The Indianapolis journal. [volume] (Indianapolis [Ind.]) 1867-1904, 1903-06-25
COLLEGE MANS FAMILY.
1t Seems to he Numerou. Most
Any other Citizens.

st. Paul Pioneer Press.
In the Current Popular Science Monthly
DR.. Engelmann of Boston. exposes another
fallacy concerning the effects of college edu-
cation. President Eliot. of Harvard. and
a prominent graduate of Yale have recently
called attention to the steady decrease in
the size of the families of graduates of
their respective institutions during the last
century DR.. Engelmann, however, shows
that while this decline is marked and in
disputable it cannot be attributed to higher
education, since the average number Of
children born to college graduates is larger
than the number born to the native Ameri-
can population. The decline in the birth
rate among college graduate families. in
other words, is only one aspect of phe-
nomenon peculiar to the native-born popu-
lation. and so far his statistics show.
higher education, far from being cause Of
the declining rate, acts-if it has any
causal connection at alias a check on
the decline.
To come to the details, DIR. Engelmann
shows in the first place that the marriage
rate among the graduates OF Brown,
Boweioin and Princeton, which. with Har-
ward and Yale are the bases of his inves-
tigation, is surprisingly high He found
that of the six classes taken at random the
percentage of graduates married when
twenty-five years out of college runs from
50 to $751; per cent, while the general aver
age in Massachusetts among the native
born population of the same age Is only
IS per cent Ten Yale classes showed ia
per cent. married and nine Harvard classes
Il per cent. OF S4S Princeton and Harvard
graduates only seven and one-half years
out of college 4S per cent. of the Princeton
men and rs per cent. of the Harvard men
were married, against 217 per cent. OF the
native-born of the same ages and 1862 per
cent. of the foreign-born. These figures
go to show that the years spent In college
have much less effect in producing late mar
rages than is commonly supposed.
AS to the total number Of children born
the average number to each of 3,0l5 college
graduate families is ABA. of which 81 sur
Vive, the death rate being 10 per cent.
Among the native-born families of Massa-
chusetts. a State whose birth rate is only
the number of children born per family is
261, but the number surviving is only 1.92.
showing death rate of 2S5 per cent The
foreign-bOrn population, however, shows
453 children born per family. 3.01 surviving.
or death rate of 1874 per cent
Comparison with the size of the families
in the upper classes in Europe shows also
that in spite Of the rapid decline in the ma
tive-born birth rate the college family is
larger than was 20 be expected. and II also
shows that the proportion of children sur
viving is very much higher than among
any other class in the world the birth sta
tistics of which were examined.
But while DR.. Englemann shows that the
college graduate is not SO much to blame
for the falling off in the size of families as
the rest of the native-born population, he
does not fail to express very emphatically
his alarm at the decline. He points out
that in FranklinHs time eight children to
the family was the common estimate,
whereas in these days the number of chill
dren to the native born family is even less
than in France, where the population is not
reproducing itself Whether this is the sit
uation throughout the country DR.. Engel-
mann does not prove. but he shows that it
is true as regards six States which collect
reliable statistics. All of these States, how
ever, are in the Northeast. In none of
them does the birth rate per thousand of
population rise above Is, or about that of
France while in Massachusetts,. where the
average birth rate of the State is 27.s per
thousand, that of the native-born popula-
ton is only II and that Of the foreign-born
is So In other words, the increase in the
population is owing entirely to immigration
and to the birth rate among foreign-born
families. In view of the thorough Amer
termination of the children of foreign-b born
parents it is difficult to find any great cause
for alarm in this situation In France the
question of population is one of national
military strength, and therefore of national
existence. In the United States there is no
such problem, and no problem at all worth
worrying about-parucularly as there is no
Lnoxxr, rau,ady