BREEDING BETTER MEN

Dominion, Volume 3, Issue 829, 30 May 1910, Page 8

BREEDING BETTER MEN

CIVILISATION'S GREAT NEED,

HOW TO DO IT

PUBLIC MUST BE WAKENED UP.

There arc two great natural forces by which all life is moulded. Ono is heredity, and the other is environment. Which of these is the stronger? That is a question which has been discussed by probably every debating society that has existed. It is argued hotly among scientists of renown. One school, led by the great August Weismann, of Germany, declares most positively and emphatically that environment counts for almost nothing and heredity is everything. Characteristics acquired by an individual in its efforts to adapt itself to changed surroundings are never, the Weisuiannites declare, inherited by descendants. This is a sweeping assertion, and one very difficult either to prove or disprove. Environment and heredity are so tangled up together that to say which is the greater is like discussing whether the brain or the stomach is the more important'organ. One fact, nevertheless, this long dispute has established : the influences of heredity are far more potent than was believed 30 or 40 years ago. Heredity may not amount for so mnch as Weismajm contends, but it stands for more in our lives than most of us believe. _ It is a true old saying that what is bred in the bone will out in tho blood. Man may be master of his fate, and the captain of his soul, hut the conditions that make or mar him most are those lie brings into the world with him. Interminable Foolishness. Is it not a strange thing that nearly the whole of the efforts to reform society aim only at improving man's environment? Humanity plays stupidly at the interminable foolishness of trying to make bad men good. What it ought to do is not to tinker up defective individuals, but to breed good, sound ones, and—this is looking a long way ahead—cull out all the inferior stocks. Man has sense enough to know how to go about improving a flock of sheep. He does not attempt to make bad sheep grow into good ones I>T kindness. What he does is the simple and obvious tiling. He sees that the future generations are descended from the good sheep alone. Now, the writer does not want t-o shock anybody. He is not so devoid of sense as to propose that human beings should be as farm animals are bred. He has no wild ideas for the establishment of human stud farms, with the fathors of the community taken out for daily airings in horsecloths. Nor does he propose that men, women and children not up to specifications should be put, into lethal chambers or have surgical operations performed on them. He does not want to attack the sanctity of the home, marriage, or the family tie; and he does not agree with Sir. George Bernard Shaw that supermen should be licensed for extra-matrimonial purposes. All that he desires is that men and women should be made to think about this , matter. It takes a vast deal to make people even think about a subject—especially one on which so much utter balderdash has been said . and written, as love and matrimony. Still there are a few hopeful signs., Peoplo fall in love and embark on matrimony for all manner of odd. and irrelevant' reasons, and no reason at all, but at tho same time most of the thoughtful ones think twice before they set up housekeeping with consumptives or incipient lunatics. Beyond that no public opinion exists to-day in the average social circle. There is plenty of opinion about what constitutes a good or a bad match. Bank balances, business prospects, social standing, sometimes education, and even moral character, are weighed arid assessed. Occasionally ono finds the rare man who goes to the 1 root of the mattor. The writer was the other day congratulating a friemi on the engagement of that friend's sister to a well-to-do, straightgoing, and thoroughly decent young man. Snil tho friend: "Well, rou know, personally I don't think this engagement is a right thing. Brown's a jolly good sort, and getting on well, and all that. But, dash it all, he's a terrible weed physically, his people all are, and it don't seem right to me for a fine,' healthy, top-notcher of a girl like Maiy to marry a thing like that. What sort of youngsters will the 7 have?'.'

The Mainspring of Existence. Such ideas as these in our over-; refined civilisation will seem to many merely coarse and vulgar. Send the horrid fellow out to the stable, says mama. But, scheming mothers, anxious fathers, worldly-wise daughters," and ambitious sons, with your eyes on the main chauce, and your thoughts on the pay-sheet, tell us an you will what is the ; chief end and purpose of love and marriage? Love is the' mainspring of existence, and when it is honest and •true is the deepest and most ennobling passion human beings can know. Who, ask yourselves, are the demanders of it? Those who bear in mind that its> ultimate purpose;is the reproduction of children, or those who look upon it as a mere matter of personal gratification and shrewd social, bargaining? Man is< first of all an animal, and in the long run you cannot have good men unless you have good animals. It is true that some of the greatest men who have ever lived have been very poor animals; but how much better for the race would it have been if these defective geniuses had also been physically sound and robust Great mental gifts and poor physique mean a Hasp in the pan for ' one generation, and then, too often all is over and the line is exhausted and extinct. It is in tho production of good human animals that the future of the family, the nation, the race, and the whole fabric of civilisation rests. Think what vast progress would be possible were • tho diseased and defective human stocks eliminated. The increased stamina and intelligence of the race would make possible schemes of social and industrial co-operation that are now entirely out of the question. Even a slight improvement in the calibre of a new generation would have vast possibilities for good. Tho use oi misuse of the power of reproduction is not a mere private concern of the individual. It is tho most sacrcd trust which we human beings hold, and as wo rise to the tremendous responsibilities which it imposes on us, or as wo fall short of thorn, so shall we hp blessed or curscd by generations yet- unborn. We are holding a trust for the whole of our face, and to abuse. it is to commit a crime not only against ourselves and, our offspring, but against the whole of our kind. Tho good we do may be buried with us. hut this evil will live on and poison the world Icjng after wo are underground and forgotten. Social Reform Lacking. In Great Britain, in America, and on tho Continent of Europe people are coming to rccognisc that schemes of social reform that take no count of the influences of heredity must fall short of their purpose. Sir Francis Galton, knighted the other day, has laboured lor many years in this cause, and was the originator of the term "eugenics," by which the science of race culture has lately come to be known. The principal puroposals which have been put forward are that the absolutely unfit should bo segregated and prevented from reproducing their kind. Tho insane, the feeble-minded, and the epileptic should he absolutely prohibited from .marrying, and the criminal and the alcohol..

