The daily sentinel., 1912-12-10
NOTES
Sentinel Special Service.

StnIlnel special service.
Paris, Dec. lO.--At last the gov
ernment appears TO have hit upon
practical plan for the investigation
OF the causes for the declining birth
rate. II is hoped that the remedy
also will be found.
For years thinking Frenchmen
have been distressed at what has
come to be described as the depop-
ulation of France; but all attempts
to arrest the decrease have been half
hearted and have resulted in meas
ures that proved Ineffective. Mr..
klOtZ, the minister OF finance, who
worked out the present plan, says
that the problem is one Of national
defense.
1t is now proposed to establish,
under the chairmanship Of the min
lister of finance, Il commission com
posed of experts in each branch of
the subject, who will be able to deal
effectively with the social, military,
legal and scientific sides of the ques-
tion. The commission will he diyid-
ed into five Cimmittees. The first
will take up the administrative and
legal side and inquire into naturaliz-
alton and marriage luwsn and the
question of infanticide and kindred
evils.
The second committee will consid-
er the military aspect of the subject,
including the effect OF the birth rate
on recruiting and army organization.
The third will study infantile NOR
tality, hygiene, intemperance and tu-
herculoSis, together with questions of
assistance to mothers and of the pro-
per education of the sexes. The
fourth will study how best to encour-
age the growth of large families and
how to assist those which have be-
come too large for the financial re-
sources of the parents.
At the same time the government
is giving closer attention to the wei
fare and morals of the youth of the
country. In order to discourage clan
destine meetings between boys and
girls and make difficult the exchange
of correspondence that might not be
approved by parents or guardians,
the French postofficc has adopted
regulation prohibiting boys under l6
years of age and girls under Is years
receiving letters through the general
delivery department.
Another new postal regulation is
likely to receive less popular approx
al, particularly among tour lists. II
stipulates that persons applying for
mail at the general delivery office
must produce documentary legal evil
dence of their identity. UnfOrtun-
ately, what constitutes legal proof of
identity is left TO the discretion of
the postal employees Permanent for
eign residents can obtain n Tegistra-
tion certificate that will answer the
purpose; but the traveller in France
is not accorded this privilege. An
idea of what may be expected is suS-
gested in the recent experience of
an American resident who sought to
cash ,misdirected Geographic money
order. In vain he produced in sue
cession a bank passbOok, several rent
receipts, number Of envelopes ad-
dressed to him which had passed
through the post, a readers card for
the bIOliotheque Rationale tObtain-
able by foreigners only through their
visiting cards, tax
payment receipts. a club membership
card, railroad commuters card with
summons to appear be-
fore the police judge, a subpoena, a
gas deposit receipt, journalists po-
lice pass signed by the prefeCt of pO-
lice, a dog license and a birth GER
Finally he discovered that the jan
itor at his lodgings was n postman,
and the influence of so cents proved
the solution of the trouble.