Page:Popular Science Monthly Volume 69.djvu/265

Rh It is noteworthy that the birth rates of the JewS are decreasing much more decidedly than those of the Christians in the countries in which they live. In Poland, for instance, the birth rate of the Jews was in 1891, 36.98, sinking in 1901 to 30.85, while among the Catholic population of that city it remained stationary, 41.58 and 41.59, respectively. In Roumania it decreased among the Jews from 40.14 in 1896 to 32.36 in 1902, as against an increase of from 41.19 to 42.86 among the Christians. In Hungary also the rate sank from 36.86 in 1891-95, to 32.19 in 1903. In western Europe this decrease of the birth rates among the Jews is actually appalling. In Bavaria the difference between 1876 and 1903 is nearly one half:

The birth rate of the Jews has thus decreased nearly one half within twenty-seven years, while among the christians the decrease is only slight. That this is not due to any special cause operating in 1903 is shown by the fact that it has been steadily going down. The average annual rates were in Bavaria as follows:

In Prussia the same phenomenon is to be observed. The rates have decreased since 1875 among the Jews and increased among the Christians. As Arthur Ruppin shows, if we consider the absolute number of births during 1875 as 100, then it is found that during 1903 only 61.56 per cent, were recorded among the Jews, while among the christians it increased to 118.47 per cent. In the following table, giving the rates in Prussia for eighty consecutive years, is shown the steady fall of the fertility of the Jews; it shows that the christians bear nearly double the number of children as the Jews:

The same is found to be the case in the United States: from statistics collected by the eleventh census (Census Bulletin No. 19, 1890), it is seen that the birth rate of the Jews is only 20.81 per 1,000 population, which is at least ten per 1,000 lower than the average birth rate among the general population. A fairer means of comparison,