THE FARMERS' SOCIAL OUTLOOK. 22/ 



urban population during the decade of which it treated ; 

 while the growth of the rural population had only been 

 15.6 per cent. The cities of the United States having 

 over 8,000 inhabitants in 1790 contained but one thir- 

 tieth of the population ; in 1880 they contained one 

 fourth. In the State of Massachusetts, with all her 

 markets created by a manufacturing population, her rural 

 denizens decreased by 37,000 in the years 1860-85. In 

 the first-named year, she had a rural population of 698,- 

 261 ; in 1870, 677,601 ; in 1880, 672,462 ; while in 1885 

 it had fallen to 661,588. In 1789 the cities of this State 

 contained 5 per cent, of the population ; in 1885, 66| 

 per cent. 



Recently the Toronto Empire (Conservative) spoke, 

 through its columns devoted to agricultural matters, to 

 this effect : " Everywhere on the continent, east of the 

 Mississippi at any rate, the drift during the past ten to 

 thirty years has been from the country to the towns and 

 cities . . . This continent is rapidly approaching the 

 condition of Europe, where the city populations are far 

 too large for the rural populations that sustain them." 

 Yes, sustain them ! Our cities fill up with unnecessary 

 government ofificials, or those who, by combinations, are 

 enabled to increase their numbers through gathering 

 to themselves a margin between service rendered and 

 service received. Two perform a service that should 

 require but one. The victim who receives it has double 

 service to perform in return. Why should he not make 

 his escape from such enslavement, if possible ? Prior to 

 the fall of the Roman and Grecian republics, the cities 

 were filled to overflowing, and nearly every free citizen 

 had fled from the country. " The cities increased i^ 

 splendor from day to day, and from age to age. Temples 



