Las Vegas daily optic. [volume] (Las Vegas, N.M.) 1880-1908, 1897-06-12

opinion OF tho Depopuiation Of mis-
p iNf Country.

"
The population. .of France f. now
dehnitely known, and, as was to be ex-
pected. the Increase since the last CEN
sus Is insignificant compared with that
OF n~eighboring countries. says Scalpei'
Is this a sign of weaknessy Does II
mean d~ecadence? We will endeayor 20
supply an answer to these Important
questions. There are people VINO
maintain that an increase OF p0pula-A
ton does, not always coincide with the
richness OF a, nation. that quality Is OF
more consequence than quantity, ana
SO on. II Is certain. however, thae
from a military point Of yiew-espe-
c;ally, as regards Germany the nu-
=ericsii inferiorIty OF. his country can
not but be 9, source OF the deepess
anxiety to every patriotic F~renchman'
Let us examine q few Of the statlstic-
al facts disclosed by the recent emu
meration. Rural ~depopulation Is gen.
eral everywhere, but even in the most
prosperous Of our towns there y no
augmentation worth speaking or Ac-
cording to the last London. census the
number Of acknowledgements in the
British capital was 4.411.27 7 That Is
to say, about 30O,0 900 less than the
whole Of ireland. The increase dur
ing the preceding quinquenninm was
200,42S! Now let us turn to Paris, Tne
prospect 10 by, no means brilliant, not
w~ithstanding the fact that the totals
showian increase of $3.50 inhabitants.
As the compilers are careful to point
out, this result has occurred In spite
or aldiminuti IN OF natality. 1t simply
proves once more that the mania for
GENERALIZATION causes a steady now OF
immigrants from the provinces to the
capital Parisiens may sleep in peace.
The Seine will always be lined on
both sides. ever though the people lin
ing II should have no children.
The dearth of children in France Is
due to the fact that the French peor
pie do not choose to haye families.
This is proved by the census in the
most striking and conclusive manner.
The old fable that the diminutionl Of
population was caused by excessive
mortality during infancy al no longer
gain credence. 1t is not the ~high-death
rate that is-blameworthy but-the low
birth-rate. Neither can the defective
natality, be laid to the charge of pow
erty. The richer o Frenchman is the
fewer children he has. This Is equally
true in town and country. The rich,
the educated, the cultured. are the cul-
prits. The enSus just taken confirms
the melancholy reflections which were
published some time ago by DR.. Ber-
illon. His assertion that il France
was to be repopulated it would be
thanks to the lower orders is amply
sustained. yGrenelle heads the list of
births, while the Champs Elysees are
at the foot. III sfn isaf4t eAe
Poverty is upquestionably one of the
chief causes Of depopulation, but 1t is
far from being the only ONE the
birth-rate diminished in the lower
stratum of society. poverty might be
incriminated, but unfortunately the
figures point in precisely the opposite
direction. Should we 0 rather blame
the decadence Of an effete civilization
in which refinement is pushed beyond
the limits of reasony Maternity is IN
instinct; tits nature itself. Now there
is nothing so hostile to instinct as edu-
cation which is based essentially On
hypocrisy and makes children actors,
teaching them to dissimulate their real
thoughts, and. after rapid reflection, to
substitute for them others which may
conduce toward po1iteness, but are des-
titute. of all sincerity. BY dint of
alternating man from natural habits
education will end in making him a
purely, artificial creature. unfit for his
position and incapable of adding yigor
to the race. Women, unsexed by lux
ury, will develop an Increasing dislike
to maternity, That will be the oppor-
tunity for less civilized peoples to in.
yade us and make slaves Of us, until
they, too. in their turn shall become
tender and neurotic. Y
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