2 THE COMMON SENSE OF THE MILK QUESTION 



the cry of the children is none too loud, that it is even 

 now sometimes unheard so that we pass unheeding 



" The black sides of the pit, the quenchless fire." 

 Stili, with my eyes upon the pit, I am conscious of 

 the bright, kindly sun above, and know that the world 

 is a better place for children than ever before in its 

 history. Never before were the arms of society 

 spread for their protection around the children as 

 now. 



The fact is that modem nations place a higher 

 value upon child life to-day than they formerly did, 

 or than any of the nations of the past. Instead of 

 regarding the child as a burden, we regard it as an 

 asset, and the death of a child we have come to look 

 upon as a loss to the community. We think with 

 horror of the widespread practice of infanticide, by 

 Central Australians, Melanesians, Eskimos, Fijians, 

 the Chicimecs of Mexico, and many other savage 

 peoples,' and utterly fail to comprehend the barbarous 

 custom, or the economic conditions which inspired it. 

 Obviously, to such people the coming of a child must 

 have meant an additional burden, not an addition 

 to the wealth of the group, family, or community. 



Fortunately, among modern civilized nations it is 

 otherwise. Universally, a steady increase of popula- 

 tion by the natural propagation of the species is 

 regarded with favor, and a stationary or declining 

 birth-rate looked upon as calamitous. It is in no 



