HOW NATIONS DIE

Wanganui Chronicle, Volume 83, Issue 306, 28 December 1939, Page 3

HOW NATIONS DIE

RACE SUICIDES 1' A DOCTOR’S WARNING POPI LATE OK PERISH. (From a Correspondent.) CANBERRA. Dec. 10. Three former Prime Ministers of Australia were present when Dr. Halliday Sutherland delivered an address on “How Nations Die An Examination of the Effects of Race Suicide.” The Attorney-General (Mr. W. M.j Hughes) presided, on the platform' were Mr. J. 11. Scullin, Sir Earle Page, | the President of the Highland Society < (Mr. D. W. Cargill), and Mr. F. J.i Murphy. Introducing, the lecturer, Mr.! Hughes said t hat Dr. Sutherland had i devoted his life to the service of his fellow men, and in the fight against tuberculosis was one of the foremost workers. However, he would speak about another disease more deadly than tuberculosis or cancer, and more terrible in its effect on the national life than war itself race suicide. “In the last war Australia lost 60,000 of the Hower of the race. Since peace came in 1918 Australia has lost ten times that number through the fall in the birth rate,” he added. Mr. Hughes declared that had the birth rate remained at the 1921 level, Australia would have been supporting! 2,000,000 more people. Growth and Decline. Dr. Sutherland, said that suicide of a; race required less resolution than sui-' cide of an individual. Civilisation like the individual, had a period of growth, followed by a period of decline. At the beginning of the nineteenth century, the population of England was 3,000,000 and 100 years later it was 32,500,000. During the second half of the century the death rate had fallen, and it had been proved that when social conditions ii/roved, the birth rate fell of its own accord. Under conditions of hardship, there was a marked tendency for the birth rate to rise. With easy living, the rate invariably fell, and there was no exception to this rule. Dr. Sutherland expressed the view that under reasonably healthy living» conditions, the population would he- 1 come well balanced without recourse to measures which interfered with | nature were a menace to the i nation’s existence. Dr. Sutherland said that England was fast approaching the time when,) with rising death rates due to a pre- j ponderance of old people, and falling birth rates as a result of there being | fewer marriageable couples, the; population must decline. Similar i forces, he said, were operating in Aus-1 tralia. Unless there was a vast na-! tional awakening in regard to these I dangers, Great Britain’s power I amongst the nations was bound to fail. | The children of the next generation 1 would have a harder time than their j parents, as the increase in the number of old people would result in a j corresponding increase in the ,

amounts required for pensions, which could only be raised from the young workers. Australia’s Alternatives. "If Australia is to remain a country of British stock, she must check the falling birth rate or else attract more young settlers from the Mother Country. During his travels in Australia, said Dr. Sutherland, he had found that young boys from the poorer quarters of London quickly acclimatised themselves to Australian conditions. "These are the types of settlors you want," he added. However, he deplored the fact that of a total of approximately 10,000 new settlers arriving in Australia only 3 per cent, were of British stock. Dr. Sutherland compared Australia's comparatively unpopulated state with that of the countries of Europe, and sounded a warning that the time would come when the British Government and the Governments of the Dominions must formulate a population policy, and take instant action against race suicide, which had permeated all classes in the community. He suggested for consideration ■ system of marriage loans to couples between the ages of 20 and 30 years, and said that these had had a healthy effect in certain European countries, with a marked improvement In birth statistics. However, he would make the loans available to people with an income up to £lOOO per year. “The ideals of marriage and the honour of motherhood shou 1 be restored to the place of our fathers’ time,” he declared. In addition, said Dr. Sutherland, the sale of contraceptives must be made illegal. A vote of thanks to Dr. Sutherland was proposed by Sir Earle Page, who stated that Mr. Hughes had sounded the warning. "Populate or Perish," while the Minister for Health had been striving to save the babies. Dr. Sutherland was doing a great work in attempting to save the unborn babies of Australia.