TOWARD AN AMERICAN POPULATION POLICY.

This article presents a brief information on the symposium titled Population and the American Future, the Report of the Commission on Population and the American Future, held in Washington D.C. This symposium must be viewed as a major landmark in the social history of the United States, for in its conclusion that no substantial benefits would result from continued growth of the nation's population, and people, at last have a formal repudiation of the outdated historical growth ethic that "more is better." The Report is the product of two years work, nearly two million dollars, unlimited access to official government statistics, and the combined professional skills of a Commission of 24, a staff of 40, and several dozen special consultants. Sociologists and demographers are of course well represented both on the staff and among the list of consultants. From Charles Westoff, as Executive Director, the sociological input includes such names as Bernard Berelson, Otis Duncan, Norman Ryder, and Irene Tacuber. In addition, the differing and controversial demographic viewpoints expressed in the literature over the past few years are well represented, in the Report.