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Writing: The Causes of Emigration

The Causes of Emigration, § 9

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§ 9

It is now time to consider the main issue more closely. From what has been adduced it has thus been proven that oppression alone is and remains the true cause of all emigration. Dear reader, who have patiently followed me to other countries, do not now grow tired before we see how things stand at home.

We have before us the writings of learned men who have sought to persuade usthat Sweden is in a state of perfect prosperity, while others of equal renown would lead us to believe the opposite. But we must not rely on authorities, for evidence alone must now decide the matter.

That complaints and dissatisfaction are voiced in every social gathering none of us would deny. Complaints are always based on some supposed constraint: whether the constraint is real or imaginary, it inevitably causes emigration. If it is the latter, the nation must be informed, so that the people will be aware of their well-being, though experience soon tends to correct such perceptions; but should the former be the case, the wounds should be uncovered and examined by caring and honest individuals, so that the remedies may be prepared and adapted to the causes and symptoms of the disease.

That it is by no means mere dreams that make our nation so unhappy about its fatherland but real disadvantages that are plain to everyone, we should be able to conclude with complete certainty from what follows.

Wherever we turn our attention the constraints are apparent to us. We see that some disadvantages affect a larger or smaller portion of the country’s inhabitants, while others are more general.

The members of a nation are either producers or consumers. Each of these face their own difficulties. The former constitute its real strength; the latter enable that to be utilized in a country. There are many economic pursuits and each one of them has its own constraints, just as every plant on earth has its specific worm and pest. Among the economic pursuits agriculture is the principal one, the foremost and the most crucial, and although nature has by no means left us badly off in that respect, it does labour under almost innumerable difficulties, so that the reason why it has not developed further among us cannot seem strange to a thoughtful person – rather, that person will wonder how it has been able to manage as well as it has under such severe and numerous constraints.

Its difficulties must relate either to the soil, its products or its cultivators.

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