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THE STATISTICAL CENTUa~Y~ 273
a reason for taking all the countries together in a
general survey; but, none the less, the gain is to the
United States which absorbs the immigrants and
transmutes them into Americans-part of the foremost
nation of the time, and not members of the nationalities
from which they sprang.
This astonishing growth of population means a
great change in the relative position of the European
nations in the world-their relative weight in inter-
national politics. Practically, the non-European races
of the world haye all the time been stationary, except
in India, where the pax britannica has permitted the
native population to expand. They have been living
in the same places and under the same conditions as
they have done for centuries, peopled up to the limits
of subsistence under those conditions, and, therefore,
incapable of expansion. The result is that the forces
of civilization as against those of the black and yellow
races have become practically irresistible. The numbers.
are relatively far greater than ever they were before
and the economic force is indefinitely greater.
A great change in the distribution of political power
among European nations themselves is also indicated.
The existence alone of the United States implies an
immense change. If we consider that an empire like
that of Britain has its strength rather diminished than
increased by the possession of territories like India,
then the United States, having a larger European
population than that of the British Empire, may be
considered the most powerful state in the world, as far
as population and resources are concerned. The white
population is over 70 millions as compared with 55 in
the British Empire and an equal number in Germany,
and much smaller numbers in any other state except
Russia. No doubt, Russia has much larger numbers,
but the inferiority of the units is so great that the pre-
eminence of the United States is not in question. And
this is the position of a new state which had birth a
little more than a hundred years ago. At the same
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