STERILITY OF THE C A FABLES. 151 



we shall here also find that the ranks of those who 

 possess the qualities suited to worldly success will 

 increasingly be outnumbered by those more de- 

 ficient in these qualities. If we tend to the produc- 

 tion of aristocracy of innate worth, there is a danger 

 that these aristocracies will die out, or, at any rate, 

 that the number of capables of whom they are com- 

 prised will constitute an ever-diminishing number of 

 the whole community. 



Artificial Restrictions at Present Most Disastrous. 



It may be truly urged that, at some time or an- 

 other, the present increase of population must come 

 to an end, for as new countries become filled up, the 

 limits of subsistence must at last be reached. The 

 discovery of America, Australia, and the opening up 

 of vast tracts of country in Africa and Asia, has for 

 some hundreds of years permitted certain European 

 nations to increase their birth-rate above their death- 

 rate, and we are so accustomed to such a condition 

 of things that we do not realise that it is exceptional, 

 and that countries, once they have reached a stable 

 condition, only permit of the maintenance of a given 

 number of population. Increased care and know- 

 ledge in agriculture may, as time goes on, gradually 

 allow of a slight increase in the number of the in- 

 habitants, but this will be slight indeed, as compared 

 with the present ratio of increase. 



