Written for intelligent laymen, this book presents a balanced discussion of demographic principles and applies them dispassionately to the population problems of the United States and other countries. Interesting is the historical analysis of the factors influencing the numbers and composition of the immigrants who populated the United States, and the correlation of these immigrational patterns with population movements within the United States: legislative restrictions upon immigration from Europe, for example, accelerated the Negro migration to the northern states.
The author emphasizes that underpopulation and overpopulation are relative to the balance between numbers, resources, and technology, and that America is becoming overpopulated: we produce relatively less food, must import more iron and oil, and suffer a lack of water, recreational areas, roads, schools, and hospitals. He develops the thesis that the increased population of the United States has led already to restrictions of the individual's freedom to motor, fish, hunt,