Washington sentinel., 1899-02-18
NO "a

the nation is livingIentitY, and more
than an aggregation of individuals, We
may accept this as a figure OF speech,
but it IS clear that in the ultimate
analysis the stationary condition @nd
tendency to decrease Of the population
OF France are caused by the default
voluntary or otherwise) of aslarge pro-
portion Of the married people in France
to become parents, leading to the disease
which Aristotle called oligaDthropy,
which killed some of the great races of
antiquity, and now threatens France.
The result is governed in the main by
the fecundity Of marriages. Hence the
following comparative figures are Of
great importance: For every 900 mar
ried women, the number OF annual legiti-
mate births in France is IFS, as COM
pared with IS4 in Belgium aud Italy, I76
in Switzerland. 1856 in Norway, I9o in
England and Wales, 2oz in Germany,
2o5 in Scotland, 400 in Prussia, and 2I6
in Wurtemberg. Taking the census re-
turns OF 1891, we find that 40 per cent.
Of the total families in France had more
than 4 living children in each; IS per
cent. had living children in each;
altogether IS per cent. OF the total mum
Der of famil as had a sufficiency OF child
rem to prevent the population ofFrance
from becoming stationary: On the other
hand, "a per cent. OF the total families
had only 4 living children, and "a per
cent. had living child, leaving ro per
cent, without children. Attention is
drawn by NJ. Dumont to the fact that
this smalliess OF families has occurred
along with a far from universally difused
knowledge Of the voluntary means that
have been the chief cause that 46 per
cent Of married couples have not more
than children or only I; and that in a
large number of other instances the non
occurrence of smaller families has been
due merely to the ignorance Of parents
of the artificial m cans for bringing this
about. "Za 50UrgS0isiS" refuses the
sponsibility Of being. charg cable for
more than two children; ''Is beHpHe"
accepts it, if not willingly, still patiently.
Perhaps in assigning a happy state of
ignorance as a chief cause OF the greater
iecundity of the peasantry in France M.
Dumont does not ascTIbe sufficient I'M
portance to,the fact that a much larger
proportion Of the peasantry than OF the
middle classes in France are Roman
Catholic, and: the practices indicated
above are strictly forbidden Iby the
Roman Catholic Church,
Other explanations than the above
have been advanced to explain the
iniecunditl of the French population.
It may be somewhat hattering to French
sentiment TO argue with Herbert Spen-
Ger that individual evolution is in antag-
onism to the provocative faculty, but we
are unable to agree that there is a title
Of evidence to show that the higher
intellectual attainments of the French
are responsible for their relative infecun-
dity. Nor can the painful analogy
between old age in the person and in
the community mislead those who study
the question dispassionately. The
French in Canada have a very high birth
rate, so likewise have the Italians.
Whether selhshness will extend and
become supreme at the expense Of the
general good, and France become iu
consequence a second or even third
rate power in the world, remains to be
seen. The question has wider aspect,
which we can only mention in conclusion.
The birth rate in England and in other
countries is declining, though not with
the rapidity OF its decline in France.
This decline is probably due largely to
the same causes as in France. The
future Of the world history depends
largely on the question as to which races
will continue to multiply and to colonize
until the limits of colonization have been
reached. when other races have, through
thelexercise of selfish prudence, ceased
to take part in this colonization, and
upon the relative excess OF births over
deaths ia the different European coun-
tries preceding the stage at which other
nations like FTance,may have ceased to
aAy material extent to add to the
emigrant population.