INDIA'S POPULATION
SIR,—I have only today read the correspondence on India's population. Lord Munster said recently " that the population of India is increasing by five million every year." Your correspondent, Mr. Gilchrist, makes " a rough guess " that " in fifteen years there will be an increase of fifteen million." The Prime Minister said on September 28th in the course of his review of the 'war situation in the House of Commons: " The population of India is exceeding in speed that of any increase throughout the whole world."
Mr. Churchill apparently based his figures on the state of affairs up. to 1931. Taking the last fifty years from 1881-1931, we find that India's population has increased at a very much lower speed than most other countries, including England and Wales. The percentages of increase during the last fifty years were: England and Wales 5o, Holland 9o, Australia 166, New Zealand 172, and Rumania 283. Japan increased by 72 per cent. and that of the U.S.A. by 186 per cent. As against these, the increase in India (excluding Burma) was only 36 per cent., during the same period. (Kuczynski.) Professor Carr-Saunders says: " The white peoples have had a disproportionate share of the world's increase." Of course all this does not mean that India has not a very
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