THE POPULATION OF COLORADO 199 
rise and fall of prosperity in the state. The table also shows that there 
still exists in the state a very considerable excess in the proportion of this 
element of the population over that prevailing in the United States 
generally. This disproportion was of course greater inthe former decades 
of the state’s history. The population of Colorado has contained a 
smaller proportion of children and aged persons than the normal popula- 
tion. Young men of voting age have furnished the active element in 
the development of the state. This appears from the table on p. 204, 
showing the ages of the population in 1860 and from the following table 
showing the average number of persons to each potential voter in 1900: 
RATIO OF POTENTIAL VOTERS TO TOTAL POPULATION* 
Average Number 
States and Territories Total Persons Potential Voters eS Shr sinee 
Voter 
Wnitedt States) 3s. cfcirie \taercle 76,303,387 21,329,819 3-6 
North Atlantic Division........ 21,046,695 6,265,767 3-4 
South Atlantic Division........ 10,443,480 2,490,785 4.2 
North Central Division......... 26,333,004 7,545,029 els 
South Central Division......... 14,080,047 3,378,514 4.2 
Western Division.............. 4,091,349 ~ 1,447,604 2.8 
Coloradasc is syoeese sepals 539,700 185,708 2.9 
Massachusetts)s :2%\./s)j.nicle- oes 2,805,346 843,465 ches: 
ING WIMOEKasers sh teres Boulton a 7,208,894 2,184,965 a3 
OHIGE ota e siels eels cies ORs 4,157,545 I, 212,223 ey 
LO EEN els Be oat ea PSMA IAS NO Dyas TAO 276,749 67,172 4.1 
* Census, 1900, Population, Vol. I, Pt. I, p. ccii. 
A population with so large a percentage of men in the earlier years 
of life is exceptionally active and well fitted to develop the resources of a 
new state. People on the frontier represent that period of life when 
physical vigor is at its maximum, they are energetic, entertain bold 
conceptions, believe thoroughly in the future possibilities of their state 
and have always been able through their representatives in Congress to 
exercise an influence quite out of proportion to their numbers in deter- 
mining the national policy.* 
t The following resolutions of the Denver City Council illustrate the hopefulness characteristic of the 
early population of Colorado: 
REMOVAL OF THE CAPITAL 
At the meeting of the city council on the third inst. the following resolutions were passed: 
Wuereas, The time has arrived when the growth and expansion of the American people in their geo- 
