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Reports of delegates on the condition of schools in the several counties, were resumed. Mr. PICKARD spoke of the conditon of schools in Grant county; GEO. MCWHORTER gave a statement of the schools in Milwaukee county; Rev. H. FOOTE made a statement of the schools in the city of Janesville.J. W. STRONG and B. C. ROGERS, spoke for Beloit. Mr. ZOLLER reported Columbia county; A. PICKETT, Dodge county; J. B. PRADT, Sheboygan county; O. R. BACON, Manitowoc county; S. JOHNSON, Washington county; J. JOHNSON, Walworth county; J. G. McMYNN, Racine county; Prof. CONOVER, Dane county.

After some further general remarks and suggestions, by Messrs. McMYNN, CONOVER, PICKETT, SPICER, MONTAGUE, STRONG, PRADT, and others, prayer was offered by the Rev. Mr. COOPER, and the Doxology sung, when the Association adjourned to meet at Portage City, on the first Wednesday in August, 1858. A. A. GRIFFITH, Secretary.

A. C. SPICER, President.

We here give a list of the members of the association, present:

Miss C. W. Smith, Troy Centre; Miss S. L. Goodrich, Troy Centre; Miss L. A. Carey, Beloit; Miss E. B. Carey, Beloit; Miss Kate S. Wright, Madison; Miss E. U. Merritt, Turtle; Miss M. E. Brown, Turtle; Miss I. Sanford, Racine; Mrs. B. F. Walker, Racine; Miss A. M. Stewart, Janesville; Miss M. E. Loomis, Port Washington; Miss E. M. Oatman, Port Washington; Miss F. L. Oatman, Port Washington; Miss Miss E. L. Bissell, Hartford; Miss E. L. Smith, Heustesford; Miss Emily Weage, Ripon; Miss Eliza Washburn, Pewaukee; Miss Alice Perry, Brookfield; Miss Jennie Merrill, Warren, Pa.; Miss Abbie Merrill, Warren, Pa.; Miss A. M. Stone, Janesville; Miss L. O. Cowden, Oshkosh; Miss Mary Stewart, Pewaukee; Miss Harriet R. Olin, Omro; Miss N. E. Trowbridge, Milwaukee; Miss Sarah Thistlewaite, Merton; Miss S. Nicholson, Hartland; Miss S. F. Sears, Waukesha: Miss J. Woolsey, Waukesha; Miss S. A. Steel, Waupacca Falls; Miss E. H. Cram, Waukesha; Miss Sarah Bell, Pewaukee; Miss Mary C. Osgood, Milwaukee; Miss Zylpha B. Trowbridge, Greenfield; Miss Sarah A Green, North Prairie; Miss Julia M. Hatch, North Prairie; Miss L. A. Heimsley, Whitewater; Miss R. M. Hamilton, Whitewater; Miss Armida Ayer, Janesville; Miss Sophia Toby, Waukesha; Miss A. A. Wheeler, Waukesha; Misa M. C. Nelson, Waukesha; Miss Ella M. Sargeant, Waukesha; Miss Mary G. Sherman, Waukesha; Lois T. Jones, Alton, N. N.; Mrs. H. S. Zoller, Portage City; Miss Lavina Tead, Milwaukee; Miss Isabella Rogers, Milwaukee; Miss Martha Walkins, Milwaukee; Miss M. H. Baldwin, Milwaukee; Miss Francis Duggan, Milwaukee; Miss Cathrine Cavanaugh, Milwaukee; Miss Mary Osborn, Watertown; Miss Julia Johnson, Brookfield; Miss Kate Kerin, Wauwatosa; Miss Sarah Osborn, Wauwatosa; Miss Lucella Morgan, Wauwatosa; Miss Eliza Osborn, Wauwatosa; Miss Emma Warren, Wauwatosa; Miss Feances Degraff, Brookfield; Miss H. A. Wheeler, Sheboygan; Miss L. M. Wheeler, Sheboygan; Miss Eliza Graham, Milwaukee; Miss Elizabeth Deway, Milwaukee; Miss Sarah Church, Milwaukee; Miss L. C. Mattice, Waterloo; Miss Etta Harington, Hartland; Miss Anna P. Hubbard, Beloit; Miss Maria S. Southard, Beloit; Miss Ada M. Meehan, Elkhorn; Miss C. A. Willey, Janesville; Miss Amanda Herkimer, Janesville; Miss T. L. Bacon, Milwaukee; Miss Mason, Oconomowoc; Mrs. C. A. Sheldon, Racine; Miss Nancy Comstock, Summit; Miss Abby Fay, Oconomowoc; Mrs. Mary L. Woodruff, Oconomowoc; Miss Colby, Ocon

