The daily telegram. [volume] (Clarksburg, W. Va.) 1901-1926, 1915-11-22

OF the detat led plans aud only cer
tain labor eiFci Hes, who fear that In
creased population means lowered
wages eyentnally I. have no taken up
.cudgels in behalf of the society.
The originator Of the movement
may be said TO be PROF. julius Wolf, a
one Of the most distinuished and
widely known econ Of Germany
formerly Of the faculty Of the UNI.
versity OF Breslau and now at the
Technical high school Of Berlin. He
Iis president Of the new organization.
Rrssia's gigantic increase In popu-
Ilation, the tremendous fertility Of its
people, induced him many years ago
to begin studying the population
problem. He devoted more and more
time to 1t as he came to realize how
France had gone backward, and have
strong tendency Germany showed
| to follow in the same footsteps. His
ideas became increasingly radical as
lie found that Germany's bisth rate
had dropped from W per thousand
| in 1870 to 2s.5 in 1911. and was
still decreasing.
In Practical Ways.
Gradually he has gathered around
him q group Of the most eminent
medical, scientific, and pedagogical;
men from every part Of Germany,
who form the nucleus OF the new
society. He has written much on
the subject, but he has worked in
other and more practical ways, and
has interested the legislative forces
on which he feels he must reply to!
proceed practically.
! The society proposes, first OF all,
a revision OF direct taxation. IL
marriage is to increase, It believes,
bachelors must be literally driven,
into it. And to drive them into it,
they must be made to pay: tax
equal to that paid by the man OF an
average family. They now pay about
the same direct tax, and their adj
vantage comes In a smaller indirect
itax-less for salt, sugar, beer, and
iother eatables and drinkables be-
cause they have less mouths to feed.
Therefore the matter must be
lequalized by a higher direct tax,
one which they shall feel as no In
direct tax ever is felt. ~. 4 s s.;
In recognition, however, that an
Injustice can easily be worked IL
general conditions, especially work
ling conditions, remain the same as
lat present, the society looks forward
Ito readjustment OF the existing
apprenticeship and training period
Through which workmen and profess
lsional men now have to 60. This
Tread ustment may have to be legis-
llative, 1t may come voluntarily in
many cases. In the one way or the
other, the society holds, 1t must be
made possible for the young man to
earn livelihood at an earlier age
than heretofore, and hence to marry
earlier. IS
Pension System Champion.
Professor Wolf is also q champion
of the motherhood pension system
now in vogue in Australia. He
would have the state offer 800 or
400 marks to the mother who gives
birth to fifth child and some other
sum for each additional baby. He
very frankly calls the system .'brib-
cry" but believes 1t would be effec-
tive bribery: and that the money
would be the deciding weight in the
scales when. the question should
should come up OF whether another
child could be afforded or not.
Professor Wolf counts on the effec-
|tiveness Of universal campaign BY
doctors and teachers, ministers and
priests, for earlier marriages, though,
this applies largely to the country
districts, and especially to Catholic
sections where the influence OF the
priest is great.
Considering the rigid regulation
OF disease, Professor Wolf points out
that at present the German man
marries, on the average at the age
of twenty-nine.
He proposes to minimize disease
by registration Of the diseased, and
the quarantining Of, the disease
spreaders.
Not Serious.
Though the war has opened peo-
PIES eyes to the need Of checking I
the German decrease in the birth
rate.n said Prof. Wolf, II do not
believe that It, alone, will
have serious effect.
Z = Az SASAA man pOPuAaSlOn VI S6N. II
enty millions is roughly divided into
33,500s000 men and 36,500.000 wo-
men. Even II our losses are very
heavy at the end, say a million dead,
there still remain 81, 500, 900 men, a
large proportion ofathem capable Of
being fathers. The decrease will 70 |
on unless we look deeper than the
war for the causes.
That it has not been greater Is
due solely to an even larger decrease
In the death rate, so that the sit
uation has looked roster than It ac-
tually is. People have been too
prone to look at the net increase in
population, which has been stationary!
at 100000 a year. and not at the !
Russian increase OF 14.000,00O an
nually. 4
"1t is in that direction that the
danger lies. We are too closely APP
proximating France, standing stiil
while our Sldv neighbor grows BY |
leaps and bounds. France, In my
opinion, is slowly but surely sink
ing back to q position something
- - =. s