ABSTRACT
The nineteenth and the late eighteenth centuries were unprecedented in history for the rate of growth of population among the more civilised and advanced peoples of the world. There are, of course, considerable redistributions of population which are both practicable, bring economic advantage, and make for peace. An alleged “pressure of population” is often merely a statesman’s pretext for war or acquisitive policies leading to war. A condition of over-population is, indeed, often hard to detect, and much controversy still goes on among economists both as to the definition and the symptoms of this condition. The argument in favour of unrestricted rights of world-wide migration is superficial and mistaken. In human affairs the policy of laissez faire, in this case laissez entrer, is more often wrong than right. In some parts of Europe there is scope for organised migrations aiming at racial concentrations within existing national boundaries.
