COMPARISON WITH EUROPE

35

And while the United States has been thus rapidly growing, how has it been with the other leading nations of the globe? Macmillan & Co., the London publishers, in their "Statesman's Year Book" for 1867, make an interesting statement of the changes that took place in Europe during the half century between the years 1817 and 1867. They

say:

"The half century has extinguished three kingdoms, one grand duchy, eight duchies, four principalities, one electorate, and four republics. Three new kingdoms have arisen, and one kingdom has been transformed into an empire. There are now forty-one states in Europe against fifty-nine which existed in 1817. Not less remarkable is the territorial extension of the superior states in the world. Russia has annexed 567,364 square miles; the United States, 1,968,009; France, 4,620; Prussia, 29,781; Sardinia, expanding into Italy, has increased by 83,041; the Indian empire has been augmented by 431,616. The principal states that have lost territory are Turkey, Mexico, Austria, Denmark, and the Netherlands."

We ask the especial attention of the reader to these particulars. During the half century named, twenty-one governments disappeared altogether, and only three new ones arose. Five lost in territory instead of gaining. Only five, besides our own, added to their domain. And the one which did the most in this direction added only a little over half a million square miles, while we added nearly two millions of square miles. Thus the United States government added over fourteen hundred thousand square miles of territory more than any other single nation, and over eight hundred thousand more than were added during that time by all the other nations of the earth put together.

In point of population, our increase since 1798, according to the census of the several decades, has been as follows: In 1800, the total number of inhabitants in the United States was 5,305,925; in 1810, 7,239,814; in 1820, 9,638,191;

in 1830, 12,866,020; in 1840, 17,069,453; in 1850, 23,191,876; in 1860, 31,445,089; in 1870, 38,555,983; in 1880, 50,000,000; in 1910, 91,972,267; and with what has been acquired in recently added colonies, 103,992,757. These figures are almost too large for the mind to grasp readily. Perhaps a better idea of the rapidity of the increase of population may be gained by looking at a few representative cities: Boston, in 1792, had 18,000 inhabitants; the census of 1910 shows 670,585. New York, in 1792, 30,000; now about 4,766,883. Chicago, sixty years ago, was a little tradingpost, with a few huts; yet it contained at the time of the great conflagration, in October, 1871, nearly 350,000 souls; and now the census gives the number as 2,185,283.

The nation's metropolis, New York City, now stands at the head of all world ports in the volume of its exports and imports. On this point the Scientific American (Sept. 6, 1913) published the following:

"It will be a matter of surprise, perhaps, and certainly of some pleasure, to the citizens of New York, to learn that the very latest estimates of the value of the exports and imports of the ten leading ports of the world show that New York now stands at the head of the list, with an advantage of nearly two hundred million dollars over London. Our contemporary, the Marine Review, reminds us that New York's total of exports and imports, now valued at $1,973,981,693, is over five times the amount of commerce that was carried on by the entire country half a century ago.

"As to the future, there is one dominant factor, the Panama Canal, which is bound to strengthen the lead now secured by this port; for the canal will bring New York 1,600 miles nearer to Yokohama than is Liverpool; 2,500 miles nearer Sydney; 4,000 miles nearer Wellington, New Zealand, and 2,574 miles nearer Valparaiso. Bremen and Hamburg being some 500 miles further removed from the canal than Liverpool, it is evident that the new conditions - the general rearrangement of trade routes -will tend to strengthen the position of this port in its su

In 1608 no structure bigger than an Indian hut had ever stood here.

In 1708 this part of Broadway was a country road leading from the little trading town out to open farms.

In 1808 a building of two stories was dignified, and one of three stories was magnificent.

In 1908 a building of forty-six stories towers into the air, with room for 10,000 tenants, a fair-sized town in itself.

premacy over its nearest competitor. Expressed in round millions, the returns in value for the other leading ports are: London, 1,792 millions; Hamburg, 1,674 millions; Liverpool, 1,637 millions; Antwerp, 1,121 millions; Marseilles, 678 millions; Havre, 531 millions; Bremen, 501 millions; Buenos Ayres, 479 millions; and Calcutta, 410 millions."

The industrial growth of the country has been no less remarkable. In 1792 the United States had no cotton mills; in 1890 there were 225,759 looms, employing 174,652 hands. In 1900 the total wool clip in the United States was 288,636,621 pounds, with 17,938,000 spindles in operation. In railroads, the first timid experiment was a tramway in Quincy, Mass., built in 1826. Its only purpose was the easier conveyance of building stone from the granite quarries of Quincy to tide-water. Horses were used as the motive power. It was the germ, however, of a mighty movement in this country. "The first railway in America, for passengers and traffic,- the Baltimore & Ohio, was chartered by the Maryland Legislature in March, 1827. The capital stock was at first only half a million dollars; and a portion of that was subscribed by the State and the city of Baltimore. Horses were its motive power, even after sixtyfive miles of the road were built. But in 1829, Peter Cooper, of New York, built a locomotive in Baltimore, which weighed one ton, and made eighteen miles an hour on a trial trip to Ellicott's Mills. In 1830 there were twentythree miles of railway in the United States, which was increased the next year to ninety-five; in 1835, to 1,098; in 1840, to nearly three thousand."—Bryant's History of the United States, Vol. IV, p. 314. In 1912, 359,030 miles of track had been laid (including double track and sidings). In 1912 the number of passengers carried was 1,019,658,605. The gross earnings in 1912 were two and three-quarter billions of dollars. Number of employees, 1,700,000.

Magnitude of Leading Railway Lines of the World, Represented by Size of Locomotives

First comes the United States, with 250,000 miles; next Russia, with 41,000 miles; next Germany, 37,000 miles; France, 30,000 miles; United Kingdom, 24,000 miles.

TELEGRAPH

It was not till as late as 1840 that the magnetic telegraph was invented. Now there are countless miles of wire in The telephone dates from 1875; yet there are

operation.

Yearly Tonnage of Freight Carried, and Number of Freight Cars, on Leading Railway Lines of the World, Indicated by Size of Blocks and Cars. TONNAGE: United States, 1,533,000,000; United Kingdom, 497,000,000; Germany, 447,000,000; Russia, 200,000,000; France, 151,000,000. FREIGHT CARS: United States, 2, 100,800; United Kingdom, 771,600; Germany, 491,600; Russia, 432,000; France, 318,500.