522 SCIENCE PROGRESS 



fall in the birth-rate recorded in the returns of the Registrar-General. More than 

 ever is it brought to the fore when one considers the effect of the war on the man- 

 hood of the country. The flower of the younger men, physically and in many 

 other ways as citizens, is being destroyed, and even though their noble sacrifice 

 will not be forgotten nor in vain, yet as citizens and potential fathers they are lost 

 to the nation. This report is especially interesting as it is an attempt on a fairly 

 large scale to deal with the problem, and it is worthy of all commendation. It 

 involved a considerable amount of time and labour on the part of all concerned 

 and, in the case of some of the witnesses examined, a very thorough and thoughtful 

 preparation of their evidence. 



Out of the welter of facts, theories, and opinions brought before this committee, 

 which in themselves indicate the enormous complexity of the whole question, a 

 few points stand out quite clearly. There is beyond all doubt a large and signifi- 

 cant fall in the birth-rate, and again, as Miss Elderton and other workers in Prof. 

 Karl Pearson's laboratories have shown, the decline is to a large extent selective. 

 It is among classes that are likely to contain the best citizens that the fall is most 

 marked, while among classes with a fair proportion of undesirables it is as high as 

 ever. This may or may not be a good thing, but most people will undoubtedly 

 regard it as distinctly bad. There is, indeed, a difference of opinion as to whether 

 a large birth-rate is or is not desirable, but apparently none with regard to its 

 present selective action. The causes of this decline are not so obvious ; it may be 

 that there is a certain reduction of the fertility of the population in general, or 

 perhaps in the educated classes, or as seems more likely from the opinions 

 expressed by the witnesses, it is due to the conscious restriction of the number of 

 children in the family. All parties are in unison in condemning the practice 

 of destroying the product of conception by causing an abortion, a practice that 

 unfortunately appears to be prevalent in some of the northern midland districts. 

 Concerning the desirability of limiting the family by preventing conception in 

 some way or other serious differences are found, but the evidence on this point is 

 of a most nebulous character, and to practically every answer of the witnesses 

 concerning it the words of one of the questioners apply with ever-increasing force: 

 " I gather this is your opinion, but are there any methods of getting facts ? " This 

 is probably one of the most striking features of the report, the appalling general 

 ignorance concerning many of the points involved, even though of an important 

 character. Save on the statistical side, where of course there is always a difficulty 

 of obtaining the facts or of properly interpreting the results, there is a strange 

 absence of facts, and as a consequence a number of different opinions. If this 

 report does no more than call attention to this lack of knowledge and direct the 

 attention of the right people to filling in the blanks it will have served a useful 

 purpose. 



Almost all witnesses agree that it is economic pressure that leads to the 

 restriction of the family, and consequently many of the suggested remedies pro- 

 posed in the addition are in the direction of lightening the burden to be borne by 

 parents of families. The proposal to tax bachelors is hardly to be endorsed, since 

 if such a tax is to be levied it should fall on all childless people of both sexes, 

 married or unmarried. In other words, precisely the same result would be achieved 

 by a rebatement of taxes for each child under a certain age such as is done at 

 present, but of far larger amounts. Another proposal that would meet with 

 approval is that the expenditure on the education of the children should be freed 

 from tax as is now done with the payment of insurance premiums. 



C. H. O'D. 



