Great Falls tribune., 1922-01-12

most prolific people in the United
States, when they are classified ac-
cording to occupation, are foremen,
overseers and inspectors of mines.
The wives of these men bear on an
average 4.6 children per wife and each
Of them has on an average of 3.9
children now living.
These interesting figures on the
proliferati0n of mine foremen have
just been issued by the bureau Of
| census as part of a long tabulation
of the American birth rate according
to occupation. It is a most interest
ing tabulation and a somewhat be-
wildering one in way. 1t upsets our
preconceived notions as to what kinds
OF people have the most children and
why: It also sheds some light ON that
much discussed question as to whether
the native population of the United
States is maintaining itself or slowly
dying out and leaving the country to
the immigrants.
But betore we proceed to generaliza-
tions, let US note some Of the astonish-
ing figures which the census bureau
has brought out. Next to mine fore
men, we find that the most prolific
occupational class in the United
States is that Of foremen and over
seers on steam and electric railroads.
The wife OF traction foreman bears
on an average 40 children Of which
3.o survive. This average morality
of less than one-half child per family
is especially .creditable to the trans
portation business.
Foremen and oyerseers Of all kinds
seem to have lot of children and
they seem to have good luck in raising
them. Perhaps this is not surprising.
A foreman or overseer is apt to be
a workman of more than usual in
telligence who has worked his way up,
| and who receives good income,
Naturally, having lived on day wages
for long time, his standard of living
will not be as high as that of q
| lawyer or doctor. He will not spend
as much on Injuries. and SO will be
more inclined to raise children.
The Janltor's Family
So much for the foreman. The next
most prolific occupational class we
find to be that of janitors and sections,
The janitors' wives average Al chill
dren per wife, and no less than 3.4
Of these children on an average survive
to cry at night, steal milk bottles and
put dead cats In the dumbwaiter. Why
I-as many an apartment dweller has
doubtless asked before-should janitors
be SO philoprogenitive? OF course, they
get rent and heat free and they have
the whole basement for the kids to
play around in.
But is is surely surprising to find
that in the whole United States. only
these two kinds Of foremen. janitors
! and sections and one other class sue
ceed in begetting an average Of four
or more children per family. In all
Of the other occupational classes listed,
the average number Of children born is
! less than four, and in none Of them
is the average number of children liv-
ing as much as four. The mine fore
man, with his SO smiling babes, has
| the largest average family in the coun-
try: For the registration area of the
United States the average number of
children born per mother was 33, and
the average number of children living
per mother was 20
| What we have always heard about
| the birth rate is that the population
| is dying at the top" by which it is
meant that people of wealth and people
in the professions have small families,
while the laborers and very poor people
generally have large families. We are
usually told that the average woman
must raise three children in order to
keep up the population and increase it
little. If this is true, the population
of the country as a whole is just barely
being maintained by the people in it,
and the increase is due wholly to immi-
grafton. This study shows once more
that the problem of restricting and
| regulating immigration is the real pop
| ulation problem in the United States
and one which seems nowhere near
solution.
The surprising thing in this tabula.