OCR Text |
Show Going to the Country Many economists are question, ing whether the tendency of population pop-ulation to concentrate itself is not coming to an end. It would seem logical that, with the advent of the automobile and good roads, making the problem prob-lem of individual transportation less difficult, many workers in cities would reside in less thickly populated sections to secure the advantages of more room and smaller rentals. While the census figures do not yet indicate that the larger cities of the nation are showing signs of a decreased population, there are indications of unquestionable unques-tionable significance that there is a decentralizing process going on, which is adding to the number num-ber of those living in rural sections sec-tions as against those living in the smaller towns and cities. The number of inhabitants living liv-ing on farms in the United States dropped from 31,614,269 in 1920 to 30,447,550 in 1930. This was a decrease of the number of persons living cn farms of 3.8 percent This group constituted 29.9 percent of the total population in 1920 and only 24.8 percent in 1930 However, the number of inhabitants inhab-itants living in rural territory increased, notwithstanding. During Dur-ing the same period the population popula-tion in rural sections but not on farms increased from 20,047,377 to 23,662,710, representing an increase in the total population frcm 19 to 19.3 percent. The rural non-farm non-farm population increased 18 percent per-cent during this decade. The city dweller, faced with high rents and ether high living expenses, can now live in a rural community or town and by using a car and the modern highway be just as close to Ms work as when he formerly walked or waited cn the street car even though the distance in miles nao been increased in-creased ten fold. If industry adopts the shorter working day. as it will in tho course of time, such workers will have ample time to supplement their industrial indus-trial occupation with the pro. duction of a limited amount of foodstuffs at a home in the country coun-try where sufficient room for a garden, a cow, and poultry is to be found. |