Compare Horn, Bevölkerungswissenschaftliche Studien, I, 162 ff., 191, 252 ff. In most countries, there is a much larger number of children to a marriage in the rural districts than in the cities; but at the same time, marriages are much less frequent there. In Saxony, however, where the cities show a greater marital productiveness, the rural districts present a large number of marriages. Of the 10 countries compared by Wappäus, II, 481 ff., only Prussia and Schleswig are exceptions to the rule.
INFLUENCE OF AN INCREASE OF THE MEANS OF SUBSISTENCE.
The sexual instinct and the love for children are incentives of such universality and power, that an increase of the means of subsistence is uniformly[TN 68] followed by an increase in the numbers of mankind. Partout, où deux personnes peuvent vivre commodément, il se fait un mariage. (Montesquieu.) Thus after a good harvest, the number of marriages and births is wont to considerably increase; and conversely to diminish after bad harvests.[240-1] [240-2] [240-3] In the former case, it is rather hope than actual possession which constitutes the incentive to the founding of new families. Hence the greatest increase is not found in connection with the absolutely lowest price of corn, but with those prices which present the most striking contrast to those of a previous bad year.[240-4]
The introduction of the potato has promoted the rapid increase of population in most countries. Thus, the population of Ireland in 1695, was only 1,034,000; in 1654, when the cultivation of the potato became somewhat more common it was 2,372,000; in 1805, 5,395,000; in 1823, 6,801,827; in 1841, 8,175,000. In 1851, after the fearful spread of the potato-rot it fell again to 6,515,000.[240-5] In general, every new or increasing branch of industry, as soon as it yields a real net product is wont to invite an increase of population. Machines, however, have not this effect only when they operate to produce rather a more unequal division of the national income than an absolute increase of that income.[240-6]
[240-1] That rich food directly increased prolificacy is proved from the fact that, for instance, our domestic animals are much more prolific than wild ones of the same species. Compare Villermé, in the Journ. des Economistes VI, 400 ff. The months richest in conceptions fall universally in the spring, and again in the pleasant season immediately following the harvest. On the other hand, during the seasons of fast in the Catholic church the number of cases of conception is below the average. (Jour. des Econ., 1857, 808).
[240-2] Thus the annual mean number of marriages amounted to:
| Between 1841 and 1850. | In 1847 alone. | |
| In Saxony, | 215,505 | 214,220 |
| In Holland, | 222,352 | 219,280 |
| In Belgium, | 228,968 | 224,145 |
| In France, | 280,330 | 249,797 |
Horn, loc. cit. I, 167. In the governmental district (Regierungsbezirke) of Düsseldorf, there was in the years of scarcity, 1817 and 1818, one marriage for every 134 and 137 souls; on the other hand, in 1834 and 1835, in every 103 and 105. (Viebahn, I, 120 seq.) In England, the variations in the yearly price of corn are reflected in the variations in the number of yearly marriages. Thus, in 1800, 114 shillings per quarter; 1801, 122 shillings; 1802 (Peace of Amiens), 70 shillings; 1803, 58 shillings. The number of marriages in the four years respectively was 69,851, 67,288, 90,396, 94,379. (Porter, Progress of the Nation, III, ch. 14, 453.)
Similarly in Germany, in 1851, the conclusion of peace increased the number of marriages, and the scarcity of 1817 diminished it. In Prussia, in 1816, there was one marriage for every 88.1 of the population; in 1828, for every 121.4; in 1834 (origin of the great Zollverein), for every 104; in 1855, for every 136.4; in 1858 (hope of a new era), in every 105.9. (v. Viebahn, Statistik des Zollvereins II, 206.)