Middlebury register. (Middlebury, Vt.) 1886-1937, 1888-09-14
MUST HUMANITY STARVEf
How Shall the Incre asing Population of
the World BE Fed9-An Illustration.

the World BE Fedp-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 be provided for 80
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 a consideration of the doc
trines of Nautilus and Ricardo. If their
concepts are to be received as demonstra-
tions OF science, what good, he asks, will
result from the efforts to ameliorate the
condition of mankind, to prevent war, to
stop famine and to save life from diseases2
If human passions and human nature
lead to a disproportion of population In
ratio to the means of subsistence, or If
the mind of man applied as a factor to
production cannot provide for this ten
dency of population to increase, without
resort either to violent or to purely arti-
fetal methods of checking it, we might
as well 'eat, 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 Nautilus or Ricardo had conceived that
within a short period, says MIR. 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. 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 amount Of labor and capt.
tai expended upon it.
Mr.. Atkinson reviews these hypothesis
very deliberately, and finally concludes
as follows: THE mind of man when ap-
piled to the direction of natural forces Is
the principal agent in material produo-
ton; in fact, the controlling element.
Those who claim that labor is the source
of all production are utterly misled, be-
CAUSE tlty 10 uOU duUlC ILLS luludIuell-
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 a man are more developed
and more intelligently applied to the
conversion of the forces of nature into
material products, the general struggle
for life viii 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. If
the earth were rocky, and so sterile as to
be absolutely unproductive, man himself
could not exist. He lives virtually on
the soil. There could be no animal life
without the soil. For even the carnivor-
u animals indirectly draw their sus-
tenance 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 Of Nautilus and Ricardo will
ever be realized2 1t seems to be very
small. Man is yet in the adolescent period
of his individuality. He will in the fut-
ure know much more about the forces of
nature and how to govern and to prac-
tically apply them han he does now. All
this knowledge will be turned into useful
channels. We will understand how to
f~ertilize and cultivate the soil so that it
can never be exhausted and will produce
the maximum. So long as the soil is
productive so long will there be no fear
that humanity cannot be supported.
Take, as an 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 he nature of q garden
than a farm, as the flower gardener in
the United States bestows on his exotics.
Even Germany, as sterile as 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, are
that without any effort Germany will be
able to care for its increase in population
} for a time so long in the future that it is
) removed from the realm of human spec
I 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 t.
the industries which will be supported by
it and the people which will find in thesC
industries their employment and happi
q ness.-Detroit Free Press.