omowoc; Miss Mary A. Billings, Whitewater; Miss M. Antoinette Roberts, Whitewater; Miss Maria Holbrook, Whitewater; Miss Alvira Thomas, Whitewater; Miss Lucy Clapp, Whitewater; Miss Frankie Cheney, Whitewater; Miss Ellen Merrill, Waukesha; Miss Emma Marsh, Milwaukee; Miss Cyntha Brown, Pewaukee; Miss Mary McWhorter, Vernon; Miss Mary Comstock, Oconomowoc; Miss Wealthy Colby, O conomowoc; Mr. and Mrs. Spicer, Milton; Mr. and Mrs. A. Pickett, Horicon; Mr. and Mrs. J. G. McMynn, Racine; Prof. and Mrs. J. W. Stearling, Racine; Chancellor John H. Lathrop, Madison; A. J. Craig, Palmyra; I. M. Bingham, Palmyra; A. A. Griffith, Waukesha; J. H. Magoffin and lady, Clarkesville, Tenn.; Frederick Smith, Waukesha; Ira Kimball, Waukesha; E. F. Spaulding, Francestown, N. H.; Miss C. Brown, Pewaukee; Miss A. Perry, Pewaukee; Mrs. Porter, Pewaukee; Frank Stevens, Oconomowoc; W. H. Hardy, Genessee; James H. Stoddard, Milwaukee; Ira A. Williams, Racine; Samuel Lewis, Whitewater; Rev. H. Foote, Janesville; A Constantine Barrey, Sylvania; S. M. White Lisbon; N. A. Calkins, N. Y.; Prof. S. A. Bean, Waukesha; Prof. Spaulding, Milwaukee; D. J. Holmes, Sheboygan; Isaac Johnson, Wappun; H. B. Coe, Racine; G. W. DeClark, Beaver Dam; Ira Bushnell, Omro; J. M. Frey, Wautoma; R. M. McKee, Elkhorn; Prof. Reed, Madison; Prof. Churchman, Blind Asylum, Madison; W. C. Allen, Lindon; Rev. J. A. Hart, Genoa; D. H. Ives, Horicon; Wells Powell, Janesville; Isaac Botlenley, Eagle; Mr. Fisk, Beloit; John H. Felch, Somers; A. R. Cornwall, Albion; T. R. Williams, Albion; Rev. J. B. Pradt, Sheboygan; J. J. M. Angier, Berlin; J. B. Turner, Jacksonville, Ill.; M. Frank, Kenosha; Rev. H. N. Bishop, Chicago, Ill.; J. L. Pickard, Plattesville; Milton Welch, Oshkosk; G. B. Cooley, Ripon; F. C. Pomeroy, Milwaukee; E. W. Peat, Beloit; James W. Strong, Beloit; Rev. Chas. B. Stout, Waukesha; N. L. Stout, Monroe; I. H. Blodgett, Jacksonville, Ill.; B. C. Rogers, Beloit; George McWhorter, Milwaukee; O. R. Bacon, Manitowoc : John Austin, Ripon; Rev. J. G. Montfort, Glendale, Ohio; W. H. Rexford, Beloit; A. D. Hendrickinson, Whitewater; M. Montague, Milton; T. M. Bailey, Two Rivers; J. A. Loomis, Appleton; W. E. Cady, Plymouth; W. O. Butler, Plymouth; R. C. Parsons, Port Washington; D. Y. Kilgore, Madison; William Sharp, Port Washington; Prof. Conover, Madison; F. D. Hazeltine, Waukesha.

