Oxford Democrat. [volume] (Paris, Me.) 1833-1933, 1898-07-05
WILL POPULATION ovERRUN PRO
pucTloN,

WILL POPULATION OVeHhUN FhO-
pucTloN,
There have been thoughtful men In all
ages Of the world who believed that the
time would come when the population OF
the earth would overrun It's capacity for
the production Of food, when the supply
could not possibly he kept up 70 the re-
Quirements, when gaupt famine would
stalk abroad In the world, there would
be fierce struggle for existence, and
only the survival OF the strongest. War
Was looked upon as a necessary check to
keep down population, and even pesti-
lence was regarded as better than
famine. They observed that in the aui-
NAL kingdom and insect world the only
check on overabundant population was
the failure Of the food supply, and con-
sequently death by starvation and de-
vouring each other. This tendency In
the amin i aud insect kingdoms went on
in spite Of the fact that every class OF
living things had their enemies, who
preyed upon them and reduced their
numbers. Yet, Notwithstanding these
checks, they became so numerous that
mankind must destroy them with traps
and poisons in order to save the crops
from destruction. The potato bugs, the
currant worms, codling moths, tent
csterpillars. curculios, borers and other
pests must be constantly fought by
farmers, gardeners and orchardists. 1t
was asserted that the tendency to over
population among mankind WAS the ssme
"a among the lower orders Of creation,
only in lesser degree.
Plato, Aristotle, Benz ,min franklin,
David Hume and other writer's had
touched on the subject, but the man
whose writings gained the most notoriety
Was Robert Thomas MAlthus, an Eng
lisbmsn whose book was fret published
ia l19S. He asserted that the human
population of the earth doubled every
twenty-five years, and then Its capacity
for food supply had nearly been reached.
To avoid the risk Of impending famine
he proposed that the poor should not
marry until they were rich enough to
support a family, and that the poor
laws, which be declared encouraged the
poor to marry by holding out the pros
pect OF Government aid, should be re-
pealed and the destitute left to the ten
der mercies Of the charitable or the dire
full results Of their own iudiscretion.
There Ia powerful check on populs-
ton In highly civilized countries which
Nautilus did not seem TO notice. liz is
quite general, and caused by too little
exercise aud too high living. do not
mean intemperance In eating and drink
ing, but luxurious living, such rs the
rich and well-to-do people indulge in. IL
IL well known to stock ra!sers that their
animals can be kept In too good condi-
ton for breeding purposes, and 1t |.
equally well known that the families OF
the nobility In Europ", and Of the rich
and well-to-do In America are usually
small (smsller than they would like,
while the families of the poor are Rener-
ally large. Our citizens OF foreign birth
nearly always raise large families, while
the families Of native Americans are fire.
quently small, or contain no children at
all.
The truth is, the population OF the
earth as a whole has never doubled In
twenty-five years, and until the millen-
mum comes never will. and perhaps not
then. Some particular countries receiv-
ing large number Of immigrants every
wear have done so-the United States
has sometimes done IL, but during the
thirty years from lS60 TO 1890 1t only
about doubled It's population.
The capacity Of the earth for the pro-
duction Of food with better farming and
the reclamation Of the waste lands and
unoccupied regions has scarcely any
limit. According to Scripture the yield
OF grain can be increased from thirty to
sixty and even one hundred fold. have
raised heaping half-bushel OF potatoes
from single tuber. The editor OF The
Rural New Yorker" has raised GOO
bushels per acre. One hundred and one
bushels and eleven pounds OF wheat
have been raised on n single acre OF land
by l.. j. Northcutt, Of Pullman, Wash.
and one hundred and fifty-six bushels Of
oats weighing thirty-six pounds TO the
bushel were raised by William wilkie,
Laconner, Wash. Two hundred and
thirty bushels OF ears Of corn were
raised on one acre by Abner G. HinmAn,
Of wysox. Penn. Henry Stewart, Agri-
cultural Editor Of The New York
Times,n raised seventy-five bushels OF
buckwheat per acre. Better farming
will produce better crops the world over.
England Is the only country In the world
which never raises enough food 10 any
year TO supply her Inhabitants, but
there are thousands OF acres Of good
land held BY rich men AS deer parks and
game preserves which upon necessity
could be divided up into farms and made
productive of food. For meat supply
the grazing region OF North and South
America and Australia can always be
depended upon to provide an immense
number OF beef cattle. Pork can be
made quickly, and In q great measure on
cheaper food than has usually been fed.
A good breeding SOW will raise two lit
tiers Of pigs-say eighteen or twenty
which can be fattened and marketed In
year. Our trouble In America has
not been scarcity Of food, but overpro-
duction and consequently low prices for
the producers.
In 1890 c. Wood Davis, Of Kansas, pre-
dicted that In the United States "popu-
lation will certainly have overtaken pro-
duction BY 1895, and in 1900 our needs
will exceed production by more than II
Der cent" or course, Mr.. Davis was
mistaken. We have been exporting more
food products the last year than ever
before. Travellers through the western
grain gro wing states have reported that
there is great deal Of good land which
is held for rise by non-residents, and
that thousands Of acres have been home
steaded, mortgaged TO the highest limit
and then abandoned. On many western
farms much Of the land has not yet been
disturbed by the plough, and Is still
growing prairie grass and wild flowers.
The arid regi0n-the "Great American
Deserts rs rich as . barnyard, and
ell il needs to make it productive as a
garden Is water, and there Is no doubt
the needed water can be obtained by the
construction Of reservoirs TO store up
the water Of the melting snow that falls
on the mountains. There Is much good
land which is still held by the Govern
ment in Washington and Oregon. More
than half the state of Maine is still COW
cred with woods, and most Of the land
IL "a good as any that has been cleared.
Farms have been abandoned In New
England because the owners were un-
willing to cultivate poor farms when
they could get good ones free OF cost In
the West. and nobody would buy the
poor ones for the same reason. There
are the salt meadows all along the Al
lantic Coast, the everglades Of Fiorida.
the swamp lands along the Mississippi
and the delta ut its mouth, which only