1. When there are too many alligators (or whatever) and they start looking for food in neighborhoods rather than the wild, the authorities allow hunters to dramatically reduce the population in order to maintain a healthy balance between their needs and human needs.

2. If I understand Marxist thinking correctly, he felt that the capitalist system was flawed because not everyone in the population was employed. He called those unemployed people “surplus population”, ie, people who were not cared for under the system.

3. Virtually all countries experience economic hardship at times; but England’s was publicized by Charles Dickens, the renowned British writer. In his story “A Christmas Carol”, Dickens speaks of “surplus population”:

Some gentlemen came to Scrooge asking for a contribution because “it is more than usually desirable that we should make some slight provision for the Poor and destitute, who suffer greatly at the present time. Many thousands are in want of common necessaries; hundreds of thousands are in want of common comforts, sir.”

Scrooge replied that they should be in the prisons or workhouses, where their needs would surely be met.

The gentlemen replied that “Many can’t go there; and many would rather die.”

Scrooge’s reply: “If they would rather die, they had better do it, and decrease the surplus population.”

What he meant was similar to Marx’s meaning, that this group of the population was unemployed and therefore their needs were not being met; but he also speaks as though these people are no different than game animals, whose population should be reduced to protect certain interests.

Hope that helps! Best wishes!