JA notice of the Horicon Union School, of which Mr. A. PICKET is Principal, is unavoidably omitted in this number,

Obituary.

WALTER VAN NESS died in Nebraska Territory on the 3d of July last, aged 30 years. Mr. VAN NESS was, during several years, a Teacher in this State, and his labors as such were attended with much success. He was among the first to urge the organization of a State Teachers' Association, and was assiduous in his efforts for the accomplishment of this object. The great interests of education, especially common schools, chiefly absorbed his attention. Possessed of a generous nature, noble impulses, and a gentlemanly bearing, he readily gained the esteem of all who became acquainted with him. He has passed away, but his memory will be cherished in many a heart.

WISCONSIN JOURNAL OF EDUCATION.

VOL. II.

OCTOBER, 1857.

NO. 4.

WESTWARD MOVEMENT OF THE CENTER OF POPULATION, AND OF INDUSTRIAL POWER IN NORTH AMERICA.

In the rapidly developing greatness of North America, it is interesting to look to the future, and speculate on the most probable points of centralization of its commercial and social power. I leave out the political element, because, in the long run, it will not be very potential, and will wait upon industrial developments. I also omit Mexico, so poor, and so disconnected in her relations to the great body of the continent.

Including with our nation, as forming an important part of its commercial community, the Canadas, and contiguous provinces, the center of population, white and black, is a little west of Pittsburg. The movement of this center is north of west, about in the direction of Chicago. The center of productive power can not be ascertained with any degree of precision. We know it must be a considerable distance east and north of the center of population. That center too, is on its grand march westward. Both, in their regular progress, will reach Lake Michigan. The center of industrial power will touch Lake Erie, and possibly, but not probably, the center of population may move so far northward as to reach Lake Erie also. Their tendency will be to come together; but a considerable time will be required to bring them into near proximity. Will the movement of these centers be arrested before they reach Lake Michigan? I think no one expects it to stop eastward of that lake; few will claim that it will go far beyond it. Is it not, then, as certain as anything in the future can be, that the central power of the continent will move to, and become permanent on, the border of the great lakes? Around these pure waters will gather the densest population, and on their borders will grow up the best towns and cities. As the centers of population and wealth approach and pass Cleveland, that city should swell to large size. Toledo will be still nearer the lines of their movement, and should be more favorably affected by them, as the aggregate power of the continent will, by that time, be greatly increased. As these lines move westward towards Chicago, the influence of their position will VOL. H.

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be divided between that city and Toledo, distributing benefits according to the degree of proximity.

If we had no foreign commerce, and all other circumstances were equal, the greatest cities would grow up along the line of the central industrial power, in its westward progress, each new city becoming greater than its predecessor, by the amount of power accumulated on the continent, for concentration from point to point of its progress. But as there are points from one resting place to another, possessing greatly superior advantages for commerce over all others, and near enough the center line of industrial power to appropriate the commerce which it offers, to these points we must look for our future great cities. To become chief of these, there must be united in them the best facilities for transport, by water and by land. It is too plain to need proof, that these positions are occupied by Cleveland, Toledo and Chicago.

But we have a foreign commerce beyond the continent of North America, by means of the Atlantic Ocean, bearing the proportion, we will allow, of one to twenty of the domestic commerce within the continent. This proportion will seem small to persons who have not directed particular attention to the subject. It is, nevertheless, within the truth. The proof of this is difficult, only because we can not get the figures that represent the numberless exchanges and equivalents among each other, in such a community as

ours.

