Opening New Areas to World Population. — But the application of steam power to trans portation on land and sea changed all this. Great areas, especially in the interior of the Americas, which had remained unpopulated be cause there was no way of moving their pos sible products to the markets of the more densely populated continent, have developed population and production as the railways were projected into the interior and steamships built to carry their products across the oceans. The population of the United States prior to the advent of the railway was chiefly along the ocean frontage or the navigable rivers. Turn pikes were constructed to enable the areas within a dozen or 20 miles of the river or ocean to move their products to the water's edge, but the great bulk of the fertile interior was too distant from the rivers or ocean to enable its scattering population to send their • crops to world markets to purchase the manufactures of other countries. As a consequence the United States only added 6,000,000 to its populatioh in the first quarter of the 19th century, a period in which it had no railways. In the next 25 years, about 9,000 miles of railway were constructed and the additions to the population were 12,000, 000, or twice as great as the preceding quarter century in which there were no railways to stimulate the development of the interior. In the third quarter century the new railway con struction was 63,000 miles and the addition to the population 21,000,000, or three and one-half times as much as in the like period before the advent of the railway. In the fourth quarter of the century the railway construction was 115, 000 miles and the additions to population 32,000, 000, or five times as much as in the quarter century when there was no railroads on the land or steamships on the ocean. In the 19 years of the present century, railway construction has been about 75,000 miles and the additions to the population 28,000,000.
Increase of Population and Commerce Co incidental with Railway Development.— The population of the entire United States when railway building began in 1830 averaged only seven persons per square mile; to-day it is 36 per square mile. The population of the Missis sippi Valley when railway building began was but 3,500,000 and to-day is 52,000,000, or 15 times as many as when that valley had no rail ways to connect it with the oceans and no steamships to carry the products to other parts of the world. During this period in which rail way construction has developed, 30,000,000 peo ple came from other parts of the world to the United States seeking homes, chiefly in the in terior of the country, and with their aid and that of the native-born Americans, the com merce was built up from a little over $100,000, 000 in 1830 to $4,250,000,000 in the year preced ing the great European War which by its special demand upon our facilities coupled with increasing demand from other parts of the world brought the grand total of approximately $10,000,000,000 in the fiscal year 1919. Our international trade in the year which preceded the European War was 30 times as much as at the beginning of railway construction in the United States, and in the closing year of the war 65 times as much as in 1830 when the United States had but 23 miles of railway.
In the other parts of the American continent, the increased facilities of transportation on land and sea have been followed by a marked growth of population and commerce. The com bined population of all America which was but 20,000,000, a century ago is in 1919 fully 200, 000,000, and their international commerce which was then $200,000,000 is now $15,000,000,000, or 75 times as much as a century. ago when there were no railways to carry the products to the water's edge or steamships to move them across the ocean.
Growth of Population in the Various Sec tions of the World.— Population has shown dependency upon transportation in all the grand divisions of the world. Europe, with a short age of food and an increasing power to produce manufactures, has, since the advent of steam transportation, drawn upon the other parts of the world for food and raw material, and to pay for them in the products of her factories, and the other parts of the world with surplus stocks of food and a shortage of manufactures have de sired to make the exchanges which Europe wanted, and with these exchanges Europe has been able to greatly increase her already dense population, by drawing food from abroad and paying for it with the products of her work shops, while the Americas, Africa and Austral asia have increased their population and natural products and thus greatly enlarged their com merce. The population of Europe a century ago was but 200,000,000; it is now 465,000,000. Asia had at that date about 400,000,000; now it is 870,000,000. Africa's population at that time was possibly 100,000,000; to-day it is 140,000,000, while that of all America has, as already indi cated, grown from 20,000,000 in 1830 to 205,000, 000 at the present time.
Transportation Facilities, Distribution of Industries and Specializaton of Production.— Steam transportation has thus enabled the newer countries to develop population by giving them access to the vast interior areas having large producing power, while it has also in creased the population of the more densely populated countries of the globe by giving to them an opportunity to bring food from other continents at such small cost of transportation that they could pay for it with products from their factories and at the same time still further increase their dense population, the im proved conditions of living and better sanitary methods giving to their people greater comfort, better health and a longer span of life than when they were dependent upon the immediately sur rounding areas for their daily requirements. The ability of the inhabitant of the densely populated country to obtain his food from the areas which can more readily produce it is illustrated by a recent statement by a very high authority that a workman in England can now with one day's wages pay the cost of transporting a year's supply bread and meat from the Mississippi Valley to his own door. The farmers of the Mississippi Valley can produce food more cheaply than those of Europe and they willingly take in exchange the manufactures with which the dense population of that continent desires to purchase its food stuffs and raw material.