Deseret evening news. [volume] (Great Salt Lake City [Utah]) 1867-1920, 1903-06-23
AS no RACE SUICIDE.

Probably no utterance Of President
Roosevelt has been more discussed
than that on race suicide 1t has fur
nished text for more or less serious
comment all over the civilized world.
Learned statlstlclans, 0lppant humor-
lists, grave sages, shallow paragraphers,
all have had something to say on that
question.
Some have endeavored 20 prove that
in this country there are no such condi-
tons as those indicated by the famous
term But now comes Dr. Engeman,
Of Boston, and publishes, in Popular
Science Monthly figures that are far
from encouraging He claims that, as
rule, goo native born parents in Mas
gachusetts leave l9S surviving chill
dren That u.s. married couples Of
American birth In that state do not
quite reproduce their own number. The
writer goes on TO Jay that the birth
rate in Massachusetts among the ma
tye-bom Is Il per thousand while
among the forelgn-born In the same
State It is IS per thousand In France
he says, the country most berated for
neglect Of reproduction, the birth-rate
is PA per thousand; bigger, that Is,
than the birth-rate among the Massa-
chusetts Yankees Or. Engelman
points out shat Malthuss theory that
population tends to increase faster than
subsistence had utterly broken down in
this country. whore the hIrth-rate keeps
falling IN the face OF increasing means
of subsistence. He ends that the aver.
age number Of children In an Amerl-
can family In 1900 was 6.l; in 1880, 4.6;
In 1860 3.3, in 1872, 2.45; in 1900, among
the upper classes Of Boston is. Were
these conditions not counteracted by
immigration. the race suicide prob
lem In this country would clearly inn
press Itself as one Of peculiar gravi-
ty.
Bat there are two sides to every
question. and the other side Of this pro-
poaltlon is taken by a writer IN the
Moth American Review, who, With
out giving his name, proceeds to at
tack the President quite vigorously lie
defends the small family as the ideal.
He noses as the champion OF women
when he states that where large families
IS the rule. the mothers grow OLD at
20. His chief argument, however is
tina. It is too expensive to have many
children. He says:
1T happens that we are able to care
tor fonr children. and sufficiently wen
for ma to maintain our social position,
which II very dear TO us. II IA tlme
should come when We were forced To
give w our present style Of living
(which practically means our friends,
since IN that event we would not ana
could not continue present relations
with them) would consider IL, perhaps,
the most serious moment Of my life
So FAR MS can be judged at present. the
ony thing that might threaten such an
event would be the Appearance OF a
couple OF more children"
Il may be well to ponder this argu-
mant Scr race suicide II is proba-
hly the best that can be produced. 1t
shows how dense Is the ignorance that
exists concerning the eternal blessings
of iathcrhood and motherhood. 1t also
shows how utterly selfish Is the hui
man helng that plans race suicide
lie prefers a life In ease aud luxury,
which Is very dear 10 ug." to the
nozzle self-sacrlnce, the loving devo-
tioa that mothers and fathers are re-
ouired 10 bestow upon their children
particularly during their age Of inno-
ccncc and dependence selnshness. the
greatest curse that can rest upon
human being, and possibly the main
sorms Of all unrighteousness and all
sin. IS the chief cause Of race suicide"
That Is very evident from the defensa
Of It, It is problem that should en-
gage the attention Of an who have the
welfare Of the country al heart.