RAGE SUICIDE.

Dominion, Volume 2, Issue 401, 9 January 1909, Page 14

RAGE SUICIDE.

WHAT IT MEANS TO FRANCE, CER- . MANY, ANDJRELAND. - . : .■ "Thel^steadilyprogressive 'decline-.in-'.the birth-rato Of Franca is a subject of constant .preoccupation' among ' political economists,";' says • Router's Paris correspondent. . "Certainly ja' statistical - review of the situation,, published'in "Opinion," by M. do Foville, member- of vthe;-Institute-, of the: Academie. des, Sciendes Morales et Politi-' ques, accentuates the national: gravity>of,'tile question: , ! --<l - ' ' Franco Suroly Dying. ;: "The latest figures' prove that'-'Franfee as a' nationVi.s -slowly but. surely 'dying? In' 10Q, years A the birth-rate has fallen' from 32;. per 1000 to 19.7, and at the present moment,' for the first time in history, and in France alone among-;nations, the.'deatljs/.exceed.tho births. : :''Since. \the tw;entieth 'centii'ry; began the', depline has continued.at 1 , the following.alarming rate Excess of - birthd' over deaths; 1902,' . 8410004 1903, .73,000; 1904, : 57,000V':'1905V 37,000;.190§,;27;000. .. Last -year,-19d7jr:zoro. -was reached arid passed; There were 20,000 more deaths ihirths; .The ! official-,Tetlirns are ;794,00,0. : .arid .774,000 under th^se-respec-tive: heads.,.,Tho word .'depopulation,' M.'de' Foville points' out, is, .therefore, no exaggeration;.. Is it, he asks, the begilining,of theend?.' .

Ripe for Invasion. , . for invasion*.- jisVvtli©-;* at^'"■& a ..- country which > is- capable:."of- supporting . half that Germany by! 6,000,000; it now - .' : it''. ."by.'' Over 1 - 20,000,000. In will: be. two German's -for: every Frenchman,'' without;counting the sons of the Fatherland scattered . all over the globe- by emigration. 'Thus : France,' concludes M. de -Fdvllle,"'; 'is inarching;with quickened step, to her doom;'. , . '.'As to tho causes, the writer contends that they: are 1 political and economic, as well asmoral; ■ The law is lax in regard to certain criminal practices, it has made divorce ridiculously easy, and it': winks: at pernicious : Nothing,: in fact, is being done to arrest:-.the;; gradual, extinction of a great race.'.! j.y*.,.,; < In. 1907,. for, the first time in. & normalyear ; the' grave _ gained upon the cradle," saya the: "Chronicle,'' commenting on these figures. "Tho depopulation of Franco has begun. .. . : . • . The. contrast -between the. French- figures ;.and the. .German is .particularly noteworthy. At the timeibf the: war the populations of f the, two ...was. approximately eqiial. That of Qermany exceeds-that of: France by 20,000,000 ''souls.' "Each country has 'uni-' i versal military .service,' „ but the' number "of potential;, army corps is being increased in the nurseries of-one country and diminished- in those:of.tho other. •... Standard of Comfort and other Faotors. "Races exist, however, for other, and better purposes than to arm for mutual "slaughter., .'Numbersj. it is We,' are'not .'the . only things':that count, in influence or in prosperity j nor to .ascribe the 'depopula-. tion of France' solely to' unworthy causes. Thrift, a high standard of comfort, the. equal division of property, these may he reckoned among.* the factors., as well as pothers less creditable to a nation's character or .institutions.. 'But; numbers'do count a great deal in /-the'case.'of a country with a large and fertile territory, at homeland a great sphere of influence, abroad.-- It behoves the legislators and moralists of France to take to heart the . warnings which > M. de Foville hks.been' foimdinfcon.the latest figures, and find means for arresting a process. which must otherwise-reduce the range of French civilisa- . tion 'and. influence, and which might even in the course .of time ; lead to the ,'racG .suicide' of France^".'.

Decreased Population of Ireland. • The-annual report of the Registrar-Gen-eral on marriages, births,, and deaths in Ireland during 1907, shows that the number of marriages registered during the year was 22,509; tho number of births, 101,742; arid the number, of deaths 77,334, The marriagera,te 'iwas .5.14 per,-,1000 . of the' estimated, p9pulatioh, . showing a decrease of 0.02 as compared, with that for the 1906, but is 0.05 above the average, rate for the ton years 1897-1906 ; . the birth-rate', was 23.8 per 1000 of the'estimated population, showing a decrease.of 0.4 as i compared with that for the preceding year, and is tho samo as the average for the ten years -1897-1906; and the death-rate (17.7 ; per 1000) iso.7 above the rate for the preceding year, but 0.2 under the average rate for the ton years 1897-1906. The returns for the year show that tho natural increase of population, or excess of births over deaths,.was 24,408; by emigration amounted to 39,082 (which number exceeds-the "number of emigrants enumerated in 1906,; namely, 35,344, and-also tho average ' number—37,3Bl- —for the ten years 1897-1906). ; It would appear,, therefore, that there was a decrease of 14,674 in the population during the year. With respect.to immigration/ there is no official record;' nor is it taken into, account in the estimate of the population, to the middle of the year, which uvas 4,377,064. <