58 THE SHADOW OF THE WORLD’S FUTURE 
Mr F. A. Walker, an eminent American statistician and 
economist, that in 1790 there were in the United 
States only about 600,000 white families, few either 
very rich or very poor. Food was abundant, domestic 
tranquillity prevailed, and both social traditions and 
religious beliefs encouraged fecundity. The land was 
but slightly settled, and thus the people occupied what, 
virtually, was an unrestricted area.” Up till the year 
1850, particularly in the north, instead of mechanical 
labour being employed, the farm labourers consisted of 
young men, who worked for a few years in order to 
acquire sufficient money to enable them to marry. 
These conditions enabled the population to increase 
freely. 
Between 1840 and 1850 a change, however, came. 
Artificial “ necessities” were multiplied, domestic 
service was extended, and women were introduced 
into factory labour. Then from 1861 to 1865 came 
the war of secession, which it was estimated caused a 
defect of 1,765,000 persons at the 1870 census-enumera- 
tion, notwithstanding that the immigration from 
Ireland and Germany had become enormous, as the 
following table shows: — 
De }r8z0 1840 1850 1860 1870 1880 1890 1900 1910 
IMMIBTaNts \ 2 599 1713 2593 2314 2812 5246 3844 775 
Despite the very large numbers of immigrants, the 
old rate of increase, of about 3 per cent. per annum, 
was never re-established. There is no doubt that the 
multiplying power of any people can best be exercised 
from within itself, if the thrift and energy, and the 
resolution to live humbly, are there. Probably also 
these last conditions promote, too, immigration of the 
best kind for the increase and quality of the population. 
Incidentally it may be noted that the fall in immigra- 
tion, for the decade ending 1870, is an instance con-