If we suppose ten of the twenty-nine millions of our North American community to earn, on an average, $1.25 per day, 312 days in the year, it will make an aggregate of nearly four thousand millions of dollars. If we divide the yearly profits of industry equally between capital and labor, the proportion of labor would be but $1.25 per day, for five millions of the twenty-nine millions. The average earnings of the twenty-nine millions, men, women and children, to produce two thousand millions yearly, would be 22 cents a day, for 312 working days. This is rather under than over the true amount; for it would furnish less than $70 each for yearly support, without allowing anything for accumulation.

Of the four thousand millions of yearly production, we can not suppose that more than one thousand millions is consumed by the producers, without being made the subject of exchange. This will leave three thousand millions as the subjects of commerce, internal and external. Of this, all must be set down for internal commerce, inasmuch as most of that which enters the channel of external commerce, first passes through several hands, between the producer and exporter. Foreign commerce represents but one transaction. The export is sold, and the import is bought with the means the export furnishes. Not so with domestic commerce. Most of the products which are its subjects, are bought and sold many times between the producer and ultimate consumer. Let us state a case:

I purchase a pair of boots from a boot dealer in Toledo. He has purchased them from a wholesale dealer in New York, who has bought them of the manufacturer in Newark. The manufacturer has bought the chief material

of a leather dealer in New-York, who has made the purchases which fill his large establishment from small dealers in hides. These have received their supply from butchers. The butchers have bought of the drovers, and the drovers of the farmers. If the boots purchased are of French manufacture, they have been the subject of one transaction represented in foreign trade, to-wit: their purchase in Paris by the American importer; whereas, they they are the subject of several transactions in our domestic trade. The importer sells them to the jobber in New-York; the jobber sells them to the Toledo dealer, who sells them to me.

It can scarcely admit of a doubt, that the domestic commerce of North America bears a proportion as large as twenty to one of its foreign commerce. Has internal commerce a tendency to concentrate in few points, like foreign commerce? Is its tendency to concentration less than that of foreign commerce? No difference, in this respect, can be perceived. All commerce develops that law of its nature, to the extent of its means. Foreign commerce concentrates chiefly at those ports where it meets the greatest internal commerce. The domestic commerce being the great body, draws to it the smaller body of foreign commerce. New York, by her canals, her railroads, and her superior position for coastwise navigation, has drawn to herself most of our foreign commerce, because she has become the most convenient point for the concentration of our domestic trade. It is absurd to suppose she can always, or even for half a century, remain the best point for the concentration of domestic trade; and, as the foreign commerce will every year bear a less and less proportion to the domestic commerce, it can hardly be doubted that, before the end of one century from this time, the great center of commerce of all kinds, for North America, will be on a lake harbor. Supposing the center of population (now west of Pittsburg) shall average a yearly movement westward, for the next fifty years, of twenty miles; this would carry it one thousand miles northwestward from Pittsburg, and some five hundred or more miles beyond the central point of the natural resources of the country. It would pass Cleveland in five years, and Toledo in eleven years, reaching Chicago, or some point south of it, in less than twenty-five years. The geographical center of industrial power is probably now in north-eastern Pennsylvania, having but recently left the city of New York, where it partially now for a time remains. This center will move at a somewhat slower rate than the center of popula tion. Supposing its movement to be fifteen miles a year, it will reach Cleveland in twenty years, Toledo in twenty-seven years, and Chicago in forty-five years. If ten years be the measure of the annual movement northwestward of the industrial central point of the continent, Cleveland would be reached in thirty years, Toledo in forty, and Chicago in sixty-three years. It is well known, that the rate at which the center of population in the United States is now moving westward, is over fifteen miles a year, and that it is moving with an accelerated speed. It is obvious that the center of population, and the center of industrial power, now widely separated, by the nature of the country between New York and Cleveland, by the super

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