BRITAIN’S CENSUS

Hokitika Guardian, 4 September 1931, Page 3

BRITAIN’S CENSUS

THE LOW BIRTH RATE. LONDON, July 9. According to his preliminary report on the census for England and Wales, the Registrar-General is alarm-d at tub ran in the b.rth rate, about which lie says : “The full significance of the fall will be but dimly appreciated for momy y-ais to come ; and temporary satisfaction fell in a reduction , of the numb.-r of tuiproproductive mouths to be Hik'd during the 'present period of economic stress must sooner or later be qualified by a real caption of the profound-tv secular issue;-, involved. The births of .to-dav govern the population of the future; and just as the nation which faced the upheaval of 1914 to 1918 was the product of the birth rates prevailing towards the close of last century, we are now observing the conditions which will shape th generations charged with the national destiny in the latter part of the present century. , “The almost unbroken fall in the birth rate during the past ten years lias reduced it to a level of 16.3 '.per, 1000 population, a figure which is but half or less than half, that experienced pr.or to 1890, and only about two-thirds of that recorded in pre-war years. "It is true that the present tendency is not restricted to this country, and that most Western nations have reported reductions in their birth rates of considerable magnitude. But it should be noted that this country now ranks low.r in this respect than any other save Sweden; and that the present rate is definitely insufficient to maintain a stationary population in the future.” is ,our case reau.y so deplorable? It is not likely that a biologist would deplore 1 so eloquently the wane of the late Victorian birth rates - herb; and abroad which helped to give the nation a war to face. Jls It not rather that we should consciously pla'n for an '“optimum” in place of a “maximum,’’ population for a given area? That is to say, not the largest number possible, but 'the largest number which can live a good life in that area. Thus United States immigration authorities the optimum for that country at 150,000,000.. The changes in the distribution ot our urban populations certainly ought to be, studied in their relation to town planning and obvious trends—such as that of . industry to the south—intelligently followed up, or better still, intelligently anticipated But the general fact that the population of England and Wales is almost stable cannot be regarded as alarming. A smaller population will mean better conditions of life and greater comfort tor community as a whole. But as the bacTf' of some fears of a generation, less productive in numbers, lies the fear that. Vssoued productivity involves decreasing virility. Here .again science must try to get the relevant information and try to lead opinion on a solid basis instead of by our present alarm and drift.

\“r J. -A. Spender, optimist in spite of th® Registrar s alarms, says ; -Now there is a doubt whether the machine-run, rationalised, mass-producing industries can keep the existing population employed. If not, we shall see the resuF in a declining birth rate. There will not for ever be a large surplus of unemployed.

S4*, “Then in the background there is always birth-control with its visible but, incalcula’de results. These will begin to appear more and more when we have exhausted what can be done by reducing the death rate.. Can birth-control be trusted to keep us at th e l eve l (and.not go Below it) at which the good life is secured ?

‘Too iiot know, and nobody knows. My own belief is that Nature will reassert herself, whenever th:s level is reached and there is any serious d ug r of going below it. But it is impossible to define what this level is. Each generation will discover that for itself.’’ The post-war world has definitely been trying to control population by immigration restriction and the industrial, political, and social results have not yet been fully recognised.