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Show By ELMO SCOTT WATSON ' ' "" Drawing by Ray Walters. ""-j"? IfQ. --t;'i''Fa 1 T WAS John Adams, second . JVr,yh fJ potentialities 'of America led ' l1' I ' a bim to predict that the pop- "LvfrlTSfi S? ui!HIOU of t,ie United States By ELMO SCOTT WATSON Drawing by Ray Walters, f " 1 J'f WAS John Adams, second I W '"siclent of the United 1 Jg States, whose vision of the B potentialities of America led I ' 1 bim to predict that the pop-tf pop-tf illation of the United States B$t)w. VVIU'U sometime exceed 200. S S at a time when such BJTp'ijL, a prophecy seemed little more tlian a wild (light of vmrnJ imagination and utterly ridiculous. ridic-ulous. Writing from l.omlcn in 17S0. while he was minister to the court ot St. James, Adams said: "It has ever been my hobby horse to see rising in America an empire if liberty, and prospect of 200.000.00(1 or 3oO.oiKl.OlKi of freemen without one noble or king among them." It was John Tyler, tenth President of the United States, blessed with a similar vision, who made a similar prophecy, though not so extravagant as Adams' but at the same time doubtful doubt-ful of fulfillment, and missed his guess by only a few years and a relativelj small number of millions of population. popula-tion. In a letter addressed to Col. Sam uel Gardiner of Shelter island, whose son married Tyler's daughter, and dated from the ex-I'resident's eountrj seat, Sherwood Koresr, Va.. November 20, 1S50, Tyler said : "In a little more than half a century, a people who were regarded as little better than a host of murderers or sojourners among savage sav-age tribes have attained position among the first civilized powers. "With a spirit of adventure heretofore here-tofore unenualed by anything which bus occurred on the map of the world, there is united a deep plodding sagacity sagac-ity which crowns the most daring en terprises with success. Such a people, peo-ple, even had they attained that which is denominated a stationary condition In regard to population, would not fail to attract great and absorbing attention. atten-tion. But, when the reverse Is the fact, when our poulation is known to double in every period of twenty-five years, when, huving now a population of LTi.lKKJ.tKM) that number, before the child now In the nurse's arms attains maturity. Is destined to reach nearly fiO.ooo.000. und before that same chilli shall have passed the boundaries ol middle age, to lOO.OOO.OOO." Now that Uncle Sum is preparing again io count bio children, for prep arations for tukiug the decennial cen sus in l'.KJO are already under way In Washington, It Is interesting to check up on thi! predictions of these two Presidents and see just how nearly right they were. Althougn Tyler's prophecj was a bit too optimistic, he was not far wrong. At the time hi letler was written the population nt the coiimry was JH.'.'tlO.d.SS. He ire dieted thai it would double In the m-xi -:" years arid although there are no figures available for 1ST5 by l.SSO li had reached r.0.2(i2.:!S2. It had noi reached the KKi.oiKUHHI mark by 1000. as his prediction suggested, for Uncle Sam's children then numbered 70.120. 40S. nnd It was not until 20 years lat -j How Uncle Sam's Family J Has Grown in 140 Years J 5 Year PoTm!:-.t!on f 1700 S.E28 2I4 f is:pi) !i,-ns.-iS3 i sio 7.:a.ssi ivjo n,na--.4-:i isr.a i2..-'nii.2:i v f- isia ly.ocih-A.vi IN'O 2:1.I0'.S7 IMill I4 IS.K'Jl T IN70 3.X..-.SX.37 1 J- isso nil. .-..-. ?s:i 5" IS:i( BJ.047.714 fr man 7r.fl')4.r,7.-, S- IftlO B1.972 .2:lt ino 10.-,.7in.(;in 4 tOltO fKstimated ) 1 32.0no.0il0 s" -j- !--"f,H"H"H"H"HH-HH"HJ"H"I er that It reached the mark of 105,-710,020. 105,-710,020. Even though the "doubling" process which he prophesied did not continue consistently, there did take place the amazing growth in the nation na-tion of 50,000,000 people In half a century, or an Increase in population of 200 per cent. So Tyler's prophecy was not so extravagant ex-travagant as It must have seemed ut the time. And when there Is taken into consideration the steady Increase during the 142 years since John Adams made known his vision, even his prophecy proph-ecy does not now seem so fantastic. The census bureau estimates that there were 120,013,000 people living under the Stars and Stripes on July 1, 1028 and that the census of 1930 will show a population of approximately 132.000,000. So John Adams' vision ot "200,000.000 or 300,000.000 of freemen." though still in the future, does not now look so improbable. Although Uncle Sam's decennlul count of bis children Is not due to begin for two years yet, the machinery for accomplishing this huge task is already in operation. Before congress adjourned last May the house passed the census bill and it will be taken up promptly by the senate when con gress convenes again iu December. As it passed the house, the bill Included a new feuture iu census enumeration, that of accounting for retail and wholesale whole-sale distribution of commodities. I"or nitiny years the government has collected col-lected statistics in regard to the production pro-duction of commodities but none on distribution. The Inclusiun of this feature in the 1030 census bill was suggested by Herbert Hoover, then secretary of commerce, and if the sen-ale sen-ale passes the bill without eliminating tli is innonlion, it is believed that the facts thus obtained will form the foundation for a marked advance iu ilie efficiency of our marketing system. sys-tem. The census will also assemble data on the subjects of irrigation, drainage an1 mines as well as Including the census bureau's biennial Inquiry Into the state of manufacturing and the quintennic. investigation of agriculture. agricul-ture. At the same time the bureau will continue its annual routine of collecting statistics on births and deaths, industrial and business condi-' Hons, 'mancial facts relating to the cities a d states and records' of marriages mar-riages and divorces. The preliminary work of mapping out the territory for the 1930 census is being carried on now under the supervision super-vision ef William M. Steuart, director of the census. The first job is to get a description of all the political subdivisions, sub-divisions, some 100.000, in the United States and to obtain accurate roaps for use in designating the enumeration enumera-tion districts. The count will be made not only of the millions who live within with-in the boundaries of the 48 states but also In Alaska, Hawaii, Porto Rico. The governors of Guam, Samoa, the Virgin Islands, the Philippines and the Panama Canal Zone will be directed to take a census in the same year, according to plans to be approved by the director. The aitual count of Uncle Sam's children vill begin on May 1, 1930, and it is expected that the statistics on the total number will be available by December of that year. Then will begin the enormous task of classifying and compiling the facts obtained In the enumeration and this will be hnn died by a small army of census bureau bu-reau employees and a battery of self-feeding self-feeding tabulating machines, verification verifica-tion machines and automatic sorting machiLes. |