A Stable Population
The article on " The Population Trap " in Monday's Times should be read and pondered by everyone concerned with administration. For it points out that the popu- lation of Great Britain will reach a maximum before 1940 and will then tend to decline. As a result of the high birth-rate after the War and the steady fall in the rate since then, the child population may decrease by 2,000;000 in the next ten years. The schools will he left with two million vacant places, while the labour market will have a sudden influx to complicate the unemployment problem. It is stated that Manchester has abandoned its Haweswater scheme while half- finished, because it now finds that Thirlmere will suffice for a population that is unlikely to expand at the old rate. Many local authorities who are planning for the future on the assumption that they must provide for ever-increasing numbers of people would do well to reconsider the position, as regards housing, schools,
roads and so forth. * * * *
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