66.6 71.7
Rural " 37.7 35.2 33.4 28.3

During the decennium 1881-91 there was a considerable check in the
immigration from the country into the large towns, though the
proportion of townsfolk to country folk grew even more rapidly than in
the preceding ten years.[268]

In Holland and Belgium, notwithstanding a large migration to foreign
lands, the towns grow far quicker than the total population. Thus in
Holland in the period 1870-79 the towns increased 17.25, while the
rural districts only increased 6.8. In Belgium, where the emigration
across the border is still larger, there is a tide of migration of the
parochial or country population continually setting towards Antwerp,
Brussels, and Liege.[269]

[Illustration: GROWTH OF FRENCH POPULATION.]

This flow of population to the towns is not affected to any
considerable extent either by the rate of growth of the population
itself or by the small stake in the land possessed by the bulk of the
agricultural population in such a country as England. For in France,
where the growth of population during the last half century has been
extremely slow, and where the majority of the agriculturists have a
definite stake in the soil, the growth of the town population is most
remarkable. In Germany also, where peasant-proprietors are very
numerous, the towns continually absorb a larger proportion of the
population. In 1871 the urban population of the empire was 36.1 per
cent. of the total, in 1885 it was 41.8 per cent. In Austria, Hungary,
Sweden, Italy, a similar movement is clearly traceable. The above
diagram relating to movements of French population indicates that
Paris has been growing more rapidly than other French towns. In other
industrial countries also it is found that the pace of growth varies
for the most part directly with the size of the town. In England, it
is true that the largest cities show during the last decennium a
certain slackening in the pace of growth. But the towns between 20,000
and 100,000 are still growing far more rapidly than those between
5,000 and 20,000, while those below 5,000 fail to keep pace with the
general rise of population. This fact obtains the clearest recognition
in the preliminary report of the census of 1891.[270] "The urban
population increases then very much more rapidly than the rural
population. And not only so, but the larger, or rather the more
populous the urban districts,[271] and the more dec