MANIFESTED IN HUMAN SOCIETY 



103 



If, then, Ireland is an exception to this almost universal 

 rule, such a special result must be due to special causes. 

 A very little reflection is sufficient to show this, for if 

 the birthrate is rising, what was keeping it down before 

 the rise commenced ? Were contraceptives being used, 

 and is their use now diminishing under the influence 

 of religion ? Rises in the birthrate are very frequent 

 phenomena in the world's history, but advocates of the 

 "race-suicide" view seem never to reflect that an explana- 

 tion is needed. A decline needs an explanation which 

 they endeavour to provide, but an increase just " happens 

 to occur." These cases of apparently increased fertility 

 in opposition to the general law need much more minute 

 investigation, and superficial attempts at explanation are 

 useless. 



The increase of fertility in Ireland, if genuine, may 

 perhaps be due to the fact that the peasantry, now owning 

 their own farms but encumbered by debt, are working 

 very hard to get the debt paid off, after the manner of 

 thrifty peasants the world over, their wives taking a 

 considerable part in the work. But the birthrate figures 

 for Ireland for the period from 1903 to 1913 are given 

 in the Statistical Abstract as follows : 



Year. 

 1903 

 1904 

 1905 

 1906 

 1907 

 1908 

 1909 

 1910 

 1911 

 1912 

 1913 



Bate per 1,000 of Population. 

 23-1 

 23-6 

 23-4 

 23-5 

 23-2 

 23-3 

 23-4 

 23-3 

 23-2 

 23-0 

 22-8 



Thus the crude birthrate shows a slight decline up to 

 the beginning of the war, and if this really represents 

 a substantial increase of fertility, there must have been 



