Bismarck daily tribune. [volume] (Bismarck, Dakota [N.D.]) 1881-1916, 1913-01-26

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ton OF a court Of justice that the can!
didate for release is a person with a
germplasm carrying determiners for
%anti-social traits. The eusenics board
to consist Of five persons, experts re.
%s2ectively in pathology, psychiatry
psychology, social work, and heridity.
Type OF operation for sterilization:
Any type determined by euEenics
board at time Of recommending steril.
ization.
As a part OF engenics we must con-
slider the subject Of euthenics. Eu.
themes looks to the betterment OF
conditions in life, for the purpose of
securing more efficient human beings.
|It deals with race Improvement thru
|prcper environment A great deal has
been done. to- gain this Improvement
in environment. hut with rather dis
%couraging results. The permanent
race benefit from environment can be
obtained only among those who have
sound hereditary basis. The Inherent
quality Of q diamond determines its
value. Polishing q piece OF granite
may cause it to shine. but it will nev.
er changes II into Il diamond.
In Switzerland the children were
taken from a family of defective and
vicious parents and placed in good
surroundings with the hope that they
would grow up as law-abiding citizens.
The children were small and therefore
not materially Influenced by early i'm
p%ressions. One by one these children
ran away and fell by the moral way
side. This was over fifty years ago,
and today more than a hundred thiev.
es, tramps, d%runkards, and physical,
mental and moral detectives have de-
scended from that family. Another
experiment was made in Scotland
where poor children from the slums
OF Glasgow were boarded out among
respectable and Industrious natives
of the western coast. Instead OF as
Stunning the characteristics OF the law
abiding people who adopted them, the
majority of these children gave away
to their genetic tendencies, and in
the formerly quiet villages there ap-
peared a new, rowdy, irresponsible and
criminal element. As the reporter
states. "A new Stun a,ea was created
by the operation Of the inherent slum
instincts of the supposedly rescued
denizens Of Glastow's sums" Eu-
themes alone, it seems from such oh.
seryations, Is powerless to improve
permanently the racial defects. 1t
only emphasizes the great need for
practical eugenics.
Although the object Of Eugenics
seems highly ~commendable to most in
telligent people, we may not all agree
that the time IS ripe for radical action.
More blowing and. more narrowing is
necessary in the field. More scientific
work in heredity as we'll as more pop
ularizing Of sex knowledge should first
be accomplished.
It would seem that while there is
still the slightest question as to the
legal and humane right of depriving
an individual of the reproductive pow.
Ter, and while the problems involved
are not fully understood except by a
comparative few, the most urgent
need at present is a campaign of edu.
cation along eugenic lines.
cannot deny that many strong
objections sfDuldedsu on personal, phil.
|osdphic, or religious convictions might
be raised, indeed have been raised,
against such radical social measures,
as are contemplated in practical eu.
|genics. But eugenics is based on
scientific research, and experience has
shown that science is a powerful and
|frristfble transformer Of the most an
.cient and firmly rooted opinions and
beliefs which were not built on a
foundation of truth. We have conn.
'dence in the continued progress of
knowledge. We believe the time will
when all the people shall be
taught the truth about their origin
and about their inherent provocative
power at the age when these truths
are most urgently needed, namely,
in childhood. Several eastern states
are already giving courses in sex ed,.
in their public schools. The
subject Is given with the courses in
biology and nature study. The child
proper knowledge Of sexual
matters in such a natural way that
curiosity is not unduly aroused, and
the time of adolescence with
the awakening sex emotions. Later,
psychology and ethical iuns truction
supplements the foundation laid by
biology. Such vital knowledge obtain.
ed at this early period of life cannot
but prove a valuable help in the do.
cisive battles with sexual instincts.
After q correct foundation of sex
knowledge in general has been obtain
ed, there is but a step to the study Of
heredity and practical eugenics. After
realizes the Iull significance
Of these problems, we believe it will
be as easy to obtain enforcement OIL
eugenic measures as it is TO- to en-.
force sanitary laws for the protection
Of public health. Only a few years
ago the people objected to antitoxin
in d%iphtheria, and to isolation for tn.
and other infectious d.
Today the public demand
these things. Education has done it.
One Of the practical aims Of eugen-
les is to put ian end to such branches
Of the human family as have, proven
dangerous or destructive
to the. progress and happiness of the
rest of the ace. The question as to
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