Evening star., 1926-03-23
BACKGROUND OF EVENTS
BY PAUL y. COLLINS.

the United States. 1t is acute enough
in the countries of Europe and Asia;
but there the issue is clearer, beCauS
those parts Of the world have vir-
tualiy reached q saturation point. and
in most cases possess a population
fairly homogeneous as regards blood
and culture. 1t is not too much In
say that the hope of the world rests
on a happy solution of our popula.
ton question With all It's
] open spaces. America has d particu-
| larly interesting and perplexing prob
| lem which insistently bids for atten-
I ton
| In the same book. DR.. 4. Il. Wolfe,
| professor of economics Of the Uni
versity Of Ohio, says:
| 'One brief but riotous century has
| doubled the worlds population. The
! total number of people now on earth
| IS put conservatively at IL billions.
At the present rate the number
doubles every SO years. A continua-
tion of this rate would result at the
end of the next four centuries in
populations of 5-1-1760-171 billions"
Rossiter in the same book states
that by the year 2020 the United
States and Europe will contain / $50
| 600, ,000-which is 800, 900 900 more
than the whole world contains today.
| Pitkin informs us that the farmers
| Of the world need to increase the
food supply 23,O0O.0O0 pounds annu-
| ally to prevent famine.
| Wolfe adds: eff our own present
| rate of doubling every five decades
were to continue, persons now living
would see a population in the United
States of 250.000.000. Unless, there
fore. this increase is quickly retarded
the saturation point is only a few
| generations off, at most-not thou
sands of years. as is popularity sup
posed.
| Much time has been wasted III eSti
mating the exact number of millions
! this country can support. Dispute
over q few score millions is unimpoI-
| tant, for in the absence of an i'm
| probable revolution in agriculture We
| shall soon be confronted with the
| pointed choice of reducing either our
birth rate or our standard OF lily
| ing. In order to avoid admit e
4 ting early danger of overpopulation,
they (optimists) institute an imaG
mary emigration TO the junSles o.
South America. or grasp at the straw
| Of synthetic food and ultra atomic
energy Even if il could be demon
strated that this country could sup
port 500 900 900 population, by elm
mating waste and giving up meat.
cui bono? The standard OF living
would continue to fall and the prO5
lem of numbers continue to get worse.
| "s Those who today argue tha
we can find q way to support double
or treble our present population are
simply falling victims to our unthink
| ing American worship of size and
growth. without inquiring into the
human values involved. A sane the
ory of population would consider these
matters:
"All this faith overloolls:
"1. Only inferior lands. limited III
extent. remain for settlement.
"2. Progress itself involves a par;
doy. 1t is inconceivahle that techni
cal advance can maintain the pace II
set in what Wallace called the Won
derful century, and what keynes
thinks may prove to have been u
magnificent episode in history
"3. The engineering and economic
problems are confused. Some things
technically possible are possible eco
nomically only at prohibitive cost
and lower standard of living.
~. There is limit to the degree
to which cheapened manufactures
can Offset increasing costs in the eA-
tractive industries.
"5. Per capita agricultural yield
should be calculated on the basis OF
all the labor engaged, both direct and
indirect, in the production of agri-
cultural commodities. as i'll farm ma
chinery and fertilizer and in trans
portation OF farm products"
/ Since we double population every so
years, children of today will see the
United States with 234 100000 or
ESQ, ,O00, 900 and conditions comparable
to those in overcrowded Italy and in
Asia.
Copyright. 1875. by Paul Y. Colliask