The Birmingham age-herald., 1912-03-23
"DEPopULArION IN FRANcEy

Walter E. Weyl, in the March number of
 The North American Review.
 In this year. 1912, less than 80O,000 living babies will be born to the 100000 of France.
 This Is the problem of French depopu- lation in a nutshell. It is the most signi- ficant fact in French life. In no other country in the world is the birth rate so low In no other country in the world has the birth rate fallen so rapidly and so steadily.
 Not everywhere in France has the birth rate declined equally. In a few departe- ments 1t has actually increased. There are more children per family in the mari time Alps, in the mining districts about Calais or among the peasants of Brit tany than there are in Normandy or on the banks of the Garonne. If, however, you take an average thousand of the French population, you will find an annual birth of only 20 babies. .
 How low this birth rate Is may be seen by comparing it with that of other coun- tries. In 50 governments of European Russia the birth rate exceeds 4S In other words, there are more than AS annual births per 1000 of the population compared to the 20 of France. In Bulgaria there are oyer fl, in Roumania 40, in Servia g, in Hungary 37, i'll Austria 5, in Germany 34, in Spain 34, in Chilli 37, in Argentine 35 In Italy, Japan, Finland, Holland, Portu- gal, Uruguay there are from 30 to 33 births per 1000 of the population. Den marks birth rate is 29, Swedens Is 26. In England there are over 27 births per 1000, In Australia over 26, in New Zealand almost 27. Except for Ireland and for cer- tain American states (Maine, Vermont, Connecticut, Michigan), no country nearly approaches the very low birth rate of France.
 The low birth rate is due to the fact, not that the people do not marry, but that they marry and have few children. During the first 10 years of the nineteenth century there were four legitimate living children to each marriage In France; in the fourth decade there were only 3.4 such children; in the ninth decade only 3; while in 1910 there were only 2.4 legitimate liv- ing children per marriage. For every 1000 married women in Holland 1t was re- gently found that 86 legitimate living chill dren were born annually; in Prussia, Ba- varia, Norway, Scotland. Saxony, Austria, Italy. Finland. Ireland, Servia, Belgium, Denmark, Sweden, Switzerland, Austria Hungary, the number of such children born to each 1000 married women within these ages ranged from 265 to 225; in France, during the same period, the num- Der was only 150, and today 1t Is still smaller. For all these countries except France, a child is born once In every three and one-half to four and one-half years of wedlock; in France, a child is born once in seven years.
 Nor is the low birth rate of France due to any physical sterility. A comparison was recently made of the numbers of entirely childless households in Paris, Ser lin and Rio Janeiro. Of all marriages which had lasted from 15 to 20 years 11.3 per cent had been unfruitful in the Bra gillian city, 12.S per cent in the German city, and only 13.3 per cent in the French city. Tuberculosis and alcoholism, which are prevalent in France, may lower the quality of children, but do not neces- sarily lessen their number. In Canada the French have proved that they are not incapable of bearing children. The re- duced birth rate of France is voluntary, not compulsory.