THE DIMINISHING BIRTH BATE 79 



prevalence in the present is also a pitfall into which it is easy to fall. 

 Professor Willcox well says: 



It is so easy and so fallacious to argue the increase of any phenomena 

 from the increase in the known instances. I am still unconvinced that there is 

 any increase of insanity in the United States and my attitude is much the same 

 regarding the diseases affecting the hirth rate. At the same time I admit that 

 the balance of expert testimony is strongly in favor of both these positions. 



A final objection to the explanations offered by the biologist and the 

 medical expert is that incapacity is to some extent a by-product of cer- 

 tain kinds of " preventives " that sterilize the reproductive organs. 

 This explains why some newly wedded couples who make it a point to 

 avoid children subsequently find that they can not have them. Of the 

 incapacity originating outside of wedlock, also, some is undoubtedly 

 traceable to this cause. An increase of involuntary sterility, there- 

 fore, may be merely a symptom of the increase of the voluntary variety. 



The explanation of the economist, on the other hand, has the advan- 

 tage of simplicity and clearness. To most minds, also, it seems less 

 speculative than do its rivals. Besides, it comes nearer explaining the 

 more obvious and important facts. It squares with the fact that the 

 fall in the birth rate is not confined to any one class, and with the 

 tendency of social phenomena, especially in a democracy, to spread 

 throughout the rank and file of society. Moreover, a point of view 

 that takes the will into account and does not reduce man to a mere 

 automaton is more in harmony with the commonly accepted method of 

 explaining social phenomena in general. The sensitiveness of the birth 

 rate to social and economic changes is admitted by both parties to the 

 controversy. But here the agreement ends. On the one hand, the 

 blind response of the human organism to the environment is main- 

 tained. On the other hand, the rational response of intelligence is 

 asserted. One emphasizes the resemblance between man and the vege- 

 table and the animal kingdoms. The other differentiates man from 

 other animate beings. The latter has the decided merit of recognizing 

 what is distinctive in human nature. 



Finally, the position of the economist is in keeping with certain 

 patent and well recognized truths. One is that men act with a sense 

 of responsibility in contracting the family relation. The general 

 acceptance of the view that children are invited and not sent undoubt- 

 edly makes powerfully for self-restraint and social decency. The gen- 

 eral acceptance of the contrary view would undoubtedly increase the birth 

 rate. A second truth, and one consistent with the foregoing, is that 

 the birth rate is well inside the physiological limit. Moreover, it is 

 farther inside than formerly. The evidence is conclusive. First, in 

 most countries all births, save only a small residue, occur within wed- 

 lock. Second, women marry later than formerly. This is a fact of 



