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THE UIPORfANCE OF GENERAL STATISTICAL IDEAS 339
,States, Russia, and Germany has become such as to
lnake them exclusively the great world powers, al-
though France, for economic reasons, notwithstanding
the ,tationariness of its population, may still be classed
amongst them. When one thinks what international
politics were only a hundred years ago-how supreme
France then appearedi how important were Austria,
Italy, Spain, and even countries like Holland, Den-
mark, and Sweden-we fnay surely recognize that with
a comparatively new United States on the stage, and
with powers like Russia and Germany come to the
front, the world is all changed politically as well as
economically, and that new passions and new rivalries
have to be considered.
The figures also suggest that for some time at least
the movements going on must accentuate the change
that has occurred. According to the latest figures, there
is no sign that either in France or any other European
country which has been comparatively stationary, has
any growth of population commenced which will reverse
the change, while a large increase of population goes
on in the leading countries named. This increase, it is
alleged, is going on at a diminishing rate-a point to
be discussed afterwards-but in the next generation or
two there is practically no dnu bt that the United States
will be a larger internationallactor than it is, both ab-
solutely and relatively, and that Russia, Germany, and
the English people of the British Empire will also
grow, though not in such a way, apparently, as to pre-
vent the greater relative growth of the United States,
and notwithstanding perhaps some relative changes of
a minor character amongst themselves.
The foreign nations then with which the British
Empire is likely to be concerned in the near future are
Russia, Germany, and the United States; and other
powers, even France, must more and more occupy a
second place. although France. for the moment, partly
in consequence of its relations with Russia. occupies a
special place.