In India, public attention has lately been called to the population question by a prosecution instituted by the police authorities against Messrs. Taraporewalla & Sons, of Bombay, for selling copies of a pamphlet entitled True Morality; or, the Theory and Practice of New-Malthusianism, by Mr. J. R. Holmes. The Chief Presidency Magistrate convicted the defendants and imposed a fine of 201 rupees (about £12. 10s.). The conviction was not permitted to pass without public protest. The editor of a Bombay journal wrote: "The battle has been fought and won in the West, and the subject is more or less directly treated in the leading reviews, and books and pamphlets are openly sold in England. Our duty here is clear enough. Are the Freethinkers in India, whether New-Malthusians or not, to quietly stand by and see the free discussion of this question denied the public? We are perfectly aware that although there are many who will aid in this work, there are few--alas! how few!--who will openly bear the brunt of the fray. However, there is at least one who will do it. But will the others stand round and give whatever help they can, even if silently?" The standard of comfort amongst the teeming native population of India is deplorably low, the average income per head in the north-west provinces not exceeding 22 1/2 rupees (say £1. 8s. 6d.) per year. And yet, forsooth, those who seek to lift the poor ryots from their abysmal poverty and misery are confronted with the smug conventionalities of Western Europe, and punished as distributors of "obscene" literature! America has no Malthusian organisation, but there are many sympathisers with the movement in various parts of the country. Dr. E. B. Foote, jr., of New York, is a most active and earnest advocate of Malthusian views, and has written several popular works on the subject. The customs and postal prohibitions are very stringent as to the admission and transmission of Malthusian literature and appliances. Some years ago the late Mr. D. M. Bennett underwent a term of imprisonment at Auburn for sending through the post a pamphlet by Mr. Heywood on the marriage question. Just after his arrest Mr. Bennett stated: "My only object in selling this pamphlet is to vindicate the liberty of thought, of the press, and of the mails. I have always announced that I did not approve of it; but as long as Mr. Heywood does, I declare that he has a right to mail it as part of his right to publish it, and as a necessary part of the freedom of the press. If this means that I am to go to prison, to prison let it be." From this necessarily slight and incomplete sketch of the position of the movement abroad it will be seen that the theory of Malthus is gradually leavening the thought and helping to shape the destinies of the civilised world. CHAPTER IV. A JUDICIAL VINDICATION OF NEW-MALTHUSIANISM.