The Stourbridge Observer, Cradley Heath, Halesowen & District Chronicle.
Stourbridge, West Midlands, England, 1879-03-22 00:00:00

WEEKLY REVIEW OF THE CORN
• TILADE.

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Bell's Weekly Messenger says :—" There has been a
fair consumptive business passing in the wheat trade
during the past week, with scarcely any variation in
prices. The deliveries of home-grown produce have
been upon a very moderate scale, but the importations
from abroad have somewhat increased. The demand
has been chiefly for good dry produce, the supply of
which is somewhat restricted, and the value of this'
description has been well supported. For medium and
Inferior qualities the trade has been quiet, and towards
the close of the week showed a tendency to weakness,
but no material or quotable change took place in
prices. In fact, as the week approached its termination
the tone was generally less firm, owing to the milder
weather and to the prospect of more liberal supplies
from abroad. We may now expect that the resump-
tion of the navigation of the Baltic and other frozen
ports will take place, and that every facility for trade
will be afforded. The American supply afloat has
already increased, it being estimated at 1,404,000
quarters, against 1,140,000 quarters last year ; and a
feature of some importance is that the United States
markets have lost the buoyancy which was recently
peculiar to them. Buyers are evidently awaiting the
arrival of larger supplies from the farmers, now that
the canal navigation will soon be re-opened. Their
purchases are therefore restricted, and prices ruled de-
cided in their favour."

ON NATALITY IN FRANCE AND
GERMANY.
In.a recent interesting paper on this subject, M.
Bertfflon comments on the fact that all the effort of
the French agricultural population, the thrifty
bourgeoisie, is applied to forming and amusing
capital. Germany, on the other hand, seems to have
more aptitude for producing men, a race of warriors
" apt to seize with strong hand capital already
formed." The German Empire counts at present
more than 40 million inhabitants, and has a general
natality of 40 per annum and per 1,000 giving annually
1,600,000 live births. But if she were limited to the
French small natality al 26 instead of 40, she would count
only 1,040,000 live births annually. Thus, compared with
France, Germany rears an annual excess of 560,000
children over what French natality.would give, and
this excess produces annually, according to tables of
mortality, about 343,500 adults of 20 years of age.
But, on the other hand, if we take as base what a man
costs to bring up, it appears from various calculations
that we must estimate at not less than 4,000 f. the
value of an adult of 20 years of age. Then 4,0001. +
343,500 = 1,316,000,0001, This is the annual sum
which the excess of German natality over the French
costs. A like calculation made for France shows that
she would have to expend annually 1,240,000,0001: to
bring up the 500,000 infants that are wanting to equal
the German natality, vhich would become 310,000
young people of 20 years of age. Thus France capi-
talizes a milliard and a quarter to the detriment of its
posterity, and Germany pays more than a milliard
and a third for its own multiplication.