n 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.

It is now well recognized that large families are associated with
degeneracy, and, in the widest sense, with abnormality of every
kind. Thus, it is undoubtedly true that men of genius tend to
belong to very large families, though it may be pointed out to
those who fear an alarming decrease of genius from the tendency
to the limitation of the family, that the position in the family
most often occupied by the child of genius is the firstborn. (See
Havelock Ellis, _A Study of British Genius_, pp. 115-120). The
insane, the idiotic, imbecile, and weak-minded, the criminal, the
epileptic, the hysterical, the neurasthenic, the tubercular, all,
it would appear, tend to belong to large families (see e.g.,
Havelock Ellis, op. cit., p. 110; Toulouse, _Les Causes de la
Folie_, p. 91; Harrie