The sun. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1833-1916, 1901-09-01

p~hysiques. II tbs author oil. IN book
before us 10 earnestly oppoeed to SOCIAL
lam. II 10 because In whatever shape social
lam may manifest itself. u aims CON
sciously or u~nconsciously, at putting a I q
20 the struggle for existence. II adop'el,
u would, Ia the end. be ruitous 70 the
human raos. though In its fnilder forms
IL might conceivably benert the partlcunT
! generation which introduced 1t by nitigat-
1 Ing the strain OF competition Mr. Zen
Jainin Kidd strongly condemns oOclsn-'n
a. an attempt TO put q stop 20 the WORKING
Of the Law Of Natural Selection, yet even
hs advocates equality Of opportunity; I,
which. AZ Mr. Hcailey points out. ccuIp
only BE- attained by socialistic means ana,
which even II Il could he realized by some
other method. would lie In itself pernici9u.
To the race. let US sec how our autnpt
arrives az this conclusion. lie bcgins by
reminding us that no part OF lie IN NOR
important than the first years oil " IL
ali children are TO have equal opportunities,
they must ls taken a. soon as pos-lo'e
after birth. and brought up by the S's,e'
a deplorable fate for them all. III Mn.
Kidd only meant that education II 10 DC
open to all. made 40 cheap tina a poo.
mans son ma get instruction tuih,leiN
To NJ him for any post. H. should have
remembered Ina education goes on ~is.l2
at home. and that free schooling, me doing
away With the heavy expenses tih' ue'aI
the poor from many professions, ppl
no means an equaiilinS oil opIotluIn.',
Apart from the question OF educa'iot' a
mans strength depcuds much ON tns way
his parents have fed him during infancy,
and, going further back. on the condltln,-
under which h. developed beiorc ptth
Equality Of opportunity, then, mus onNL.
Uuzly come. " ever n dDes come, ~ part
Of n thorough going socialistic system,
which must euualiIs the Circuui-tanc''-
Of tho PARENTS no lees h those oil We
children. Such a system l. denruhC.u
by MIR Hcadley "a utterly chimeflch
At the same time. Luz admits thAt theIs
NAV he some appfoSiuniion 10 ", atn'
therefore, he deems II important 10 polnt
out the pernicipiIs nature OF ~" air. "
L. a truisin tina. socialism tends 10 destroy
the stimulus 20 ereftion, and - stops human
progress On this point there II u" h,sTn
Ia dwell. To see IT. Consequences ililN,
We must recall that the superabundant
energy which il required. especially IN tie
leaders Of tho NATL. must le ucTIN,tN'
ultimately from the phyaicaly hhiu't
lowor glasses. Wore II possible, through
a great increase n th" national %saIln'
10 make life equally easy Tor all 'ldI"h;
20 give them all a good start IN IT., feel
them with the best 81 food. clothe thetn
and house them well. n give them All a
splendid education, then. no doubt among
the myriads IL competitors thus br"hgt,,
into IN. field many firEt-rate men w.od'd
L. found For the sake Of this brilliant
outburst, however. we should have don"
much To exhaust our great reserve oi po..
tential vigor, the hardy. lover stratum OF
society. from " hich alone the upper stratum,
that Is perpetuaIly tending TO become Vs.
up and eNete. can t- regen"rated We
should have made our nation like tho an
cient States, which. based ~ they we're on
slA very, were without the fertile source
Of removed vigor with which the lres~iom OF
all classes has endowed tho modern state
Are ther" any means 81 checking phy-i-
oal degeneration on the part ~ civilized
mani Mr.. Headley answers that in th.
last resort there seems % ha no means
Of improving a rsc. except by SELECTION.
The Improvement Of the environment, 80
that the component individuals may attain
their full potential development, s n
different matter. n We wish 10 thlnk
Clearly on the subject. we must Keep tho
two things distinct. Practically, "A great
deal remains To be done that would tend
toward what In popular language would
count toward race improvement. Thus
an enormous gain In visor would result
from the Improvement In the health OF
mothers. During pregnancy ths mother
" the child's entire environment. IL n
only through her that he cOmes into con-
tact with the world. The hid may lie
described M parasitic upon his mother.
receiving. as he does. food that has al
ready been assimilated. Even respiration
IL performed for him. since hs Il nourishcd
with blood that has already bean oaidized.
IL follows that the health OF the mother
y OF supreme Importance during preg-
nancy. During this time the child may
gain. OF fail 20 gain. health. or, possibly
even be infected with disease. In these
cases We often spsak vaguely or inh"ri-
tance. To speak more correctly. the
mother u an external condition: she CON
sti,utes an environment Moreover. the
unborn child has already hegun 90 feel
the powerful influence Of his environment
on hs Individual life. For c"arne-s 81
thought. then. we must distinguish tH-
tween race Improvement and the improve
mrnt Of the environment Tor the iudiNlduaI
at IN. very earliest stage.
Tharp IL, indeed, no doubt that n great
deal may still te done for a given nation
hv the bettering Of the environment Of the
Individuals composing II, AMI Ia particular.
hy tft lettering Of The health oi mothers. 7
There il still a considerable fund OF poten-
tlal strength in our poorer classes which
remains 20 ~ thus exploited. The con
di,ions ~ life. especially In our his towns.
are hard. and, by Improving them. We
should confer upon those classes which
are degraded by ~squalor. the s~uIerabundant
vitality, the easy superiority TO environ
ment, that N III" antcCcdent condition
81 energy and enterprise In one way
the environment Is already easy enough. ,
There are hospitals and medical attendants
evervwhere 20 10 had. This does much
TO a~ggrsvate the evil, however. II you
surround peoples lives with squsl1r and
hunger. and then, directly they are likely
to sucCumb To the strain. put them In a
comparative paradise, a region ~ ease,
comfort and good food, they NAV recover, I
but only To 60 hack 10 an unequal struggle
with their normal circumstances Mr.. trau-
els Gallon ~ays that the poorer Classes ~
look 70 him Ike people TOT whom
conditions 81 life are too hard The eX-
PLANTATION surely IA that the conditions
are not allowed 20 work freely. Charity
sets In and prolongs tho misery What
h wanted n an Improvement In tho norr1I
oordth0rs ~ life, better housing. better
and a bs.tter moral atinorDherr, 40
that there NAV not h.. after rccoverv from
.tllre-s. a return to squalor and UNIV hole-
Although every one must hope that the
proEr~s already made towards rendering
the livee 81 the poor in big town, more
may continue, vet Mir Headley
see In such progress more than
a palliative % degeneration II Is no true
preventive. We should simply be. I've
says. using up our capital ~ rae vitality,
not increasing ~ We should merely te
the environment l.ss hard An
nfhaf fsalaaftN. A.. .s.a..A ~ -