The Ocala evening star. [volume] (Ocala, Fla.) 1895-1943, 1912-07-30
Y. c. |. j. DEPARTMENT
(Mrs. f. Van Hood, Editor)
Christian CitizenshiR

Zenship is good stock to begin with.
We cannot take poor, sappy, half-rot-
ten boards and hope TO build good
house with them; or poor materials
and build a good vehicle or imple-
ment or anything else. Use all the
veneer, and paint and polish we may,
| the finished product is far from good
because the very basis, the very
foundation is poor.
Neither can we take poor child ma
terial and build up a good common
wealth. II children are sapheads. or
weak minded or diseased. or vicious
| or criminally disposed, or born short
in some way, all the veneer and polish
and culture that can ever be given will
not make them become sound states
| men, good jurists, fine professional
| men and women, intelligent workers,
proper fathers and mothers, or COM
petent people to run the affairs of
state. A crime has been committed
against God and nature and the crime
will not be covered up.
Hence the great subject of eugenics
which in this application means the
| improvement of the human family.
Strange how it has been applied to
our horses and cattle and pigs and
chickens and dogs and cats with its
wonderful results as shown at fairs
and shows, in pastures and barnyards,
etc, while anything has done for
| Ichildren-nO matter how poorly born
| or scrubby the stock may be.
But people are waking up TO this
important matter. No more fitting
| subject can be presented on this In
dependence Day. Your speaker believes
lit should be taught from pulpit and
platform, by the press, by book, in the
schoolroom, in every home where
there are children-in short be given a
front place everywhere. Let US con-
slider some kinds of parentage that
must be stopped before matters can be
made right.
| A related parentage-at least as
near as first and second cousins. Blind
Ideaf, mute, diseases and weakly off
spring are apt to be the result. How
many homes have been turned into
sorrow because founded upon this mis-
take.
| A silly parentage-one weak in in
tellect from any cause. Partial imbe-
cility, or partial lunacy may be very
noticably present in people and yet
they are freely allowed to marry
They often then propagate their kind
SO numerously as to make it appear
their first great duty in life.
| Immoral parentage. This is toe
shocking to dwell upon and was for
merly punished with death. What
children can be expected from such
Iantecedents?
Criminal parentage. Hundreds OF
crooks have been traced back to one
guilty pair.
| Diseased parentage. Like begets
like and victims of scrofula, tubercu-
losis, cancer, etc, will as surely beget
their kind in the future as in the past
DefOrmed parentage. What stock
man would think of doing such a
thing with his fiocks and herds? How
carefully he culls out all misshapen OIL
unlikely appearing creatures on ac-
count Of the pride and profit of per-
feet offspring.
Vicious parentage. One may be a
,cripple in body, or mind, or morals and
the last is the worst We already
have far too many moral degenerate:
to deliberately prepare the way fol
more.
Drunken parentage. Some of the
worst things ever seen in mad house!
are the direct results of drunken par.
Ientage on the part of one or both par
ents to say nothing of the weakness!
and dullness and downward proclivi
ties of children coming from the home!
of drinkers.
Race mixed parentage. This pre-
lposterous thing is still in some places
lallowed. Whites and blacks, and red
| and yellows in most inhuman mixture
are brought together until we are re
minded of a lady who said she coul'
have wished her father was a baboon
minated parentage. Clearly out
side of all the absurd unions we hav
been considering, here is a great fiel,
of thought, as an increasing numbe
of divorces constantly prove. Peopl
hopelessly unmatable to each other
with no possible affinity, some wa
get together long enough to ruin eacl
others lives and make their childre1
worse than orphans.
Unmarried parentage The childre
of these are branded in such a way a
TO make a very unequal battle 70
them in the world.
Very young parentage. 1t has bee
noted by students in such matter
that never in the annals of the worl
has there appeared any person O
great distinction whose parents wer
very young.
Dissipated parentage Weakness i
! the result.
Perhaps many other kinds of par
4 entS are undesirable, but these wi
illustrate the principle Surely a
l young people should be taught thes
things. Why let a false modesty pu
l ban on things of first importanc
l like these until in later years sorrow
l Indignation and shame follow in thei
wake? We should not err regardin
l the great truth that love Is our ser
l want, and not our master: in othe
1 words that there can be only true low
l when there is true counterpart w
I can have no right to be carried ava
with an infatuation for an unsuitabl
person any more than for an unsuita
bic thing. But as We have said peopl
are waking up to this great truth
can only be matter of time until
strict examination must be passed be
fore marriage license can be procur
ed. Through a great increase Of teach
ing, public sentiment will be so mold
led and shaped that proper laws regu
| lating marriage will be gladly obeye
by most people and the errors in thes
= things so common now will show a de
lcreasing minimum.
. Travellers tell of a race Of canniba-
y somewhere in the southern islands wh
keep all their own weaker member
eaten up. This is truly a survival {
the fittest. Special mention was mad
by the travellers of the fine, strong az
pearance Of these people: and the rea
son was near: the strongest only wa
left. We will have only the stronge.