Hunt: College Birth Rate 



143 



The situation, from a biological and 

 racial standpoint, at Allegheny Col- 

 lege and the other institutions cited, 

 is unsatisfactory. The population of 

 the United States has more than 

 doubled during the period covered by 

 this study. Much of this increase is 

 due to the immigration of stocks of 

 doubtful or inferior worth. The spec- 

 tacle of the stationary or dwindling old 

 American families of demonstrated 

 capacity, silhouetted against the (until 

 recently) inrushing hordes from south- 

 ern and eastern Europe, is an ominous 

 spectacle that no intelligent person will 

 ignore. 



The ethical aspects of the problem 

 should be considered with the biologi- 

 cal. Childless persons and single chil- 

 dren are not likely to be habitually 

 cooperative. The "give and take" in 

 a family of five or six persons de- 



velops habits of helpfulness that make 

 a better neighbor and citizen. Love 

 of the members of one's family is a 

 channel through which love for man- 

 kind in general may easily flow. 



Summary 



Variations in mental capacity are in- 

 herited. In spite of the fact that 

 civilization and progress depend upon 

 a sufficient proportion of unusually 

 intelligent persons, such strains do not 

 appear to be holding their own in our 

 increasing population. This is true of 

 college graduates as far as they have 

 been studied. The birth and marriage 

 rates have remained fairly constant for 

 graduates of Allegheny College (classes 

 of 1870-189^). but the group has prob- 

 ably fallen somewhat short of produc- 

 ing enough children to replace itself. 



Period 



of 

 gradua- 

 tion 



I 870- I 884 

 i88;-i8qq 



Table 7. Data concerning families of clergymen. 



Single 



No. 



I 



I 



Per 

 cent 



4-3 

 2.6 



Married 



No. 



22 



2,7 



Per 

 cent 



957 

 97-4 



Average Average 



age at age at 



gradua- mar- 



tion riage 



24.9 

 26.2 



29-5 

 30.8 



Childless Av. No. 



Marriages children 



per 



No. Per cent family 



91 

 16.2 



47 

 30 



Table 8. Comparison of parental group with the computed number of children to reach 



an age of 20-24 years. 



Number of married man graduates, plus their wives, some of whom are graduates.... 510 



Number of second wives of men graduates 9 



Number of single men graduates 36 



Number of married women graduates, plus their husbands ; women who married men 



graduates are omitted 54 



Number of single women graduates Z2 



Parental group, total 641 



Number of men graduates' children, living and dead; (includes all children both of 



whose parents are graduates ) 698 



Number of women graduates' children, living and dead 54 



Total children 752 



Computed surviving children, age 20 years 591 



Computed surviving children, age 21 years 588 



Computed surviving children, age 22 years 585 



Computed surviving children, age 2^ years 582 



Computed surviving children, age 24 years 579 



