Every evening, Wilmington daily commercial., 1921-02-23
THE CHANGE IN FRANCE.

| Franco has beou resurrected. in the
broadest use ot the term, 20 Judge by
tho vital statistics which tho French
Government has made public. II Is
now fashionable TO have children in
that country. and the entire nation
seems 20 have undergone change of
| spirit The figures tell tho story; m
! 1919 there were .O52 more deaths
| than births. in Paris alone. In the first
| six months or that year. there were Il. =
@6i more dcaths than arrivals. But I'm
the first six months of 1920 there were
| 4@4 62S births. as compared with 356.-
| 722 deaths. nm excess of 6T.q46 babies
Paris leads the way iu this regard. "a
| u that period there We're G,190 more
| birth records than deaths
The government IS doing everything
TO mako the rearing OF children profit
sbe Married couples without children
have 10 per cent added 70 their taxes
bachelors must pay Is per cent addi-
tional tax Plans are under way 20 pro
vide a good maternity allowance for eli
young mothers. with FREQ medical
assistance for mother and child "a we'll
These facts indicate that France Is
revoiutionizing it's social thought All
remember that before the war the death
rate was increasing ovor the birth rate:
how II was predicted that unless a
change Of sentiment was experienced.
that France would soon wipe herself
of the face of the earth
In those days II was distinctly not
fashionable to have children. or NJ
least not 10 have many Of them Thcre
were two reasons for this feeling FIRST.
the average French svoman wished 10
appear charming and young 20 her nus
band as long as possible She had the
silly idea IN her head that maternity
made her appear less desirable IN her
husbands eyes This Is a brutal fact,
but n true one.
The other reason was conceived by
the father. According 70 the ancient
French custom the father must pro
vide a dowry for each II his daughters.
and must give a share of his business.
or hts land. 20 each of his sons II he
had many daughters. this meant that
their marriages virtually = pauperized
him; If many sons who were becoming
heads Of families. his business suffered
There was little left for him after tho
division Therefore a small family was
considered the thing 70 have-one son
and one daughter was considered rea-
sonable; a whole brood was almost
stigTnatized as vulgar.
When p nation changes its social
thought for the better. one may predict
great things for It's future France. that
is the masses of people in II has
changed and adopted the right idea re-
garding children. All reports whcih
come from Pars today say that it is dis
tincuy fashionable 70 have children. and
that the childless family is being looked
at askance.
ward children has been adopted.
Frances greatest handicap IS her lack
Of adequate man-power. She can i'm
port everything but this one factor in
The country IS in a bad
way financially. and nothing but in
creased production in the years 70 come |
can pull her out Of the hole She is
forced TO do what Few Of the warning
nations must undergo-pay off huge /
war debt make over her devastated /
regions, and revive her industries al
the same time. Man power. and more /
man power is needed 10 accomplish /
these tasks.