The Saint Paul globe. (St. Paul, Minn.) 1896-1905, 1899-08-27

h.st ;. no lhougnt or Furnishing you for 1t,
w W. ~ IS hot right that YOU profit by it.
You must pay damages for it"
The plan actually followed bv tho
state, instead of making lighter the NOR
1torlous burden which the head Of nu-
HeTcuS FAMILY assumes, does everything
to make 1t harder. All the direct ana ir1
olrect taxes seem to fall higher upon
families having many children 1t would
not De exact to say that the law is indif
ferent to natality. 1t would be more lust
10 say that it does all il can 70 Discus
age it, and that every Frenchman ia Off
clalIy invited, in his own interest End that
OF ms postertty, to limit 1t as much as
possible. The contrary is what should be-
Gone
There are wealthy families which are in
position to contribute most literally to
the perpetuity of the nation, and vet.
strangely, they are the most absternious.
IL would not be fair to tax them accord
ing TO the number of'servants they have.
for this must increase rs children multi
ply; but the tax might be adjusted to the
excess OF servants over children
AS an objection to our plan, it. NAV be
asked II we really believe that those
neo-Malthusian" families, who have only
one or two children, will decide to have
TOUR If order to save themselves from
some taxes? We do not cherish this IL
customs of the country should not be ex-
aggerated. Most of the families sin
through selfshness, while they do not
realize that their selfshness is culpabIe.
harmful and ignoble. This must be made
clear to them, and no method of publish
ing the fact is as imposing and effective
as the tax collectors schedule The re-
form in direct taxes which we propose
will therefore have an educational infiu-
ence.
The same principle might be applied In
the military service by expediting the dis
| charge of soldiers who are married A.
bill to this effect has been introduced I'm
the French senate, and an amendment
has been proposed extending the favor
to the eldest son of a family Of five chill
! dren.
The inheritance tax Is particularly 1T
| ting form of impost in which insufficient
! ly fruitful families might pay the indem-
nifty which they justly owe to the state
| on account of their sterility; for the
! prime object of the eo-Malthusians is to
! forestaH the necessity of dividing their
| fortunes among too many children. The
| laws Of succession are so framed now
| that only sons pay less than others; not
only are the expenses of notar;al acts
less for them than for families with sew
era1 children, but the latter are liable to
pay the tax several times, for when one
Of the heirs dies his brothers and sisters
will have to pay new succession taxes.
In all cases of this order the treasury
burdens numerous families, and spares
neo- Malthusian cnes. The institution OF
heritage stimulates industry, and is one
OF the chief reasons for it. A great many
men we are sure, would york less and
would certainly save less except for the
prospect of leaving the fruit of their la
Dor and economy to their children-Or,
too often, to their only child. But as the
institution of heritage becomes under
these conditions one of the prime factors
Of depopulation, it will have to be mod
| fled.
The state is as much interested in the
| fecundity of families 1t is i'll their IN
! dustry and thrift To stimulate the latter
virtues It guarantees them the right
cf inheritance It might withdraw
It or diminish 1t to their own
profit, If their fertility was not judged
sufficient for it. For such a measure TO
be effective its application should be Sc
we're enough to touch sensibly the Tor
tunes of families which have given the
country only one or two children. The
state, for instance, might reserve to itself
the disposable part of the Inheritance
half, for instance, in the case of families
having only one child; third, OF famil-
les where there are two children; and
waiver of the extra tax where there are
three children. The principle might be
apDroxirnateIy expressed as that of treat
ing single children as to their inheritance
portions as if they had brothers. But
as a proposition so worded would have
but little chance of immediate adoption,
we should have to be satisfied with
less radical reform. If 1t is objected that
such measures would be too revolutionary
and too much opposed to existing Ideas
and habits, the answer is that anodyneS
would be without effect upon so pro-
found and inveterate an evil. French
families must cease to have an evident
interest in limiting the number of their
children and something more than half
measures will be needed to achieve such
a result.
Our principle is equality of burdens.
We say to the French: ''You have three
chief duties toward your country: to
contribute to it's perpetuity. to its de-
Tense, and to its pecuniary burdens we
affirm that you have failed in the first OF
these duties This being true, you must
accept the other two with supplement.
With this principle severely applied,
and with some other reforms, we nope
to bring back to the country the idea OF
respect that is due to numerous families
and of aversion against the detestable
habits that are destroying France"
The sums derived from the increased
succession taxes which we have pro-
posed to assess upon fam1neS that nave
given the country only one or two chill
dren might be reserved for the educa-
ton Of poor children or for the realiza-
ton of some such plan as has been pro-
posed by NJ Raoul de Ia Grasserie for
the pensioning of a retreat in old age for
the parents of large families.
Another means of encouraging parent
age may be found in instituting special
honors and marks of esteem for the IA
theirs and mothers of numerous children.
Thus the general council of the Drome
gives a gold medal on the 14th of July to
each of the two women in the depart
ment who excel IN this respect. A fund
has been created at Nantes for provid-
ing rewards to those who have the most
children under fifteen years of age.
system Of rewards also exists at Meaux
for those who have contributed most to
the population.
The French law requiring the equal di-
vision of estates among all the children
operates as a deterrent to parentage.
father who has built up large business
or accumulated a handsome domain is
exceedingly averse to the prospect Of
having it cut up and dispersed, and is
therefore careful to have but one child,
so that it may descend unfmpaired TO
him The coincidence that France is the
only country where this system prevails.
and is at the same time, the only one
where the population is decreasing. is
striking enough to suggest connection
between the two phenomena. The law
works mischievously in this respect.
and requires modification in the direction
Of giving the parent larger privileges of
testamentary disposition.
Thus, the state should I'm every way
and in every department of law and adj
ministFations manifest its profound re-
spect for large families; 1t should set the
example on this point, for it is the party
most largely Interested Translated for
the Popular Science Monthly from the