KULTUR'S REMEDY.

Auckland Star, Volume XLIX, Issue 71, 23 March 1918, Page 13

KULTUR'S REMEDY.

GERMANY TURNS TO POLYGAMY.

TO MEET THE DRAIN ON HER MANHOOD. Germany seems to be mobilising its women, along logical lines of Teutonic efficiency, to counteract the tendency towards a falling birth rate (says ah article in the "_Cew York Tribune"). The results appear in tentative experiments in the encouragement of births outside of wedlock and in polygamy, which, if not openly approved by the Government, are at least being tolerated. It is not yet possible to get much well authenticated official information as to the movement, but the seepage of news from Germany is large enough and apparently sufficiently verified to prove that such a movement does exist and that experiments are being made.

For the first time in its history Germany is facing an actual decline in its population, due to war losses, disease, and. a heavy fall in the "birth rate. Kecent reports from Hamburg, for instance, _how a decline in its birth rate of over 13 per cent, in contrast to the rate before the war. The reasons are obvious. And to the practical German mind the cure seems also simple. It is found in such projects as that of socalled "lateral marriages," in "official pregnancy," and several forms of "trial marriage." ■ Moreover, it would appear that all these are being welcomed by a great many German women. The only indication of a counter movement of any formidable weight is found in the disapproval of the Catholic Church.

M. Van der Klute, a Dutch journalist, who has recently returned to The Hague after long residence in Germany, is sponsor for a widely published report that "a number of medical and scientific men in Germany have formed themselves into a league for the promotion of what they call the "double household,' a deliberate encouragement of polygamy." The guiding spirits of this league are Herren Professors Ostwald and Karll. Their efforts are aided by the practice of the military authorities in sending soldiers upon furlough to a part of the country remote from their own homes. This is done partly to keep knowledge of the privations of the soldier from his own family, and thus restrict the "war weariness" which the Government so dreads and partly to encourage the '"double household" plan.

Commenting on the falling birth rate, M. Van der Klute said:—

"Kultur's remedy for this state-of affairs is an elaboration of promiscuous intercourse, which is a serious subject for debate among the German clergy. Encouraged by the freedom with which the subject Is discussed and by the toleration of the authorities, an amazing crop of bigamists" of both sexes are openly defying the laws of the various German States. One of the objects of the league above mentioned is to force the State to care properly for the offspring of these unions when the war is over, for their temporary nature is conceded by the ■ propagandists -■- -._- , . .

"An astonishing instance of the perversion of this doctrine of the repopuration of ■Germany was recently given in the divorce conrt- An erring wife, whose soldier husband sought relief on the ground of her, infidelity, answered with the excuse that'he had' been absent from home more than twelve months. She declared that -be.had a higher duty to the 'Fatherland than her duty to her husband and her marriage vows. 'To-day the- Fatherland needs soldiers; to-morrow she will need children,' she cried. She was heard sympathetically, and acclaimed by the persons in court as a true- patriot: and the case was adjourned In order to give her husband a chance to reconstitute their relations on an amicable basis."

IN THE INTERESTS OF POPULATION. By way of Kansas and vouched for by William Allen White, who published it in his "Emporia Gazette," comes a story of definite orders found among the papers of captured. German officers directing them to visit certain women, whose names and addresses were given, forthe purpose of increasing the population. Many similar reports have appeared in. the French papers—enough, if well authenticated; to indicate this as a not uncommon military practice. As to "lateral marriages," a dispatch from Rome some time' ago alleged that pamphlets had been widely circulated by the military authorities urging upon German troops this variety of polygamy, which, the message asserted, is "the only means for the formation of a new, powerful armed force and for the enablement of morality." In this married women were urged, "in the interests ot the Fatherland," to "secure the necessary permission from their husbands to contract lateral marriages, based upon personal inclination, with married men, who, in turn, must obtain their wives' consent. The grimly humorous aspect ot this particular scheme was not overlooked by foreign critics, but there seem 6 reason to believe it has met with approval by at least a povtion of those most concerned—that is, the German women. •"..•■

The per.entage of illegitimacy in Germany, especially in the cities, has always been large. But the increase since the Tvar has been astonishing. GERMAN WOMEN APPROVE. There is no lack of evidence that many German women are not disinclined to practise these theories. Here is an advertisement (said to be typical of many frequently appearing in German newspapers) from the Breslau "Volkswacht." It reads:—

"I am twenty-two, not bad looking. I Save fourteen fowls at my farm, one pony, six pigs, four cows, two hams and some sausages now in process of curing; a blind toother who knows how to weave and spin, a small vineyard, twenty-five cherry trees, fourteen apple trees, ten plum trees, a quantity of homespun house linen, and three casks of good ivlne in my cellar. I have, -esi_es, a piano and flute. Injured soldiers Mc Invited to apply. No objection to separation after six months of trial."

This is not without "comic relief" in toe presentation of "a blind mother who knows how to weave" as an asset; but ]ts serious significance, of course, lies m the appeal to wounded soldiers and «>e "no objection to separation after trial."

Of deeper import is a 6tory told ot *oe case of two "wohlgeboren" ladies, the. younger 0 f whom is said to have replied to an invitation from an America friend (before the entrance of the United States as a belligerent), who her to leave Germany and seek an - asylum here, that it was< quite im-' possible, since, as she wrote, "both my mother and I are officially pregnant-r- ---;?. the good of the Fatherland." In tais ease, it was asserted, the character of the women is such that their motives could only he regarded as patriotic, "ounded on a sincere belief as to what 'institutes duty.'