The Birmingham age-herald., 1911-12-17
DREAMERS MAY
 BE DISAPPOINTED Millions in England Are
 Not Millions" BIRTH RATE IS LOW Decline in English Births Causing Many Arguments-Rats Are Causing Trouble in Canton.
 A Taft News Item
BIRTH RATE IS LOW

l tAl6A0 al . AlO cuNll AuAAbSs
 It is true that some sSOo,oo0,OOo are held in chancery. but of this less than s6,000, GOO Is in what are known as dormant accounts, the owners of which are unknown.
 Of the unclaimed sums, there are 35, 900 separate owners wanted, one-half are less than s750 and only one-twen- tieth over S5O00.
 Where does the unclaimed money come from? Well, when a person dies without making a will the solicitor to the treasury takes possession of the es- tate and administers 1t for the heir-at law. If no claimant turns up. 1t passes over to the assistant paymaster general at the royal courts of justice, to swell | the dormant funds.
 Every three years the paymaster gen. eral publishes in the London Gazette a sort of list of theirs wanted" but it is of little use to anybody except lawyers, the actual names not being given, the clues only being obtainable from the mention of different law suits. This Is to lessen the number of speculative claims
 But if chancery is far from energetic in its search for heirs-at-law, the Bank of England, which received any jewelry and plate when an estate passes to the paymaster general, is even less so. It
 used to publish a periodical list of un- claimed dividends, but for years 1t has ceased to do so, peferring to lie low rather than attract showers of swim ding claims.
 | Many of the small dormant estates are in chancery owing to sheer forget ] fulness on the parts of the real heirs or owners How curious this forget | fitness can be shown in 1887, when the Bank of England notified 6S,00O consol- holders that consols would bring in 8 per cent no longer. Of the 6s, 900 no l fewer than II ,500 could not be reached l They had died, or forgotten their con- | suls and their relatives could not be | found.
 Some curious tales are told of the | dormant estates in chancery. An Aber- deen man, not many years ago, was ad- vertised for by a solicitor in Holborn Now, some months before, the Scots man had, when staying at d Holborn hotel, been undercharged 10 shillings. 1 Conscience pricked. him. To repeated notices that he would hear of some- thing to his advantage he only wagged | his head wisely, certain that the Hol- born hotel was on his track
 So proud of his cunning was he that he confided in his son. The son was | more adventurous, and as soon as his father died promptly applied. That let ter of application meant an estate l running into five figures.
 IL may be possible that some people | Tn America have legitimate claims on | these dormant funds but these great estates which run away up into the mil Iohs or dollars are moonshine. Once more decrease in the Englisb
 birth rate has to be recorded The number of birth from the third quarter or the year, according to the register | generals s report, is the lowest for any similar period since registration was established.
 The number of births in England and | Wales was 222601 during the quarter. an average of 24.4 per 1000 of population. | This is 2.9 per 1000 of the population below the mean birth rate in the ten preceding third quarters. The past quarter. the re. port adds, has afforded a severe test of the trustworthiness of the opinion that there has been genuine reduction of in- | lantlle mortality, and comparison shows l that, notwithstanding the abnormal me- | neurological conditions and the disturbance of the mix supply by the railway strike durlng the period of maximum seasonal ] mortality from diarrhoea, the infantila mortality in London was lower than t;,at of the corresponding period of 1S or il preceding years.
 1 The Bishop of Durham, referring af n | conference at Westminster abbev to inc falling birth rate asked were we going the way of the Great Powers that had overshadowed or over frightened the world and then had fallen. Sir Victor Hors1ev speaking of the women of the Smart set' who cherished a lap dog instead of a baby, and the woman in the slums who l found refuge in the public house from the l conditions under which she lived said she thought the first class was incurable | but the second class was a question ot | environment.
 There Is trouble in Canton This has nothing to do with the aspirations of China. For the Canton in point is part of Cardiff. Moreover. it's plight is in nc
 way political, but, If one may invent a word rodentfal. Rats, it Is reported, are | If not lighting the dogs and killing ths 1 cats" In Canton, at least falling from the ceilings Ion to the faces of sleeping babes gnawng through pipes and lining theii nests with the shells of eggs off which | diminuendo way of putting it. What they line their nests with. even if 1t were a material much more thrilling than egg shell seems hardly worth mentioning when we have heard that the wretches fall on | babies faces, Evidently what they want in Canton is a Pied Piper. If they reply | that there Is none to be found anyone who lives in the suburbs of London would | be prepa red to introduce them to a whole | orchestra lf itinaranf m re ton would but keep one of these at worj, l for awhile. they would certainly either run away from him or kill him. The first alternative would doubtless be more sa ' | isfactory to Canton, but the second is not in considern ton of the greatest good of the greatest number, to be despised It certainly is necessary to go away | from home to learn the news Here. for 1 instance. is statement printed in all 1 seriousness in London paper which will | doubtless Surprise President Taft. II ] says: President Taft. in order to con | clude the negro voters at the next presi- dential election. has assigned to a negro the task of writing that portion of his message to Congress dealing with the re- quiremenis of the negroes.
 The Earl of Leicester is a suh-postmas- ter with salary of e25 a. year. His office, winch transacts the ordinary busi- ness, including money orders and tele- grams, is attached to Holkham HalJ. | Wells, Norfolk. and the earl who ;s under the supervision of the Postna star of Fakenhan, has to render the usual ..e turns and sign his quarterly salary on the official form in general use.
 The appointment of MT. winstc~ | Al.