80 Appendix I 



exist for three generations in London. 1 * Has 

 anyone made an investigation of this ques- 

 tion, or determined in any rural district how 

 many families have existed for three genera- 

 tions on one spot ? This part of the pro- 

 blem in itself is full of pitfalls ; in districts 

 of Berkshire, say, you may find a most 

 migratory farming class ; in the Yorkshire 

 dales the farmers have been sedentary in 

 some cases for centuries. Is it impossible 

 for the farming class to survive three genera- 

 tions in Berkshire ? Nothing but a most 

 careful statistico-genealogical inquiry would 

 determine whether in London there was true 

 extermination, or whether we have merely a 

 phase of the mysterious migration problem. 

 It is idle to show that many persons' ances- 

 tors are immigrants into London ; it must be 

 actually demonstrated that the sedentary 

 population has a lower net fertility than in 

 a corresponding rural district, and that this 

 net fertility is not artificial. Then, again, 

 " the fit and proper breeding-place and rear- 

 ing-ground of intellect " is the country. How 

 and when was this demonstrated ? Having 

 due regard to population, to the relative 

 ability of the several components of our 

 English nation, have more able men been 

 (a) born, (6) reared, in country or in town ? 

 Who is in a position to answer this question ? 



* Communications which have reached me since this 

 letter was published show that the statement is at least 

 not universally true. 



