ABSTRACT
An increase of population is, however, not inconsistent with an increase of pauperism, but a considerable portion of the excess of increase in Lancashire has been by immigration from other counties; and when immigration is considerable it is a very fair proof of prosperity, for operatives only throng where they expect to improve their circumstances. And if we refer to the returns of real property at different periods, our idea of the prosperity of Lancashire will be fully borne out. Here are the returns of the annual value of real property assessed for property tax in England and Wales and in Lancashire respectively from 1815 to 1860:—
Thus in 1815 Lancashire contributed one-fourteenth of the property tax, in 1851 it contributed one eleventh, and in 1860 one-tenth, exclusive of the income from railways in each case, for the last four years cannot have added much to the real property of Lancashire.
