The evening times. [volume] (Grand Forks, N.D.) 1906-1914, 1906-11-14
ever free It may appear. is really linn
tied In nNmhar az dironfiann

pulses OF love, while very real, to some
extent vary at different periods in &C.
cordance with the ideals which happen
to be fashionable. In more remote
ages they have been still more pro-
foundly modified by religious and So
cial ideas. Polygamy and polyandry,
the custom of marrying only inside
ones own caste or only outside tt
all these and various contradictory
plans have been easily accepted at
some place and at some time. But
they have offered no more conscious
obstacle to the free play of love than
among ourselves is offered by the pro-
hibttton of marriage between near re.
lations. To quote from Mr.. Ellis:
The eugenic ideal which is now de-
veloping is not an artificial product.
but the reasoned manifestation of q,
natural instinct, which has often been
Tar more severely strained by the ar
bitrary prohibitions of the past than
1t Is ever likely to be by any eugenic
ideals of the future. The new ideal
will be absorbed into the conscience
OF the community. like kind of new
religion. and will instinctively and un.
consciously influence the impulses of
men and women. 1t will do all this
the more surely since, unlike the ia
DOCS OF savage societies, the eugenic.
ideal will lead men and women to re-
ject as partners only the men and
women who are naturally unfit-the.
diseased. the abnormal, the weaklings
and conscience will thus be on the
side of the impulse.
1T may, indeed, be pointed out that
those who advocate higher and more
scientific conscience In matters of mat
ing are by no means plotting against
love. which is for the most part on
their side. but rather against the in
fuences that do violence to loye-on
the one hand, the reckless and
thoughtless yielding to mere momen-
tary desire; and, on the other hand,
the still more fatal influence of wealth
and position and worldly convenience.
which give Fictitious value to per-
sons who would never appear attrac->
tive partners in life were love and eu-
genie ideals left to go hand in hand.
1t Is this sort of unions, and not those
which are inspired by the wholesome
instincts of wholesome lovers, which
leads to the deterioration of the race.
The eugenic ideal will have to strug-
gle with the criminal and still more
resolutely with the rich; it will have
few serious quarrels with normal and
well-constituted lovers.
1T will now perhaps be clear how
1t is that the eugenic conception of the
improvement of the race embodies a
new ideal. We are familiar with legis-
lative projects for the sterilization of
the UNFIT. But such projects, and, in
deed, any mere legislation, cannot 70
to the root of the matter; for, in the
first place, what we need is a great
body of facts, and careful attention
to the record and registration and sta.
tistical tabGlation of personal and fam
lily histories; In the second place, we
need that sound ideals and high
sense OF responsibility should permeat
the whole community, first it's finer
and more distinguished members, and
then by the usual contagion that rules
In such matters, the whole body of it's
members. In time, no doubt, this
would lead to concerted social action.
We may reasonably expect that a time
will come when II, for instance. as
In case known to me, an epileptic
woman conceals her condition from the
man she is marrying 1t would gener-
ally be felt that an offense has been
committed serious enough to invali-
date the marriage. We must not sup
pose that lovers would be either will
ling or competent to investigate each
others family and medical histories;
but 1t would be at least an easy and
as simple to choose a partner from
these persons who had successfully
passed the eugenic test"
Nor will it be matter of any great
difficulty for eugenic science to devise
SO effective test that without it no
member of our race within the pale
OF civilization can be eligible as an
object Of manifestations of romantic
love. Eugenic certificates. according
to the suggestions of DR.. Gallon him
self. would, in time, be issued by
suitably constituted authority to those
candidates who choose to apply for
them and were able to pass the neces-
sary tests. Such certificates would
imply an inquiry and examination into
the hereditary influences dominating
or conditioning the constitution, health
intelligence and character of the in
dividual. The possession of such a
certificate would involve a superiority
to the average in all these respects.
No one would be compelled to offer
himself fer such examination, Just as
no one is compelled to seek univer-
sity degree. Its possession would Of
ten be decided advantage. There is
nothing to prevent the establishment
Of board Of examiners of this kind
at once. Mr.. Havelock Ellis is sure
that, once established, many candi-
dates would hasten to present them
selves before the board. There are OBJ
viously, he thinks, many positions in
life wherein certificate of this kind
of superiority would be helpful. But
its chief distinction would be that
its possession meant a patent Of nat
ural nobility. The man or the woman
who held 1t would be one of natures
aristocrats, to whom the future Of the
race might be safely left without fur
Their question. There would, with the
progress of scientific knowledge and
the increasing importance Of the eu-
genie certificate, soon follow an ex-
tinction Of that adventurous superior
ity enjoyed by the rich and the socially
prominent types OF persons in all that
relates to love-making eligibility.
Pointed Paragraphs.