THE STRUGGLE FOR EXISTENCE 91 



solute self-negation, and having nothing but moral per- 

 fection to strive after, peace will truly reign, not merely 

 among nations, but among men, and the struggle for 

 existence will be at an end. 



Whether human nature is competent, under any cir- 

 cumstances, to reach, or even seriously advance towards, 

 this ideal condition, is a question which need not be dis- 

 cussed. It will be admitted that mankind has not yet 

 reached this stage by a very long way, and my business is 

 with the present. And that which I wish to point out is 

 that, so long as the natural man increases and multi- 

 plies without restraint, so long will peace and industry 

 not only permit, but they will necessitate, a struggle for 

 existence as sharp as any that ever went on under the 

 regime of war. If Istar is to reign on the one hand, 

 she will demand her human sacrifices on the other. 



Let us look at home. For seventy years peace and 

 industry have had their way among us with less inter- 

 ruption and under more favourable conditions than in 

 any other country on the face of the earth. The wealth 

 of Croesus was nothing to that which we have accumu- 

 lated, and our prosperity has filled the world with envy. 

 But Nemesis did not forget Croesus: has she forgotten 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. 15 That is to say, 

 about every hundred seconds, or so, a new claimant to 

 a share in the common stock or maintenance presents 

 him or herself among us. At the present time, the prod- 

 uce of the soil does not suffice to feed half its popula- 

 tion. The other moiety has to be supplied with food 



15 These numbers are only approximately accurate. In 1881, 

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

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

 period 1871-1881 is therefore 339,6io. The number of minutes in 

 a calendar year is 525,600. [T. H. H.] 



