PROJECTED IMPROVEMENT OF THE HUMAN RACE.

Waikato Times, Volume XXX, Issue 176, 24 June 1873, Page 2

PROJECTED IMPROVEMENT OF THE HUMAN RACE.

In the meantime (supposing the fundamental truth of all I maintain as le^auh the doctrine of heiedity, and the probability th.it the improvement of the human race will be considered a duty) the scale on wliich enquiries are conducted will steadily grow. I should expect that all boys at school will not only he examined and classed, as at pteseul, fir their liitolWtuil acquirements, but will be weighed and measured and nppiaised in respect of their natural qifta, phxsical and ment.il together, and^f 'genealogies of those among them who were hercditanl»-«mark-able, so that all the must pioimsinj.' individuals Jn a large part of the kingdom would be registered, each in his own. local centre. A vast deal of w ork would be, no doubt, thrown away in collecting material about persons -who afterwards pioved not to be the paients of gifted children. 'Also many wo aid be registered on grounds which ourfutuie knowledge will pronounce inadequate. But gradually, notwithstanding many mistakes at lirst, much ridicule and misunderstanding, and nota little blind hostility, people will confess that the scheme is very reasonable, and works well of its own accord. An immense deal of investigation and criticism will bear its proper fruit, and the cardinal iulis for its succesful procedure will become understood " and laid down. Such, for example, as the physical, moral, and intellectual qualifications for entry on the register,, and especially as to the increased importance of those which are not isolated, but common to many members of the same family. It will be necessary also to have » clear idea of the average order of gifts to aim for in the race of the immediate future, bearing in mind that sudden and ambitious attempts are sure to lead to disappointment. And again, the degree of rigor of selection nece^ary among the paients to ensure that their children should, on the average, inherit gifts of the older aimed at. Lastly, we should le?ru particulars concerning specilic typeß, how far they clash together or are mutually helpful. Let us now suppose an intermediate stage to bj reached, between that of mere investigation and that of an accepted system and practical action, and try to imagine what would occur. The society of which I have been speaking, or others like it, would continually watch the career of the persons whose names were on the register, and those who had aroused so much interest would feel themselves associates for a great guild. They wop Id be accustomed to be treated with more respect and consideration than others whose parents were originally of the same social rank. It would be im r •»rtinent in anyone to assume airs of patronage towards Jch people ; on the contrary, the confederation shown wiem. would natu.plly tend to encouragt their self-respect and the feeling that they had a family name to support and to hand down to their descendants. Again, the society would be ever watchful and able to befriend them. For it would be no slight help for a man to state, on undoubted grounds, that not only is he what ho appears, but that he has latent gifts as well. That he is likely to have a healthy life, and that his children are very likely indeed to prove better than those of other people. In shoit, that he and his family may be expected to turn out yet more creditably than those ignorant of his and his wife's hereditary gifts would imagine. This would make it more easy for him i than for others to obtain a settled home and employment in early unnhood, and to follow his natural instinct of marrying young. It is no new thing that aßem,ialiors should successfully watch and befiiend every member of large communities, and in the present case the kindly intei ests sure to be invoked in dealing w ith really worthy and self- helpful people would be so great that 1 should expect charity of this kind to become exceedingly popular, and tooccupy a large part of the leisure of many people. It is quite another thing to patronising paupers, and doing what are commonly called "charitable" actions, which, however devoted they may be to a holy cause, have a notorious tendency to demoralise the recipient, and to increase the extent of the very evil which they aie intended to cure. — Frazer 1 Magazine.