but little marked in those Lancashire towns which possess a large Irish element.  But in Belgium, Italy, Spain, and other mainly Catholic countries, the decline in the birthrate is duly taking place.  What has happened is that the Church—­always alive to sexual questions—­has realized the importance of the modern movement, and has adapted herself to it, by proclaiming to her more ignorant and uneducated children that incomplete intercourse is a deadly sin, while at the same time refraining from making inquiries into this matter among her more educated members.  The question was definitely brought up for Papal judgment, in 1842, by Bishop Bouvier of Le Mans, who stated the matter very clearly, representing to the Pope (Gregory XVI) that the prevention of conception was becoming very common, and that to treat it as a deadly sin merely resulted in driving the penitent away from confession.  After mature consideration, the Curia Sacra Poenitentiaria replied by pointing out, as regards the common method of withdrawal before emission, that since it was due to the wrong act of the man, the woman who has been forced by her husband to consent to it, has committed no sin.  Further, the Bishop was reminded of the wise dictum of Liguori, “the most learned and experienced man in these matters,” that the confessor is not usually called upon to make inquiry upon so delicate a matter as the debitum conjugale, and, if his opinion is not asked, he should be silent (Bouvier, Dissertatio in sextum Decalogi praeceptum; supplementum ad Tractatum de Matrimonio. 1849, pp. 179-182; quoted by Hans Ferdy, Sexual-Probleme, Aug., 1908, p. 498).  We see, therefore, that, among Catholic as well as among non-Catholic populations, the adoption of preventive methods of conception follows progress and civilization, and that the general practice of such methods by Catholics (with the tacit consent of the Church) is merely a matter of time.

From time to time many energetic persons have noisily demanded that a stop should be put to the decline of the birthrate, for, they argue, it means “race suicide.”  It is now beginning to be realized, however, that this outcry was a foolish and mischievous mistake.  It is impossible to walk through the streets of any great city, full of vast numbers of persons who, obviously, ought never to have been born, without recognizing that the birthrate is as yet very far above its normal and healthy limit.  The greatest States have often been the smallest so far as mere number of citizens is concerned, for it is quality not quantity that counts.  And while it is true that the increase of the best types of citizens can only enrich a State, it is now becoming intolerable that a nation should increase by the mere dumping down of procreative refuse in its midst.  It is beginning to be realized that this process not only depreciates the quality of a people but imposes on a State an inordinate financial burden.