The rapid increase of population in Germany, due, it is
believed, to the increase of manufactures, is becoming of political importance. According to the corrected return of the Census taken on December 2nd, 1895, the Empire now contains 52,244,503 inhabitants, while France only contains 38,000,000. The Germans, moreover, add at least 5,000,000 to their number every ten years, while the French may be said not to increase at all. As both countries train every -available man, the German Army must always be greater than the French, and in another generation will be greater by more than a third. Again, it is doubtful whether Germany, which is naturally a far poorer country than France, can long sustain its population, which must, therefore, either emigrate in increasing numbers or burst out in some direction into lands less overf all. It is believed to be a clear perception of these facts which makes some ruling men in Germany so eager for a dependency into which Germans might swarm. They would not swarm even if they got one. The idea' of the German emigrant is to escape officialdom, not to replace himself under it in a country beyond seas.
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