Show VOTING POWER already the city press and politicians are arc talking about the change in the balance between betwee tf cities and the rural parts of the united states in voting strength which they say has been made by the growth of urban population and the decrease in many country districts they argue that the next presidential election will be decided by the cities to a degree never before known in this republic 7 up to a certain point their theory la Is sound betit but it la Is usually carried too far city politicians forgot forget that tho proportion of legally qualified voters voter a to the total population la Is much higher in the little villages and on the farms than it Is in the big urban centers the reasons are easily perceived the percentage of adults who are aliens and therefore unable to vote Is much lower in rural america than it la Is in great cities drifters persona who do not stay in any state long enough to quality for corthe the suffrage aro are a real factor in cities but thoy they are uncommon in the country also the proportion of children Is higher in I 1 fast growing ce centers titers of population than it la Is where elderly men and women v 0 men left on the farms constitute an abnormally high percentage ot of the whole number of inhabitants the farmers and the villagers will surprise many politicians next year who pay too much attention to population changes in estimating urban arlian and rural voting strength |