The morning star and Catholic messenger., 1876-12-03
TIE ALLEGED DEPOPULAEI0N
| FRANCE.
n. z. Sun.

| of an alarming tendency TO Bnr1nkago III tno
French population. The letter of a we'll
Known economist NJ. Leonce de Lsvergne,
pointed out with emphatic esTneetness
| that the excess of births over deaths In
| France has diminished during the iast few
| wears. In the vigorous encounter bet"een
croakeTs and optImists, which naturally en-
sued, many curions explanations have been
mt forward, aud come interesting facts
! have been brought out,
1t ia certain that the population OF Fra6ce
grows very slowly and that lts density
! Is relatively insousiderable. WhiIe bel
! GUM, for example, contains one hupdFso
! and sixty one inhaoitants To the sqoare
/ kilomette, Great Britain ard ireland nine
! ty-one and even Germany seventy SIX, the
| French territory, although comParatlVeiy
| fertile, Is able TO chow but sixty e eht. ii
we torn To the period in which population
has been found To double, We nnd hassIa
! gainIrg a hundred per cent. IN hity years,
Eueland in ffty -four years, and Prussia ID
sIxty-swo yesrs, Hhlse France fails lar oe
b ind other European conntrles, re9oirisS
almost two centuries fer the same expan-
sion. These general conclusions seem 20
be to!erably we'll settled, but the special
apprehens sions of NJ. de LsveTgne are hardly
i1stltled by the data before him. namely,
that the exeess of blrthe over deaths In 1878
Disclosed falling of of s6oot fortv- one
per cent. as compared with she piecsoing ~
year. But the same thing bad occurred
before in 1855 and again 70 lSo7, yet the
normal proportion was presently re estab'
lished. The census which is about to De
en- may aid Us TO determine what sigBihc-
aoee If any. should De attached to the short
comi pg of 1873. Mean " bile it ia obvious that
the average of decennal or at least
ouinauenn,al periods" affords the only
sound basis for calculation. 1t Is scarcely
worth while, therefore. TO consider serious
" the sinister predictions which have been
founded on such slight evidence, bet there
- Ano III hsr
call for some explanation.
Two or three specific reasons may De
given for the bsckWardness of France u re
spect of growth of population. 1t IL Oh
served that the meodlcant class, Whlct ls
numerous in Lower Brittany, and also sSe
tisnermeu along the coasts, are especially
prolific, apparently because children IN
these cases are usefai auxlliarles OF theIr
parents, scd, when grown, Eud emp.cy
ment witanus q fl entity in the same Vaea-
tIors. 81 long, too, as the freuco peasant
remains E.eCeiy IL farm lahorer. "Ithoutia
terest IL tie soll, lie appears u pursue
similar course, bat from the moment lie
becomes 8 land Owner we see toe expansion
of Lis family arrested. 1t - evident that
numerous children wouls check, at least fc"'
q certain time, the farther extension OF his
property, and that moreover, upon his
death, the holding toiltaily acquired,
would be frIttered away under a law CON
pelling its division among sll his heirs.
Under these circumstances the tbrlftlness
aud foresight which are conspicuous in the
French peasant, and constitute, In fact, his
strength, are naturally enlisted ON the side
of self lf-restraint.
With regard to the artisans of towns,
who form in France a very Intelligent claes,
low wages and the burden entaiied by the
expenses of education and apprenticeship
probably operate in a general way TO re-
strict the number of offspring. But SPECIAL
motives seem to be wanting in this instance.
The Law governing Inheritance Goes not
touch the artisan, because be has nothing
20 beaueAtb. and, moreover, he ls measure
piy certain of securing TO bis children
OPPORTUNITIES not much inferior to his own.
! Accrrdl pgly, we hod that the Departments
: Of tie North aud of the SelDe, which have
/ the largest u:au I featuring population. are
| precisely those ~ here the excess ut births
/ over deaths IL most olS.deTaaie. a., the
! above facts. T.kru together, furnish st M
, crourG ior tte axiom which As oeea form
/ u!ltyl by FCeaCh economists. tHAI gwen
pair will beet more children IN proportion
/ as tie LATER may attain more easily 20 tie
posItsUu nt ter parents.
TIE curreCtEeEt OF rf.s principle, as @p
piled to FrAuCe, is ui"Te decIsively estao-
i!shed by the state O.: tlings remarked III
the middle class, % go called 60uTgeoisie
To parents beiurg'ug to thus category each
additional child Is an onerous incun hTance'
For the mae offspring of people In easy
deemed suitable, the study OF LAIN and
Greek, pursued not with the aim of acquir'
e ing those languages, but of winning the
e degree of Bachelor of Arts, which is spe
e cies of maudarin's certificate. This cours'
Il of training exacts eight years and larg'
T sacrifice Of money. 1t is estimated tha
o the preparation OF a doctor costs go wv
+ and that of an advocate hardly less. Ii
Paris neither one nor the other can hope t
g gain o living before the age of forty
6 Was but lately that an eminent member c
II the French bar told one of his youu
colleagues that a man was demented VII
entered his profession without persons
Income of 81 900 year.
20 Constrained to waste ten or fifteen yesl
a lin a precarious position, the young men I
j. the mode class count upou marriage
- render themselves more comfortable. b
il ia plain that uaTTisge will only futile
"a that end upon condition thst the family
~ uut too numerous. Neither is it easy