Disquisition by Scripps, E.W., Another view of the population situation, December 23, 1920

              Ohio University Libraries, E.W. Scripps Papers, MSS 117, Series 4, http://bit.ly/scripps_mss117
B08
12-21-20
- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
~er a n.mher of years I have been amusing ~elf with speottlations
concerning popula t ion gr'evltll..
lia:tvally enough I have fimd my attention almost exel'lllSively on
~t!_ statistios and records of lIurope and A..-meriea..
Only during the pa.s:t few years have I made soa exe8sions into
Asiatio populations. 11.1' reason for doing this has been my personal knowledge
of Japanese immigrants and recent events with regard to Japan. I have oonceived
it was i.l:Isvita1>le \Bat the Asla.ties and :F;lU"ope.aus would SO~ll enough be fighting
for the Pacific and the Asia.tios ter the pGssesslo11 of western .A1:nerioa and the
Amerioans for tne control of the Asiatio seacoast.
I have made many calculations with regard to future growth Of the
white or European populations.
!he el14l:.'mOUS growth of the population of the United States during the
Y~;i
past century has letJd me to worry and specula.te as to the future growth of the
population of this country.
I ~e e~iled a number of tables as to the possible ratio of growth
of population and the probable growth of papulation and the eertain growth.
Doring the past oentvy the population et 'tae United States~Jiles",~ease4. ten fold. It would only require tha..t the present population of the United
States should continue to increase for the next century at the same rate that
it has for the past century in order that we should have a population of a
'billion people, that 1s to say a population eqUl to abou.t two-thirds of the
present population of tne whole earth.
l>tlr1ng the past century the population of :lurope has inorea.se4 ah<tll.t
three fo14. It would then only require another century for the peoples lIt.eW
in Europe to go on increasing at the rate they have been dur1:ng th.e~t c~~~