Claudius F. Mayer: From Plato to Pope Paul / Orvostörténeti Közlemények – Supplementum 17. (Budapest, 1989)

379 380 381 382 383 384 385 386 387 388 389 390 391 392 70 Par., (1911), 36. One should be glad to have a new worker who can help producing and increasing the public goods. P. S. DU PONT de NEMOURS (1739-1817) wrote a letter to JEFFERSON, American President, that America had not to fear a population growth for 600 to 1000 years at least.

—Indeed, commenting on the work of MALTHUS, Thomas JEFFERSON wrote in a letter dated 4 Febr. 1824: ".. .Here, the immense extent of uncultivated and fertile lands enables every one who will labor to marry young, and to raise a family to any size. Our food, then may increase geometrically with our labors, and our births, however multiplied, become effective". Cf. Jejfersonian encyclopaedia. 704: q. by COCKS E. (1966/67): Population Studies, 20: 343. OSBORN F. (1934): Dynamics of Population, N. Y. In 1970, an U. S. senator, Gaylord NELSON, expressed his fear that unless something is done about the population explosion, mankind will be faced with an unprecedented catastrophe, overcrowding, famines, pestilence and wars (Cf. Congressional Ree. 27 Febr. 1970: q. by DJERASSI, C: (1970): Science, 169:941.) BOŲŁÐING, K. E. (1964): The meaning of the 20th century, N. Y., made the forecast that in 800 years we will have standing room only, and in 8000 years the whole universe will be solidly packed.

—In the past decades, overpopulation has been also studied experimentally on Norway rats and white mice in the U. S. National Institute of Mental Health at Bethesda and at Johns Hopkins University (Baltimore), but the results have not yet been fully analyzed. John CALHOUN, research psychologist, forecasts that "doomsday" will come by 2027 A. D. E. g., by VOLTAIRE, ROUSSEAU, DIDEROT, MONTESQUIEU, TURGOT, BUFFON, CONDORCET, etc.

—In several concerned German states, laws were passed to restrict marriage to those considered morally and financially fit for rearing a family. Persons recently on welfare, or professional beggars were refused marriage licence. It was also denied to criminals, vagrants, loafers, drunkards. Cf. KŅODEŁ, J. (1966/67): Population Studies, 20: 279. Such measures of natural selection have been long considered beneficial for mankind. "In very deed, pestilence and famine and wars and earthquakes have to be regarded as a remedy for nations, as a means of pruning the luxuriance of the human race." (TERTULLIAN; q. by CARRSAUNDERS, 1. c. footn. 21, 20). The Chinese HUNG (Cf. footn. 402) considered that war is a blessing in disguise. However, as VOLTAIRE said, war does not depopulate in the long run, because females are not destroyed. E. g. Giovanni BOTERO (1540-1617), 1. c., footn. 188. Cf. STANGELAND, 1. c. footn. 80, p. 105. Human population and subsistence (animals, plants) are in an ebb-and-tide-like reciprocal relationship as the rabbit and fox populations in northwest Canada. When the rabbits increase the foxes wax fat and multiply, until they have eaten most of the rabbits. Then the fox population dies off of starvation, and gives the rabbits a chance to multiply once more, and the cycle begins again (THOMPSON-SETON; y.by. WOLFE, 1. c. footn. 368, 44). "The desire to perpetuate seems to be unlimited; the sustenance of men however has limits." ("Le mesure de la subsistence est cell de la population") See MIRABEAU sen. (1756): L'Ami des Hommes, cap. 2; see also his Philosophie rurale (Amst., 1768) where he states that there are no exact limits to the means of subsistence. Malthusians cannot escape this positive check. Cf. SMITH, K. (1952/53); Population Studies, 6: 92., 800. Cf. Francesco PATRICIO (1529-97): De Institutionç Reipublicae, VII. 12,—Also Antoine de MONTCHRÉTIEN (1575-1611): Traicté de l'oeconomie politique (1615), who looked upon foreigners as parasites

; he opposed foreign trade. Suggested by many, e.g., MACCHIAVELLI

, MONTAIGNE (1580) MIRABEAU, HELVETIUS (1772), T. HOBBES etc.

—In Angola, overpopulation was solved by selling the "superabundance of men caused by polygamy" to toil in America; cf. PUFENDORF, I.e., footn. 6,875. Cf. FALCON, P. (1928); L'infanticido in Cina. Arch, antrop. crim., Torino, 28:.—In Japan, and India, infanticide was practiced in all regions and by all social strata. Cf. PETERSEN, I.e., footn. 372, 355. Chevalier de JACOURT (1704-1779), in the Encyclopedic, under the term "Faųsse Couche" (VI; 453) mentions many means for the checking of population growth, also prevention of