I see nothing in your letter which is really opposed to my contention—that under rational social conditions the [pg 161] healthy instincts of men and women will solve the population problem far better than any tinkering interference either by law or by any other means.
And in the meantime the condition of things is not so bad as you suppose.—Yours very truly,
ALFRED R. WALLACE.
TO MR. SYDNEY COCKERELL
Broadstone, Wimborne. January 15, 1906.
Dear Mr. Cockerell,—I have now finished reading Kropotkin's Life with very great interest, especially for the light it throws on the present condition of Russia. It also brings out clearly some very fine aspects of the Russian character, and the horrible despotism to which they are still subject, equivalent to that of the days of the Bastille and the system of Lettres de cachet before the great Revolution in France. It seems to me probable that under happier conditions—perhaps in the not distant future—Russia may become the most advanced instead of the most backward in civilisation—a real leader among nations, not in war and conquest but in social reform.—Yours faithfully,
A.R. WALLACE.