Iowa County democrat. [volume] (Mineral Point, Wis.) 1877-1938, 1896-10-15

ASo ana PRIOR To that, the families IN
the fashionable world were large-ot
course not as large as in the tenement
districts, for il is u we'll known fact
that lots Of babies and lots of poverty
~ hand in hand
Old William II, Nauocrhilt had etght
children, so the $4,000, 900 he LETT was
we'll ~Widd among them and his
ErandchldNn. All Of the married
children OF William H.. with the ex-
ception OF Fred Vanderbilt, have large
families, George Vanderbilt is the
only unmarried one az the eight. Cor
ncliuS Vanderbilt nau Ave childron,
Willie X. three children and each OF
the four sisters Mrs. Webb, Mrs,
shepard, Mrs, rwomhly and Mrs.
Sloane, three -four W five children.
II the fashionable people are CON
sistent the baby fashion was probably
copied from the English where large
families are the rule, particularly
among royalty Queen Victoria had
nine children and thirty nine grand
children Her reai-grandchildlVn arc
even moro numerous, her grandchild.
Emperor William of Germany, heading
the list with seven. The queen has al
most one hundred direct DESCENDANTS
living, but her record is not equal to
that of her friend, the dowagcr Ouch
csS OF NhcrcorN, the oldest peerless in
England,
This cstimahle lady has l9G direct
descendants, and many cr them figure
prominently in III" public affairs of
Great Britain She is cight-hvC years
old, and If the queen lives to that ago
II is quite probable that her descend
ants Will be equally numerous,
France goes to the opposite extreme,
and the great trouble is that children
among tho poor arN almost NJ scarce
AS children among thr rich So great
is the scarcity VI children in France
that year ago an organization was
formed called Tho National Alliance
for the Relief OF tho French Popula-
/ ton. This title may have a vague ring
to II, hut the purpose Of the society is
TO induce the Franch people to have
moro children.
The leaders Of the movement are DR.,
jacques Bertillon, chief of the bureau
of statistics OF Pa'ia; Charles Ricket,
professor of tho Faculty OF Medicine Of
Paris, and DR. laval Of the Academy OF
Medicine, The neAd of this organtza-
4 ton Is clearly shown by some statistics
prepared by DR. Bo,tillon. A hundred
years ago the great countries in other
words the great powers of Europe
contained aS,000,000 inhabitants, of
whom 26,000.000 or - per cent, were
residents of France Today these
same countries contain 200 900 900 in
habttants, of whom $4,000 0O0 OF only
Il per cent. live In France. These
| figures speak for themselves, and the
obvious conclusion, according to DIR.
Bertillon and his colleagues, IL, that
I II the births continue TO decrease at the
same ominous rate, France, which was
once one OF the most powerful coun-
tries In Europe, will soon be one of the
weakest
The system OF reform to be followed
by the organization liz to work n
change in the tax laws OF France. Az
! the matter now stands the parents
must pay tax In proportion to the
number OF their children Thus poor
man who has four children pays dou-
Bile the amount that his neighbor does
who only has two
The reformers hope TO remedy the
evil by having all burdensome taxes
removed from the fruitful families and
to make UP the treasury deficiency by
taxing those families who have few or
no children. BY this system n child
less couple would have to pay heavy
| tax, those with one child n moderate
tax, those with two children II light tax
and those with three children no tax
ut all. Some of the reformers want TO
go further and arrange the laws no
that premiums will be given TO FAINT
! lies who have II certain large number
of children, the premiums increasing
In proportion 10 the number OF chill
! dren.
Some interesting statistics have been
gathered by the health department OF
New York ON the baby question. The
neighborhoods OF the city were .dl-
yided into three classes the poor, the
middling well-todo and the rich The
sum OF the census shows this interest
Ing condition OF affairs: There are
1866 babies per 900 OF rich mothers;
f1l.G3 babies per 1000 Of mjddling
well-off mothers, and 1926 babies per
1000 OF poor mothers. These Stats
ties merely refer 10 babies under one
year. II all the children OF the various
mothers were enumerated the differ
enoes would have been still more glar-
ing.