Population.— The yearly rate of increase in the population of the State is about 2 per cent. The industrial development of the last 40 years has stimulated the growth of factory towns and the population is now more than three-fourths urban, that is, concentrated in cities and towns having 8,000 population or more. Since there were, in 1910, upon the average, 418.8 per sons per square mile of land surface the popu lation is more dense than in any other State except Rhode Island. Although many persons born in Massachusetts have emigrated to other States, 356,337 such persons having been found in other parts of the country in 1910, neverthe less the loss has been more than compensated by accessions from abroad, front Canada and indeed from adjacent States of the Union. By the State census of 1915, the native born in the population numbered 2,541,265, and of for eign born, 1,152,045. The increase in the native born in 1915 as compared with 1905 amounted to 21.4 per cent as against 26.4 per cent increase in the foreign berm The number of foreign born does not of itself fully indicate the effect of immigration upon the population. This is more clearly shown by the number of persons of foreign parentage, which in 1910 aggregated 2,221,497, white persons only being considered. Less than a half of the inhabitants therefore are now •of wholly native parentage.
The following table (derived from the. United States census of 1910, the latest date for which such a comparison is possible) shows the place of nativity of the more numerous classes among the foreign born, and also the number of persons in the population having one or both parents born in the countries named Of the entire population 98.8 per cent was white in 1910, the remainder being persons of negro descent, Chinese, Japanese and Indians. The growth of population and its concentra tion have led to the incorporation of numerous cities, of which there are now 37 as against 317 towns. Although the towns numerically preponderate, nevertheless more than 70 per cent of the entire population is now under city government. Dense as the population is when considered in the aggregate this density is con fined to the cities and towns engaged in manu facturing, or which share in the residential growth promoted by the metropolitan city of Boston, which of itself has extensive miscel laneous industries. The area of the cities and towns having a population in excess of 2,500 is, approximately, 3,395 square miles, and the population within such places shows a density of about 756.14 persons per square mile. Out side of these places there is in the Common wealth an aggregate area of approximately 4,645 square miles of land surface, more than a half of the entire area of the State, contain ing a population of but 238,248, or an average of about 5129 persons per square mile. Every census since 1875 has shown a considerable increase in population upon the territory oc cupied by towns above the 2,500 limit in 1900, and, conversely, an almost constant decline in the towns outside this area. The towns which have lost are the smaller agricultural towns of the State, and while the increase in the per centage of foreign born, proportionately to the total population, has been greater in these places than in the other cities and towns, nevertheless the population in them remains to-day as in 1875 largely native born. The persons of foreign birth rapidly become assimilated and take their place in the social and political as well as in the industrial life of the State. The presence of this element has been due very largely to the industrial development of the Common wealth, but that part of it which appears in the smaller towns is due to the taking up of agri cultural land by persons of foreign birth.
Incorporated The table (page 403) shows the cities of the State, arranged in order of size, with the population, from the censuses of 1900 and 1910, and the State census of 1915.
Poston, the capital, is the chief city of the Commonwealth and in the census of 1910 ranked fifth among the great cities of the Union. Identified with the growth of the State from its beginning its historical landmarks are of profound interest to the visitor, and the tradi tions of the city, its development in modern times, its unrivaled suburbs distinguished by large numbers of tasteful and well-kept resi dences, its beautiful parks, public buildings and points of literary and artistic interest, give it an important and in respects a unique place among American cities. Other cities closely connected with the early history of the Coinmonwealth are Salem and Newburyport, located on the eastern coast in Essex County. Cambridge, near Boston, with which it is con nected by several bridges spanning the Charles River, is the seat of Harvard University, and the former home of Longfellow and Lowell. Lowell and Lawrence upon the Merrimac, Fall River and New Bedford in Bristol County, and Holyoke in Hampden County, are all sively engaged in textile manufacturing. yoke also, with Springfield, is especially inter-.
ested in the production of paper of all grades. New Bedford was formerly the seat of the whaling industry now almost entirely aban doned. Lynn and Haverhill in Essex Cotinty and Brockton, in Plymouth, are the centres of the boot and shoe industry. Worcester, the second city in point of size, well located near the centre of the State, is an educational cen tre as well, the seat of Clarke University and Holy Cross College, and is largely interested in high-class metal industries and the manufacture of machinery. Waltham, in Middlesex County, is the site of a large watchmaking establish ment and has extensive textile factories. North ampton, in Hampshire, is the seat of Smith College for women. Woburn, in Middlesex, has large establishments for the production of leather. Gloucester a seaport upon Cape Ann, I is largely engaged In the fisheries. Quincy, in Norfolk County near Boston, has noted granite quarries. Fitchburg in Worcester County, Taunton in Bristol, North Adams and Pittsfield in Berkshire, Chicopee in Hampden, Beverly in Essex, and Marlborough in Middlesex, are all thriving cities with important industries; and Chelsea and Revere in Suffolk County, Everett, Somerville, Newton, Melrose, Medford and Malden in Middlesex, are rapidly growing municipalities, largely residential and closely connected with Boston within the metropolitan district, Religion.— Originally, as elsewhere stated, Orthodox Congregationalism was the form of Church polity recognized by law, To-day all the principal denominations are represented. In respect to population, the Roman Catholics lead all others, more than 900,000 persons in the Commonwealth being of that faith. In church membership, the Orthodox Congregationalists rank next to the Roman Catholics, with ap proximately 115,000 members; followed by the Baptists (of whom there are several different bodies), with about 70,000; the Methodists (of different bodies), with about 60,000; the Uni tarians, about 35,000; the Protestant Episco palians, 30,000; and many other lesser bodies, of whom few, if any, exceed the limit of 10,000 in membership. These figures must all be re garded as below the actual, although relatively the bodies stand as stated. In the value of church property, although recent exact statistics are not available, and conclusions must there fore be based upon estimates, the rank of the several denominations is the same except that possibly the Roman Catholics change place with the Orthodox Congregationalists.