Evening star., 1934-03-25

Of population during the year was
only $4,000 as compared with an aver
age of l54,947 during the previous five
years.
But 1t is when we compare the fig
ures of today with those at the begin
ming Of the century. or even with
those at the period Of the war, that
We realize the magnitude of the
change that is in progress here. as in
most countries in Europe When the
century opened the birth rate was 80
per 1000 Of population. The great
decline began with the war years.
when it fell to 81 per 1000, and it
has continued ever since year by year
until the birth rate is now less than
half it was in 1900.
The explanation of the movement
Is not to be found in falling on in
the marriage rate. The percentage Of
marriage to population vas actually
higher in 1888 than it was in 1923.
1t is the fertility of marriage that Is
declining.
Birth control has swept the land
during the last dozen years. and the
gospel of Marie Slopes. which not long
ago was propagated in hushed whis-
pers. is now the universal common
place Of all sections OF society. The
triumph of the gospel has been aided
by the enormous development of mo-
toring, and the perambulator has
vanished before the an-conquering
car. In the contest between babies
and baby autos, the babies are being
beaten out Of the field, and so much
has public sentiment changed that
nothing is more certain of laugh
in the theater or at the pictures than
an allusion to the multitudinous
families of the Victorian days.
That the growing unpopularity Of
children has not yet led to an actual
decline in the net population is due
to two facts-the cessation of emf
grafton and the decline in the death
rate. Before the war 100000 of the
youth of the nation went abroad an
nually. mainly to the colonies: but
since the war the flow has been in
ward rather than outward. Should
colonization revive with better times
in the dominions, the new tendency
toward a declining population will be
rapidly increased. 1t will be increased
also by the fact that the death rate
seems stabilized now at its lower level
of II or IL per 1000 of the population.
1t has fallen during this century from
18 per 1000, but the fall is now stayed
while that of the birth goes on
uninterruptedly.
One result is that the age level of
the country Is rising, and England is
becoming q nation Of elderly people,
with what results upon its spirit and
outlook remain to be seen. And with
a declining population in sight. the
problems of housing, school accom-
mediation and similar themes which
occupy all political parties at this
time assume a new aspect.
y
Nor is it England alone where the
tide of population is turning. All
through Europe west Of Russia the
minds of statesmen are exercised by
the new tendency. In Germany the
birth rate Is only half what it was at
the beginning Of the century and since
LIE WdI IL has clO1l1RCo oCA1oabko
from IS to IT, q fact which explains
Herr Hitler's drastic measures for en-
couraging fecundity in the people.
Efforts In the same direction have
been made In France, but while the
birth rate there now Is substantially
higher than that Of Britain, 1t Is also
on the downsrade. Italy is the only
one Of the major countries Of Europe
which preserves q rate on the Victo-
rian plane, thanks no doubt to Sienor
Mussolini's crusade for more babies. :"
but even here the figure (26) is fall
ing. During this generation Austrias
rate has fallen from 81 to Is. Bel
GUMS from 29 to 1s, Sweden's from
26 to Is. and so on.
In a word, all over Europe the de-
Cline has set In and babies are at an
ever increasing discount. And mean
while In far Japan the tide is still
flowing, and the population L increas-
ing at the rate Of something like q
million o year. It is an onninous fact
that hangs like q grim question mark
over the future. r
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