The Wanganui Chronicle. "Nulla Dies Sine Linea" TUESDAY, JANUARY 11, 1921. WHITE AND COLOURED RACES.

Wanganui Chronicle, Volume LXXVI, Issue 18073, 11 January 1921, Page 4

The Wanganui Chronicle. "Nulla Dies Sine Linea" TUESDAY, JANUARY 11, 1921. WHITE AND COLOURED RACES.

The Japanese census report for the year 1919, which was recently published in Tokio, contains some interesting facts in view of the widespread western fear that the ascendancy of the white races are threatened by "the rising tide of colour.” Last year there was an increase in the number of deaths in Japan of 298,000 over that of the I previous year; while the decrease in ' tlie number of births for 1919 was 1 18,000 over that of 1918. There] was a’lso a considerable decrease in ' the number of Japanese marriages. • This falling off in the fecundity of, a vigorous Oriental race may be more apparent than real, being possibly a passing phase due to unusual virulence of epidemics. But it is at least noteworthy that while in Japan in 1919’births decreased and deaths increased in comparison with the previous year, the Registrar-Gen-eral’s statistics for England and Wales show that in those countries during the first quarter of the present year the death-rate decreased and the birth-rate increased. In fact, the British birth-rate has recently risen by leaps and bounds. In the closing quarter of 1919, the British birth-rate was the lowest on reord, being 17.7 per 1000 inhabitants. But in the first quarter of 1920 it leaped to the highest percentage recorded since civil registration was established, namely, 29 per 1000 of the population. It would be immature to conclude from these comparative figures that white races were holding their own with coloured races in the matter of natural increase. A broader survey must be taken before any assurance could be reasonably entertained. A more comprehensive view of the whole position is given in a volume just compiled by Lothorp Stoddard, in whose opinion the white world stands to-day at the crossroads of life and death. Speaking by continents, Europe, North America to the Rio Grande, the southern portion of South America, the Siberian part of Asia, and Australasia constitute the real white world. This means that while the whites occupy 22,000,000 square miles, the coloured races hold 31,000,000 square miles. But the disproportion is still more marked when we turn to tables of population. The total number of human beings alive to-day is about 1,700,000,000. Of these 550,000,000 are white, 1.150,000,000 coloured. In this world-survey it is also found that the coloured races are increasing much faster than the white. Whites tend to double their numbers in 80 years, yellows and browns in 60 years, and blacks in 40 years.