Randolph journal. [volume] (Winchester, Indiana) 1865-186?, 1867-04-11

Marriage. OF consanguiniir--Their
Elects on toe Propagation Of Iiiois.
The Commissioners of the Ken
fucky Institution FOR the education
and training Of feeble minded chill
,lren. at Frankfort. have just made
their annual report 10 the Iegisla-
ture. These Commissioner are per-
sons thoroughly competent to Judge
of the matter which they cor idor,
being the principals ~ the \ ,ylums
for Deaf Mutes and the Blind, and
The Superintendonts Of the Eastern
Hospital FOR the Insane, az Iexing-
ton. Agairs 81 the marriage % bloed
relations, which j. much more fire.
quent i'm Kentucky than north Of
the Ohio river, they protest IN the
following emphatic terms:
I'VE deem it," says the report,
"our duty 20 the interest Of human-
ity, as well as TO the pccuniary in
tercsts OF the State, 10 bear our tes-
fimony, in addition 10 the abund-
ant sta tistics heretofore collected
and published by physician and
philanthropifts, and 10 the observa-
tion OF every close observer, a. well
- To the general considerations Of
propriety, that a large per centage
of deaf mutes aud of the Blind, u
limited percentages Of lunatics, aud,
no doubC, a much larger one than
either OF feeblc-ininded or idiotic
children. are the offspring Of the
marriage Of first cousins. Our char
liable institutions are filed with
children all the time, whose parents
are 80 related sometimes as. many
rs four from one family; and we
have known in the case Of idiots, OF
still larger number in family. II
is fearful penalty TO which persons
80 related render Themselves liable
by forming the matrimonial rela-
ton, and which they in nearly ev-
cry instance, incur, not indeed in
all, but in one or more OF their Off
spring. Instance, we DO not deny,
may be shown where a portion of
the children, one or more, may in
herit from both parents, where pos
scssed Of high mental and bodily
cnd0wments of common origin,
enhanced and remarkable qualities
Of body and mind; but il is general
~ at the expense Of unfortunate
and deeply afflicted brothers and
sisters. We believe few instances
can be given where such enhanced
endowments are common TO all the
offspring; while Instances are not
infrequent where nearly all, and in
n few, perhaps every child is afiiict-
ed in body or mind, and sometimes
in both.
1.-THE State has. in large MAORI
ty of cases, educated, and often sup
ported for life, these afflicted chill
dren. Has she not. then, q clear
and ulndisputable right to interpose
her authority to prevent matrimo-
NAL alliances so productive Of pri-
vate calamity and OF public injury?
The State is thereby not only de-
frauded Of the labor, usefulness, en-
orgy, and intelligence OF a consider
able portion of her citizens, but she
has, in addition, the burden of their
education and support. and, in the
case Of uneducated idiots, their sup
port for life, thus unreasonably SUI
perinduced upon her. The unfor-
funate, BY unavoidable casualty, she
must and ought cheerfully to pro-
vide for; but surely she is not bound,
in reason and good policy, to legal
lie marriages so productive OF pri-
vate and public damage. Indeed,
II Is prepostereus, not to say wrong,
that she should do il.
az law of q few lines would cut
of hsncsford, expenditure of thous-
ands of dollars for the support of
the offspring of marriages of first
cousins, as we'll as prevent the bur-
den Of lifetime of sorrow and re-
greet In many estimable families.
We desire to say, emphatically, that
this opinion is not Il theory, but il
based ubon well ascertained and in
dubitable facts.r