Men continue to speak of the perils of war (in which numbers stand
for a great deal, but are not the exclusive element) as though the
social conscience of our own day were still the same as that of
the Middle Ages. In several respects, on the other hand, the
thinner population of France is one cause of its wealth, and
therefore of its power. Germany has a more numerous, but also a
poorer population. And I do not believe that the actual power of
nations, on which their future depends, consists in loading a
people with arms after enfeebling it by military expenditure,
which from the year 1880 has indicated a distinct epidemic mania
on the continent of Europe.
IV. In the Legislative and Administrative Sphere.--Wise
testamentary legislation prevents murders through the impatient
greed of next-of-kin, as in France during a former age, with what
was known as ``succession powder.''--A law to facilitate the
securing of paternal assent for the marriage of children (as
suggested by Herschel in his ``Theory of Probabilities'') in
countries which require the assent of both parents, and for
affiliation and breach of promise of marriage, with provision for
children born out of wedlock, are excellent as against
concubinage, infanticide, abortion, exposure of infants, indecent
assaults, and murders by women abandoned after seduction.
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