The Dominion. SATURDAY, AUGUST 3, 1912. RACIAL DECAY.

Dominion, Volume 5, Issue 1509, 3 August 1912, Page 4

The Dominion. SATURDAY, AUGUST 3, 1912. RACIAL DECAY.

The Eugenics Congress, which took .place in London a few days ago, has called attention in a striking and impressive manner to the fact that the time is more than ripe for definite action to arrest the process of racial decay which is at present going on at a rate which must cause uneasiness and concern. The nation is spending millions of pounds every year—and rightly—in armaments to protect it from foreign foes, but persistently shuts its eyes to far more deadly enemies inside its own gates, namely, race suicide on the one hand and the multiplication of the unfit on the other. There seems to be a growing tendency on the part of those who are, from the mental and physical point of view, fitted to have children to shirk the duties of parenthood, and no check is being placed on the reproduction of physical, moral, and intellectual weaklings. As Mr. and Mrs. Whetham point out in their very useful Introduction to Eugenics, feeble-minded women are remarkably fertile.

fhe workhouse records frequently note that five, six, or seven children have been born before tho mother is twentv-tive years of age, and she herself may 'have commenced child-bearing at fifteen years of age, or even younger. Most of these children inherit tho mental condition of their parents, and where both parents are known to bo feeble-minded, there is no record of their having given birth to a normal child. In one workhouse there wero sixteen feeble-minded women who had produced between them one hundred and sixteen children, with a largo proportion of mental defects. Out of one such family of fourteen only four could be trained to do. remunerative work. With regard to tho fertility of feeble-minded stocks, it has been pointed out that the feeble-minded children from the degenerate families who use the special schools in London come, sometimes two or more at a time, from households averaging about seven offspring, whereas the average number of children in tho families who now use the public elementary schools is about four.

Mr. Whetham, who speaks'with the authority of a distinguished man of science, declares that as long as lunatics are freely discharged in their lucid intervals, and feeble-minded people are cared for by methods which encourage them to produce and rear their numerous offspring, it can be stated confidently that the number of persons afflicted with some sort of mental disease or brain malformation will show a steady annual increase.

Tho late Sir Fimncis Galton, who may be called the founder of this

branch of science, defined eugenics as "the study of agencies under social control that may improve or impair the racial qualities of future generations either physically or mentally." Scientific investigation on these lines has brought to light many remarkable facts regarding the application of the theory of evolution to mankind, more especially' as regards the laws of heredity. Environment is, of course, a very important factor, and no one should grudge the large amount of attention it has received of late years from politicians and social reformers; but the' influences of heredity arc of a , more fundamental character in deter- • mining the future well-being of the race. Heredity goes to the very root - of the evil, and it has been well said . that "to aim at economic 'change,, without seeking to change the quality of the human element, is to waste good'encrgy'to no purpose." In his ; valuable little book on Heredity, { Mr. Doncastkr puts the matter with : great clearness. "If," he writes, I "man is to any appreciable extent 1 the creature of his environment, then ] improved conditions will improve the race. But if, as the study of heredity suggests, though it would be rash to i say it is proved, man is almost entirc--1 ly the product of inborn factors which are hardly affected by environment, then improved conditions may only encourage the propagation of the degenerate, and the race as a whole may go back rather than forward. Responsible students are not lacking who maintain that this is already taking place." In view of these facts it has become, as Me. Balfour says, very important "to convince the public that the study of eugenics is a most pressing necessity." No one wants to do anything cruel, harsh, or drastic, but there is a growing feeling that some check should bi placed on tho marriage of those afflicted, and in this way something would bo done to arrest the progressive decadence of tho race; for, without going into the intricacies of the various theories of heredity, there is, broadly speaking, "no more sure axiom"—to quote from the Introduction,to Eugenics once more—"than that lik" t."ids to breed like, whether in physical or mental characteristics." However, great caution must be exercised, for the absolutely conclusive results of scientific research in these matters are still very h-», and "except in the case of the feebleminded, where State interference is glaringly overdue, probably in the case of hopeless habitual criminals, and possibly in the case of sufferers from certain types of blindness and deaf-mutism, there is no direction in which, as yet, general interference would #bo justified." Environment has perhaps a greater inlluence on the quality of the race than some scientists seem inclined to admit. To the existing generation it is, of course, of tremendous importance, but, as regards the future of the nation, heredity is the most essential factor. This gives' rise to questions as to why special consideration should be given to the wellbeing of the generations yet unborn, at the expense of the immediate interests and pleasures of people now living. Some may ask, "Why not let posterity take care of itself j Why should we sacrifice very real and certain present enjoyment for some shadowy and uncertain future 1" Such questions clearly show that the problem is fundamentally a moral one. Though he hesitates to introduce moral and religious considerations into an elementary treatment , of eugenics, Mb. Whetham feels compelled to state that it is certain not only that religion is a definite biological factor in the social economy, but that its value is probably supreme, and that some form of religious development is an absolute necessity for the successful evolution of human society. He finds the clue to the "survival value" of religion in the fact that the interests of the individual are not always identical with those of the race: 'that, indeed, in many cases, they arc sharply opposed. Here religion steps in to safeguard the future by affording supernatural sanction for unselfish conduct of no immediate advantage to the individual. This sanction is' based on nn insight into Ihe relative values of tho^ earthly life, of tho individual and tho dimly conceived totality of tho . spiritual contents of tho universe. No merely rational system of morals lias yet

)x-en found sufficient to induce the individual to acquiesce in rules of conduct nud in conditions of life, which, although advantageous to the race, are obviously opposed to his immediate comfort and convenience. Nothing but the forces of religion can keep the scales even between ileeting temporal advantage and eternal spiritual gain. In conclusion, we may point out that M.uon Darwin, in his presidential address to the Eugenics Congress, put the case in a nutshell when_ he stated that eugenics was the practical application of the principles of evolution, and the nation first adopting a system of conscious selection would surely win in all international competitions. The various humanitarian and other forces at work have to a very large extent counteracted the action of natural selection in weeding out weaklings as far as mankind is concerned, and it has therefore become imperative that society shall deliberately put into operation some form of conscious selection that will secure the survival and perpetuation of its best elements, and the gradual elimination of the feebleminded and physically unfit.