DECREASING POPULATION OF FRANCE 257 



fourth. But for fiscal reasons such proposals have not been favorably 

 received. A proposed measure which has many advocates is the em- 

 ployment of the taxing power for the purpose of chastising celibates 

 and the heads of families without children. The rearing of children, 

 says M. Bertillon, one of the strongest advocates of the taxation of 

 celibacy and infecundity, should be considered as a public duty in the 

 same way as service in the army and the payment of taxes. The act of 

 rearing a child should be considered as equivalent to the payment of a 

 tax ; he who does not discharge this duty should be subject to a sur tax ; 

 those who do, should be wholly or partially exempted from taxation. 

 The statistics show that there are more than 1,500,000 male celibates 

 over 25 years of age in France, nearly 2,000,000 families without any 

 children at all, nearly 3,000,000 which have but one child each, and 

 2,500,000 which have but two each. 



A sur tax on such persons would be to a large extent a tax on the 

 rich and well-to-do and it would make possible a reduction of the taxes 

 on the comparatively small number of large families which are to be 

 found, for the most part, among the poorer classes. 



Fiscal measures whose purpose is to discriminate and to punish 

 celibacy and infecundity are, however, objectionable to many persons 

 who believe that the better remedy consists in measures of a more 

 elevated character addressed to the moral sentiments — measures which 

 will tend to reward and honor fecundity and which shall have the 

 character of a mark of recognition by the state of its esteem for those 

 who have contributed to its strength and perpetuity by the rearing of 

 families. Such a measure is the oft-repeated proposal to give the pref- 

 erence in the matter of appointments to the lower posts in the public- 

 service which do not require special qualifications, to the heads of 

 families and especially to the heads of families containing more than 

 three children. This proposal has been advocated by Messrs. Bertillon, 

 Leroy-Beaulieu, Levasseur, Senators Lannelongue, Piot and many 

 others and has been the subject of numerous bills in parliament. M. 

 Leroy-Beaulieu has, I believe, even proposed that no one be appointed a 

 functionary who does not have at least three living children. This 

 proposal recalls the action of a former prefect of the Seine, M. Poubelle, 

 who refused to appoint to certain inferior positions, any man who was 

 not the father of at least three children. But this is a rather heroic 

 remedy, hardly conducive to administrative efficiency, and would 

 scarcely be practicable unless the state should increase the present mis- 

 erably low scale of salaries now allowed its employes, many of whom 

 find it impossible to support a family of three children out of their 

 official incomes. 



A more moderate proposal is that the state should take account of 

 the size of the family in fixing the salaries and retiring pensions of 



vol. lxxxv. — 18. 



