The sun. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1833-1916, 1899-08-04

To THE EDITOR OF THE SuN-Sir: yield to
no one In my admiration and approval OF what
Is printed in your editorial columns from your
pen. but in to-day's issue think you are way
off in your answers to Anti Malthusian."
II you are right. then the fewer people there
are in the world the better of they will be.
until perfect happiness would be enjoyed
only by one solitary individual. Any one par
ticular place can be overcrowded. as n room or
building, but to say there is an ovcrpopulation
the world over. because China and India are
or may be ovcrcrowded Is to say that an entire
building is overcrowded because one room Is
full while all the others are empty.
You say further. THE many profit by the
additions to the worlds wealth made by the
successful producers Of it," and Agree with
you. But are there not many who would pro-
man? For instance, were the idle land acces-
sible to those. out of employment could they
not produce for themselves and others. and
Is ali %enh Saned fh Hy
the applcstoqq Of labor to land? Iinot how jis
Is it not true that many consume who do not
Though thyt and mentally able
q the ffssaits q Sis aTn sKi and labor. Bas
average worker produce much more than he
retains? II he does. who gets what is taken
wea Ta that
course, What he may have obtained BY sfiit or
1t seems to me all the foregoing questions
can be covered by the proper answer to this
by applying at natures storehouso-the earth
satisfy all their material wants and If they can.
I hope you will give these questions your
earnest consideration. for they concern many
Ike myself. who is only plain,
The question Of happiness is not involved in
the discussion. but only that OF the conflicting
interests of tho employed and the unemployed.
but we have no objection to saying that. in our
opinion. perfect happiness" is unattainabIe
BY human beings under any conditions. We
have not said that the world is overcrowded
We nstanced China and India only to refute
Anti Malthusian's proposition that "a dense
population can be supported with greater ease
and in greater comfort than n sparse one"
The only laws WE know OF by which those
who would produce are prevented from
producing are those OF labor unions and
whether these are unjust or not Is a
n question on both sides OF which much can
be said. Nor do we know OF any idle land in
accessible to those out Of employment On
the contrary. there is u constant demand for
labor to till farms and plantations which is not
| supplied. The average worker gets all that
he produces by his own labor. What he pro-
duces by the aid Of his employers capital and
| skill belongs to his employer and not to him.
Tho machinist who makes a machine from
drawings furnished by an inventor does not
produce tho machine He contributes only tho
workmanship and is not entitled to he paid for
more. The weaver in cotton factory does
not produce cotton cloth. He only supern-
tends the loom. and tho machinery provided
by the manufacturer does the rest. Freedom
to till the earth exists already. rs we have said
and that 1t does not satisfy all mems material
wants. is because it cannot. The wealth OBJ
tanned from tho land Is only a small fraction OF
that which human beings desire and can
enjoy The rest is obtained by the application
of labor and skill to the raw material which
the land yields