206 THE FAMILY AND THE NATION 



even if of a lower type and probably derived from 

 thriftless and casual stock, are to be preferred to the 

 children of the colonists themselves children who will 

 require the accustomed nurture and upbringing for ten 

 or twelve years, before they can be of economic value. 

 This is surely a very unnatural and dangerous state of 

 affairs. There is evidence to show that the objections 

 to this form of colonization are beginning to attract 

 the attention of Canadian statesmen. 



To some people the failure of the United States to 

 produce a proportionate number of great men is a 

 disquieting feature of their civilization. Two hundred 

 years have elapsed since the settlement began to take a 

 permanent shape. The population is now immense, 

 the opportunities for education and development are 

 unprecedented. Yet the native-born men of real 

 eminence, of world-wide fame, are very few in number. 

 It is possible that here we have the consequences 

 of conditions of life somewhat similar to those our 

 Colonies are tending to establish. 



