| 1875 | 423 |
| 1880 | 391 |
| 1885 | 385 |
| 1890 | 370 |
| 1895 | 373 |
| 1900 | 368 |
| 1905 | 340 |
| 1906 | 341 |
| 1907 | 332 |
The majority of the other European countries present a similar condition, as the following table shows:
| For every 1,000 inhabitants. | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1871 to 1880 | 1881 to 1890 | 1891 to 1900 | 1901 to 1905 | 1907 | |
| England & Wales | 35.4 | 32.5 | 29.9 | 28.1 | 26.3 |
| Scotland | 34.9 | 32.3 | 30.2 | 28.9 | 27. |
| Ireland | 26.5 | 23.4 | 23. | 23.2 | 23.2 |
| Sweden | 30.5 | 29.1 | 27.2 | 26.1 | 25.5 |
| Italy | 36.9 | 37.8 | 34.9 | 32.6 | 31.5 |
| Austria | 39. | 37.9 | 37.1 | 35.8 | 35. |
| Hungary | 44.3 | 44.0 | 40.6 | 37.2 | 36. |
| Belgium | 32.3 | 30.2 | 39. | 27.7 | 25.7 |
| Switzerland | 30.8 | 28.1 | 28.1 | 28.1 | 26.8 |
| Netherlands | 36.2 | 34.2 | 32.5 | 31.5 | 30. |
The decline of the birthrate then is a general one, and though France and Ireland show the lowest figures, the decline is most rapid in England, Germany and Scotland. We meet with the same phenomenon in the United States and Australia. The fact presents itself still more strikingly if we proceed to compare the number of births with the number of married women between the 15th and 49th year of age:
| DECADES | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| 1876 to 1885 | 1886 to 1895 | 1896 to 1905 | |
| England and Wales | 250 | 259 | 203 |
| Scotland | 271 | 255 | 235 |
| Ireland | 250 | 245 | 264 |
| Denmark | 244 | 235 | 217 |
| Norway | 262 | 259 | 246 |
| Sweden | 240 | 231 | 219 |
| Finland | 259 | 246 | 244 |
| Austria | 246 | 250 | 242 |
| Hungary | 234 | 235 | 216 |
| Switzerland | 239 | 230 | 225 |
| German Empire | 268 | 258 | 243 |
| Prussia | 273 | 265 | 250 |
| Bavaria | 276 | 263 | 259 |
| Saxony | 267 | 250 | 216 |
| Wurtemberg | 288 | 259 | 262 |
| Baden | 266 | 248 | 251 |
| Netherlands | 293 | 286 | 272 |
| Belgium | 264 | 236 | 213 |
| France | 167 | 150 | 132 |
| Italy | 248 | 249 | 232 |
The above enumerated facts go to prove that the birth of a human being, “God’s image,” as religious persons say, is, on an average, estimated below the value of a newly-born domestic animal.
In many respects our views differ but slightly from those of barbarian people. Among the latter, newly-born children were often killed. This fate especially befell the girls. Among some living savages the same custom still prevails. We do not kill the girls; we are too civilized for that, but frequently we treat them as parias. Man, being the stronger, everywhere represses woman in the struggle for existence, and if she still persists in the struggle, she is often persecuted by the stronger sex as an undesirable competitor. Men of the upper classes are especially bitter against female competition. Among workingmen the demand to exclude women from the trades is voiced only rarely. When a resolution formulating such a demand was presented at a congress of French workingmen in 1876, it was voted down by a large majority. Since that time the conviction that the working woman is a fellow being entitled to equal rights and privileges, has grown among the class-conscious workingmen of all countries. The resolutions passed by international workingmen’s congresses prove this. The class-conscious workingman knows that present industrial conditions compel woman to enter into competition with man. He also knows, that an attempt to exclude woman from industry would be as futile as an attempt to forbid the use of machinery. Therefore he endeavors to instruct woman in regard to her position in society and to enlist her aid in the struggle for freedom of the proletariat against capitalism.
[3.—Mercenary Marriage and the Matrimonial Market.]
Modern society has undoubtedly advanced beyond any previous stage of development, but our conceptions concerning the relation of the sexes has in many respects remained unchanged. In 1876 Prof. L. v. Stein published a book on “Woman in the Field of Political Economy,” that is not suited to its title, since it merely draws a very poetically tinted picture of marriage. But this picture clearly shows the submissive position of woman in her relation to the “lion,” man. Stein writes: “Man desires a being who not only loves him but also understands him. He seeks one who is not only devoted to him, but whose soft hand smoothes the wrinkles on his forehead; who brings into his life peace, calm, order, gentle self-control, and all the many little comforts of life to which he returns daily. He needs some one to enhance all these things with the inexpressible charm of womanliness, imparting warmth and joy to his home.”