210 THE STRUGGLE FOR EXISTENCE v 



face of the earth. The wealth of Croesus was 

 nothing to that which we have accumulated, and 

 our prosperity has filled the world with envy. 

 But Nemesis did not forget Croesus : has she for- 

 gotten us ? 



I think not. There are now 36,000,000 of 

 people in our islands, and every year considerably 

 more than 300,000 are added to our numbers.^ 

 That is to say, about every hundred seconds, or 

 so, a new claimant to a share in the common stock 

 of maintenance presents him or herself among us. 

 At the present time, the produce of the soil does 

 not suffice to feed half its population. The other 

 moiety has to be supplied with food which must 

 be bought from the people of food-producing 

 countries. That is to say, we have to offer them 

 the things which they want in exchange for the 

 things we want. And the things they want and 

 which we can produce better than they can are 

 mainly manufactures — industrial j^roducts. 



The insolent reproach of the first Napoleon had 

 a very solid foundation. We not only are, but, 

 under penalty of starvation, we are bound to be, a 

 nation of shopkeepers. But other nations also lie 

 under the same necessity of keeping shop, and 

 some of them deal in the same goods as ourselves. 



1 These numbers are only approximately accurate. In 1881, 

 our population amounted to 35,241,482, exceeding the number 

 in 1871 hy 3,396,103. The average annual increase in the 

 decennial period 1871—1881 is therefore 339,610. The number 

 of minutes in a calendar year is 525,600. 



