BY R. M. JOHNSTON, F.L.S. 189 



■of 6'86 days' labour, commands as much power in purchasing 



one quarter of wheat as it would take the same class 



16-30 days in the period 1541-1582 



40-28 „ „ „ 1583-1642 



31-09 „ „ „ 1643-1702 



what possibly could be more conclusive ? 



Especially favoured is the wage-earner of Australasia who 

 can command the same power by the expenditure of 4'34 

 days' labour; whereas it would cost the same class in 1583-1642 

 the fruits of 40-28 days, i.e., nearly ten times more. Surely 

 this alone should dispose of all reckless statements having a 

 contrary tendency in measuring comparative advantages with 

 the present time. The lowering of the death rate, and the 

 consequent more rapid increase of population ; the relative 

 decrease in the proportion of paupers, especially the able- 

 bodied ; the decrease in serious crimes, all tell the same tale 

 of unparalleled progress. 



The Present Condition of the Masses in England and 

 Wales as Compared with Their Condition During 

 THE 200 Tears Ending in the Year 1800. 



If still we must admit that the present condition of England 

 and Wales is such that great misery oppresses many, it must 

 also be borne in mind that her present death rate, 19-3 per 

 1,000, is the lowest upon the records ; and her natural rate of 

 increase, although far below that of the colonies, shows an 

 increase of 1-4 per cent, per year. 



No statistics directly bearing upon the misery and death 

 rate of the 200 years ending 1700 are available, but there is 

 good evidence to show that the population in the year 1500 

 numbered about 2,300,000. In the year 1700, or 200 years 

 later, it only numbered 5,475,000, i.e., an increase of 3,175,000 

 in 200 years, equivalent to an increase of one per 1,000 per 

 year. There is every reason to believe that the birth rate was 

 at least as high as in recent years ; and if this be correct, it 

 follows that the death rate must have averaged 34-3 per 1,000, 

 instead of 19-3 per 1,000, as in recent years. 



Now, what does this mean. Why, that formerly the struggle 

 for means of existence was so terrible that 15 deaths per 

 1,000 persons took place beyond the number now occurring. 

 This lamentable state of things is better realised when we 

 see that it represents the destruction of the possibility of 

 2,364,800 lives in the 200 years referred to, above the average 

 rate now occurring. 



Surely this evidence should dispel all doubt respecting the 

 comparative state of misery, past and present. 



Nor is this all. Mr. Giffen (1) has shown by unmistakable 

 reference to facts that in the admitted great increase of 



