FALLING BIRTHRATE

New Zealand Times, Volume XXXIII, Issue 7450, 26 May 1911, Page 1

FALLING BIRTHRATE

THE RACE DECADENCE REMOVING OBSTACLES AND DIFFICULTIES. "It'-seems to me,” said Air Holman, the Acting-Premier of New South Wales* to a “Sydney Telegraph.” interviewer, “that tho mast hopeful lino of social Activity in connection with this question of race decadence is not a desperate effort to make those who are -unwilling to incur the responsibilities of parentage embrace those responsibilities, but rather to remove the obstacles and’ difficulties from the paths of those who aro willing and anxions to found homes of their own, but who aro cither prevented from doing so, or who, having done so/ by reason of poverty, disease, or other causes, find that thoso homes aro not suitable for bringing up healthy families.” Air Holman was a member of the Royal Commission appointed by Sir John. Sec some years ago to investigate tno birthrate question. “1 am disposed to think,” he said, “that, waile an excessive decline iu tho birthrate is no doubt an indication of a morbid condition in the section of society which exhibits it, still it is a state of. things which effects-its own cure. Tho class in which tho birthrate is low disappears iu course of time, Tho suggestion is always made-that it is tho most desirable class that thus disappears-r-tha-t js ihe educated and. cultured class—but where leisure and. luxury have gone into decadence they produce the mere luxuryhunting which men like Roosevelt denounce. Thus what was a desirable mass a generation ago now ceases to bo desirable, and to that extent the process can bo looked upon with very much less alarm than it excites at first. THE EXISTING CONDITIONS. “Tho next point that strikes mo is that a certain diminution in tno .birthrate seems inevitable under existing conditions, because of the greater femes of file. Ambitious young men who have a career to make won't marry.to cany. Some don't marry at all. Take my own. constituency, - for instance. There are hundreds of . young men from twenty to thirty-five years oirl.who have remained compulsorily ■ unmarried because they have no settled-career. There are nous of farmers who cannot get .land; cpuoitry ‘boys, engaged in the intermittent occupations, of the bush. Tho better educated 1 and mqro intelligent they arc- the more -they shrink'from marrying with that. uncertain prospect before them. Go into the country towns. - The capable young .men get’positions in stores, and evoh in banks, but they have nq.prospeot .upoxiM^:hxch,-they can marry until' they are, say, thirty. - v This process is at work more or Mess in' every walk of life Therefore, the diminution in this respect does, not show' any morbid state of society. It is only tho natural and healthy reaction of altered social conditions. “The diminution in tho birthrate is also made to appear greater than it really is by the increasing longevity of the race. If everybody died at forty, the number of births per 1000 would bo so much more than if everyone lived to seventy or eighty. Again, no morbid state of society is pointed to. SOMETHING "WRONG. ■

'But beyond these things you cannot shut your .eyes to the fact that there is a . diminution in tho birthrate in a way that shows something wrong, but for the reasons mentioned it seems to be working outfits own curoy so that my first impression on tho’ matter is that there is no need for excited den-nneia-Ll ons of writers of the,. Roosevelt typo. "The moralists and clergy and others are very much ■concerned- with tho aspect of this' matter, because the exist-cii'C-0 of a. sc-l&sb. class xvliicli aims priniai'ily at plea.su.ro and disregards fclio xrelJ-bDin- of tho State ami shirks its responsibilities. for tho future of tho Sytato ;would bo a very great-menace to tho State if it were not for tho. fact that that class necessarily tends to disappear as tho result of its own vices. That of 'course,, is no consolation to tho moralist and the clergy who are concerned with the Individuals composing that class. But that need not be a cause of alarm .to those who look at ’ it" from tho pome of view of tho public .welfare." SOCIAL PROBLEMS "It is a matter for politicians to grapple with these social difficulties. Thus tho birthrate will bo incidentally stimulated. As there is a <HmmU,tiou in the birthrato’quito apart from the selnslmoss of the luxurious classes, and arising from other causes, the great thing is to preserve the lives of the children that <iro bom and put an end to tho' appalling infantile mortality. It is not the number of clrildreu born, but til© ■number who livo to be five years old that will bo. the deciding factor in tho problem. Tills is mainly a question of, education, and particularly of educating young mothers, and that phase of tho problem is only being approached tentatively at present. Above all it is a question of an absolutely pure and dependable milk supply. There is no more prolific source of infantile disease and death than impure, and preserved -milks, and I confess that the matter is a little difficult to deal ■ with. But tho Roval Commission, on the food question 'which wo aro appointing will deal with this. Probably pood work will be done in this: respect.' MATERNITY HOMES. "T imagine that a great deal can be done.by -a large inoreaso in the maternity homes, so that the women of the working class can go into a State hospital when approaching confinement, and have the best of treatment and nursing. This scheme would have to bo accompanied bv the establishment of a staff of trained housekeepers, who could be, sent to look after tho homes of the women while they wore in hospital. Tho fact that under existing conditions women get up tod early after confinement has itself a prejudicial effect on the birthrate. This is a very large measure of State activity which must, and will, be investigated in tho near future. It will have a very big result. “It strikes me, too, that tho institution of State creches, where women can leave their babies for a day or two if necessary, would put working women in a very much better position than they are to-day, and it might lead to the .saving of many infants' lives. Close medical inspection of all the children at school is eminently desirable. Doctors engaged in this should be empowered to order treatment for children, and tho State should bear - the -expense, I have already discussed, this with Air, Beeby (Minister for Public Instruction), and

he is making inquiries with a scheme of that kind in view. RESPONSIBILITIES. "I think a distinction should bemade between tho position of the married and the single. Those who evade the responsibilities and cares which marriage involves should be called upon to c-ontri-bmte to-tho State in some way. This will not be lost sight of by our Government in our future financial propodl tions. -Vs a matter of fact, exemption from the income tax will bo to, some extent contingent on the marriage question.’* '