As long as the home was an industrial sphere and demanded the entire time and energy of women there was little chance on their part for individual development. But with the transition of work from the home to the factory, women’s interests ceased to be necessarily centered about the hearth, and many of them developed an individuality formerly characteristic of men only. Freed from the cares of maternity women are quite as radical as men. It is maternity that is largely responsible for the conservatism of women and their indifference toward affairs outside the home. The high birth-rate of former times will not return nor is it desirable, for the decreased death-rate among infants will tend to maintain numbers. But while in the past children were accepted without question, and parents never thought of the possibility of limiting the size of their families, in the future the human will will play an ever increasing part. Whether the guiding motive in restricting the birth-rate will be a worthy one, or one to be deprecated will depend upon those social institutions which are responsible for the production of individuals’ ideals. FOOTNOTES: [86] McLennan, _Studies in Ancient History_, pp. 81-2, 2nd Series. [87] Westermarck. [88] Phelps, _A Statistical Study of Infant Mortality_, p. 268. Quarterly Publication of The American Statistical Association. [89] Commander, _The American Idea_, p. 18. [90] Webb, _Physical Degeneracy or Race Suicide_. Popular Science Monthly, Dec. 1906, pp. 515-6. [91] _Annual Report for 1906_, p. 10. _American Journal of Sociology_, March, 1909. Doctor Morrow says, “A large proportion of sterile marriages, contrary to the popular view, is from incapacity and not of choice.” p. 626. [92] Thorndyke, _Decrease in the Size of American Families_. Popular Science Monthly, May, 1903, p. 69. [93] Department of Commerce and Labor, _Emigration to the U. S._ 1904, pp. 105, 112. [94] Ross, _Western Civilisation and the Birth-Rate_. Am. Jour. of Soc. XII, 610, March 1907. CHAPTER IX ECONOMIC CHANGES AND THE DIVORCE-RATE So long has society been accustomed to accepting as final the laws and customs arising out of earlier social conditions, that changes brought about by new conditions, and contrary to the accepted scheme of things arouse a widespread concern. There is no better illustration of the conflict between the new and the old than the present tendency to divorce, and the steady pressure of our social institutions to combat this tendency. It did not take primitive man long to see that organization was essential to preservation. Only the best organized tribes could survive in a struggle; and the closer the organization, the greater the advantage when contending with outside or hostile forces. The basis of tribal organization was the family, and the tribes with the best organized families in a growing society proved the most effective in the tribal life.