BY E. M, JOHNSTON, F.L.S. 155 



(9.) Difficulties and dangers arising from local increase 

 of population, especially when foreign, thinly, 

 populated lands are forcibly closed to emigrants, 

 as in the experience of the Chinese. 



(10.) The misery caused by war, strife, murder, accident, 

 painful disease, and preventible forms of death. 



(11.) The terrible root difficulty connected with either (1) 

 decrease, (2) stationariness, or (3) rapid increase 

 of population. 



(12.) The absolute limits of space requisite for the recep- 

 tion and sustenance of man. 



The last two form the population difficulty ; in itself the chief 

 cause of human trouble. 



This difficulty cannot be banished by sentimental tirades 

 or bad argument. No tinkering with schemes affecting 

 " Eights of Property," " The Battle of Interests," " Com- 

 petition," or " Community of Goods," can do other than make 

 the dominant difficulty more formidable. As this great 

 difficulty is often denied or misunderstood by those who 

 attribute all the evils to rent and free competition, it may be 

 well to touch upon these important subjects separately. 



Satisfaction of Wants and Theory of Obstacles 



consideeed. 

 Human satisfactions are enjoyed to the fullest extent with 

 the smallest expenditure of time and human energy in regions 

 where the natui'al sources of human satisfactions are vast and 

 rich, and under conditions where the fewest obstacles 

 intervene between actual producers and actual consumers. 

 Extra time and labour, often necessarily spent in mere 

 distribution, are in themselves ohstacles, and directly tend to 

 lessen the quota of satisfactions which might be enjoyed by 

 each individual. All conditions, therefore, which necessitate 

 the larger expenditure of time and labour — (such as extreme 

 distance between the several kinds of producers and 

 manufacturers) as well as conditions which necessitate extra 

 provision against loss or waste of satisfactions produced or 

 being produced (such as dangers from loss by storms, 

 inundations, fire, waste by war, civil strife, robbery, depreda- 

 tions by wild animals, idle and useless dependants, plagues 

 of parasites, disease, etc.), curtail of necessity the amount of 

 necessary satisfaction which otherwise might be enjoyed by 

 each useful human unit. Obstacles, therefore, greatly 

 reduce the amount of human satisfactions so far as each 

 individual is concerned, although in the aggregate this is not 

 so easily comprehended. Lowngss of nominal prices is not a 



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