The times dispatch. [volume] (Richmond, Va.) 1903-1914, 1913-07-06

proouction or perfect offspring. Those condt.
age of parenthood
The greatest cause OF infant mortality IA thu
TACT that children are born without sufficient
biological capital" to meet the demands of
me- They quickly succumb In the struggle
ior existence. filling graves or public insttu
lions. >"
Eugenics impresses upon US that our immi.
grafton laws should restrict the immigration
OF stocks unfit to blend with the American non
uation The representative of one of tha
fowers Is quietly working to keep the unfit
OF his nation at home for that reason He
told me so.
The characteristics OF children show that
many defects are traceable to parents who are
either too old too young Thirty.seyen per
cent OF all sw1ndlers the children OF parents
VINO are more than forty-one years old ma.
jority of the crimes of violence against nron.
erty. as incendiarlsm are committed by The
chlidren OF too young parents. Yet the chill.
aren OF the young parents show the greater
th,eihsence. Fifty-two per cent (more than
halD OF the assassns are the children OF cid
erly parents
We should all know that consanguneous
marriages tthose OF close relatives, as cous-
ins) may have disastrous results. If only be-
cause cousins liable to have the same
traits and marriage and parenthood would
cause these traits to become moro marked they
should BIO avoided because Of intensifying fam.
ny faults which might disappear In genera
ton or two OF remote matings. The anti
eugenists point to Cleopatra as a proof of thu
value OF inbreeding She was the daughter of
welded brother and sister. for It was the
custom then for brothers and sisters to wed
and 30 keep the throne Of the Ptolemies in the
family. True. Cleopatra wonderfully beau
tiful. but beauty Is not the chief purpose of
the eugenists. The truth Is that II she were
living to-day Egypts beautiful queen would be
In the ward OF Matteawan or some other asy.
ium for the crlminally insane. Consanguineous
marriages between persons OF weak mentality
are source Of both crime and insanity.
nfrla tl~,A
bodily or mental reasons to earn living will,
II 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.
II an Insane imbecile person marries q
normal one one-haf az least one.fourth OF
their children usually inherit the apnormalty.
II two epileptics marry. their children will
all DO epileptics and II two imbeciles marry
they VIII produce imbecies.
A woman may be more safely trusted to
marry above her station than a man. Most
mesalliances are made by men, 1t Is won.
ans instinct to raise herself in the marriage
scale.
The tendency OF nature Is to slump. II a
1T and unfit person marry the children are
liable to be more like the unfit than the fit
person. This Ia a regrettable truth which
cannot evade.
The fear is in some minds that a knowledge
OF euEenics Will Danish romance. Far from it
- VIII manu- marriages happier as well as pet
ter. There will always be love, and by making
the race better will make love more per
manent 1t comes back to our watchword.
study to Make the stock better"
We do not believe in the elimination OF the
infant unfit. When children have come into
the world let us take care OF them. The Greek
idea OF numbering the weakling infant does not
accord with our civilization. The world would
have been deprived Of much Of It's greatness
had we adopted this law. Goethe. for instance.
was a weakling infant. But. once again. say.
let us study how to make the stock better.