The Daily times. [volume] (Richmond, Va.) 1886-1889, 1888-09-29
MUST HUMANITY sTARvE,
How Shall the Increasing Population of
the World 10 fed:-An Illustration.

winch are closely connected with wage
earning, arc all barometric indications Of
storms ahead. What shall be done with
the rapidly increasing population Of the
world and how ii shall he provided for so
as to reduce the friction of bread winning
TO tho minimum, are grave problems
which may enlist with profit The leading
minds of civilized countries.
Mr. Edward Atkinson, in The Forum.
enters into confederation Of the doc.
trines Of Nautilus and Ricardo. IL their
concepts are 70 be received rs dcmonstra-
tons Of science, what good, hc asks. viii
result from the efforts TO amcliorate the
condition Of mankind, to prevent war. 10
stop famine and to save life from disoases2
If human passions and human nature
lead TO a disproporion Of population in
ratio TO the means Of subsistence. or IL
the mind of man applied rs a factor 10
production cirnot provide Tor this ten.
dency Of pop.i.ation to increase, without
resort either t. violent or to purely arti-
fetal methods of checking IT, we MIGHT
as well "eat, .i,ink and be merry. fer 10.
morrow we SIC" without taking any
thought for tbs future Of the race.
With these pecsi'nistic doctrines Mr.
Atkinson take ISSUE. lie thinks they
are based upo:. very narrow observation
II Nautilus or lAcarlo had conceived that
within a shoE PERIOD, says iir. Akin
son, ironstone qouiI be converted INTO
food for man and b.ast, by grinding into
powder the phosphcr1c Stag. which Is the
waste product of the iron furnace.
neither would have ventured 10 present
such hypothesis. Nautilus held that the
population Of the world would increase
faster than means Of subsistence could be
found for the additional number Ri
cardO's theory was that q given area Of
land of high fertility when cultivated for
a series of years in a certain manner
would yield diminishing returns in pro-
portion to the a:,ount Of labor and CAPT
tai expended upon IT,
Mr. Atkinson reviews these hypotheses
very deliberately, and finally concludes
as follows: Tho mind of man when APP
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 are utterly misled, be-
cause they do not admit this fundamen-
tai principle. May 1t 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 a man are more developed
and moro intelligently applied 30 the
conversion Of the forces of nature into
material products, the general struggle
for life will become less and not greaterf'
Mr.. Atkinson takes the right view. It
is optimistic, but of the same time Is based
on the experience of oriental nations.
The soil is the great reservoir Of mans
Ii is the foundation upon
which all other industries are based. If
the earth were rocky, and SD sterile rs 70
be absolutely unproductiye, man himself
could not exist. He lives virtually on
the soil There could be no animal life
without the soil. For even the carniyor-
Gus animals indirectly draw their sus
tenancc from mother earth. The soil
supports those animals on which the meat
eaters live.
Granting that the soil IS the basis of all
life, what is the proportion Of danger that
the theories Ct llalthus and Ricardo will
ever be realized2 II seems 10 be very
small. Man isyet il the alolescent period
Of his intellectually. He will in the fut-
urc know much more about the forces Of
10,
iical ly apply them than he does now. All
this knowledge will be turned into useful
channels. We will understand how TO
fertliize and cultivate the soil so that it
Fan never be exhausted and will produce
he maximum. So long as the soil Is
productive so long will there Le no fear
hat humanity cannot he supported.
Tske, as an illustration, the case Of
China. The area is not more than one
hire the size of the United States. IL
supports. however, six times as many
)e0ple as we have in this country. II
axes care of the increase without any
liificulty. The most careful system Of
civilization IS observed, and the farmer
here bestow5 90 much care on his farm,
which is more in the nature Of a garden
han farm, rs the flower gardener in
he United States bcstows on his exotics.
Even Germany, as sterile rs it is IN many
arts, can supply millions more people
han it does now The director Of the
ierman statistical bureau has recently
ubmitted some very interesting figures
N this subject. His conclusions, which
re based on the statistics gathered, are
lat without any effort Germany will be
bic 10 care for Its increase in population
or q time so long in the future that It Is
emoyed from the realm Of human spec
Ilation.
Think Of the unoccupied lands in Asia,
n North and South America. in Africa.
{ will he centuries and centuries before
hose lands are even all partially TILED.
When it is TILED there can g. no limit to
he industries which will be supported by
and the people which will find IN these
Industries their employment and happi-
ess. Detroit Free Press.
The Canadian "sea Cucumber"
In the waters surrounding the Atlantic
roginces n holothurian, pentacta from