THE 



MONTHLY MAGAZINE. 



VOL. IV.] DECEMBER, 1827. [No. 24. 



POPULATION OF GREAT BRITAIN AND IRELAND THIRD REPORT 

 OF THE EMIGRATION COMMITTEE. 



'' Avec des tableaux biea chiffr6s, on prouve tout ce qu'on voudra." 



EVERY inquiry connected with the problem of Population ; or, to 

 express the object of our discussion in this place more distinctly, every 

 inquiry bearing upon the business of adjusting the Supply of Labour, in a 

 country, situated and connected as England is, to the Demand; important 

 as it is to the welfare, if not to the safety of the community, stands yet so 

 hedged in on every side with difficulty and darkness, that it is not sue- 

 prising that the huge volume before us, the " Third Report of the Emi- 

 gration Committee," should be looked on, by the great mass of the read- 

 ing public, with something like a feeling of despair. The proposal of " Emi- 

 gration/'considered as it must be with a view to any thing like competent 

 explanation, or practical result, subdivides itself into a crowd of subordi- 

 nate or preliminary questions, which it would take us whole pages only 

 to furnish in detail a catalogue of. The measured extent of our country, 

 its present population, the nature of its soil, the degree of its cultivation, 

 its laws, its burthens, its moral and intellectual state, its wealth, the cha- 

 racter of its government, and, even more than all, its institutions the 

 private divisions and liabilities of property in it all these are points, 

 without which, upon a proposal of colonization, we cannot stir a step : it 

 is not an inquiry as to " Emigration;" but a question as to the condi- 

 tion, in all views, and subject to all directly or indirectly operating 

 agencies, of a kingdom. Does the Supply of Labour in the United King- 

 dom, at the present moment, exceed the Demand? Can that Demand 

 be increased, or does it appear likely still farther to diminish ? Can a 

 portion of our surplus population be sent abroad, with a prospect of advan- 

 tage to the individuals? Can we, by an act of the Legislature, raise the 

 money ; and is it expedient that we should do so, to carry such a scheme 

 of colonization into effect ? We leave out of consideration the seemingly 



M.M. New Series. VOL. IV, No;?4. 4C 



