Iowa County democrat. [volume] (Mineral Point, Wis.) 1877-1938, 1883-03-09
The Danger Of Increased Population.

disguised delight the rolling up OF the al
ditional census ciphers every ten years
will think it absurd to argue that an in
crease of population is not Heaven
sent blessing. States rival one another
with their competitive figures. Cities
sneer ut one another If their directories
and school membership, their swarming
populace and their additional houses do
not betray a swelling increase from year
to year. We welcome the restless and
the ambitious from the old world and
measure the greatness of the country by
the number of heads counted by the
census takers. Food IS plentiful; eli
mate and soil are generous; there is
room to work and the workers are in
vited without stint or reluctance.
But in discussing 1.-THE influence Of
food on civilization" in the North
American Revie,0, Mr.. Richard Proctor
does not share this enthusiasm in regard
to the desirability Of growth merely by
numbers. He believes that the kind
rather than the number, the quality
rather than the quantity, Is the great
thing after all. At the present rate of
increase in this country the present
population Of the United States of
10000, 600 would in SIT years cover the
whole Of North America 80 thickly that
four men would have to stand on each
square rod Of surface. In 100 years
moro they would cover an area
larger than the present land sur
face Of the United States, and In $40
years the whole surface of the globe
would be covered with four men to the
square yard. Even at the present rate
Of increase of the European population
1t would require only 1,1S8 years, or
period Of time equivalent TO that between
the conquest Of Mahomet, or the settle
ment of the Anglo-Saxons in England
and the present era-to accomplish the
same result. In much shorter time
than this, Of course, the world would
become uninhabitable.
rapidly nation or country is growing
In numbers, the more speedily It is APP
preaching that point where popula-
tion viii begin to press upon the means
Of subsistence, growth and development
be arrested. decay set in and followed
perhaps by the death of the nation and
the extinction of its civilization. Sothat
as much as we regard cheapness and
abundance Of food and land as national
blessings. yet they contain also the seeds
of national dissolution. The time will
come, under these conditions, when the
means Of subsistence will no longer be
in excess of the wants Of the people, the
increase of the population will cease, the
struggle for life become hard, and the
nations growth receive q permanent
check.
This fate would have overtaken Europe
before this, but for the safety valve OF
that emigration to America which we
welcome 80 heartily. What outlet this
country win have when it arrives at the
same stage in its career, il not yet APP
parent. At this stage the Chinese EN-
pire arrived centuries ago. India itself
has also arrived there, and little or no
progress Is, or for centuries has been,
possible In those countries. Their peo-
pies have been forced. as the masses OF
Europe are now being forced, to change
from an animal or mixed diet to an al
most purely vegetable diet And Il, a.
hold, cheap food in this
sense makes them only so much raw
for capitalists and employers,
The prospect of overcrowded masses sub
sisting on plentiful, but unnutritious food
b not . pleasing one. Those who con-
sider the dignity Of man IS well as his
mere numbers on the GLOBE says Mr..
Proctor, ''those who study the evidence
afforded by the wide. though uncon-
'cious, experiments made BY nations in
past ages viii entertain . different idea
= 70 the way in which the great life
problem should be viewed. Mere in
'ssase of population-even though all
- supported In health and vigor-is NOT |
u that the human race has to look for
Vard to; it may be doubted whether 1t d
worth hoping for in itself, under any |
conditions; bat, assuredly. II kiong with
uch increase there should come, as of /
Id. the degradation Of the many under
he tyranny and oppression Of the few.
he change which enthusiasts regard 20
lopefuily Is one most devoutly 70 b
|eprecsted. "-DstroE Free Pres. !