FRANCE L'AMOUR FOR LA PATRIE THE PEOPLE OF PARIS CELEBRATED SUMMER IN 
THE TRADITIONAL WAY . YOUNG COUPLES WERE LACED TOGETHER UNDER THE 
TREES OF THE BOIS DE BOULOGNE, LOCKED LIP-TO-LIP ON THE METRO 
STAIRS, SNUGGLED FLANK-TO-FLANK ON THE SWIMMING BARGES MOORED ALONG THE SEINE 
. TO THE GAULLISTS IN THE NATIONAL ASSEMBLY THERE WAS ONLY 
ONE THING WRONG WITH THIS SURFEIT OF LOVE : IT IS 
NOT PRODUCING ENOUGH BABIES . INTRODUCING NEW LEGISLATION DESIGNED TO CHANGE 
THAT SITUATION, EX-PREMIER MICHEL DEBRE WARNED : " THERE IS A 
DIRECT AND IMMEDIATE LINK BETWEEN THE WEIGHT OF OUR POPULATION AND 
OUR FUTURE IN EUROPE AND THE WORLD . " NO EXPLOSION 
. DEBRE COULD HAVE APPEALED TO HISTORY . WHEN NAPOLEON'S ARMIES 
SWEPT OVER THE CONTINENT 160 YEARS AGO, FRANCE CONTAINED ONE-FIFTH OF 
EUROPE'S POPULATION . TODAY IT REPRESENTS ONE-TWENTIETH, AND ONLY IMMIGRATION HAS 
KEPT FRANCE FROM LOSING POPULATION . SINCE 1946, FRANCE'S ANNUAL BIRTH 
RATE HAS STABILIZED AT BETWEEN 18 AND 19 PER 1,000 PEOPLE 
. THOUGH WELL BELOW THE U.S . RATE OF 23.4, FRANCE 
IS NOW ACTUALLY DOING BETTER THAN MOST OF ITS NEIGHBORS . 
IN WESTERN EUROPE GENERALLY, THE BIRTH RATE HAS SLOWLY BUT STEADILY 
DECLINED OVER THE PAST DECADE, POSSIBLY BECAUSE OF POSTWAR UNEASINESS ABOUT 
THE FUTURE, THE SHORTAGE OF NEW HOUSING THAT CONTINUES DESPITE THE 
ECONOMIC BOOM, AND THE DECISION OF NEWLYWEDS TO SPACE THE ARRIVAL 
OF CHILDREN . THE DECLINE IS EVEN MORE RAPID IN THE 
COMMUNIST COUNTRIES, ESPECIALLY POLAND AND YUGOSLAVIA, WHERE THE RATE HAS DROPPED 
FROM 28 TO 22 PER 1,000 IN THE SAME PERIOD, PARTLY 
BECAUSE COMMUNIST GOVERNMENTS SANCTION LEGAL ABORTIONS . THUS, IRONICALLY, WHILE ASIA, 
AFRICA AND SOUTH AMERICAN STILL FEAR THE POPULATION EXPLOSION, EUROPE FEARS 
THE OPPOSITE . NO DRINKING . FRANCE HAS LONG FOUGHT THE 
TREND BY OFFERING BONUSES FOR LARGE FAMILIES AND BY SEVERELY OUTLAWING 
ABORTIONS AS WELL AS FEMALE CONTRACEPTIVE DEVICES AND THE SPREAD OF 
BIRTH CONTROL INFORMATION . TO ACHIEVE A NATIONAL AVERAGE OF AT 
LEAST THREE CHILDREN PER FAMILY, DEBRE LAST WEEK PROPOSED 1) PRIORITY 
IN APARTMENTS FOR YOUNG COUPLES WITH CHILDREN, 2) TAX EXEMPTIONS TO 
FAMILIES IN THE YEAR THEY PRODUCE A FOURTH CHILD, 3) A 
MORE " RECEPTIVE GOVERNMENT ATTITUDE TOWARD UNWED MOTHERS . " HE 
ALSO WANTS FRENCHMEN TO LAY OFF THE BOTTLE, BECAUSE " EACH 
GENERATION WE LOSE A TOTAL OF 500,000 PERSONS DUE TO OVERINDULGENCE 
. " OPPOSITION CAME FROM SOCIALIST AND COMMUNIST DEPUTIES WHO ARGUED 
THAT IT WAS UNREALISTIC TO TALK OF INCREASING THE POPULATION WHILE 
FRENCH HOUSING REMAINED IN ITS PRESENT WRETCHED STATE . BUT DEBRE 
IS STRONGLY BACKED BY PRESIDENT CHARLES DE GAULLE, WHO HOPES THAT 
FRANCE'S PRESENT POPULATION OF 47 MILLION WILL GROW TO 100 MILLION 
BY THE CENTURY'S END . 