The Birth Rate.

Taranaki Daily News, Volume XLVI, Issue 74, 31 March 1904, Page 4

The Birth Rate.

A representative of the New Zealand Herald had a short interview with the Re\\ S. La wry, the president of the New Zealand Methodist Conference, 011 the .subject of the declining birth-rule. Mr La wry said : —" 1 take it that, the principal cause at work is the love of freedom and luxury, and the desire to be free from family cares. This desire operates a great deal more than the dread of not being able to bring up children in comfortable circumstances. 1 am conJirnied in this belief by the fact that, sa far as my observations go, the limitation of families obtains more among well-to-do people than among poor people. If this restriction were the outcome of a determination to improve the quaU ity of the race rather than to increase its numlbers, I should lie largi»ly in sympathy with it, because I believe thut the welfare of the country depends more upon the quality than upon the numbers of its people. Hut lam afraid that these artificial means of limiting families mean deterioration, both physical and moral, in quality, as well as diminution in numbers. The danger of this deterioration gives more reason for fear than the mere falling off in numbers. The strength of the country does not lie merely in the numbers of its population. I would I'ather see the country inhabited by a million of happy, well-conditioned and moral people than by two inillions of people of poor physique, of low morality, and in undesirable social conditions. The Government must not attempt to do too much. I think that some restrictions might be applied to the sale of mechanical appliances and also, perhaps, to the sale of a certain class of literature ; but these are only negative things. The remedy, to be elective, must be of a more positive nature, such as strengthening in some way the sense of parental and national responsibility. The idea of having lectures in schools, as has been suggested, is shocking. It would simply tend to make children too precocious. As to lectures generally, my opinion is that a great deal of mischief arises from the misdirected eiVorts of a certain class of lecturers. There is no doubt that amoagst cultivated women there is a shrinkage from the experiences and responsibility of motherhood. This is evidently the outcome of conditions inseparable from our modern civilisation. The nervous system is being developed at the expense of physical endurance. The average, woman of to-day cannot endure the same strain upon her constitution as the average woman of a century ago. It is a very complex matter altogether, and where there are a number of causes at work it is not to be expected that any one remedy will meet the case."