Birth Control - A Statement of Christian Doctrine against the Neo-Malthusians by Halliday G. Sutherland
page 42 of 160 (26%)
page 42 of 160 (26%)
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this matter at least the poorest Irish peasants are richer than the people
of England. Section 4. VITAL STATISTICS OF FRANCE The Malthusian claim that a low birth-rate leads to a low death-rate is also disproved by the vital statistics of France. "The death-rate of France has not declined at the same rate as the birth-rate has, and, while the incidence of mortality in France was equal to that of England in the middle of the seventies, the English mortality is now only five-sevenths of the French. England thus maintains a fair natural increase, although the birth-rate has declined at an even faster pace than has been the case in France.... "The French death-rate is higher than is the case with most of her neighbours, and it can quite well be reduced. The reasons for her fairly high mortality are not to be found in climatic conditions, racial characteristics, or other unchangeable elements of nature, nor even in her occupations, since some of the most industrial regions have a low mortality." [32] I have tabulated certain vital statistics of twenty Departments of France. The following table, covering two periods of five years in twenty Departments, proves that _the death-rate was lower_ in the ten Departments having the highest birth-rate in France than in the ten Departments having the lowest birth-rate. |
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