The Birmingham age-herald., 1921-09-26
TO SAVE THE RACE
By Science Serrice.

cial)-To assure racial progress the
 well-born of this generation should
 forget personal discomfort and raise
 large families that will arrest the
 racial deterioration that is taking
 place because of the multiplication oi
 the inferior and ili-endowed. This is
 the belief of Maj. Leonard Darwin oi London, son of the famous Cha les
 Darwin, and president of the Eu-
 genics Education society, who ad- dressed the second international con
 gress of applied eugenics at the
 American Museum of Natural His tory here
 Young men of today who are en-
 dowed with good natural abilities and constitutions will be nearly all certain in time to earn for them selves fairly good livelihood. while the reverse will be the case with those ill-endowed by nature" he said. Then, again, those who are members of small families will re- ceive greater advantages in educa- tion and in many other respects than will the members of big families, and they will in consequence more easily win their way to the front. These two selective processes will be more effective as CIV ilzation advances. As a result we may expect to find in the future in the ranks of the well-to-do a most harmful combination of qualities more and moro often apeparing. Su- perior inborn qualities will be com bined with all those natural tenden- cies which tend to favor the produc- ton of small families, and these lat ter tendencies will include natural | infertillty and an innate desire to consider the welfare of children as yet unborn. The result to be antici- pated is that, in comparison with the endowed, the naturally we'll endowed will as time goes on take smaller and smaller part Tn the l production of the coming genera tions, with 8 tendency to progress sive racial deterioration as an i'm eyitable consequence.
 Do existent facts confirm or re- flute this dismal forecast? Statistical inquiries prove conclusively that, where good incomes are being won there the families are on the average very small. Moreover, history teaches us that in the remote past ancient civilizations, after rising 10 q climax, often began to sink and sink until they disappeared off the face of the earth.
 T can find no facts which retute the theoretical conclusion that the ir born qualities of civilized commu- mites are deteriorating, process which must inevitably lead in time to an all-round downward movement am, of course, regarding this ques- ton broadly and generally, but I cannot refrain from adding that the United States has a mighty future before it, on which the civilization of the whole world may in a large doubly incumbent on it's citizens to consider whether their best or their worst stocks are now multiplying most rapidly. If it is the worst stocks, and if no steps are taken to remedy the evil, then this country may in consequence miss an oppor- tunity of filling a most glorious page
 in future history.
 If in all civilized countries these forces are producing deteriorating influences by acting on the masses of the people, then the only way to counteract this tendency is to set in operation other forces which will affect large numbers in the opposite direction.' Major Darwin pointed plished? What Is necessary is to make 1t widely and deeply felt that it is both immoral and unpatriotic tor couples sound in mind and body to unduly limit the size of their fami- lies. No doubt difficulties will be ex- perienced in deciding to what extent the duty of parenthood is imposed in individual cases. The main diffi- culty will however, be to get this duty strongly felt by the mass of the people, for success in this endeayor would. am convinced, have much greater effect on the size of families than common sense alone would in- dicate. Failure is, however. certain if the problem is not attacked with religious zeal. There ought to be great moral campaign against the selfish regard for personal comfort and social advancement, for these aims must in measure be sacrificed progress Is to be insured. We must all learn that if envy and jealousy could be banished, the happiness of our children would depend greatly on their inborn qualities and but little on their place in society. We should recognize that we shall best serve our country by bringing healthy and intelligent children into the world. provided that we can give them a sound education and a fair start in life; and all of us should be ready to make some sacrifice of social posi- ton in order to obey our country's call in this respect. The nation that wins in this moral campaign will have gone half way towards gaining an all-round racial victory"