THE STRUGGLE FOR EXISTENCE : A PROGRAMME. 739 



had their way among us with less interruption and under more favor- 

 able conditions than in any other country on the face of the earth. 

 The wealth of Croesus was nothing to that which we have accumulated, 

 and our prosperity has filled the world with envy. But Nemesis did 

 not forget Croesus ; has she forgotten us ? 



I think not. There are now thirty-six millions of people in our 

 island, and every year considerably more than three hundred thou- 

 sand are added to our numbers.* That is to say, about every hun- 

 dred seconds, or so, a new claimant to a share in the common stock of 

 maintenance presents him or herself among us. At the present time, 

 the produce of the soil does not suffice to feed half its population. 

 The other moiety has to be supplied with food which must be bought 

 from the people of food-producing countries. That is to say, we have 

 to offer them the things which they want in exchange for the things 

 we want. And the things they want and which we can produce better 

 than they can are mainly manufactures — industrial products. 



The insolent reproach of the first Xapoleon had a very solid foun- 

 dation. We not only are, but, under penalty of starvation, we are 

 bound to be, a nation of shopkeepers. But other nations also lie 

 under the same necessity of keeping shop, and some of them deal 

 in the same goods as ourselves. Our customers naturally seek to get 

 the most and the best in exchange for their produce. If our goods 

 are inferior to those of our competitors, there is no ground compatible 

 with the sanity of the buyers, which can be alleged, why they should 

 not prefer the latter. And, if that result should ever take place on a 

 large and general scale, five or six millions of us would soon have 

 nothing to eat. We know what the cotton famine was ; and we can 

 therefore form some notion of what a dearth of customers would be. 



Judged by an ethical standard, nothing can be less satisfactory 

 than the position in which we find ourselves. In a real, though in- 

 complete, degree we have attained the condition of peace which is the 

 main object of social organization ; and it may, for argument's sake, 

 be assumed that we desire nothing but that which is in itself innocent 

 and praiseworthy — namely, the enjoyment of the fruits of honest in- 

 dustry. And lo ! in spite of ourselves, we are in reality engaged in 

 an internecine struggle for existence with our presumably no less 

 peaceful and well-meaning neighbors. We seek peace and we do not 

 ensue it. The moral nature in us asks for no more than is compatible 

 with the general good ; the non-moral nature proclaims and acts upon 

 that fine old Scottish family motto, " Thou shalt starve ere I want." 

 Let us be under no illusions, then. So long as unlimited multiplica- 

 tion goes on, no social organization which has ever been devised, or is 



* These numbers are only approximately accurate. In 1881 our population amounted 

 to 35,241,482, exceeding the number in 1871 by 3,396,103. The average annual in- 

 crease in the decennial period 1871-1881 is therefore 339,610. The number of minutes 

 in a calendar year is 525,600. 



