Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1909-07-30
SEVEN PlAGUES OF FRANCE
WIDESPREAD SOCIAL DECAY
POINTED OUT BY WRITER.
Infidelity. Alcoholism, Materialism,
Anti-Militarism and Political Cor
ruption Causes Of Decline.

From the Literary Digest.
The more serious papers of Paris. such
as the Soleil. the Figaro and the Gaulois.
are always dwelling upon the perils that
France is being hurried into by the wide
spread OF social decay. We are constantly
being reminded Of the principle laid down
by all historians. from Herodotus to Fer
zero, that no nation can stand the sap
ping ravages of moral corruption, and
that in the whole history of Europe We
see that it is the most moral nation. the
most self-sacrificing, the soundest in heart
and mind. which. other things being equal
invariably comes OF the best in the strug-
gle of war or peace. 1t is the dead body
which calls down the eagles of destruc-
ton This principle gives Importance to
the work of a Frenchman who warns. ii
he does not pass sentence on, his mother
country.
France is becoming decrepit. as she has
been for years decadent says Mr.. Rene
Lavollee. She is at present being devas-
tated by seven moral plaques. he writes
in his book. Les Fleaux Nationaux."
She is weakened by religious inf1delity,
depopulation. immortality. alcoholism. ma
terra lism. anti-miltarism and political
corruption. OF infdelity and its evil ef-
fects he writes:
France has. in its national policy, alb
-
SO long the champion. This is plainly
proved by the attitude of the govern
ment toward the church. and the whole
tendency of recent legislation. With
Of many qualities which work for ma
tional fortitude and for the character
upon which national virility Is based.
Military prestige has vanished, the navy
a serious factor in the plans of European
cabinets, while the strained relations
which have sprung up between the social
orders have made the country an object
Of criticism and an example of warning
to other nations"
Race Suicide.
Race suicide is another plague which
is sapping the vitals of France. This
writer quotes Mr.. Fovillee, president of
the last Congress of Social Economy, who
compared the birth rates of the different
European countries and remarked of
France: IF this condition of things con-
tinues. in twenty years there will be
two Germans for every Frenchman, if In
deed France survives SO long as ma
ton The following figures are quoted
in support of this contention: In the
sixty years from 1916 to 1905 the popula-
ton Of Great Britain and Ireland in
creased - per cent: that of Germany.
50 per cent; that of Austria, 40 per cent:
that of Italy, 30 per cent: that of Rus
STA, 81 per cent that of France, IA per
cent; finally, in 1907 the French popula-
ton had decreased by 10000.
While the writer enumerates as causes
| of this decrease the crowding of the rural
population into cities, the military sys-
tenn which forces country youths to spend
three years of early life amid the cor
ruptions Of the town and the crushing
S25 per capita, the principal causes lie
deeper. They are moral and include self
ism materialism, which concentrates the
general mind on pleasure, and diminish
ed sense of duty. with the resultant in
crease in the number of suicides. of which
9316 are recorded In the single year of
1905.
The moral decay of French literature,
art and drama. he goes on to say, Is
doing its work in promoting French de-
classes the slaves of vice. Closely allied
with this is alcoholism, concerning which
he gives some startling figures.
Consumption Of Alcohol
While the consumption of alcohol in
England is decreasing, and SO diminish
ing seriously the revenue derived from
its taxation. in France the records for
the consumption of alcohol show that
during the latter half of the nineteenth
century the quantity drunk, per capita,
had more than doubled. The amount OF
alcohol employed for the production of
absinthe and similar liquors has almost
tripled between 1874 and 1905 And in
addition to the immortality. insanity and
crime directly due to alcoholism. collapse
of the moral sense, anti-patriotism and
political corruption are now rampant In
France, we are told. In the words of
Mr.. Lavollee:
1.-The passion for ease and comfort
grows the more rapidly in proportion as
ii is gratified. More and more do we
perceive in all classes. and more especial
Iy among young people of the lower or
ders, both in town and country. that the
moral sense has become weakened. The
care for material interests predominates
and ordinary character is the prey to i'm
controlled desires. An impatient con-
tempt for all authoritative restraint, a
scoffing disbelief in the idea of duty and
a dread of and hatred for all effort or