The Washington herald. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1906-1939, 1913-06-30
Society axes Eugenics
MRS. J.. H. HAMMOND FORMS CLASS
Seek ImprovementinRa

of the parents and grandparents of both
parties. 30 much the better. In time, I
have no doubt this can be made quite
feasible.
We believe In warning the young
against the scourges that punish the sins
OF youth that we have dismissed as
youthful follies" We believe that men
should as early as the years OF going
away to college acquaint their sons with
those dangers and in a most impressive
manner. A woman whom i well know
took double means to this end. Before
her eldest son left his home she had an
earnest talk with him. She told him of
the dignity of parenthood. the duty Of
preparing for that honor clean bodies
and minds and souls. She said to him:
The dearest moment OF my life win
be when child Of yours is placed in my
arms and l see 1t is perfect But II You
descend to walIow in filth I shall think
Of you with the disgust with which re-
gard a swine"
This solemn duty done, she arranged
during his first week in college. and be-
fore the insidious spell, OF temptation
could beset him, for his visit to the
Massachusetts, Hospital Under guidance
Of conscientious physician. friend.
she insisted that he spend day there
seeing all the horrors OF the results OF
ness and degeneracy. He saw the dying.
He witnessed major operations; saw men
and women sunken to the lowest depths
OF depravity. Evidently, the lesson was
vital one, for when, two years later,
the time came for his younger brother
to go to college and the mother prepared
for him the same plan the elder brother
begged Off for the younger.
Don't make him go through that" he
nlRaded 70 is inns ri m
Very we'll" responded the mother. IF
| you will promise to take him in hand"
Il SHALL" promised the elder brother,
| and there is evidence that he has kept
| his word.
While think this duty of acquaintins
| the young with the terrors that Turk In
wrong paths Is necessary, ] do not be-
lieve in anticipating by one hour the
question in the mind of youth.
Make the stock better" is our watch
| word. By informing ourselves We can
go far in this direction, and knowledge
! has ever been power. These are some
principles of eugenics which should be-
knowledge.
| Feeblc-minded Increasing.
The feeble-minded are increasing sew
eral times as fast as the normal.
Babies inherit both the defects and ex-
cellencies OF their parents, mental ana
physical. There is no case recorded OF
normal child being born of feeble
| minded parents.
1t is becoming a matter of common
knowledge that one-ffth of the blind lose
their eyesight because of infection at
birth
| the blind, with neurasthenics. paralytics,
| and mental DETECTIVES
One hundred thousand babies die each
year because of the transmissible dis
| eases Of their parents.
The laws of inheritance are not the
| only agents In the rearing of fne
| children. Conditions of environment
promote or impair the production Of per-
feet offsprings. Those conditions should
| be known to all persons of the age Of
parenthood
The greatest cause of infant mortality
| is the fact that children are born with
cut a sufficient biological capital to
meet the demands Of life. They quickly
| succumb in the struggle for existence,
| filling graves or public institutions.
| Eugenics impresses upon US that our
| immigration laws should restrict the i'm
] migration Of stocks unfit to blend with
2 the American population. The represen-
tative Of one of the Powers is quietly
| working to keep the unfit Of his nation
! at nome Tor tlat reason.
The characteristics OF children show
| that many defects are traceable to par
ents who are either too old or too
young. Thirty-seven per cent of all
| swindlers are the children of. parents
| who are more than forty-seven years
| old. majority of the crimes of vio-
| lence against property, as incendiarism,
are committed bp the children of too
| young parents. Yet the children of the
!
| gence. Fiftytwo per cent (more than
halo Of the sssassins are the children
| Of elderly parents.
We should all know that consanguine-
| GUS marriages Chose of close relatives,
| as cousins) may have disastrous results
| Those unable for bodily or mental rea-
| sons to earn a living will. IL permitted
to marry, bequeath other charges to the
| state. Germany and Austria have pro-
vided that no person living upon charity
or receiving State assistance shall be
permitted to marry.
If an insane or imbecile person marries
| a normal one, one-half or at least one
fourth of their children usually inherit
| the abnormality.
II two epileptics marry. their children
will all be epileptics. and IL two imbeciles
marry they will produce imbeciles.
A woman may be more safely trusted
to marry above her station than a man.
Most mesalliances are made by men. 1t
| is a womans instinct to raise herself In
the marriage scale
The fear is in some minds that a knovl-
edge of eugenics will Danish romance.
Far from 1t. 1t will make marriages hap
pier as well as better. There will always
be love, and by making the race better
we will make love more permanent.
| We do not believe in the elimination of
i the infant unfit. When children have
come into the world let US take care OF
them. The Greek idea Of numbering the
| weafling infant does not accord with our
| civilization. The world would have been
| deprived of much of its greatness had we
| adopted this law. Goethe, for instance
/ was a weakling infant. But, once again
I say. let US study how to make the stock
better.