Lincoln County leader. [volume] (Toledo, Lincoln County, Or.) 1893-1987, 1913-01-31
Mothers Will
Be Pensioned
England, Alarmed at Decreasine
Birth Rate, Passes National
Insurance Law

Wlth an eye singled to the future
welfare of the country, the English
parliament has passed law that has
but single Object-the preservation
OF the English race. 1t is known as
the British national insurance law,
and provides for birth bounty of
$3.50 for each child born, besides
medical attendance for the mother.
Obviously, its purpose is to check the
growing tendency on the part of
parents to avoid the responsibilities
and inconveniences of parenthood, a
tendency that is bringing England
rapidly to the condition in which
France now finds herself. The passage
o. this law comes as the result of a
thorough investigation into the vital
statistics of the nation, together with
the various influences. that have
brought about the present low birth
rate. Seven and half dollars will by
No means ease the burden of the
mother in travail, nor will it com
pensate her for the weeks of anxious
waiting and hours of worry. But the
action of parliament is in the right
direction and will no doubt have
some influence on the birth rate.
The passage of the law indicates
the alarm felt by Britons for the fu-
ture of the race. They evidently find
menace, as did Rome, in the falling
of in the number of soldiers availa-
BILE. Slavery, malaria, lust of gold and
decay of religion have played their
part in the decay of empires. but
in Rome and Greece, at least, the
dearth of children in patrician fam.
lilies was largely responsible for the
decline of national prowess. England
IL alive to her condition, so much so
that tendency is manifest to throw
the burden of taxation upon the man
with a small family, with the idea
of placing premium upon the large
family Of former generations. The
birth rate in Great Britain is scarcely
three in each family, an insufficient
number to maintain the present pop.
ulation, taking into consideration that
more than one from each family will
die or remain unmarried. And of all
classes, the lowest birth rate is among
the aristocratic class.
Probably no sterner lesson could
have been meted out to the Britons
than that of the Boer war. When the
flower of England's young officers
faila1 IN anh,ax,a "a, l.
manded of them in South Africa, a
call was issued for volunteers. Physi-
cal standards for entrance to the
army were high and the number of
applicants who could measure up to
the rigid requirements did not come
mp to the number desired. The stand.
ard was lowered and another call
sounded, but still the lists were un-
filed. Again the standards were low.
cred until the former were shamed by
the material that now found a place
in the ranks. Yet still the army was
too small. And why this alarming con-
dition in country supposedly over.
flowing with wealth. There was but
one explanation: The only man to
apply for the job was the poor, un-
derfed, down-and-out, iobless castout
OF society. Loafing about in the pub
lie parks, sneaking from one joint to
the next to avoid the round up billy
Of the policeman, staggering from gut.
ter to gutter, without hope, without
friends, without food, this poor un.
fortunate would have welcomed a
chance to go to South Africa and
fight for the country that had not
provided him with the necessities of
life. But he was too weak. He could
not fulfill the requirements of the
army. And England saw one of the
factors that go to make up the great
cause for national suicide. These were
the kind of people from whom many
OF her future acquisitions for defense
must be made. These were the fathers
OF the future generations, the wives
of whom were just as poorly fed and
clothed.
We do not presume to say that the
alarm of England over the decrease
in the birth rate had its inception in
this incident Of the Boer war. The
case is merely cited as affording in
part an explanation for this alarming
condition that is common to America
as well as England and France. II
is easy to understand why the poor
underfed mortal who failed in his ap.
plication for place in the ranks
would hesitate to bring an innocent
babe into the world to suffer the
miseries he was compelled to endure
If he found it impossible to properly
feed and clothe himself and his de-
pendent wife, how could he provide
for the little ones. So the conditions
of society drove him to crime in
stead of the sacred duties Of parent
hood for which God intended him. Of
ten his poor wife was the breadwin
ner, for, in this age Of specialized
labor, female help is cheaper thar
male and the sweat shop is always
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