Population and Unemployment
Human Migration and the Future. By J. W. Gregory, F.R.S. (Seeley, Service. 12s. 6d.) OVER-POPULATION is the cause of unemployment, in Professor Gregory's view. Migration, he believes, is the cure. The
present book is a very sincere and painstaking attempt to survey the difficulties of large-scale migration and to suggest solutions before international friction can rise. His sugges- tions are tentative ; and he does not in any way gloss over the difficulties, which are chiefly those of the countries of immigration. First, they are economic, in that immigrants upset the labour market. Next the immigrants, when they have settled down, do not absorb the culture and outlook of their adopted country : on the contrary, they make their own settlements and—especially the Italians—cultivate patriotic sentiments for their native land. Thirdly, there is the difficulty of miscegenation. Professor Gregory has quoted the now best supported view that the mixture of closely allied races is good, but that cross-breeding between widely separated races produces unfortunate results. He Writes with sympathy and judgment ; and, though not an American, his presentation of the problems of that country is particularly useful. In matters of fact the book has the ring of authority, and is a perfect storehouse of useful statistics. But it is vitiated by the tacit, unquestioned assumption upon which it rests—that over-population is the cause of unemployment. No evidence is produced to support this view.
Population problems, qualitative and quantitative, are among the biggest of our time : but they do not appear to be the cause of unemployment. Migration, therefore, is not a solution ; while it is a cause, as Professor Gregory so candidly admits, of a host of fresh difficulties. But once the temporary obstacles have been overcome, may it not in the long run relieve on the one hand over-population, and on the other under-population ? Professor Gregory thinks so, and presents an impressive array of figures. While fully accepting them, we may perhaps question his interpretations. One thing migration certainly can do, and that is to alter the racial qualities of a nation.
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