The Stratford Evening Post. WITH WHICH IS INCORPORATED THE EGMONT SETTLER. TUESDAY, OCTOBER 8, 1912. THE WORLD’S PROBLEM.

Stratford Evening Post, Volume XXXIV, Issue 38, 8 October 1912, Page 4

The Stratford Evening Post. WITH WHICH IS INCORPORATED THE EGMONT SETTLER. TUESDAY, OCTOBER 8, 1912. THE WORLD’S PROBLEM.

'-- " . •- ‘ : ■ .VCU.I. From every civilised land the same cry to-day arises—that /the- birth-rate is declining and Gie /time ,has come when children are a'luxury. > Whether the chief matter of concern is the perversion of moral outlook or the material loss to the nation is exercising many minds in many lands, for all are in the same straits. Even Germany recently reluctantly admitted anxiety on the score, and to-day the serious decline in the French birthrate, which last year showed a falling off of 32,869 births as compared with 1910, has led the Minister of Finance to appoint a Commission for the purpose of investigating the causes of the decline and of suggesting remedies. In emphasising the importance of immediate action if France is to maintain her position in the world, M. Jacques Bertillon, the eminent statistician and brother of the inventor of the finger-print system of identification, points out that whereas a century ago 27 per cent, of the population of the Great European Powers were French, to-day the proportion is only 11 per cent. Formerly French was the most widely spoken language ; to-day it is the mother tongue of only 45,000,000 as compared with 100,000,000 who speak German, and 130,000,000 who speak English. As for remedies, M. Bertillon insists that Frenchmen must be taught not to regard a child as a burden which its father supports for the benefit of the whole community. But in order that a family should pay what it owes to the State, lie holds it should consist of at least three children—two to fill the places of the parents when they die, the third to fill the gaps caused by those who die before attaining adult age. In order to promote this end, M. Bertillon proposes a reduction of taxation upon fathers of three or more than three children, in, proportion to the number of living offspring-—a system already adopted in Prussia, Saxony, Servia, Norway, Sweden, and parts of Switzerland. The laws of succession should be modified and formalities of marriage simplified. Mothers of large families should be assisted in various ways, and especial provision should bo made for wiows left with children. Finally, M. Bertillon suggests that among the humbler class of public servants those candidates for employment by the State who have children should be considered as eligible in proportion to the size of their families.