Grant County herald. [volume] (Lancaster, Wis.) 1850-1968, 1906-08-01
ISOLATE DEGENERATES.
Benefits to Society From Segregation
of All Deficients.

of All Deficients.
There is no reason why society
should not relieve itself of the bur-
den of mental and physical degen-
crates in two or three generations ac-
cOrding to Alexander Johnson, secre-
tary of the National Conference OF
Charity and Correction. This can be
accomplished very easily, Mr.. John
son told the School of Philanthropy,
simply by segregating these individ-
uals.
"They should be educated to the
fullest extent possible" he said, "and
it is astonishing what can be done
with a feeble minded child if it IS
taught young They should be made
useful and happy and provided with
every possible amusement, from Puss
in the Corner to grand opera, but
they should not be permitted to share
the joys and sorrows Of married life.
This is not great deprivation,
and the only happiness possible to
detectives is in an environment spec1-
ally adapted to their condition. In
the right environment it is very easy
to make them happy. They should
be taken into the care of the mother
state from childhood until death, and
thereby the state will be serving not
only its own best interests, bat those
of the defective individuals. | don't
like paternalism in government, but
we can't have too much materAal1sm.
'"The state is the greater parent and
I'has rights paramount to those OF inc
natural parent. For hundreds Of years
the state has stepped in to protect
child's property against its natural
guardian Later we came to see that
the state should protect child's per-
son against the violence Of parents,
and now it is beginning to interfere
in behalf Of the child's intellect and
character"
Mr.. Johnson added that this segre'
cation Of detectives was merely the
beginning of a science Of stirpiculture.
"The time is coming" he said,
when we will take just as much care
in reproducing the human species as
we do now in feeding animals"
Although Mr.. Johnson believes in
eliminating bad stock he thinks that
the idea of heredity has been greatly
overworked, and that environment is
matter of infinitely more import
ance.
81 would rather be born in the worst
slum, of the worst parents that ever
were," he said, ''and be removed TO
satisfactory environment at birth
than be born under the best possible
conditions and then be removed TO
bad environment Heredity is pow
erful factor, and we need never be
surprised at anything it does. There
| is an aristocratic family in England
| where one of the males in every sec
ond generation becomes insane at the
age of forty-five. Think of the won
derful properties Of a microscope
speck Of matter which will produce
such chain of events. Yet this IN
fiuence is slight compared with that
Of environment, and much that passes
as heredity is really the result OF en-
vironment."
Mr.. Johnson expressed the opinion
that Gaiteau and probably Czolgosz
were detectives and ought to have
been sent to insane asylums, instead
of being executed.
st is just as well, perhaps, to hang
those fellows and get them out OF the
way" he remarked. 1T is cheaper
than combining them. But they are
not morally responsible. New YORK
| Tribune.