president's address.— section g. 195 



gallons in 1888 to 39,000,000 gallons in 1916, while in Melbourne 

 during the sajne period, it rose from 18,000,000 gallons to 

 37,000,000 gallons, or, taking the year 1888 as 1,000, in Sydney 

 the index number for 1916 was 4,875, and in Melbourne 2,055. 

 In 1888, the consumption per head was 27.5 gallons in Sydney, 

 and 43.8 gallons in Melbourne, and rose to 42.9 gallons in Sydney, 

 and 51.5 gallons in Melbourne in 1916. If the population of the 

 cities increase at the present rate, it is obvious that it is merely 

 a question of time before further catchments will have toi be 

 secured, and it need hardly be said that the limit of possibility will 

 soon be reached. 



And it may also be said that, ultimately, the population of any 

 area is limited by its supply of water. 



This aspect of affairs is more accentuated in an island like Great 

 Britain, where the available area is much more limited, and where 

 cities like Manchester and Glasgow have already to seek for their 

 supplies at great distances. 



We pass now toi the consideration of the light that statistics can 

 bring to bear upon the conflict of interests which must inevitably 

 arise from the limitation of supplies of all kinds, either food, 

 metals, or other materials. 



7. Statistics and the Conflict of KatiotiM Interests. — The pre- 

 sent political organization of the world is such that, although the 

 interestii of nations may, and do, often coincide, and though their 

 relatioins may be, and generally are, mutually helpful, these 

 interests and relations may also conflict, for example, through the 

 overspill of population ; through tariff policy, when developed with 

 a view to increasing national power ; thi'ough the need for raw 

 materials for industrial development; and through the general 

 conditions for trade and commerce with one another. It is evident 

 that for these reasons national statistics must take account of the 

 drift of national affairs. To understand the significance of the 

 drift, it must be studied, not merely alone, but also in connexion 

 with the drift in othet nations. 



The far-reaching nature of the matter adverted to is at once 

 seen as soon as it is recognised what is implied by the coanmonly 

 accepted principle that every nation has a right to develop, even 

 though this be at the expense of its neighbours. So long as the 

 standards of living are as widely divergent as they are at present^ 

 and so long as national ideals are egoistic and individualistic, so 

 long will the imminence and seriousness of possible conflict of 

 interest demand peculiar attention. 



There are two ways out of difficulties of this nature. One is the 

 way of war, which results in the interests of one nation being sub- 

 ordinated to those of the other. The other way is, perhaps, very 

 difficult, though not impossible, viz., the development of a comity 



