FAMILIES NEEDED.

Otago Daily Times, Issue 21266, 21 February 1931, Page 14

FAMILIES NEEDED.

NOVEL FRENCH COLONY. Grants made to the directors of a sweet factory at Strasbourg as compensation for war damage have been used to finance a highly-interesting experiment in eugenics. A report on the experiment claims that it has proved very successful, states the Paris correspondent of the Daily Telegraph. The directors, realising that France needed more citizens and that her citizens needed more houses, have founded a colony for young married people who are anxious to have children. Situated in an ancient grove of trees not far from Strasbourg, this settlement is named after the factory, the “Jardins Ungenmach.” It consists of a number of cottages in the style of rustic Alsatian houses of the early nineteenth century, equipped with every modern convenience. The tenants are selected with great care. They must be in perfect physical condition, and have an income of at least £l2O a year, so that they can pay an annual rent of £2O without difficulty.

They must also agree to have children at what cugenists consider satisfactory intervals. So far only seven couples have been ejected from the colony for failing to comply with this rule. At present there are 131 families in these model cottages, and 20 babies have been born in the last 12 months. The report points out that, generally speaking, the occupants of the colony belong to a class—that of clerks, minor employees, and petty officials —in which the birthrate is abnormally low in France. Incidentally, the colony has become a place of pilgrimage for Americans visiting the Eastern Department.