Wheeling register. [volume] (Wheeling, W. Va.) 1878-1935, 1896-07-28
STARTLING FACTS
That Menace the American Race
The Alarming Decrease in the
BTth-Rate of the United States
Threatens Our Future National
SUPREMACY.

Threatens Our Future National
Supremacy.
France, by means Of most eXIfaor-
binary law, hopes to increase the num-
Der of its babies. The Government at
Paris has at least aroused itself TO the
menace to the nations greatness found
in the fact tina, its birth rate is dimin-
ishing A declining birth rate has pre-
coded the fall of every civilization which
ba. ever fallen. It heralded the decline
of Rome. il presaged the passing OF an
cient Greece. In modern France the
svmpton Of decay is unmistakable. The
"gayest nation" is not alone N TINS
Our own United States, despite its ire
mendous vitality, is also, year by year.
producing fewer babies in proportion TO
its population. Further along in this
art.clslNiu be found some startling hs-
ures on this subject.
Years ago France realized the wisdom
Of the saying Many little mouths IN
the cottage mean many big victories on
the battlefield" and offered a Tifing
money prize to parents who should rear
large families. Prizes were also offer
ed 10 the mothers to whom should be
given three children at one birth. These
prizes. petty and Of interest only to the
very poorest. have been productive Of
more amusement than enthusiasm.
They have been of no Importance what
ever 10 the upper or to the middle class
tho bourgeoisie on which the power Of
France depenGs-and when, each year,
tbev have been awarded they have been
the butt Of many jokes. Only those peo-
ME who are entirely without price nave
The courage to claim them. ana even
with those they could scarcely accom-
plish The object Of which they were IN
tended because they were too small 10
materially assist in rearing the large
families which they were expected 70 en-
courage. .,....
The plan was originated by society
called the Alliance Rationale pour lie
Relevement de Ia Population Francalse
mar lEgalite des families devant les I'M
pots." This society has decided II .eIIS
the French lawmakers, that the Jan
GERS in the decrease OF the birth rate
are many. In the first place decreas-
cd birth rate means that France VIII
continually have fewer young men 10
work on her farms and in her factories,
10 fight in her armies 20 man her shlpS'
m keen the wheels Of commerce moving;
that She VIII have fewer young women
m marry and. j.. heir turn, bear child
ren. thus preserving the vitality OF tHe
race. In the second place II means
that parents encouraged in their desire
10 avoid the responsibility OF the sup
mort and education Of children lose
certain moral stamina Of the very great
EST value in the preservation OF the race.
Tn The third place it means that wo-
men relieved of the care Of children ind
/ f. nossib,e 10 devote a greater part OF
I -he.r lives to pleasure than IS good Tor
/ Them. In the fourth place land the rea-
sons given by toe society are not very
clear upon this point It means a gen.
/ e~al decrease in the physical strength
and vitality OF the individual members
Of the race.
The plan proposed in brief is this:
/ 4 thorough modification OF the exist
/ ing inheritance tax, exemption from di-
/ rect taxation Of families containing more
| rhan three children, and IN order that
/ the treasury may loss nothing an addl-
ton of One-fiith TO the taxation of all
families having less than three children;
q reformation in the same proportion
Of the inheritance taxation; a decrease
in the expense attendant upon tuition
In government schools for the children
of parents with large families; in fact,
q well organized plan for decreasing,
so far as ii is possible TO decrease it, the
additional expense entailed by many
children and by extra taxation TO in
crease the difficulties of living for those
people having less than the normal num-
Der.
How serious the condition is which
has necessitated this strange step is
s.rikingly shown by statistics Between
1856 and 1891 there has been an actual
decrease of population in fifty-fve OF
the departments Of France, and an in
crease in only thirty-two This is in
spite OF the fact that speaking generally
France is perhaps the most ably sani-
ta-ed country in the world. The death
rate is not high. The decrease in pop
ulatiln must therefore come wholly
from the fact that less than enough chill
dren are born 10 take the places of the
people who die. and the number of peO-
ple who die is not above the normal.
Between the years 1911 and 1920 the av-
erage annual surplus of births over
deaths was 81 per 1000 Of population;
between 1851 and 1860 it was 297, and
between 1881 and 1885 it was 1.6. How
s-rikingly rapid The decrease is nova
DAYS is shown by the fact that the aver
age number of births per marriage dur
ing the period from 1881 to 1885 was
81. During the period from 1891 TO
1895 T. was exactly .. In 1894 the birth
rate for all France was % per 1000 Of
Inhabitants. This was a decrease Of
p in ten years. and gives to France
the lowest birth rate in the world. On
the average there was .C5 births for
every 1.Co0 deaths in France against
1897 births for every 1000 deaths in
ENGLAND. In Orne. one os the French
l. l. =