AMERICAN POPULATION.

Press, Volume LVII, Issue 17118, 13 April 1921, Page 9

AMERICAN POPULATION.

>. ,—+ STARTLING CENSUS FIGURES. The Unitod States (which takes its census every ten years) has just finished that for 1920; and many surprising bits of information have emerged. Who, for instance, would imagine that there arc more people of British origin, exclusive ol Irish, in the United States than in Great Britain itself! Who would believe that there is a constant growth of British-born inhabitants in tlie United States, and that they outnumber the. Irish? Mr Rossiter, chief clerk of.the census, estimates that the total immigration population in 1850, including tho immigrants themselves and their children, amounted to about 3,000,000. That is. of the 19,500,000 Americans of that day, 16.500,000 were the descendants of the Americans who had fought in .the. Revolutionary War. The vast majority of these were of British origin.- The large families ofthe' native stock, in the first half of the nineteenth century, are a tradition, and these figures show that the tradition rests on a substantial basis. Even allowing only a 10 per cent, natural increase per decade;—and the native stock was much more prolific than that of fiftv or sixty years—these 20,000,000 of 1850 would have increased to.more than 40,000,000 now. And to these must bo added the immigration from Great Britain which has taken place since 1850. It will-surprise-most people to learn that this has been by no means insignificant. One of the astonishing facts brought out,by a study of immigration statistics is that the purely British element in the United States at the present foment —meaning those whoso racial origin was England, Scotland, or Wales, or those whose parents, one or both, were, bom in these countries — while somewhat smaller than the German, is considerably greater than 1 the Irish. This fact is 'such startling new 3 to most newspaper'readers that only the actual' statistics themselves will convince one that it is true. In 1910 there were 5,063,311 people in the. United States who were • themselves hern in Great Britain Canada, or who had ,one. or both parents horn in ■, Great .Britain .--or Canada. At the same time there were 4,054,456 people who were born in Ireland,;or who had one :or both .parents born, in,lreland. . " *■: .Another.significant fact is that the number of British-horn is;steadily increasing. ; In 1890 the numbers for the '-'British-bora- were 3,983,500, against 4,795,681 for "the Irish, but since then .the : British '> element has.surpasecL the Irish; The, increasing prosperity of Ireland.in recent j ears and the industrial unrest in England probably explains tho fact that the English are arriving, there 7 in'greater nuihbers than the Irish; the fact that' Ireland 'is a very small country 'compared with England is also important." ;• ■....•