The Sentinel=record., 1916-12-10
LOW BIRTH RATE
 IS COMMENTED ON
CONDITION DOES NOT APPLY ONLY TO THE UNITED STATES
 BUT IS UNIVERSAL.
lnhegsnf selfishness Of Husband and Wife Said 10 Be Behind the Fact
 That the Birth Rate Is at Low Ebb.

birth rate was discussed in the report of the commission on family life pre- sented to the federal council of churches os Christ in America this afternoon.
 That there Is q declining birth rate in the United States as we'll as every where else in the civilized world can not be d0ubted" said the report Tt is interesting to observe that with the lowering Of the birth rate in the United States, as we'll as everywhere else in the civilized world cannot be doubted.' said the report Tt is in- teresting to observe that with the lowering of the birth rate in the United States there Is also a lower ing of the death rate. The latter has fallen much more rapidly than the former, and hence the increase of Top ulation has not been arrested.
 Deaths are fewer because of ad- yanced knowledge in medicine, the better water supply. and reforms in milk inspection, housing and santa tion. But the steadily falling birth rate will overtake this decrease in mortality in due time Already it is apparent that if it were not for immi grafton the increase in population would be very slight in certain sec tions of the country.
 When we seek the causes of the salling birth rate we discover that cnnomic reasons play q most impOr- mt part An increasing number of single women refuse marriage be cause 1t will impair their economic in- dependence. or interfere with their entrance into professional careers. Possibly an equal number of women who do marry are eager after mar riage to follow some remunerative and eongenial occupation with which child bearing would interfere: while hus bands who find that large families mack difficult their material progress. show n similar disinclination.
 "The falling bir;h rase Is not ac- counted for so much by childless mar riages as by restricted families of one or two children For this the congested life in fenements and apart ment houses must bear is share of responsibility Other instances are occasioned by the ill health of one of the parents who recognize the peril of transmitting disease to their off srring.
 But it is to be feared that beyond all these causes the inherent selfish ness of husband and wife who desire to be saved from the burdens of par enthood is most influential among peo- pie ia good circumstances.
 ''1ifce there is no method of coun- teracting these tendencies by govern mental control, and since it probably will continue to be a fact that large families will be among the lowly. 1t would seem incumbent upon the state to counteraet this downward trend by legislation to encourage marriages and births
 In this connection the report re ferred to mothers and widows rem sions
 A large section of the report was devoted to divorce
 ''It is a striking cast" said the re- port, that in the majority of cases the dissolution aS marriage has oc. cured not l@fastily after a brief trial but eIyerately after considerable -ziodF of marriage.
 rim the whole it must be consid-
 ed that the increase in divorce is not altogether evidence of moral de cline 'on the part oof the American people. Nor is 1t strictly accurate to claim that divorce is the underlying cause for breaking up of the home since the happiness Of many a house hold has been ruined long before the action for divorce was begun"
 The report emphasized regulation of marriage rather than need of di- yorce legislation and recommended compulsory registration of marriages. an obligatory interval between issu- ance of the license and the marriage ceremony to permit investigation of the rroposed union, refusal Of mar riage licenses to the feeble-minded. epileptics, tubercular persons and 10 sufferers from communicable social diseases, and to the criminally degen. crate
 Of the social evils and its causes the report said
 Portrayal Of licentiousness on the stage; broad exposure of indeiicacy on biiiboards, evil suggestions abound ing in literature of the day immodesty in the dress of women. the constant apteal of fashionable society to the lower instincts. the Haunting of vice in attractive guises in the very faces of the young on the streets, the un. holy familiarity of the vulgar in treat ing the most sacred functions oi moth erhood these and scoFes Of other elements which aUo1nd in current life constantly increase the liability jo every form of immortality
 The report urged that strong re ligious impulse be back Of anti-yiee instruction Of the young and that 'ses education. as part of our social hy gfene. receive earnest attention" This naBtI alrG