Show r I I THE SMALLER FAMILY j In the period per loll between the first and fl the latest federal census 1700 0 and andle le the American family has shrunk t from an average of ot CS jS persons to an average of 40 16 Amid n a mass of com corn comparative 1 I statistics complied compiled by h W V SI S I Rossiter of tho the census bureau it Is I this fact which specially challenges the attention of tho the country Ap Api 11 preaching the die some same fact from rom various i I angles Mr bur Ir Rossiter points out that l t were it not for this discrepancy be he between bet bei 1 i t tween mite tho average white while American t family of today loday and that of ono one hun hundred Bred dred years ears ago aso tho population of the SUites Slates would now number 20 more than It does docs He Ile also shows hows that thai the number of children un tin under unI tinder I der 16 15 years of age a e to each family In Inthe Inthe inthe the colonial days was 28 ns as com corn compared j pared with 15 in 1900 and that tho the III ratio of children to lo women has hns been i cut cat in half There are aro many stand stanel standpoints standpoints points from which lo to view this sub subject subject jest he admits but bat from one ono at atI ltd I least east it may mar be claimed that the peo people pIe of the United States have concluded concluded ed cd that they thoy are aro only about ha half haIr It as aswell aswell i well weB able to rear children at any rate rat ratI I II I without personal sacrifice under the tho I conditions which wh prevailed in 1900 1 00 as Ii II I j their predecessors proved themselves s r i I to be under conditions prevailing In 1790 The h census officials are arc said to recognize a distinct connection bet be he between t tween the tho reduction re in hI families and the I increasing movement of population lo to loard I I ard and the cities since the apartment t house glat and do not I i encourage large larse families From r ram Mr Ir pamphlet I wo wa learn that in the United States Stales tho the thoI I ratio of white persons 20 O years oars of age Jt t j I I and over oer to lo white children user under a IG IGI 1 t f I has h s changed ch n cd during lur ng the Iho period under I f discussion from 78 18 to I The rhe Philadelphia Ledger comment commenting 4 i ing lag on the census figures says sa saIt j It is an acknowledged and obvious I I j fact that tho tendency tend ncy of or civilization I i o or of Increasing into intelligence and thrift is to limit the propagation of children As a broad generalization I we vo may mar say Sa i that the higher the social development it I the smaller the average av rago of offspring offs pring The largest families are lre found among amons f the most improvident And In ht this Sf t country open to the Iho constant immigration Immigration iIi gration of people on a low law scale of development ent this is unquestionably a a danger since their more rapid In Increase Increase iii crease may mar overwhelm the native nauvo stock But when we wo talk about the dimin stein birth rato especially among tho we ore are not to overlook the Iho diminished and other othor facts which make for the restoration of the balance it IB la believed by bj the Iho most competent students that lint the aver average average er erase age ase duration of human life has been baen doubled doul since tho the sixteenth century Within n a period for which wo we have trustworthy records long longevity Is shown to be he extending at an Increasing ratio It was lengthened by b about al out nine nino years during tho the last lust century at nt present It Is lengthening In Europe at tho rate of o 27 years per century Those born have haye an nn in increasing increasing creasing expectancy of life lIfo This Is primarily the result of sani sanitary san sanitary I tary and Improvement and some of tho the most important fruits of o othiR this thiR are arc found In a n diminution of In Infant Infant fant ant mortality If It fewer children are born barn tho ilia proportion of them that sur survive vive their first year Is enormously Increased It t Is still true that thal vast numbers of the Ule children born In pov poverty I erty orty ort and filth die before they the have I fairly started upon life and an this Is still a counterbalance e to be remembered bored Among the classes with small families tub th children born have havo a vastly better change chan c of o life and It may be questioned whether the tho largo percentage of them thorn who reach maturity do not compensate for tor the tho fewer aggregate bIrths |