Ottumwa semi-weekly courier. [volume] (Ottumwa, Iowa) 1899-1903, 1902-10-30
RESTRICT MARRIAGE
ACCESSIBILITY of 80 Doing Discussed
by DR.. D. Q. Brockman.
DETECTIVES ARE on INCREASE
Able Paper Read Before the Brother
hood Of St. Paul Upon the Subject,
Should the Marriage of the Defec-
tive Be Prohibited by Law"
From Tuesdays Daily.y

From Tuesdays Daily.I
There is no more important sub
i1ect today, for the civilized world to
consider, than how to reduce the num-
! Der OF the detectives. That the de-
tectlves are on the increase, goes
without saying" said DR.. d. C. Brock
man last night in paper read before
a meeting of the Brotherhood of ST.
Paul, of the First Methodist Episcopal
church, held at the home of ]. B. Max
on, 125 East Fifth street. The sub
,ject of DR.. Brockman's paper was
Should the Marriage of the Gravely
defective be Prohibited by Law"
An Able Address.
The organization which extended the
invitation to DR.. Brockman is in
debted to him for one of the best and
most instructive meetings that has
ever been held by the brotherhood.
His paper last night was in perfect
lifting with the man, the doctor and
the student. While the subject is in a
sense delicate one, yet the address
OF last night was fearless, logical and
worthy of careful study by every one
who has the betterment of mankind
at heart
Business Meeting Held.
The meeting was called to order by
e. G. PIERCE. president OF the brother
hood. DR.. A. e. Craig led in prayer,
after which delightful vocal solo was
rendered by Mrs. E. G. Peirce. Then
came the reading of the minutes of
the previous meeting by the secretary,
Emmett A. Work, followed by a short
business meeting.
VIII Secure Charter.
1t has been decided by the local Or
ganization to secure charter from the
national brotherhood. This will be at
tended to at once and it is probable
that by the time the brotherhood
meets again the charter will have been
obtained.
Will Hold Convention.
The national organization is plan
ming for grand convention to be held
at Buffalo, N. Y, November 10 and 49,
A communication was read last night
from Dr. Little, grand secretary of the
brotherhood. urging the local organi-
Zation to send representatives to this
convention. 1t has not yet been de-
clded definitely whether any one from
here will attend or not.
Or. Brockman's Paper.
The feature of the evenings meeting
was the paper read by DR.. Brockman
which was in part as follows:
There is no more important SUBJ
ject today for the civilized world to
consider than how to reduce the num-
Der of the detectives. These may be
divided into three groups: First, the
moral detectives or habitual Grimm
ais; second, the insane and feeble
minded; third, the physical detectives.
the epileptics forming the principal
group in this class.
Detectives on Increase.
That the detectives are on the in
crease goes without saying. One has
only to look over the reports from our
penal and eleemosynary institutions to
be convinced of this fact
Reason Not Hard to Find.
THE reason is not hard to find. Go
with me to the palatial home of the
aftiuent in any city, search the entire
district inhabited by the well-to-do and
you can scarcely find enough children
to start kindergarten. In the spa
cious houses, too often you will find
no children. often only one, occasion
ally two and possibly three. The fact
is, the people who furnish the brains
of the country do not furnish the chill
dren. On the other hand, go to the
unsayory howell reeking with filth,
teeming with vice, the hot-bed of
crime and the home of criminals, and
you will find as many children as the
laws of nature will permit.
Like Begets Like.
There is truism in nature that is
almost axiomatic-that like begets
like. The farmer recognizes this.
When he sows wheat he knows that he
will get wheat, not oats When he
breeds short horn cattle, he knows the
result will be short horns and not Jer-
seys nor Holsteins. II he breeds race
horses he will get speedy and not
draft horses, from Jersey Reds he will
raise like colored hogs, not white ones.
IL a couple of red haired people mar
ry, We expect some Of their children
to be red haired, if not ALL But why
have not all of the children Of red
haired parents the same color of hair.
just as the pigs from Jersey Reds are
like their parents?
Generations Required.
Because here atavism comes in
play. All the grandparents of the chill
dren were not red haired The farm
Ell, has been working for a dozen gem
erations to perfect his strain of hogs,
selecting with great care until the
present degree OF perfection has been.
attained, and | have no doubt, il the
same care were exhibited in selecting
the parentage Of the future human
race as has been in the domestic ami
mails, that in a dozen generations we
might have entire families of musi..
cians athletes. orators and so on ad
libitum. In this case such results are
neither possible nor desirable. We
do not want race over-developed in
any one direction. but would rather
have broad minded and sound bodied
men and women.
. Family Characteri stics.
Certain traits of character crop out
in most families and to marked de-.
gree in many. Take the family and
descendants Of the New England cler.