tio of
representation would then be one representative to 211,877
inhabitants. Effort was made to prevent this increase, for it was argued
that the House had already become unwieldy, requiring great effort on
the part of members to make themselves heard. The bill failed to pass
the Senate at the regular session, but subsequently, at the special
session, it became a law. Party lines were closely drawn in the Senate,
for, on account of this increase, the Republicans would probably gain 32
new congressmen and the Democrats only 10. By this reapportionment the
northeastern part of the country and the extreme western and
southwestern portions gained in their representation. New York gained
six representatives; Pennsylvania, four; California and Oklahoma, three
each; Illinois, Massachusetts, Washington, and Texas each gained two,
and sixteen other States each gained one.

The number of farms, according to the thirteenth census, were 6,340,357
or an increase of about 10 per cent over the number reported in 1900.
There was an increase of 63,000,000 acres devoted to farming during the
decade. About 60 per cent of the farms of the country were operated by
their owners and two-thirds of these farms were free from mortgages. Two
million three hundred and forty-nine thousand two hundred and fifty-four
farms were worked by tenants and 57,398 were in charge of managers. The
tenant system was shown to be far more common in the South than at the
North or West. In the south central group of States, which includes a
large part of the cotton area, the tenants numbered 1,024,265 and the
owners 949,036. In the south Atlantic States there were 591,478 owners
and 118,678 tenants; in north Central States, 1,563,386 owners and
644,493 tenants, and in the Western States, 309,057 owners and 52,164
tenants.

Our foreign commerce for the year 1910 amounted in the aggregate to
about $3,500,000,000, or over $1,250,000,000 more than in 1900. Our
exports were valued at $2,000,000,000.

CHAPTER XVII

THE PROGRESSIVE MOVEMENT

[1911]

From time to time it has been charged that "government by the people"
has become fiction in our country. Little had been done to remedy this
condition until the opening of the last decade. Trouble then came for
the supporters of the regular political order, manifesting itself in
conventions and legislatures. Laws abolishing nominations by the
convention method were passed in some States; and publicity of campaign