PROGRESS OF THE NATIONS.

Taranaki Daily News, Volume XLVIII, Issue 81918, 7 February 1907, Page 4

PROGRESS OF THE NATIONS.

!i Hi' iiouk s!:ilisti<'s Uiv not wry buL ;• -iiinin.ll7 liii'i lins I liy i'i'' British (i'<i\. :i\iiil:'. ii uviv. .1 bird's ,'V.' \i.'W 111' I lII' Sliriivl lit' lilt' civili.-'.'il uui'M is \\'i'!l Wiirii.;. irf ]n'rlisa! itmi consiurra iiou. 1 r ; ■ 1 .-tatisliiv throw much mi tin' licnirfmiinjr xlrtlßsir in' tin' nation-, for prei 1 iniiiciH'O, and, iuttir alia, Ilriiish jm'o]do much cause for rcllccli ui, iiiasliiucli as i! is ;icarly proved with the remorse os ol pln'n iiL;u:cs ihat our couiiiiy i> 1 >riiiLf left li.'iuiid in the r.ii'c. The iir-t "and ui".-i strikiap fact recorded is that in ti:.' last Lcn years tlicre has been a tula, increase in I lie population 1 i tliti principal civilised countries of the TO'd ot over sixty-Hircc million persons. T.'ie total mmiber lias risen from .'.nii,l)Uo,l>UU i,i 1 Sii:> to 57i>,0(l I,out) ycir. litisli\' lar and away the leader of [lie nations 111 point of pnpul;'. 1 ion. her I'ieiip'e! l-lt.^OO.O't 1 - 11.11 incieaA' oi M.iMlil.iinn in tin- il-v:nic. awl (he rnited Slates.that tiie ri -f riva,rv exists. In roil ml number. tiie ponillaiiou ot the I'nil ill States is S3iiiin itttii, ' i t ii'iiii:! 11 v tIO.OHO.Otri. and 01 the' Cnil-d Kingdom 43.0011.0.')). This eoiiipiirison. however, is tiiilavin'iiblc to Britain. The stieiiitlli id' W'e.-.t.'rn Powers rests not ill tileir t'til 1111111liei'.; Inu iti tti-Hl- while |k-ii i!iilimi., Oaiitl therefore the eo.or.d population of 1 be i'niled Slates and adding the while population of the I'vi.isb colonies we ,!?et the result: United States 72.000.0,110, l.lerniany (10,1)00.000 anil the ilritish Kmpire 5".,0t)0,0i)0. These li»ures represeiu t!ie racial refOiirces "of the three countries at the pr ej-enl moment. To go Imck to IS7O-1. a period wilain the life ol many who still count 'themselves voting men and women, it will be found thai the white population of the ISrilisli Kni'i(ire 'was then 3i .(.100,000, tl,,' of iternianv iii'i-000.000 and that of' tiie I'nited States X(.000,00t). i'.rtl;l in has thus within the interim removed from lirst to third position. Tbcss broad facts, remarks an Knglish conteuipornry, which lias cubed them from the lii'ie BouUs. caiun't be. refuted, "and w; ask patriotic Knglishmen what they inii'inl to do about tlieiuV JJo lliey intend lo sit down in siiame and despair to watch the I'.mpirc's total defeat iu the race, or arc lliev determined to redress the 111enualitv bv all means in their powsr? We have 110 doubt what the people will say. Wc must I- 'Vf pared to develop our resource., -intu we overtake (leruiany and then the United States. The' is immense, but the resources of tiie. Ltupire are boundless; and if wc '0 take UJ) the challenge of our foremost competitors upon tlie.se lilies, within halt' a century one or other of file Vowel's —by means of the vast na 1 income which will accrue through a. population twice as great as our own —will te able to construct a imvy which will end for ever our s.t;»v»»<7 of the sea*." Britishers 111 all p of :he world can do their part in u"liolding national power, by cncoiu.i.-' nig settlement, by the promotion of induttry. by eradication of social evils, by Hie elevation of the birth rate, by endeavoring to improve Hie pubiic health, and 111 no small degree by giving preference at every possible opportunity t' lo products of .British labor.