Page:The Case for Capitalism (1920).djvu/122

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almost say miraculous. An obvious test is that of population. Dr. Shadwell, in an article on the History of Industrialism in the Encyclopædia of Industrialism, shows that while in the last century before private Capitalism became powerful—between 1651 and 1751—the population of Great Britain rose from 6,378,000 to 7,392,000, an increase of 1,014,000, in the next century—1751 to 1851—it rose to 21,185,000, an increase of 13,793,000, and in the next so years—1851 to 1911—it rose by 19,350,000 to 40,535,000. In commenting on the difference between the increase in the two centuries—1651 to 1751, and 1751 to 1851—Dr. Shadwell observes (page 304) that "the difference is not, of course, wholly due to the industrial factor; but the two go together, and the vast increase of life during the second century negatives the common assumption that Industrialism produced a state of unprecedented and increasing misery. This is emphasized by the fact that the rate of increase was highest during the first decades of the nineteenth century, when the change was proceeding at its maximum intensity. The rates of increase in England were: 1801–11, 14.50 per cent.; 1811–21, 1805 per cent.; 1821–31, 16.24 per cent.