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THE GROWTH OF THE STATES.

THE Diagram on the opposite page (for which also we are indebted to Professor Gillespie) presents the absolute growth of the States, as did the former one their relative progress. The seven spaces from left to right represent, as before, periods of ten years; and the distances up and down the page represent the population at each date, to a scale of 800,000 persons for each inch of height.

To find the population of any State at any date, follow down a vertical line from the date at top of page till you meet the sloping line of the State whose name is at each end of it, and in complicated places at several points in it; then pass across the page horizontally to the left-hand side, where will be found the desired population.

Where the lines of any two States cross, then, at the corresponding time given at the top of the page, the populations are equal, but one State is passing the other.

The relative rate of increase is an interesting point in this diagram.

The steeper the slope of the line, the more rapid is the growth; and vice versû. When the line is straight, as (nearly) for New York from 1840 to 1860, and for Pennsylvania for the same dates, it shows that the rate of increase has been uniform.

When the line has been sloping upwards on a straight line, and then begins to turn upwards still more, as in most of the State lines, it shows that the rate of increase is itself increasing; that is, that if the population had increased onethird in the preceding ten years, it had increased more than that in the following ten years. When the line had been sloping upward with any inclination, and that inclination is lessened, as for Virginia between 1830 and 1840, it shows that the rate of increase is decreasing. Few such cases occur on our diagram.

Generally, a turning of the line upwards, whatever its previous direction, shows an increase of the rate of increase, and a turning downwards shows the reverse. We are now prepared to inspect the diagram. We see that New York and Pennsylvania have had a nearly equal rate of growth for the last twenty years. Illinois has rapidly increased her rate, as is shown by the upward turning of her line. Virginia has been very variable. Massachusetts and North Carolina were remarkably uniform for the first forty years, after which the former shot up above the latter. Kentucky and Tennessee, with two or three other States, have varied singularly, as the close and often-crossing lines indicate. Many more such comparisons might be made. To avoid confusion some of the states are omitted.

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In the diagram given above, the States are grouped into one body, whose progress is shown by the upper curved line, which turns upward always faster and faster; showing that our rate of increase is itself constantly and regularly increasing.

The two curved lines under this show the progress of the States as collected into two groups of NORTH and SOUTH. The former comprises the old North and the Northwest, and the latter the old South and the Southwest. They start together at almost exactly the same point, but the more rapid increase of the North causes its line of population to ascend more and more above that of the South.

The increase of the slave population is shown by the lower line to be much less than that of the whole population, or even than that of the whole South.

A careful study of these diagrams will amply repay any one for mastering this striking manner of presenting to the eye at a single glance relations and variations which the longest study of mere numerical tables could with difficuity suggest.

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EIGHTH CENSUS OF THE UNITED STATES, 1860.

[Corrected at the Census Bureau, Washington, December 1, 1862.]

In the following tables and statements we present the statistics of population, of property, and of the products of industry, of the United States, in 1860, as ascertained by the Eighth Census, taken in that year, commencing on the first day of June; and also other statistics from the same census, exhibiting the growth, progress, and resources of our country, in agriculture, manufactures, commerce, mines, education, in all the pursuits of industry, and, briefly, in all that adds to the material wealth and civilization of a people. The census is taken in the United States in obedience to the Constitution, which commands that an actual enumeration or census shall be made within three years after the first meeting of the Congress, and within every subsequent term of ten years, in such manner as Congress shall by law direct. Under our system of government, the census is of more importance in the United States than it is in most other countries, because representation in Congress and direct taxes are apportioned according to numbers in the States. In pursuance of the command in the Constitution, the census has been taken eight times, namely, in 1790, 1800, 1810, 1820, 1830, 1840, 1850, and 1860. The following tables are compiled from the last.

DATE OF ADMISSION OR ORGANIZATION, AREA, AND POPULATION OF THE STATES AND TERRITORIES, 1790-1860.

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* The thirteen original States. The dates given are those of their ratification of the Federal Constitution.

DECENNIAL INCREASE PER CENT. OF POPULATION BY CLASSES SINCE 1800.

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