The Pascagoula democrat-star., 1901-08-23
SOCIAL LIFE AND NATIONAL
POWER.

A writer in the London Fortnight.
| ly Review for June relates that an
official OF the British Registrar Gen.
erals Office held the marriage rate tC
be the barometer of national prosper
ity.
A poor harvest, IA depressed trade,
strikes and commercial failures are all
expressed In the fluctuations Of the
marriage rate; and of these several
guages of national prosperity or de.
preston, the price of wheat was fol
many years regarded as being in the
closest relation with the marriage
rate.
This may be held in general terms
of every civilized people. 1t is not
only natural, but it is the duty of
every young man to become the head
Of family just as soon as his tinan.
cial condition should enable him to
take wife, and neither he nor his
bride should be too ambitious or cx.
acting in what they would consider
necessary with which to begin mar.
ried life. The right sort OF wife will
help Her husband to save, and many a
man who has reached positions Of
great material success has had good
reason to date his upward progress
from the moral physical and intel
lectual assistance afforded him by his
wife. Ifa man possesses industry, en-.
ergy, honesty and an honorable de-
termination 10 succeed, he is never
too poor to marry. The chief con-
sideration then, Is to and a wife who
will be real helpmeet to him.
The race which has been bred in
the British Isles, although resulting
from an amalgamation OF many peo.
Piles, such as Celts, Romans. Norwe.
gians, Danes, Saxons and other Ger.
manic tribes, and Norman French
has by reasons Of its health and vIgor,
its courage and enterprise become in
many respects the most famous in
modern history. In foreign conquest
and colonization, In domination of
the sea and in foreign commerce it
has surpassed all others. Much of
this power and success is rightly at.
tributable to the attention to mar.
riage and the healthful home life of
the masses OF the people.
Statistics through long period
show there has been no steady decline
In the number of marriages in Great
Britain to the thousand Of population,
but that fluctuations occurred nc.
cording as times we're good or the con.
trary. Poor crops or a business de.
preston, or war usually made times
bad and there was falling off in
marriages; but on the return Of bet.
ter days the losses were made up
While there has been no steady de
cline in the marriage rate the author.
tiles report decline In fertility since
1880 and the writer in the Fortnight
ly notes, from the official statistics
that up to 1880 there were produced
AT children to the 100 marriages.
while after that date and up to 1896
the number decreased to S74 children
per 100. s;aa
The writer mentioned sdpposes that
the decline In the fertility Of English
marriages which has been pointed to
may, be due 10 part to the modern
tendency to defer marriage 70 later
than the average marriage age OF
earlier periods Of the century; but
| this circumstance Ia not Of itself suf.
ncIently strong to cause the very ap-
precia6le loss In marriage fertility Of
recent years. This. loss, which has
now extended over flfteen Or twenty
| years. may b., Of course only an "ac'
| s|1eetals IA Il!alY9ly lempoEasy