THE EISE IN THE VALUE OF BABIES 7 



which a young and vigorous people must have in 

 such immense and fruitful countries, where they are 

 unburdened by oppressive militarism. In the whole 

 range of modern vital statistics, I know of nothing 

 more interesting to the sociologist than the striking 

 decline in the Australasian birth-rates, shown in the 

 accompanying table. 



Table I 



That there is an increasing tendency to sterility in 

 modern life, particularly among the more progressive 

 nations, is shown in a most striking manner by the 

 accompanying statistical table. It will be observed 

 that while the percentage of decrease is greatest in 

 the Australian states, their condition is no more alarm- 

 ing than that of France with its very small percentage 

 of decrease. But France has long been confronted 



* Adapted from the Report of the Royal Commission on the De- 

 cline of the Birth-rate and on the Mortality of Infants in New 

 South Wales, 1904. 



