53 



THE PEOBLEM OF MALTHUS STATED. 

 By R. M. Johnston, F.L.S. 



Darwiu (page 52, Origin of Species) has observed *' that 

 in a state of nature almost evexy full-grown plant annually 

 produces seed, and amongst animals there are few which do 

 not annually pair. Hence we may confidently assert that all 

 plants and animals are tending to increase at a geometrical 

 ratio — that all would rapidly stock every station in which 

 they could anyhow exist. And this geometrical tendency to 

 increase must be checked by destruction at some period of 

 life," and, as an inevitable consequence, he goes on to add 

 " that each individual lives by a struggle at some period of 

 its life, that heavy destruction falls either on the young or 

 old during each generation, or at recurrent intervals. 

 Lighten any check, mitigate the destruction ever so little, 

 and the number of the species will almost instantaneously 

 increase to any amount." 



These considerations when fully appreciated form the 

 foundation of the problem of Malthus.* 



That Mr. Henry George altogether failed to grasp the 

 various elements of this problem is at once appai'ent by the 

 manner in which in his otherwise very able work, " Progress 

 and Poverty," he has attempted to refute the conclusions of 

 Malthus. 



As he has fallen into the most simple errors in his adverse 

 comments upon Malthus, it may be as well to state w^ith 

 greater precision the factors of the problem, thus : 



P. — Actual population. 



I. — Natural tendency to increase. 



(a) At its maximum in an ideal state of perfect 



health, virtue, peace, and prosperity. 



(b) At its minimum when the opposite of this 



state obtains. 



T. — Natural limit of life ; death at extreme old age. 



C. — Checks, cutting off life before the healthy limit 

 of life has been reached, among which are promi- 

 nent : — 



(a) Competition of other forms of animal 

 life — zymotic diseases, parasites, attacks 

 by beasts of prey, etc. 



* An Essay on the Princiiile'uf Population. Malthus, ("2 vols. Loudon, 

 1826.) 



