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    THE question of population and production , hasv been brought before the public in a'powerful manner 4 t > y Mr . Malthus , to whose work , *• The Principles of Population and

    Production investigated * by George Purves , LJL .-D . " is an answer . But let it be understood where they agree , and how far the two great authors differ . On Mr . Malthus ' s two

    ratios , Dr . Purves replies , that the ratio of subsistence is purely fanciful , and ill this there can be no ratio of increase . A field may be made , in a few years , to yield as much as it can

    < 3 o at any future time . In a newly occupied country , instead of the increase of subsistence being as 1 , % S , 4 , it may , by extending cultivation , be made to increase in any ratio , as 1 , 10 , 100 , &c . Of the increase of

    subsistence , therefore , there can be ti < x ratio ; but what is fundamental in the two systems , as they oppose each other is this : Mr . Malthus holds that population will always rise to the level

    of subsistence , and Dr . Purves holds , that subsistence will always rise to the level of population , as long as the earth can be made to yield additional subsistence , or until the earth be cultivated to its maximum .

    Ehr . Purves contends , that no individual , or class of individuals , will raise more corn than they can dispose cff to advantage - that demand , therefore , regulates cultivation , that demand is created by population , and that this is the reason why more

    subsistence is not raised , in countries which are very imperfectly cultivated . He does not deny that population may become excessive , but he contends that this can never be the case , as long as more subsistence could be raised , than is , in fact , raised . According to Mr . Malthus , subsistence

    increases population ; according- to Dr . Purves , population increases subsistence , the earth being giv ^ n as the supplier of subsistence by cultivation . Mi \ Malthus holds , that Europe is too populous , though it is not sufficiently cultivated ; Dr . Purves , that it is not sufficiently populous , otherwise it would be better cultivated . Mr .

    Malthus contends , that an increased populatiou diminishes employment and wages ; Dr . Furves , that an increased population increases * employment and images .

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    Were we disposed to throw Dr , Piirves ' s book into propositions ^ for the sake of brevity , which he does tkot do f we should say that he attempts to prove the following :

    1 . That countries , the least peopled , according to their extent and capability , the characters of the inhabitants being similar , are uniformly the poorest , the least employed , and have the fewest accommodations .

    2 . That the wealth and accommodation of the inhabitants of every country , have ever increased with the increase of its people ; and that this will ever be the case , until the earth is cultivated to its maximum .

    8 . That at present : no extensive country exists , which is cultivated up to its maximum or near it . 4 , That in every country where the population has declined , the people , instead of becoming richer and better fed , have' become poorer and worse fed .

    " When Greek meets Greek , thert comes the tug of war "—and we must say that Miv Malthus and Dr . Purves are equally powerful , equally prepared to examine this question to the bottom . And it will be examined .

    Political oeconomy is undoubtedly the last-born of all the sciences , it is not a century old . But as it is the most important , and almost the only important science , ( embracing all the interests of human nature , ) it will now be examined with ten-fold zeal . Mr ,

    Malthus has led the way , and presently the ablest men in the country will enter the lists . Dr , Purves is one of these , for it is evident to us , that Mr . Gray and Dr . Purves are the

    same author ; indeed the volume before us is a mere application of the principles of " Gray ' s Happiness of States 1 ' Who is Mr . Gray ? No other , we believe , than Dr . Purves .

    This book may be safely recommend to every reader of Malthus . Malthus seems to teach that all the vice and misery which is in the world , or ever has been in the world , since the commencement of authentic history , has

    arisen from the principle of population . Dr . Pu' " ves is of a quite opposite opinion ; holding , that vice arid misery most abound in thinl y peopled countries . Holland is the most populous state in Europe . Russia is the reast populous . Dr . Kirves says , Hoi-

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    Gray versus Malthus , on Population . 557

• Citation
  • Monthly Repository (1806-1838) and Unitarian Chronicle (1832-1833), Sept. 2, 1818, page 557, in the Nineteenth-Century Serials Edition (2008; 2018) ncse-os.kdl.kcl.ac.uk/periodicals/mruc/issues/vm2-ncseproduct2480/page/21/