Salt Lake Tribune | 1905-05-26 | Page 4 | Local News

Are there far fewer Chinamen than the world has been led to believe? Mr. v. W. Rockhill, the new American Minister to Peking and former Assistant-Secretary of State, thinks so, and that the present population of China, Instead of being, as is usually given, nearly 450,000,000, is probably not much over 250,0O0,uOO. The census of 17U, which Mr. Rockhill considers more trustworthy than any other, shows 143.-000,000. 143.-000,000. He Is jrobably right. Every traveler lo China speaks oi the wide stretches of unimproved country, the population being mas?ed In comparatively compara-tively small areas. Then there are the frequent drownings Of peoplo by the million In overflows of the Hoang-Ho. "tho sorrow of China," desperate famines, fam-ines, and bloody wars that deplete the population. The conditions of life and the development of the country for the support of a vast population could be much Improved In China; and we doubt If Its present population Is over three hundred millions at the most, and perhaps Mr. RockhtU's estimate is about right.