=The Phenomenal Growth of Cities.=—The remarkable drift of population into the cities has already been pointed out. It is one of the most striking social facts in American history during the past hundred years.[66] In the days when the national constitution was framed there were only eight or ten places that could be called cities and even these were, with one or two exceptions, nothing but good-sized towns. New York, the largest of them, had a population of less than 50,000; it has grown a hundred-fold since that time. In Washington’s day no country had as many as fifty cities and the largest city in the world, London, had less than a million people. The cities counted for very little in the early days of the Republic; they then contained less than five per cent of the national population. During the course of the nineteenth century, however, cities sprang into existence everywhere; a large part of the immigration poured into them; the development of industry and commerce built them up; and today about half the people of the United States reside in cities of all sizes. There are now more cities in America than in any other country and more large cities. We have twelve great centers with populations exceeding half a million,[67] while the entire British empire (including India, Canada, and Australia) has only ten; Germany has only four and France has only two. At the present rate of progress the United States in 1950 will probably contain more large cities than all the rest of the world put together. The causes of this remarkable growth have been indicated elsewhere and there is no need to repeat them. Factories, railroads, and steamships have been the great factors in this urban expansion. [Sidenote: Some features of city life:]