--Certain bankers have adopted the
practice of taking an instantaneous photograph of every one
presenting cheques for large amounts.--Safes, bolts, and alarm-
bells, are a great security against thieves. --As a
preventive of murder in railway carriages, it has been found that
alarm signals and methods of securing the carriage-doors from the
inside, are more effectual than penal codes.
[15] No doubt there may be a difference of opinion on this subject
in France, where public opinion is too much exercised over the
problem of depopulation. I agree with M. Varigny (``La Theorie
du Nombre,'' Revue des Deux Mondes, Dec. 15, 1890) that the
population of a country is not the sole, or even the principal
consideration. Apart from physical characteristics (race),
intellectual and moral qualities, and the productiveness of the
soil on which M. Varigny dwells, we must take into account, as it
seems to me, the unquestionable law by virtue of which the
struggle for existence, amongst individuals as amongst nations,
becomes gradually less vehement and direct. War, which is an
everyday matter with savages, grows constantly more rare and
difficult. The varying social and international conscience of
civilised humanity is not to be neglected, and it must be reckoned
with as a positive factor in considering the destiny of nations.
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