AUSTRALIAN POPULATION.

Taihape Daily Times, 30 June 1919, Page 7

AUSTRALIAN POPULATION.

I The attainments by the Commonwealth of Australia of a population iof 5,000,000, as celebrated 'l-ecelltly iby the Millions Club of Sydney, the Commonweal‘r."l .~llz::.tician (Mr. G. H. Knibbs), slid that if the §O,)llL=ltion of Australia continues to increase at the present rate, there would be, in the year 2000, only 13,824,000 per- ; sons in the Commonwealth. This stateilnent should arrest the attention of !anyone who cared at all for Austrailia’s destiny_ It was self-evident, ‘said Mr. Knibbs, that a handful of ‘five millions, one-part. in 340 parts lot the worlds‘-’ population could not ‘determine the (-tconomic policy of the Tother 339 parts. However much they Zmight desire in Australia to raise lsocial conditions to a higher ’pl.me jthan had characterised the past, it ;would be national suicide to forget ,that the only safe ‘course was the "path of competency and strenuousncss If the worlds’ population of say 1,700,'OOO,OOO in 1919, increased only one ;per cent. per annum, its population lwould have increased two and a—quariter times when the year, 2000 was reached. Thus it would then be 3,844,000,000. Aust:als'a’s little population of 18,000,000. would still be :1 negligible quantity. Such a fact was very significant and -showed the necessity for re-examining their position among the nations. No one who had seen much of the world’s activities could fail to realise that for 21111 isolated country like Australia. there was great danger_—:l danger of failing‘ to attend to advance elsewhere, :-. danger of too readily resting upon past achievements