A LINE OF BABIES.

New Zealand Herald, Volume LXVI, Issue 20372, 28 September 1929, Page 5 (Supplement)

A LINE OF BABIES.

DECLINE IN BIRTH-RATE, RECENT ENGLISH STATISTICS. The birth-rate, which fell so alarmingly daring the war years, is gradually recovering its old position in England, though it still falls far short of the rate of fifty years ago, when it exceeded thirty-five for every thousand of tho population.

There has been a similar falling-off in almost every other civilised country, but in spite of the decline in births population has increased by soma fourteen millions in the last half-century.

Figures are not impressive, but one gets some idea of the present birth-rate when one finds that a single month's infants would be numerous enough to replace every man, woman and child living at the present moment in Southport; in six months they could re-people Leeds; while before tho last day of December i» reached Birmingham could be emptied and refilled by the full year's babies.

More impressive atill is the fact that the babies born in England and Wales this year would be sufficient to replace overy man, woman and child in four of the largest counties—Cumberland, Westmoreland, Cornwall and Shropshire.

But if one would get & really impressive idea of their number, in fancy arrange them in procession, each in its perambulator with attendant nurse, with three yards separating successive infants. Ono would then find one has an ** infantry file" long enough to reach from Liverpool across Europe to Warsaw.