The Detroit times., 1915-10-19
The Eugenic Human
Stock Registry
~ Or. FRANK CRANE
Copyright. 1915. by Frank Crane)


1t is the proposition of the Race Bet
torment Association To establish regis
terry for human beings, analogous TO the
existing repositories for blooded cattle
thoroughbred horses, and fine dogs.
II is aimed to have select list OF
eugenically inspected and certified men
and women a board of five well known
men have been named to organize the
registery. They are DR.. c. B. Daven-
port, of the eugenics record Office at Cold
Spring Harbor. l.. l.. Prof. Irving Fisher,
of Yale: Prof David Starr Jordan, OF
Leland Stanford university; Luther Bur
bank, the plant wizard, and DR.. j. h. hei.
logg. the leading American exponent Oh
biological living.
The argument is that, rs the estab-
lishment of registries for horses, COWS,
sheep, and the like has resulted In pro-
ducing breeds far superior TO those OF
generation ago. so reliable and otilclal
record of superior men and women ought
to result in far finer products in time,
These scientists seem to think there Is
no reason why we should not have a
strain of human stock consisting OF We
muses. ard Apollos. il we can breed the
trotting horse down from three TO two
minutes, if we can get Percherons like
unto young mastodons. if we can develop
marvellous setter and pointer dogs, and X
we can reach the perfection in cows IL
Illustrated by the celebrated Finderne Ho-
ligan Fayne.
This is q deliberate attempt TO create
new aristocracy, or rather 10 establish
aristocracy upon a basis OF scientific
fact
The world has always believed in aris-
tocracy, in spite of its invariable fail
ures. The first families among old
world nobility soon peter out. They are
unscientifc. They exist in world where
tradition, sentiment and superstition
take the place Of fact.
Why not have real genuine, depend
able lot of first families whose claims
shall rest upon provable truth and not
upon buncombe?
So say the race-betterment folks. All
applicants for registration will be exam
ined and their qualifications determined
by aboard of experts.
This board will record individuals with
reference TO their physical fitness and
their hereditary traits. entering in the
books such rs measure up, whose qualifi-
cations conform TO the requirements Of
established standards.
The association will also collect data,
| the expert study Of which may result in
better knowledge Of the influence of en-
vironment upon the life quality, and also
the effects Of heredity in transmitted
elements of strength and weakness.
Instead Of an aristocracy of health and
efficiency built up by organization and
forethought, we are actually charging,
by our maudlin and undirected sympa-
thies, the number of lunatics, idiots,
paupers and criminals.
Those unfit persons" writes Or. Kel-
logg in a recent article, already have
reached the proportions Of vast multi
tude, 100000 lunatics, 10000 criminals,
100 900 paupers, 10000 idiots, 10000
epileptics, and we are supporting these
detectives in idleness like real aristocrats
at an expense of 500, 900 year, and
this mighty host Of mental and moral
Icripples is increasingly due to unre-
stricted marriage and other degenerative
influences that work at n much more
rapid rate than the sounder part of the
population, so that they are bound in
time to constitute the majority unless
some check is put upon the ~increase.
Every one of these lunatics possesses the
right to vote even in states where wom-
en- are not given the right Of franchise"