The Dominion. SATURDAY, JANUARY 10, 1914. PROBLEMS OF RACE.

Dominion, Volume 7, Issue 1954, 10 January 1914, Page 4

The Dominion. SATURDAY, JANUARY 10, 1914. PROBLEMS OF RACE.

v -Thk dangers that'.atteiul the:, as^^ ciation of. a strictly scion tiiic- inquiry with ... a - popular ": movement ..have seldom been, belter'exemplified than in the partial collapse and. temporary disarray of the movement wfiieh takesi.its■ inspiration from the, science . of : -- eugenics./. '. As one writer#has ' remarked :*• ' ; A./decidcd reaction ,_f_rom the .first-: fino'-'frenzy of the-militant.eugenists : is.?revealed in tho latest ..literature .jpa-itho/sub-ject."/:. It is "a reaction based, not. on the contentionthat ..eugenics is utterly wrong, but rather on the . contention that scientific research has not yet gone far enough to justify the formulation of definite j, rules , of , conduct for idividualsand the ..race.' From the, eugenic.;.; laboratories V : of England, where the science had its origin,. .there: now icome - warnings against the dangers that lie_ in rash assumptionsiSand generalisations. The parasitic quackeries which have <Stiacned themselves .to tho natural growth of eugenics are being made' the subject;.,t)F a,:formal official.' disclaimer which'is''aH : -the more likely to serve its/purpose since the.quacks in nearly every instance are ..well-in-tentioned : people who havo" erred onlv through lack of information. It has already been made perfectly clear, that the I :.problem of. race-re-generation is anything but simple. Every broad* asseftion mads in its behaiT calls'/-for, ■ reservations, and exceptions.. The."ideal of a healthier race,: towards which the eugenist strives cannot .wisely-be put aside by_ any-man-of-sense. "Nor can certain contentions- of i the 'eugenist be dismissed, such" as the. ■ demand for the regulation .of-marriage among the ' notoriously' l diseased' or', otherwise obviously, .unfit./' On the other hand _ it is /very,, necessary. - to,, dis-. tinguish between the'' guarded,- pronouncements of men. who'arc qualified by their-attainments and knowledge to speak with authority, and those of less instructed,- but equally zealous, enthusiasts," who cheerfully ignore the labyrinth of unsolved problems which obstructs the forward march .of the science of' eugenics. The dividing. lines between 1 fit and unfit have not yet by any means been clearly drawn, and the'action of so-called eugenists who rush in where men of eminence in the scientific world fear to tread, and base their propaganda upon .'.'principles" and .''laws'' which have yet to bs established, can onl.v be,, uniformly deprecated. : The position in a word is that 1 well-meaning:.- people have deceived themselves and others with the hope that' they-might find, a short and easy way with great problems for : which no such master-key exists : as their imaginations have conjured up. The obvious course in the circumstances is to let this illconceived agitation die its natural death and be content with the gradual enlightenment in regard to the problems of race regeneration which results from the ■ researches of'men of science who have been working upon them for years. Both in England and America' a' note of caution is being sounded by some of the scientists immediately concerned, and, one of them at least, PitOFESSOit. Karl Peaks,on, has emerged from his ' laboratory .. with battle in his eye.to administer vigorous castigation ..to the irresponsi'bles who have, as lie bluntly_ states, brought into ridicule the science in which he is a worker. Professor Pearson is one of the greatest living authorities on the subject of eugenics, and since 1911 he has filled the Gal-ton Professorship of Eugenics at the University of . London, which was founded by the late Sir ?rancis Gal Ton. - Writing to the London Times recently Professor Pearson declared that the current attitude of public opinion on the subject of eugenics was at once disheartening and exasperating. The opinion held by Sir Francis Galton, when he founded the science of eugenics, was that progress - towards increased..race-efficiency could be made by two routes:—(l). By the scientific study of heredity and environment as they bore on racial development,' I 'and by a popular movement emphasising the importance of- these factors in- national welfare, .and. urging their proper appreciation-.-by, legislators and social reformers'! - Professor Pearson is one of those who were apprehensive at . the outset that the whole subject of the new science .would bo made ridiculous by too hasty popularisation. He adds that even Sir Francis Galtox—a splendid optimist in the" problems of race—saw in.the last few. months of his life that the popular movement he had started was likely 1 to outgrow . its "nowledge, and feared that more evil than good might result from it. This fear seems to Professor Pearson to have been sadly realised in the few years that- Slave elapsed since Sir Francis Galtos's. death.. ■' He complains that eugenics, which was intended to • become a great . and increasingly 'important branch'''- of science, with its academic*centre in every university, has become a subject for -buffoonery on the stage and in the cheap Press. Even in a slightly higher plane, he _ finds the same disheartening experience, • eugenic publications and eugenic congresses issuing statements with".-re-gard to sunn vitally - importanttopics as insanity,- mental defect, or !!Si influence of heredity and environment, which are'obviously or demonstrably incorrect. Years of patient work in medico-social observation, in genetio experiment, and in the- careful study of family history arc needed. Professor Pearson states, before the laws of eugenics as a science can be dogmatically stated. He emphasises the point that much that is posing as "eugenics", to-day has nothing' whatever to do with science,; tliat'students of the -science of raceefficiency will be, compelled more and more to drop that much-abused term and to class their work, as the Germans, have done, , under the broad titles of race hygiene and genetics. He counsels those who have at heart the great problem of race efficiency to turn rather to tho academic than to the popular /side of the movement.; It is to be hoped that this advice will ,be duly noted' in New Zealand as well as other parts, of the world.All 1 that Professor Pearson has said on behalf of his,science must command the respectful attention'.of laymen. .;, It does not follow, of course, thatiipractic-al efforts in the di reetion¥/.ofrt|promoting efficiency bcTaliandonecl ...whollyi to scientific - workers 1 who/ are,engaged; in the n?ademic.zside!%pn£ the?4tqn trarj;| m,i ny. t hi n gs. m a,v b/-' rlo no /wh icb: n ie suroi;t6 :; Tbe^stablishmonttbfiisystem^lpSphv;:

sien 1, iiisll-xicvion" in the ; schools" of instance'in point and Vi- necd'/not. bo solitary. But dliejlessoir of the moment is Ibat'the'rc' to racial regenera--tion.:' -W-e must be : content to walk •meanwhile.. upon'.Uhe.limited length' of ; tlii' 'beaten (racks which science h'asi.laid down,' 1 and no good will'be. :c!one*:l)y .basing impossible theories '.upo.nithc; imagined solution of probilcriis, -.many.-: of .'..which may . be-' still, j unsolved ; when' every man now .Jiving , has gone to his rest. ■■■■'