The Dominion. SATURDAY, OCTOBER 3, 1914. THE WAR AND THE BIRTH-RATE

Dominion, Volume 8, Issue 2271, 3 October 1914, Page 6

The Dominion. SATURDAY, OCTOBER 3, 1914. THE WAR AND THE BIRTH-RATE

One of the most disastrous consequences of a long and fiercely-fought war is tho serious effect it must have on the natural increase, of the populations of the belligerent nations. It has been well said that "wars are not paid for in war times; the. bill comes later." The loss of a considerable section of 4ho most vigorous of the male - inhabitants of a country must have an adverse influence onthe birth-rate. This influence • will probably continue to operate for years after peace has been restored, and cannot fail to leave its mark on tho qualities of tho people. A French 'writer was no cfoubt right when he remarked that it would take long .periods of peace and plenty before France recovered the tall statures mowed down in tho wars, of the Republic and the First Empire. Napoleon said it was always possible to fill the places of soldiers, but he lived to discover his mistake, in this matter, for he had eventually to. fall hack upon the boys of France in order to maintain the numorical strength of his armies. An enormous number of tho best soldiers of Germany have already been killed during the present war. Nearly every able-bodied German Ts doing military duty, and the. prolongation of the conflict must seriously, weaken the country from the population point of view. Russia, Austria. France, and Belgium will also suffer in the same way. The birth-rate in France is already so low that she can least, afford to sacrifice her manhood on the battlefield, but the sacrifice is absolutely unavoidable, the only, alternative being national extinction. The British losses will be far less than those of the other principal belligerents. They will, however, be very considerable before the strugglo is over. Yet the energies of every healthy-minded and strong-bodied citizen are required if tho vast resources of our Empire arc to be adequately developed. It has been said that the only thing a nation dies of is lack of men—not weaklings, but men of the highest all-round typo; and if our Empire is worth fighting for, it should also be worth perpetuating by maintaining a high rate of natural increase. What is the use of putting forth all our strength to defeat our external foes, if wo are eventually to succumb to a more deadly enemy within our own gates 1 Nearly all European countries are at present faced with a disquieting problem in the form of '""a falling birth-rate. Something may be dono by means of State action to arrest the downward movement, but it is only by a quickening of tho moral (sense of tho men and women of the nation that a change for tho better can be brought about. In his report for the year 1910, the

British Registrar-General stated that "a decreasing birth-rate is a feature common to nearly all European countries, and also to the principal colonial States. The effect on the growth of population has been to some considerable extent modified by the concurrent decline in the deathrate; but it,is obvious that the deathrate cannot decline indefinitely." Mr. Whetham, of Cambridge University, who has given much attention to the subject, points out that a decreaso in the death-rate means that more people are living to r greater age, and probably exceeding the-limit of years to be assigned to remunerative employment, while a decrease in the birth-rate indicates that fewer young people are being born to support them and to carry on tho work of the nation. The tendency to shirk tho responsibilities of parenthood is much greater in some countries than in-others. The birthrate, in, Russia is decidedly high, while that in France is alarmingly low, as will be seen from the following, table giving the births per thousand of the population for the nations now at war, and a number of others:— • Russia (1905) 44.8 Sefria (1911) 36.2 Hungary (1911) 35.0 Japan (1909) 34.2 Italy (1911) i 31.5 Austria (1911) 31.4 Spain (1911) .' 31.2 i Australia (1912) 28.7 - German Empire (1911) 23.6 New Zealand (1912) 26.5 United Kingdom (1911) 24.4 Belgium (1910) 23.7 .Canada (Ontario), (1911) 21.7 France (1911) t 18.7 New Zealand's position cannot be regarded as satisfactory, notwithstanding the very low death-rate, for the natural increase of population has fallen from 31.19 per thousand in 1870 to 17.61 per 1000 in 1912. The rate for 1912 was slightly, better than that of' the previous s'ear, but the figures have not shown much variation since 1900. Australia has a better record than New Zealand. The birth-rate for 1911 (27.21) was higher than in any of the preceding ten years! there having been an uninterrupted increase since 1907. Tho increase shown by the 1912 figures (25.7) over those of 1911 is, however, sligiuiy fictitious, as the law relating to maternity allowances which came into force in October, 1912, had the effect of diminishing the period between the dates of birth and dates of registration, so that about 6000 births were registered during the last threo months of the year which, under ordinary circumstances, would not have been registered before the beginning of 1913. The, facts and figures referred to in this article should receive the careful consideration of everyone who has the welfare of the British Empire at heart. ' A nation's greatness must in the long run depend upon the number and character—mental, moral, and physical—of its people, and not the extent of its territory. Our Empire cannot bo effectively occupied, and developed, by men and women of the British race unless our people recopniso tho natural obligation to be fruitful and multiply. This time of trial through which tho nation is now passing' should beget a stronger feeling.of duty in this matter. It is of fundamental importance that the interests of the race should be considered as well as thoso of tho individual, and that the sense 'of responsibility to the future should not bo weakened by the over-indulgence of the desire for present ease and comfort.,