CAUSES OF FALLING BIRTH-RATE

North Otago Times, 27 October 1906, Page 1 (Supplement)

CAUSES OF FALLING BIRTH-RATE

(By Mrs Percy Alden, M.D.)

(The birtia registered in England and Walik in the second quarter of 1906 numbored 2-37,187, and were in the proportion of 27.5 annually per 1,000 of the papulation; this is the lowest birthTato recorded in any second quarto'rtneo civil registration was established,)

When Mnlthus asserted that "population litis the constant tendency to inci'c.iso beyond the mean? of subsistence," lie also added that "the increase of the human species can only bo kept down to the level of the means' of subsistence by the constant operation of tho atrong law of necessity." Herbert Spencer argued in opposition to this vieTv that the "constant tendency" alluded to is tho cause of the 'progress of tho human race. It (rotten "a never-ceasing requirement for skill, intelligence, and self-control." Not necessity, hut self-control, will, in his opinion, account-for any real decliuo in the birth-rate, ami ■the corollory is that this is only a step in tho process of man's. evolution.

So far ac) t-li© United States is concerned, Malthus is certainly wrong, for population t-liore does not tend to incrcron faster tlian- the means of subsistence, In tlio regions whore wealth' increases most rapidly, according to tlio United State ceuttus reports, tie population intreascs most slowly—eo that we are compelled to look in other directions for the cause of tlio decline. There can, however, bo no doubt about the significant fact that in nearly all civilised countries the birth-rate is decreasing, most noticeably So in tho United States, Australasia, and the United Kingdom,

LOWER AND LOWER

This decrease in. tho result eitlior of involuntary causes, due Tfotli to intellectual evolution and physical deterioration, or voluntary causes.that may have an economic or moral bearing, in the litter ,cafis accounting for what President Roosevelt called "race suicide."

.During , the ten years 1851-60 the birth-rate per 1,000 of ;tho population for England and Waleo was :84.1. For the next -thirty years it was practically stationary. But from 1881-90 it fell 32.5 per 1,000, and ias steadily fallen

since, till the Registrar-iGeneral's. returiiß for the past three months just published show t a birth-rate of 27,5 per 1,000, "the lowest birth-rate recorded since civil, registration was established," There are .alarmists amongst us who are.at-once ready to flay that these figures pqint to such a decadence of both tlio physical and moral life of the nation that our end is in view. This is a hysterical attitude to assume: let u t j rather .say that figures such as these Should make ua tlioughtful.

As the Right Hon, John Burns said , when referring to this question some i time ago, "Quantity is not everything; ] quality-counts for something." And lie 1 is right; for a family of five, where 1 every member has had a chance to grow ' up strong and healthy, may be a more ( valuable asset to the nation than the ] families of twelve and fifteen da com- | monly found some years ago. I The aspect of the question which 1 gives most cause for alarm _is, that j amongst the poorest- classes, where . there is not a large inheritance of physical and intellectual power to be passed on to the children, theTe the families are largest. Whereas, amongst the upper and middle classes,, whose chances of development, physical, men- : tal, and moral, we greater, the fam- 1 ilies" are (/mailer. True, the higher infant death-rate in poorer districts in 1 ! some-measure help to equalise mattei-s— h but -Mr David Heron very truly says— 'i "Where fathers-and mothers have the' l maximum .of undesirability, the maxi-. 1 mum number of children is produced, j J The birth-rate of the more abler and l capable stock i(J decreasing relatively' to the montally and physically feebler ■ stocks," j THE HURRY OF LIFE. j It is, above all things, necessary for us to discover the causes of this falling! | birth-rate. Then only shall wo be able ■. to say in what .measure the present; I state of affairs is good or evil for the. nation, and to act accordingly. | I The .members of the medical: pro-, fossion, as a whole, agree in saying' that a- large number of women in tho present day are incapable of bearing children than was the caso in previous generations: This i« probably largely accounted for by the pace at wliich wo live—tho nervous wear and toar of everyday life. In the world of Nature wo havo the periods of- "lying fallow", which alone make a glorious seetl-timoi and harvest possible. Neither men nor women.of to-day know much of this, "lying fallow," and must bear the con-; sequences. After all, there is-'perhapdi something to be said for the uneventful | : lives of our'grandmothers, wlioni we j ! usually hold more or less in derision, j Modern civilisation and town life liavoj their disadvantages. The declining marriage-rate is .alrfjj partially responsible, The latest figures ! show an annual marriage-rate of 10.7; per 1,000 against an average of 11.4; in the previous ten-year period, liven j as recently a 6 1895 it stood at 15 per. 1;000. This decline, the-Registrar-Gen-; eral tolls us, has been noticeable since ' 1 1871, and at tho same time the marriage; age lias been postponed, thus curtailing! the period within which children can be! bom. .But- neither of the above-named! causes is in any large measure rcspon-; siblo for the marked fall in tho birth-! rate. There is no doubt that the chief' cause is tho voluntary and determined, reetrictios of-families. Those who really have the nation's j interest at heart ask earnestly—ls this 1 right or is it wrong? There is no 1 answer to the question. i Let us say at-the outset that, right j or wrong-laid-aside, it is in large mcasure- inevitable, -We usually- look-upon this as a personal matter. Far from it —it. io a social and. national matter. The.fierce struggle for existence, the st-resd of competition to which large sections of the community are exposed, have-entered 'like iron into many a man's soul," and made him. dread any increase, of his. responsibilities; hence the limitation.of the family, for each child io an added responsibility. WHERjE THE EVIL LIES, It is uselcisj to declaim against whatis, after all, an economic cause, for it is not of themselves alone the parents think; face to face with the stress and difficulty of town life they shrink from causing another human being to pass through the furnace, of their own experience.

It is oasy for an outsider to sit in judgment and to condemn such action as unjustifiable; but, after all, Herbert. Spencer is . right-here, and- the evolution. of the race depends upon fair economic conditions.

If-life for. many consists in a,constant round of strenuous and ill-paid work, ,or,long. i>priods of inaction-raiid 110 work, they cannot be blamed, for refusing to accept fresh responsibilities. But at the same time 1 1 do-not hesitate to 6ay that amongst the more .well-to-do. sections of society, upon, whom competition does not press 111 this relentless way, '.the marked, restricticn of families: is.undoubtedly, an evil. Many families.,are limited to two or three-because the parents are anxious to make life smodth' and easy, f or > their children Md to bring them up in comfort, and launch;them upon their.,life's work with a., substantial "backing"-from home, : It is mistaken kindness, for as a revolt weakened characters

without self-reliance and without broad sympathies are sent out in to the world as its future! Bbw impressive aw Emerson's words: "Honour to the house tvlierd they are simple to the vorgo of liardsOiip. ® Wliat is the hwp that holds them 1 staiinohP It is the iron band of necessity, of austerity, which,-excluding them from sensual enjoymonts, lias directed their activity in, safe) and right chaimek Tho angels that dwell with them and are weaving laurels of life for their youthful brows tiro toil and want and truth and mutual faith.''—"Daily Chronicle."