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1911]
16
(within limits) the more full of energy and vitality it is. A young population
like a young man is full of aspirations and "go"; whereas an old population,
like an old man, is usually languid and indifferent. It takes no interest in
affairs, and can only be induced with difficulty, often under pressure, to come
forward to vote, even when matters of moment are to be determined by the
results of an election. In this connection one cannot help wondering if this
is the explanation of the apathy of the voters at the last municipal election
here, when only 51.7 per cent. of the electors cast their votes. The young
are ever seeking change, eager to advance, and to demand their "rights."
This accounts for many labour strikes, and the recent miners' strike was no
exception; for every one, who has had a close and intimate knowledge of them,
is well aware that the matured man with a family and the old man are slow
to enter on them, and when begun are anxious to terminate them. The young
are ever urging on the old. It is the way of the world. It is the young nations
who are the go-ahead nations. We see it is so with Germany, with the United
States, with Canada, and with other British Dominions beyond the Seas. So
it was in ancient times with Greece and with Rome; and in later days with
Spain. No doubt it ever will be so. This is, however, a digression, although an
interesting one.
The figures have also a bearing on the migration of the population towards
the outward suburbs, for they incontestably prove that it is the young men,
with their wives and children, who go farther afield to live; while the
older men and women are content to remain in Islington, where they were
probably brought up, within easy reach of their businesses. It is only what
one might reasonably expect. The old are always more satisfied with their
surroundings than the young, who are ever anxious for something new. Nor
is this feeling confined to the male sex, for it is common to both sexes. And
so we find that it is the young who emigrate, who people the new lands that
have been opened up, and who have borne the British flag to the ends of the
earth. The movement outwards from Islington is only in microcosm what has
happened throughout the Kingdom, in England, Scotland, and Ireland, especially
in the last-named country, whose decrease in population has been almost solely
caused by the emigration of its young men and women.
Let us now examine the census returns to discover in what districts the
reduction of the population has occurred: