THE BIRTH RATE.

Evening Star, Issue 22573, 15 February 1937, Page 13

THE BIRTH RATE.

TO THE EDITOR. Sir,—Mr Kilo and other enthusiasts seem very perturbed about the quality and quantity of babies born recently. Although we British can bo in no wise proud of our C 3 stock, nothing of consequence can be done about it in the way this noble host suggests. Two factors enter into this problem heredity, about which wc very little, "and upbringing, of which we know quite a lot. Ever sinco the genesis of the human race all breeding has been by the process of natural selection—that is, a man can have any woman ho wants for wife, if he can get her, and vice versa. By it, “ homo sapiens ” has evolved to his present state, of which ho can be justly proud. This is the safe, tho natural way. As sure as man meddles with the unknown forces of Nature ho comes to grief. For example, if ho kills all the birds in a district ho is plagued with insects, or if he introduces rabbits into virgin territory he loses by the" outcome. I t is no use bothering about the population of a country or of the world. It looks after itself, as it is dependent on the environment. If there are more people in a country than it can support there will be starvation. Tho Sts cannot look after a large ■, so that in a few years the population drops back to normal. This is one example of the universal law of adjustment. The iron law of wages is another. But, of course, the population is not stationary. It is dependent on numerous factors. For example, when Britain was a pastoral country sho could support only 20 million people, but when she gained control of the world’s markets the new Capitalism rapidly bred enough workers who could be easily supported by the flood of wealth. Marx shows this clearly in ‘Das Kapital.’ When other strong competitors entered into the competition and the tide of wealth ebbed the population fell. Mr Kite mentions the case of “ unfits ” breeding. Wo have brought this on ourselves. Nobody minds any man at all breeding. It is one of his duties of life, the “ love interest,” the others being york and friendship. The offspring of these matches is all that matters. Thanks to foolish laws, benevolent societies and other hothouse institutions these are permitted to grow up and reproduce in turn or cost the country millions by way of asylums and other homes. Under natural conditions they would mercifully die before maturity. Why have wr a C 3 population? It is not duo to heredity, but to environment. How can wo raise a nation A 1 in mind and body if it is abused in its growth? Yet 90 per cent, of our children are ill-fed, poorly educated, and wrongly brought up.—l am, etc., Uncommon Sense. February 12.