territory. Of the larger States, 

 having populations of 1,000,000 or more, Texas and Minne- 



