186 
Frank Carney 
Nevertheless j this rapid growth of the Pacific states is due almost 
entirely to urban development; only a nominal gain represents 
the settlement within the last decade of certain well-watered 
farming districts along the coast and of other sections reached 
by the irrigation service. 
The past, in building up industrial centers along the north 
Atlantic, produced the states having the greatest density in 
population, as well as the largest cities. The present, as an index 
of the future, shows remarkable virility among the Pacific coast 
states. The markets of the world, if markets are measured by 
population, front the Pacific; the major part of the world’s popu- 
lation looks into the Pacific. 
Industry and urban density. Industrial conditions are basal 
to urban populations. The particular industrial condition that 
accounts for the high general density in the north Atlantic states, 
as well as their great urban population, is the presence of water 
power for energizing manufacturing plants, and the proximity 
of coal fields. The coal fields of Pennsylvania have been very 
important in the industrial growth of these states ; if the coal had 
been thousands of miles away, this area, even with its abundant 
water power, would not contain so many people, and certainly 
would not have so many large cities; nor would the United States 
have its present rank among the nations, for the industrial prog- 
ress of the whole country has fluctuated with that of the Atlantic 
states. 
The limit of rural density. Commencing with the period of 
settlement, for several decades, according to the decennial sta- 
tistics of the United States, there was a marked growth of pop- 
ulation in the rural districts. Later these districts came to a 
static condition; then, urban population began to increase, and 
the gain in population thereafter depended upon the growth of 
the cities. Thirty or forty years ago the rural population of Ohio 
had become static, or in a few counties had commenced to decline. 
Under the prevalent methods of agriculture, the state had reached 
its maximum in rural population, and its cities, excepting a few, 
had not yet experienced the modern expansion of manufacturing. 
In the last census the term ^ Aural population” includes all 
villages having less than 2500 inhabitants. Thus ^ Aural” in- 
cludes slightly more than the farming population. 
From 1900 to 1910 the rural population of the state as a who le 
