THE RURAL PROBLEM 



3 



Table 2. — Proportion borne by Males engaged in Agriculture to total 

 Male Population of 10 and upwards. 



The number of " Agricultural Labourers and Shepherds," 



which affords a more precise index, declined in a still more 



marked degree. 



830,452 



756,557 



609,105 



Secondly, there is the accompanying decrease in the popu- 

 lation of the rural districts. Again it is difficult to give exact 

 figures, as almost every Census has had a different method of 

 dividing its areas, and " rural " districts in the Blue Book are 

 not always really rural. But the following table, even after 

 making all necessary qualifications, tells a shocking tale, 

 showing, as it does, a decrease of over a million in the rural 

 population of England and Wales alone : 



Census Returns, England and Wales, 1851-1911. Comparison of 

 Urban and Rural Population, 1851-1911.* 



Table 4. — England and Wales and its Sub-divisions into Urban and 

 Rural Districts, as existing at each Census. Population and 

 Proportion per cent, to Total Population, 1851-1911. 



* Census of England and Wales, 1911. Vol.1. Cd. 6258, 1912. 5s. 4d. 



t The figures for the aggregate of Urban and Rural areas for the 

 Censuses of 1851-71 are only approximations. 



X The figures for 1891 refer to the areas as they existed at the date 

 of publication of the report. 



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