victim should also he put under similar restraint. It has been established beyond all doubt that excessive alcoholism has a remarkably rapid deteriorating influence on the germ plasm., What Eugenics Is. The following statement by Sir Francis Galton gives a representative new of the conclusions of expert opinion in Britain. "The fact that the laws of heredity," says Sir Francis, "apply to i mail equally with the lower animals and plants, and that the mental functions aro subject to the same laws of heredity as the physical ones, has yet to be taken to heart by Uie public. The salutary effects of natural selection in preventing the degeneracy of a race are so largely interfered with, and sometimes even inverted, by civilisation, that another form of prevention is peremptorily demanded. "If we apply the general word degenerate to the insane, to the imbecile, to the habitual criminal, and to those who are naturally liable to some of the more serious diseases, it is found that a degenerate is no less fertile than a normal person, apparently a little more so, and that such persons frequently marry. Each married degenerate produces on t.he average one child who is as degenerate as himself or herself, and others in whom the taint is latent, but liable to appear in a succeeding generation. The.taint of degeneracy in our population is now alarmingly great, and threatens to increase indefinitely under the present conditions.

"Probably odd of the first efforts in practical eugenics will be to restrict the propagation of . children by the notoriously unfit, whose marriages are now unhindered, if not .sometimes fostered by mistaken kindliness. Efforts havo also to he made in the opposite direction, namely,' in creating social agencies that shall proiuoto the propagation of the fit, as, for instance, by facilitating employment to married persona of good stock, and providing their families when poor with better housing and nurture than they could otherwise obtain. The power of public opinion being enormously grc-at, we may rest assured that after the importance of eugenics shall have become generally recognised, many social influences will be brought to bear, and numerous customs will establish themselves, that shall. further eugenic conduct with a gentle yet almost irresistible force." A Chance for New Zealand. Now New Zealand prides itself on leading the way in social reforms, and here is a reform/that badly needs taking up. Would it not be a magnificent thing for this little country of ours] to go down in history as the first to deal in a practical way with this immense problem of heredity? What wo want to know and don't know at present is: the proportion of undesirable marriages which are taking place. This could be very easily discovered by compelling every person to undergo a medical examination by doctors appointed hy the State before getting married.' These doctors would make a thorough examination and would give, say, first grade, second grade, and third grade certificates, but would issue no certificate to the absolutely unfit. While examination would be made com~ pulsory it would be quite open for the parties to marry, no matter what tho doctors' verdict might be. The objects of the examination would be twofold: firstly, to prevent people from' unknowingly entering into marriages which are undesirable from a physical standpoint; and, secondly, to enable the public at large to know to what extent the unfit are propagating the species. Such ' compulsory examination would not be costly, and it would be no more of a hardship to the individuals concerned than it is for them to undergo the medical examination required by life insurance companies. Its educative effect would be tremendous, as every person contemplating matrimony would be foroed to' consider tie matter from the physical standpoint. A vastly, better-informed public opinion would thus be developed as time went on. Periodical - medical examination and classification of the whole population would probably be among the first results of such an innovation, and one might rest assured that in a generation or so the desire to havo children physically first grade would be very strong and a factor that would count in alarge percentage of marriages. Such a spirit would mean much for the welfare of future New Zealanders. Getting Rid of Undesirables. Finally this simple and far-reaching reform would secure women some protection from the callous human beast who, after years of looso living, marries some healthy and innocent girl, knowing that he must inevitably infect her and her children with the filthy diseases which he has contracted. Anything which would expose such persons in their true character should be welcomed by all citizcns who have the good of their country at heart. If compulsory medical examination before marriage served no other purpose than bringing such things to light, it would be well worth its cost. '

Let us hope, that som© spirited, member of Parliament will take up this _ important matter, and immortalise himself and his country by grappling in a practical way with what is. 'about the greatest problem confronting our civilisation.