Commercial Geography / A Book for High Schools, Commercial Courses, and Business Colleges

by Jacques W. Redway

CHAPTER VII

FACTORS IN THE LOCATION OF CITIES AND TOWNS

The population of the world is very unevenly distributed. Not far from nine-tenths live in lowland plains, below an altitude of 1,200 feet, in regions where food-stuffs grow. The remainder live mainly in the grass-producing regions of the great plateaus, the mining regions or the flood-plains and grassy slopes of the higher montane regions.

Communal Life.—In each of these regions, also, there is a very unequal massing of population. In part, the various families live isolated from one another; in part, they gather into cities and villages. In other words the population of a habitable region may be classed as rural and urban. In the United States and western Europe, agricultural pursuits encourage rural life, each family living on its own estate. In Russia, the agricultural population usually cluster in villages.

The farmer or freeholder who owns or controls his estate, exemplifies the most advanced condition of personal and political liberty. Only a few centuries have elapsed since not only the land but also the life of a subject was the property of the king or the feudal lord, and in those days about the only people living in isolation were outlaws. In most cases the communal system, best exemplified in Russia, marks an intermediate stage between a low and a high state of civilization; in other instances it is necessary in order to insure safety. German farmers in Siberia usually adopt the village plan for this reason.

For the greater part, the non-agricultural population of the civilized world is massed in villages and cities for reasons that have nothing to do with either civilization or self-defence. The causes that bring about the massing of urban population are many and their operation is complex. In general, however, it is to facilitate one or more of several things, namely—the receiving, distribution, and transportation of commodities, the manufacture of products, the existence of good harbors, and the existence of minerals and metals necessary in the various industries.

The Beginnings of Towns and Cities.—The "country town" of agricultural regions in many ways is the best type of the centre of population engaged in receiving and disbursing commodities. The farmers living in their vicinity send their crops to it for transportation or final disposition. The country store is a sort of clearing-house, exchanging household and other commodities, such as sugar, tea, coffee, spices, drugs, silks, woollens, cotton goods, farming machinery, and furniture for farm products. A railway station, grain elevator, and one or more banks form the rest of its business equipment.

Usually the town has resulted from a position of easy access. It may be the crossing of two highways, a good landing-place on a river, the existence of a fording-place, a bridge, a ferry, a toll gate, or a point that formed a convenient resting-place for a day's journey. The towns and villages along the "buffalo" roads are examples almost without number.

The "siding" or track where freight cars may be held for unloading, has formed the beginning of many a town. The siding was located at the convenience of the railway company; the village resulting could have grown equally well almost anywhere else along the line.

THE EFFECT OF POSITION—BUFFALO IS AT THE FOOT OF LAKE ERIE AND THE HEAD OF ERIE CANAL; AN EXCELLENT HARBOR FACILITATES ITS COMMERCE

In the early history of nearly every country, military posts formed the beginnings of many centres that have grown to be large cities. Thus, Rome, Paris, London, the various "chesters"[22] of England, Milan, Turin, Paris, Chicago, Pittsburg, and Albany were established first as military outposts. The trading post was most conveniently established under the protection of the military camp, and the subsequent growth depended partly on an accessible position, and partly on the intelligence of the men who controlled the trade of the surrounding regions.

Harbors as Factors in the Growth of Cities.—A good harbor draws trade from a great distance. Thus, with a rate of 14½ cents on a bushel of wheat from Chicago, New York City draws a trade from a region having a radius of more than one thousand miles. In its trade with Chinese ports, Seattle, the chief port of Puget Sound, reaches as far eastward as London and Hamburg.

Water-Power as a Factor.—The presence of water-power has brought about the establishment of many centres that have grown into populous cities. The water-power of the New England plateau had much to do with the rapid growth of the New England States. At the time of the various embargo and non-intercourse acts preceding the war of 1812, a great amount of capital was thrown into idleness. The water-power was made available because, during this time, the people were compelled to manufacture for themselves the commodities that before had been imported.

The manufacturing industry at first was prosecuted in the southern Appalachians as well as in the New England plateau. It survived in the latter, partly because of the capital available, and partly owing to the business experience of the people. In the meantime villages sprang up in pretty nearly every locality in which there was available water-power.

