THE FAILING BIRTH-RATE.

Dominion, Volume 4, Issue 1018, 6 January 1911, Page 2

THE FAILING BIRTH-RATE.

Sir,—You will often hear the cry of' appeal of our statesmen: "Keen tli* era- • die'full." "Well, th6re is nothing sinceri in tlieir cry. It is the old political yelp.;I will show you how. they encourage th<a.'' . birth-rate of tho Dominion, and I thins the fcest .way to do. that is to take thd; • Civil' Service Departments which ara ; under-their direct-control. All we need , to do is to take this year's increases and you will find that-the man that.hds» >h say, five or sis of a family to provide ' for gets the smallest possible increase, : while .the single man, newly wed, or tlu>/ \ man who lias only one cr two''"children, , and stops there, gets bumped ahead with:*'£'2o and ..£2O increases; while- the-man -: with a family of five or more gets only • ,£lO, although he is helping'to'build" up"; i nation of young Xew Zcalanders, ana : ; money spent this way is well spent. Bufcj-' this is the sort of encouragement that is meted out Ito'their own employees to" ' keep the cradle full. If statesmen say this is untrue. I challenge them to ap-. point a commission composd .of an. ex- j pert clerk, accountant, and draftsman to go through the service, and examine tho work done by Ihe individual, the number of family he has, and the increase.", in salary./ You need only, go through tho•. Civil Service in Wellington;' this, I am . sure, will be quite sufficient to . bear out > my statements.. The Government/would ; 'sooner • spend great sums of money to . assist. immigrants : from • other countries ; than tho birth-rate of New Zea-' landers in New Zealand.

I will endeavour now' to. show how a married man-with a family is handicapped in the public , service. Suppose he is in an office iii which there are two persons petting ,£2OO a year, each.-, One .man has six' of-a-family., and one',''who has been married, say,: six years,-lias, only i Awe. Now. this.man with.only one child lives practically .in luxury, : whiie th-9 t • other- sets a bare living and 'has ; tO study rigid economy to .make "ends' meet. Thi* man with only one.of a afford, 1 to mix with men; in. high'er positions than - himsalf, shout "for and entertain them . so that they set tho impression that he.in a jolly good fellow: but the man thai hnq six of a family, if he is goin? to pay' his way and live honestly must shy of these sort of. things, -;.with. the result that ; he is not a' jolly fellow, and when- '.\ Hie incrfffSe comes round, he (rets JH(T | if he,has any luck, or nothing if he has not; while.',tjie'.-jolly sood fellow gets ' vf2s or,'.£?.Q; s .ljmt",.jiothinsrr less. matter of fact, work is only a secondary consideration with .ft®. increases. It. is,. " '. the one.'.that/.can pjve ! ,tl]ev impression: that' lie is' "n snort." ' Thi* nueht'rot to- be:' in- * .'■ ceases conies before the Minister. thern '■ sho'dd, be .a lift showing-the of his family, with th»ir ages, and-, p-rcrr onportnnity,sh n be given th°ni to ' to the t<->o of th« tree, and not. b" becr>us» they have "athered a familv round them'.- and thereby . .cnTisfn"<-iMh- te build uo a nation of young New Zehlnndor.v * T£ tho ffovernmeufc did this they: would be s«t- . 'in-* en example pi overs who ■ had. the interest ot New .Zealand at. heart. . 'Tt is letter to build up a-nation of young. New Zenlanders than" imnort. foreigner* to populate Now Zealand! and the'only, to d" this is to encourage the birth--rate of the neeule of this Dominion asmuch as : possible. The wisest thing is .to set an example by.''"in? it' in" tha Public Service. If a-little extra money is r»ivon to' married men in the service - of the country who have a family of not, .' less than five, it would be . money well ■ snent, because it would entice those that ; stick at two.to incwe their family, and :• "t the time heln to make the bur- '.. deri of. family life lighter for parents • who have not stooeed to' the degrading depths of- doing, all in their -power to --. prevent families. . It is the difß-. culty of providing for a family which' makes men and women pause end limit . their family, not only in this Dominion ' hut in other countries as well. In 7 France the limit is two, and that i<* what we -are coming to. At the- present there is no encouragement for a man to burden himself with a family. Let statesmen bear this in mind carefully, if they desire to be called statesmen.—l am, etc., EXCELSIOR.