| Show THE STAR OF EMPIRE senator dawes of a speech at pittsfield in that state a few days bays ago spoke pointedly with reference to what he was pleased to term the he marvelous growth which the western section of 01 the united states has haa achieved since his entrance on public pub licille lile the country be said has beer widening and growing westward and westward to the pacific coast and then on beyond until the latitude itself falls to chronicle our onward march anti and westward tails fair into the east eastward wari so BO that the ibe sun BUD will nut go down tonight upon our waid border until it shall nave risen on the coast of maine ail overlooking lor for the time lue itie trifling inaccuracy involved in ID this really nue flue flight of rhetoric and eeling ling with the subject which the distinguished gentleman opens up we thid that la is instructive and thoughtful though tul oi 01 course the steady western movement of our national population is 30 to be credited with the spoken of mr dawes public lublic career began in 1848 and the ceneus ot of two years later the center of our population to tie be lucatta at a point some twenty three miles southeast of parkersburg west virginia while the last laet 1890 bouwe the couter center t be twenty ludes east ot of louiana a wea iward movement I 1 in 1 I for lorty ay years yeara of mile the average tale raie per annum being milt mil 8 going still further back and commencing with the first census that of 1790 we are shown that there has baa been in ahe hundred years a movement westward ot of miles the center of population tio having passed from froin twenty three wilt wilts s cast ast ot 01 Bal baltimore dmore met md to the lb location in indiana named above the I 1 he rate 0 progress tor lor tile the whole period averages miles a year ur or seventy three feet a day that I 1 is for a century the center has leen been maving westward at an average ag e rate of a yard an hour with one foot wore in every twenty four hours the slowest progress was wan made in the second decade from 1800 to 1810 in this period the population center achieved thirty six miles I 1 or at the rate or of a out two feet two inches per hour the swiftest pro grow gross came in the seventh decad efrom 1850 to 1860 when the center moved westward about eighty one ode miles or at the rate of about four feet ten inches per hour if this rate had been main bained up to the present time where would we be at now the decade immediately preceding this showed a falling oft off in the he westward hol ho business the rate having dropped to forty eight miles a little below the average this was about two feet eleven inches per hour if we ex tend the period down to the present time it to is shown by careful computation and allowing for no greater progress than was made from 1880 to 1890 that the center of population has proceeded frum the point last named in the direction of the setting betting sun to about half way between columbus and wa rise burg bot both bin in In indiana dlana and to la daily hourly coming along alone our way the boston merald herald notes it as a curious fact that while the westward population has covered no than 9 f 3 degrees of longitude 9 degrees 21 minutes 7 seconds this movement has run almost on a craight line the extreme northern and southern variation embracing less than one third of a degree of latitude eighteen minutes fifty six seconds to put the contrast more distinctly we may say that while the western nt for the century aggregates miles the extreme northern and southern variation is a little under twenty two miles and the fin ishinie point of the line la is only some six miles south of the starting point the slightness slight nees of this varla varia tion lion may be taken as showing allowing that mat you divide the united states by the parallel of north latitude the growth of the population in the two 9 thus maue maie has baa been very nearly ait arly equal during the years covered by the eleven censuses in view of tile the fact that the tide r of f immigration from foreign countries has baa set mainly into the northern section such an equality in the growth of the population is a development devel devo loment that would hardly have been looked for it is already understood that geographically utah is a long way east of the middle line between the eastern and western of uncle sams possession so is SAD ban francisc oo 00 it if we population shall extend 0 t the bunn cunil its of f our national territory as it may in the distant future there is no reason why the center of population should not be wrested from the regions east of the missouri bourl and mississippi at a comparatively early date and caused to stride majestically onward toward the pacific until it reaches sal lake city which is a good for it to stop at all permanently j |