Since the use of coal and the advent of cheap railway transportation, steam has largely supplanted water-power, unless the latter is unlimited in supply. As a result, there is a marked growth of the smaller centres of population along the various water-fronts. In such cases the advantages of a water-front offset the loss of water-power.

The Effects of Metals on the Growth of Cities.—The character of the industry of a region has much to do with the character of its manufactures. Thus, coal is absolutely essential to the manufacture of iron and steel; and, inasmuch as from two to eight tons of the former are necessary to manufacture a ton of steel, it is cheaper to ship the ore to a place to which coal can be cheaply brought.

The coal-fields are responsible for the greater part of Pittsburg's population, and almost wholly for that of Scranton, Wilkesbarre, and many other Pennsylvania towns. Iron and coal are responsible, also, for many cities and towns in the vicinity of the Great Lakes. Birmingham, Salford, and Cardiff in Great Britain, Dortmund and Essen in Germany, and St. Étienne in France have resulted from the presence of coal and iron.

In many instances man is a great factor in the establishment of a centre of population. Chicago would have been quite as well off in two or three other locations; its present location is the result of man's energy and is not likely to be changed. St. Louis might have been built at a dozen different places and would have fared just as well; the same is true of St. Paul, or of Indianapolis.

Leavenworth at one time was a more promising city than Kansas City, but the building of an iron bridge over the Missouri River at the latter place gave it a start, and wide-awake men kept it in the lead. It has grown at the expense of Leavenworth and St. Joseph, neither one of which has become a commercial centre. Cairo, at the junction of the Mississippi and Ohio Rivers, has the geographical position for a great city; it waits for the man who can concentrate the commerce there.

Adjustment to Environment.—San Francisco was wisely located at first, but its grain trade was more economically carried on at Karquinez Strait, while its oriental trade is gradually concentrating at Seattle. Philadelphia lost its commercial supremacy when the completion of the Erie Canal gave return cargoes to foreign vessels discharging at New York City. Oswego, N.Y., had the advantage of both harbor facilities and water-power, but Syracuse, with practically no advantages except those of leadership, has far outstripped it.

Such instances of the readjustment of centres of population have been common in the past; they will also occur in the future. In nearly every case the readjustment results from economic causes, the opening of new lines of transportation, the lowering of the cost of the production of a commodity, the discovery of new economic processes—all these cause a disturbance of population, and the latter must readjust itself to new and changed conditions.

Not all peoples have the necessary intelligence and training at first to adapt themselves to their environment. For the greater part, the American Indians were unable to take advantage of the wonderful resources of the continent in which they lived. The Boers occupied about the richest part of Africa, but made no use of the natural wealth of the country beyond the grazing industry; in fact, their nomadic life reduced them to a plane of civilization materially lower than that of their ancestors.

People of the highest state of civilization do not always adjust themselves to their environment readily. The people of the New England plateau were nearly a century in learning that they possessed nearly all the best harbors of the Atlantic coast of North America. When, however, the great commerce of the country had been wiped out of existence, it did not take them long to readjust themselves to the industry of manufacture, the water-power being the natural resource that made the industry profitable.

QUESTIONS FOR DISCUSSION

Were the middle Atlantic coast of the United States to undergo an elevation of 100 feet, what would be the effect on New York City?

Find the factors that led to the settlement of the city or town in which or near which you live. What caused the settlement of the three or four largest towns in the same county?—of the following places: Minneapolis, Fall River, New Haven, New Bedford, Cairo (Ill.), Cairo (Egypt), Marseille, Aix-la-Chapelle, Alexandria (Egypt), Washington (D.C.), Columbus (O.), Johannesburg (Africa), Kimberley (Africa), Albany (N.Y.), Punta Arenas (S.A.), Scranton (Pa.), Vancouver (B.C.), San Francisco, Cape Nome?

What circumstances connected with commerce led to the passing of the following-named places: Palmyra, Carthage, Babylon, Genoa, Venice, Ancient Rome, Jerusalem?

COLLATERAL REFERENCE

Any good cyclopædia.

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