THE UNITED STATES

Evening Post, Volume CXXVIII, Issue 2, 3 July 1939, Page 4

THE UNITED STATES

UNREALISED FACTS

POWER OF RURAL POPULATION

ENGLISH MISTAKES

• I plan to incorporate in this lettev some practical suggestions and information that may prove of help to the Englishman who is interested in better understanding the United States, writes 'An American Bystander" from jv.New 4 York" to the "Manchester Guardian." ' Before I go into the practical side1 of this letter let me say that I consider myself a good friend of England and the English, although not an Anglophile. As a matter of fact, I think the ' Anglophiles serve you ill, because they present a picture of American thought 1 that is not sound, nor true in the sense I that it is typical of all Americans. ' I have never visited England, but , it it is possible-1 may do some day. ' When that time comes I do not expect . to find Lancashire to be exactly like ; the United States, and I should be bitterly disappointed if it were. X think [ this should be the attitude of'the Eng- . lishman visiting the United Slates. Jri . this connection I deeply enjoyed Robert Dell's article on his visit.to New , York City. His attitude is perfect. He . is interested, eager,' and open-minded. He seems to be enjoying himself, and • his observations are very sound. Esr pecially. interesting was his: descrip- > i tipfi'of thebeauty ,of NeV^YorkV i skyscrapers when lit up at night: ;-lif too, have seen them many times, and ! never tire of them. His observations; on subways are 90 per cent?:a<teurat<&i .. However, lie has apparently neverriid-;- ---' den on the Bth Avenue subway^ which;: i >as;built only a few years iagoJ There.' are also a.few escalators (moving Stair-! [ cases) at Widely scattered points, but . the fact remains that he is almost completely correct- in his statements, and the points that I correct are trivial. NEW YORK AND THE U.S.A. I may be" wrong, but I believe th« ' average Englishman will find most of 1 the following information new to him. and that it will help him to get *id of some prevalent misconceptions about this country:— 1. In a previous letter mention wai. I made of the overemphasis that the '' Englishman places oh the import- ' ance of New York City in relation to the -United States. Now;he will very readily assure an American that "London is not all of England" in the sense that what London thinks is not necessarily what they are thinking in Manchester, Leeds, •or Liverpool.. Several weeks ago one, of our newspapers had an • article on how London was upset and i disturbed over a certain set of condii tions,"buif-the article went on to ex- - plain that though London was excited , - the North of England was taking; the;!:; ■ matter very calmly. It would be rare \ indeed to find a similar explanation in . ' a British publication explaining that; i while New York City felt "so and so," , this did not mean that the rest of the 1 United States necessarily felt the same ; way. Oddly enough-, the very Englishman who insists that London does • not always represent the true/British }■ attitudev'seems to find it. ahnost imf possible" to understand - that toe same • condition exists in regard to New Yotk ; City's relationship to the United States. ; Yet the fact is that London is roughly 21 per cent, of England, 17 per cent. >of Great Britain, whereas New, York ' City is but 6 per cent, of the' United t States.'..'. . .;. ;v.. ;;:."■ .;v;.:":. : I THE RURAL POPULATION. ' Probably the four best-known Ame--1 rican cities on your side of the water : are New York, Chicago, Detroit, and " Los Angeles. They are the first, sec- ' ond, fourth, and fifth largest cities, - yet all four of them combined repre- = sent but 11 per cent; of the United : States. Perhaps this will help your 5 readers to get a truer perspective. These four cities, of which they hear so much, are but 11. per cent, of the • United States, whereas London is 21 >: per-cent, of England and 17 per cent. ; of Great Britain. 1 • ! 2 1 have placed a great deal of em- ■ phasis 'on the' preceding point bey cause it is one that.the average Englishman does not understand. He reads ■ so much' about several large cities in the United States that he is completely stunned to learn that over 40 per cent. t>f the population is rural. This is approximately 54,000,000 people. To emphasise this point, the rural population of the United States is.equal to the total population of Great Britain. This should help the Englishman to evaluate the news he receives about us. This* rural population is a "balancewheel" that keeps the United States from ever swinging too far out of line, either to Left or Eight. This group • is rarely vocal, is seldom read about, but its importance is better understood when you realise that it represents a population two and a half times is large as the population of the ten largest American cities combined. It is close,,on eight times, that of New York City alone. SMALL TOWN AND FARM. 3. Despite this vast rural population, there are also 985 towns of 10,000 population and^over. These 985 "big" centres, ranging from the minimum ot 10,000 up to New York City, are scattered clear across the country. It would take a very clever man (or a very lucky one!) to be able to tell Just what they were thinking. There are 608 towns in the 10,000 to 25,000' bracket. There are 93 cities of 100,000 or over. These 93 "big" cities represent rough--ly 31 per cent, of the United States population. In other words, those who live in towns under 100,000 or on farms are 69 per cent, of the populationseven in ten. I believe every reader sees what I . am driving at. My object is to demonstrate that not only is New York City but 6 per cent, of the united States but that the four. best-known cities are but 11 per cant, of the total, and that the entire group of 93 cities of 100,000 and over are but 31 per cent. of the total. I have never met an Englishman who seemed aware of this, nor have I ever read anything in a British magazine or newspaper that showed they understood this. Instead everything is New York City or Hollywood! And, of course, Chicago, Detroit, and Washington. Yet this is a most important factor in evaluating American thought. Rural and small-town people are not easily stampeded, whether in Britain or in the United States. Moreover, especially in the United States, they are in> possible to handle in "masses" because they are scattered over three million square miles. Widespread education ihas made most of these people keen ! and alert, far from the "stage" type. | of farmer and small-town resident that I existed'some twenty-five years ago. I -'--• (hope what I have written has opened iup a road of thought that will help J some of your leaders to see that the, ,-i iUnited States is far more than a feW-b---ig cities, despite the glamour and ■ex*-— citement associa<wi with tv»o namos ni I those cities.