The times., 1888-09-21

now snail tho Increasing Population of
the World DO Fed?-An Illustration.
The troubles at the leading centers OF
population, the agitation of questions
which are closely connected with wage
earning, are all barometric indications of
storms ahead. What shall be done with
the rapidly increasing population of the
world and how it shall LIE provided for SO
as to reduce the friction Of bread winning
to the minimum, are grave problems
which may enlist with profit the leading
minds of civilized countries.
Mr. Edward Atkinson, in The Forum,
enters into consideration of the doc
trines of Nautilus and Ricardo. If their
concepts are to be received as demonstia-
| tions OF science, what good, lie asks, will
result from the efforts to ameliorate the
condition of mankind, to prevent war, to
stop famine and to save lifo from diseases?
II human passions and human nature
lead to disproportion of population in
ratio to the means Of subsistence, or If
the mind of man applied as n factor to
production cannot provide for this ten
dency OF population to increase, without
resort either to violent or TO purely arti-
ficial methods of checking it, we might
as well seat, drink and be merry, for to-
morrow we die" without taking any
thought for the future of the race.
With these pessimistic doctrines Mr..
Atkinson takes issue. He thinks they
are based upon very narrow observation.
If Malthus or Ricardo had conceived that
within n short period, says Mr.. Atkin-
son, ironstone would be converted into
food for man and beast, by grinding into
powder the phosphoric Stag. which is the
waste product Of the iron furnace,
neither would have ventured to present
such hypothesis. Malthus held that the
population of the world would increase
faster than means of subsistence could be
found for the additional number Ri
cardos theory was that given area of
land Of high fertility when cultivated for
series of years in certain manner
would yield diminishing returns in pro-
portion to the amount of labor and capi-
tai expended upon it. O. ~ A- ~ -
Mr.. Atkinson reviews these hypothesis
very elaborately, and finally concludes
as follows; 1.-The mind of man when ap-
piled to the direction Of natural forces is
the principal agent in material produc-
ton; in fact, the controlling element.
Those who claim that labor is the source
of all production arc utterly misled, be-
cause they do not admit this fundamen-
tai principle. May it not, therefore, be
more consistent with the concepts Of an
enlightened faith of any type in which
order is recognized in the universe to
present an hypothesis that as the mental
faculties of man are more developed
and moro intelligently applied to the
conversion of the forces of nature into
material products, the general struggle
for life will become less and not greater2"
Mr.. Atkinson takes the right view. 1t
is optimistic, but at the same time is based
on the experience of oriental nations.
The soil is the great reservoir Of mans
subsistence. 1t is the foundation upon
which all other industries are based. II
tho earth were rocky, and SO sterile as to
boabsolutely unproductive, man himself
could not exist. He lives virtually on
tho soil. There could be no animal life
without the soil. For even the carnivor-
Gus animals indirectly draw their sus-
tenance from mother earth. The soil
supportsthose animals on which the meat |
eaters live. Nkes #6 I
Granting that the soil is the basis of all
life, what is the proportion of danger that |
the theories of Malthus and Ricardo will
ever be realized2 1t seems to be very
small. Man isyet in the adolescent period
of his intellectually. He will in the fut-
ure know much more about the forces Of
nature and how to govern and to prac-
tically apply them than he does now. All
this knowledge will beturned into useful
channels. We will understand how to
fertilize and cultivate tho soil so that it
can never be exhausted and will produce
the maximum. So long as the soil is
productive so long will there lie no fear
that humanity cannot bc supported.
Take, rs ON illustration, the case Of
China, The area is not more than one
third the size of the United States. 1t
supports, however, six times as many
people as we have in this country. 1t
takes care of the increase without any
difficulty The most careful system of
fertilization is observed, and the farmer
there bestowS as much care on his farm,
which is more in the nature of a garden
than farm, as the flower gardener in
the United States bestows on his exotics.
Even Germany, as sterile Us it is in many
parts, can supply millions more people
than it does now. The director of the
German statistical bureau has recently
submitted some very interesting figures
on this subject. His conclusions, which
are based on the statistics gathered, arc
that without any effort Germany will be
able TO caro- for its increase in population
for time SO long in the future that it is
removed from the realm of human spec
ulation.
Think of the unoccupied lands in Asia,
in North and South America. in Africa.
1t will be centuries and centuries before
these lands are even all partially titled.
When it is titled there can be no limit to
the industries which will be supported by
it and the people which will find in these
industries their employment and liappi-
ness. Detroit Free Press.