CHAPTER VII 

 POPULATION PROBLEMS 



§ 1. The Need for Caution. — § 2. The Biological Alternatives 

 as regards Population : the Spawning Solution and Econo- 

 mised Reproduction. — § 3. Spencer's Generalisation as to 

 Individuation and Genesis. — § 4. Rise and Fall in Popula- 

 tion. — § 5. The Persistent Increase in the Population 

 of the Globe. — § 6. Causes of the Falling Birth-rate. — 

 § 7. Good and Evil in the Decline of the Birth-rate. 



§ I. The Need for Caution 



THE problems raised by tbe rise and fall in the 

 population of a country demand an unusual degree 

 of caution and critical judgment. There is no security 

 in predicting all that may be involved in a deliberate 

 control of the birth-rate, and we have not anything 

 like the full facts before us in regard to what actually 

 happens in our midst. Therefore we should walk 

 warily and be content for a while to balance provi- 

 sional findings and to look out for guiding principles. 

 It must be admitted that there are facts and facts. 

 When we pass from relatively simple things, like stars 

 and stones, to complex living creatures and to still 

 more complex human societies, it becomes increasingly 



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