Page:Confessions of an Economic Heretic.djvu/151

 tion of modem machine methods to the cultivation of the soil, and of biology to the improvement of vegetable and animal life, together with better means of communications, has made the Malthus scare appear ridiculous in countries where financial and other public measures are being taken to curb the excessive productivity of crops and herds.

The scare has turned from an excessive to a deficient birth-rate. In some countries the declining birth-rate is held to carry grave dangers. At the present rate of decline our population will have almost disappeared in another century. The same holds true of France and certain other civilized countries. Even in our Dominions a serious decline is taking place. It is quite true that in Russia, China, India, and parts of Africa the population, less subject to the “natural checks” by reason of improved knowledge and communications, is growing rapidly. But this is no consolation to the Western nations, for it seems to them to imply a disappearance of civilization as they know and value it, and the peopling of the earth by definitely lower races. Some advanced nations are endeavouring to encourage earlier marriages and larger families by subsidies, tax reliefs, and other public benefits. Their motives for this encouragement of population are mixed. In the case of France, Germany, Italy, and Russia, military considerations rank high. Cannon fodder is needed for defensive or offensive warfare, more workers for the armament industries and for