THE DETERIORATION OF OUR BREED 63 



these matters the surgeon has done more than the doctor. 

 Education has greatly benefited the poor ; but as to those 

 classes which have for long had the advantage of a good 

 education, are they any better or wiser ? I doubt it. Do 

 we keep turning out great men as often as in the past ? 

 Let each one answer this question for himself. 



The greatest cause for alarm arises, not from what we can 

 actually see, but from what we judge must be taking place. 

 The following facts illustrate what is known as the differ- 

 ential birth-rate. In an examination of the census of 1911 

 the population was divided into eight '* social classes " ; 

 but of these only three will here be mentioned. The first 

 class, " the upper and middle classes," is sufficiently well 

 described by its name. It includes at the lower limit such 

 occupations as clerks and insurance agents. In this class 

 it was found at the date of the census that every 100 

 families had 190 children already bom, of whom 168 were 

 then alive. In the third of the eight classes, consisting of 

 " skilled workmen," the similar figiu-es were 279 bom and 

 232 surviving. In the fifth class, consisting of " unskilled 

 men," the numbers were 337 born and 268 surviving. Thus 

 the surviving children per 100 families numbered 168, 232, 

 and 268 respectively in these three classes. Since 1911 it is 

 probable that the birth-rate of the skilled workmen has 

 fallen more than that of the unskilled men. Thus the rule 

 is, the higher the salaries or wages, the lower the birth-rate. 

 There are exceptions, but they are not enough to prevent 

 us from placing reliance on this generalization. 



This matter may be put another way. Where there is 

 overcrowding, where many children are employed, where 

 circumstances make refinement of mind and manners 

 difficult, where many children die, there wives have most 

 children. The high death-rate in the poor districts does 

 not now counterbalance this high birth-rate; though 

 probably it did so in the past. And the death-rate amongst 

 the children of the poor is still falling, as the results of the 

 splendid efforts which have been made to bring about this 

 result. The labourer class has been multiplying more and 



