DEPOPULATION OF FRANCE.

Timaru Herald, Volume XIIIC, Issue 14274, 15 August 1910, Page 6

DEPOPULATION OF FRANCE.

i SEARCH Foil A REMEDY. I ,'ihe hist practical chert to .stem the ■ tIUO ol depopulation iil i-'raiK-o was iiiaUe "to-day rsay. the l>aris eonvspondeace ot the -ftuuKiard,'- on J„, i( v,acii a bill drafted br JJr Launch,,.e,iaud LuuiiU.'i-siiiUcd by a s;-ore, 01 einuf- . ">''».• j; renciman, iv.i, introduced 1,1 l!llj(..,l!L-utlljllS 111 the regulations ~i' -r I j,» military and civil seiviccs, liic-li. .ceiu b..ui.u to jjavu considerable effect if tha ; -uiaLe and v. Jiuiiijj L .r approve then, and . tiioiu into law. .Senator Lanne--Jongue is a well-known doctor and oi medicine, U nd an authority r ce v,<| 2 T,' W - I, '" r L ' s hil[ h - l™ faenatop.—3l. Leon Bourgeois, a former Prime Minister and SU n stcr , )f .Wmce; _M Richard A jjibot, member 01 the Academy ex" ;innm iliiii-styr, and ex-M mister cd ■ 101I 01 ? 1 "" -\i'ai«; AI. Alfred Ale*ieres : J istnnan; ami lU. Francis CJiarn e? A V '"""'wrs or the Academy,g ,-, a summary of tJie )>ill i. iMcry man uninari'ied at the t>o ! "t 99 will be called „,., m tl , *>° cenes or extra periods or militarv service until j,e has been inscribed n,r 2oyeai-s „n tne active or reserve forces. : >. -No employee ot a State department or municipality i s to be retained li not. married at iVi. Widowers "or divorcees are to be counted as married and the rule is not to apply to civil : servants already m employnient, or Lo i ;olficers mim-commissioned officers 0r i men in the land and .sea forces "' ; 3 Every civil servant employed l,v <i .State department or municipality whh is the lather of three chiidre'n ,1 ve ■ ; 0 time shad be„,iit-(a, In p/omoturn, (>) by a bounty ol £8 voa dv lor c,ch child under 10 beyond 'the 'third •I. J'or pension tho same civil cmUlmn i^ u \'uVln-„' 1 IJVII ' S tLild Ulor « Tbe , -V ~ " - 1,1 ': ,i,, 1 «s they wish. ' Burnt without a. 1 d''ed ther" : Jim,, t.. loavo 10.., t| lA „ „,„.,, a! ,' ' ;

to provide that no sons should he brought up to a certain standard of. life, and then left by chance or caprice without any means of continuing on the same scale of existence. It was thought at. this time that the. continual division of family lands was economically dangerous. When, embodied in law, however, th_e. idea, worked quite contrary to calculations. Compelled to divide the estate if they were blessed with more than one son or daughter, landholders snv here a deterrent rather than an incentive to bring up lamer lamilies. Indeed, this legislation lias oltcu been blamed as the lirst persuading influence in favour of depopulation. -At the same time it expressed in practical law a. strong and deep-rooted objection to the '-droit- d'ainesse" which ■so many French people consider an arcnanie weakness in English family law and custom. In a covering letter Attached to" the bill, Professor Lannclougue- underlines tins when he says: '-'lhe old regime before the eompulsorv division of .successions, produced -eldest' sons; but the present regime is worse; it producers families with 'onlv' sons. 7 ' M Lannclougue also attacks the shortRighted and narrow political economy <if small French families, who centralise then- interest m the familv fortune, whieu it to be handed down' from generation to generation, and to be kept out of all risk and danger at aiiv cos* J Ins spirit, says M. Lannelongue is a public evil, involving -elative tiripro'ductivity of capital, and restraining initiative and enternrise. The bill is generally -well-received, and there is ground tor the hope that its nrincinles at least will receive some, interpretation m the Statute-hp.-* W« re the end of the present Legislature!,