Los Angeles herald., 1907-08-14
WOULD RESTRICT
THE BIRTH RATE
UNIVERSITY PROFESSOR TAKES
ISSUE WITH ROOSEVELT
Former Instructor at Stanford De-
oIares Size of Families Is Large
Iy Matter Of Individual
Volition

MARISON, Wis, Aug. 12.-Taking issue
with President Roosevelt on the desira-
bility of raising large families, Prof. Ed
ward A. Ross, head Of the sociology de-
partment of the Wisconsin State univer-
sity, recently told his class that "Restric-
ton In the birth rate is movement
which at the bottom is salutary and that
evils in its train appear to be minor or
transient or self. limiting or durable
Prof Ross was lecturing on western
Civilization and Birth Rate" and his DIS
course caused a distinct stir among the
students of sociology, physicians and
others attracted by the unusual character
of his subject.
His advanced attitude on some soclo-
logical questions brought him into proml-
nece several years ago, when he was a
member of the faculty of Stanford uni
versity and later when he was member
of the faculty of the University of Ne
braska Prof. Ross is himself the father
of three children.
Expects Opposition to View
After declaring that restriction in the
birth rate was salutary, Prof. ROSS, an
ticipating widespread opposition to such
an assertion, added:
'I shall have against me mystics,
clerics, a priori moralists, sentimentalists,
esthetics, militarists, capitalists and poll
ticians; but nevertheless l take my stano
with those who hate famine, war, saper
toothed competition, class antagonlsm,
degradation of the masses, wasting Oh
children, dwarfing of women, and cheap
ening of men,.
In a recent speech Prof. Ross took the
ground that the day probably would come
when mothers would be pensioned by the
con unity Today his only alluslon TO
that theory was this:
Shall we live to see mother OF more
than three regarded as a public benefac-
tor and placed on the pay roll Oh the
state?'
viii as Preventive Factor
Another theory advanced by Prof. Ross
today which possibly Will draw re-
joinder is as follows;
I'm the face of the hobby riders,
maintain that the cause of shrinkage in
fecundity lies in the human will as m
fuenced by certain factors which nave
their roots deep in the civilization Oh our
times
All of which, when placed with otner
statements in the course of his lecture,
goes TO support the theory that the rise or
fall of the birth rate among the ultra
civilized is largely matter of Individual
volitiou-that the will may be used as
preventive" measure.
prof. Ross declared he saw reason to
oppose the sensational attitude OIL tnose
who view with alarm" the apparently
increasing tendency to sterility
"The growing spirit of democracy, ne
said. AFFECTS, to large extent the blrth
rate. A large family of children is consid-
cred by many to be a bar to social and
economic advancement The evidences are
that the emancipation of women, opening
to her many professional ana ndustriai
careers raises her value and weight IN tne
marriage partnership and causes the
heavy physiological and personal cost OF
excessive maternity to be more considereu
by the husband, as we'll as by the Wlle'
Decay of religious beliefs is strong
factor in the restriction of the birth rate.
Parents who trust In Providence and
hold, with Luther, that God makes cnll-
dren and that he will provide for them'
are rare nowadays. The struggle OF Wo-
men to realize individuality has opllgeu
her to rebel against her biblical status ana
spurn the counsel of submission to the
curse of Eve"
Reasons for Smaller Families
Forecasting "retardation in the numerl-
cal growth Of the occidental peoples
Prof. Ross said:
"a phenomenon so widespread and strlk-
ing is challenge to the tyro and fanatlc
and, hence all manner of silly, cheap or
partial explanations compete for public
credence. Some attribute it to physiologl-
cal sterility, induced-by alcoholism and
high pressure, forgetting that the child
crop of the sober rural communities Is
often scantier than that of the intemper-
ate mining or industrial towns, and that
the falling off in the birth rate seems due
to the smaller size of families rather than
to greater frequency of childless couples.
with the wiping out of sharp class
lines inherited standards of living lose
their grip. Wants and tastes once con-
fined to the social elite spread restlessly
downward and infect the masses Tidal
waves of imitation carry a craving for
luxuries, hitherto looked upon as the pre-
rogative of the rich, among millions Of
people of limited means. and these In
their endeavor to crafty their newly
awakened wants, learn to economize in
offspring The little stranger trenches on
raiment, bric-a-brac, upholstery, travel
and entertainment. Here are decencies
there comforts, yonder refinements, and
the vanities Of life compete with the pos
sible child and bar it from existence.
"Our age glories most in that science
and technique are able to develop re-
sources to meet the demands of swell
ing population Ought we not rather
glory in the fact that the ciyilization
wrought out within the memory Of living
men is the first that ever really solved
on a great scale the problem of painlessly
equilibrating population to resourcesT
''The latter day occidental has solved
the riddle of the sphinx, and has been
able to do 1t because of being democratic,
a..A t4-tt. sfa ~