THE DECLINING BIRTH-RATE.

New Zealand Herald, Volume XLI, Issue 12523, 16 March 1904, Page 6

THE DECLINING BIRTH-RATE.

\TO -THE EDITOB.y •'v • . Sir,ln the present discussion on the decreasing birth-rate a good deal has been said ' regarding "public morals" as an influence to prevent interference ' with natural pit*-' duction. ; If fairly-;, considered, it, will, I think, be admitted that this line of argument is entirely fallacious and unsatisfactory. We 'have only to rccall the records of the past to •<= be convinced that had the welfare of our race depended on so-called " public morality" as a controlling power,, the advance of civilisation and the condition of humanity would have been deplorably backward. _As applied in this discussion, the term " public morality" . expresses an idea so narrow and so pharisaical that it might well' be dismissed from consideration ; questions of this- nature—affecting so . greatly the general welfare^ cannot well ba ■(jonfined within circumscribed limits, butt must rather be dealt with in aeeordanoo with , modern ideas' and the conditions-, and .neC£3sities of life. To me it seems utterly .'revolting—during a time when the struggle for existence has become so keen, and; the outlook so depressing, as to ; dishearten even men ■ '■) and women in the prime of life—thEit helpless, children should be brought into the world, without a single ' thought of the morrow for 1 ■ these little ones, or "'what they shall fat, or what they shall drink, or wherewithal they shall be clothed." If the explanation is a blind trust- in Providence, I can _ only say, after a life of nearly 60 years, that I have> not yet seen any evidence , that Providence ac- ' knowledges the responsibility- by- meeting the necessary provision. '-'/To expect 'one's fellow man to provide for the* offspring of uncontrolled passionate -surely .ibe inevitable outcome of the too prevalent-misconception of "public morality; " at all courts.we have adequate proof that modern- thought recognises the necessity: of dealing effectively with this gigantic evil, and will no longer tolerate the curse of unbridled' general indulgence.-. Regarding the present means for its suppres- . sion, whatever its attendant evils may, be wi:h its alleged physical and riiental onfeeblemcnt of our womankind, it ;is certain . . the remedy will soon be forthcoming in the. rapid advance of medical science!; in anv ease, the consequences cannot compare with the terrible seriousness of children of tender years, deprived of proper _ nourishment or bereft of parents, whose loving care has be«a exhausted in a vain struggle I against impossible conditions, and been driven to distraction and death by ceaseless worry and anxiety, and their ' unavailing love for the!® ' offspring. It is, I maintain, mock morality that measures the. smaller evil as the' greate®, • and that callously ignores the gravity of the conditions with which we have to deal.—l', am, etc., " • Pcelho Good. ; TO THE; editor; Sir, —I occupied so much of your spae® lately in a • discussion •on inferential trad« that I am loth to ask'you to allow me to express my opinion on one or two points suggested by the Royal Commission's report on. the birth-rate, probleta. ;A . few 'lines, however, will serve for my purpose on thk occasion. -.. In your reasonable leading article iffi this day's issue you state: "The birth-rht© ; ,of all the colonies of Australasia, has been l i gradually falling off during a flood many [ years,-until it is now abnormally low—lower . I than it is in most.countries, and yen? much ' j lower than it should be, in the natural course of things, among ourselves. .... As we have already said, there can be no reasonable ; doubt that the alleged facts are correct." A few weeks ago, ill the course of a letter which I received from Sir Nomancl Mao- [ I, aurin, a prominent member of this Comj mission, he was goocl enough to stay that hevould try to let me hove one of the first espies of the report,. Pending the receiptof this, with proof j»- the. contrary,, I have no hesitation in making the following statements:—(l) The statement that the birth- . rate of-the Australasian oolonies is much lower than it is in most countries is inaccurate; (2) no statistics upon which a reliable estimate of tlm loss of population by the Australasian colonies, on account of the declining birth-rate, can bo made are in existence; (?) so far as the available figures eo, the true birth-rate of the Australasian colonies compares favourably with the true birthrate of older countries. It is. of course, possible that the Royal Commission have had 1 placed before them, some statistics which were not public property a!year.or two ago;' but until there is evidence"to the contrary I take leave to doubt-whether this has beep done. As far as the effect of the report is concerned, by opinion is, as I expressed it in an article on the subject which appeared in your columns a few months ago. all the inquiries and all the reports of all the Royal Commissions which could be appointed will not make people, marry earlier than their cir- | cumstances will permit them to do, and will not make tl em have larjre families when they ■ cannot sec their way to bring up the children, in comfort. Th<=> decline in the birth-rate, ; such as it is, and thai; is certainly snot so great: as it has been represented to be, ! sieems to be merely another evidence'of the advance of civilisation, the opinion of well-fed commissioners, living in affluent circumstances, notwithstanding. The human race is peopling .. . ihis small world of ours fast enough.—l am, , : etc., - J. R. Martin. . Auckland, March'll, 1804.'-' ; : : : • _