The Washington herald., 1921-09-24
DARWIN URGES LARGE
FAMILIES FOR wELr.-BoRN

DARWIN URGES LARGE
FAMILIES FOR wELI.-BoRN.
To assure racial progress IN.
weil-born OF this generation ,hould
forget personal discomfort ana
raise large families that will ar
rest the racial deterioration that IA
taking place because Of the multi
plication of the inferior and Hen
dowed. This is the belief Of Major
Leonard Darwin. OF London. son OF
the famous Charles Darwin. ana
president OF the Eugenics Educa-
tion Society. who addressed the
Second International Congress a,
Applied Eusenics at the Americsn
Museum Of Natural History In New
York.
Young men of today who ar.
endowed with good natural abIlI-
ties and constitutions will be near
! ly all certain in time to earn for
themselves a 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
receive greater advantages in cd
ucation and in many other respects
than will the members Of big fam
ilies and they will in consequence
more easily win their way TO the
\ front. These two selective pro-
cesses will be more effective as
civilization advances. As resul,
We may expect 10 find in the fu-
ture in the ranks of the weiI-to-do
a most harmful combination of
qualities more and more often an
pearing. Superior Unborn aualinca-
tions will be combined with All
those natural tendencies which
tend TO favor the production @,
small families and these latter
tendencies will include natural in
fertility and an innate desire 10
lconsider the welfare OF children as
yet unborn. The result 70 he an
ticipated is that. in comparison
with the ill-endowed. the naturally
well-endowed will as time goes on
take a smaller part in the produc-
tion Of the coming generations,
with a tendency to progressive ra-
cial deterioration as an inevitable
consequence.
! DO eNisten; acts confirm or re-
flute this dismal forecast. sta
tistical inquiries prove conclusive
ly that, where good incomes are be-
ling won there the families are on
the average very small Moreover.
history teaches us that in the re-
mote past ancient civilization. after
rising to a climax. often began to
sink and sink until they disap-
peared of the face of the earth
Il can find no facts which refute
the theoretical conclusions that the
Unborn qualities Of civilized COM
munities are deteriorating. a pro-
cess which must Inevitably Iced jig
time to an all round downward
movement. I am. Of course. re-
garding this question broadly ar1
generally. but I cannot refrain r.. .m
adding that the United States has a
mighty future bef 20 f. on whirh
:he civilization " the who'll world
NAV IN a large measure depend. II
is. therefore doubly incumbent On
its citizens 20 consider whether
their best or their worst stocks are
now multiplying most rapidly. n
il is the worst stocks. and II no
steps are taken to remedy the evi'.
then this country NAV in Conse-
quence miss an opportunity 90 NIL
ing most glorious page in future
history.
IF in all civilized countries these
forces are producing deterioratnE
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 viii
affect large numbers in the opposite
direction" Major Darwin pointed
out. But how Is this TO be nc-
complished: What is necessary =
to make IL widely and deeply felt
that IL is both immoral and unra-
triotic for couples sound in mind
and body 20 undulv limit tho size
Of their families. No doubt diH7rul-
tics w:ll he experienced in decd ns
TO what extent the duty Of psren'-
hood is imposed in indi 'ual cases.
The main difficulty viii however.
he 10 get this duty strongly felt by
the mass Of the people. for success
in this cndeavor would. ! an con-
. WINGED. have a much greater 80
on the size Of families than ~nrr.
mon sense alone would IND ITO.
Failure is. however. certain n the
problem Is not attacked With re-
licious zeal There ought O. he
great moral campaign aEa!nst the
selfish regard for personal comfort
ard social advancement. for these
aims must in a measure he sacri-
feed on the altar Of family life II
; racial progress is TO be insured. We
must all learn that II envy ana
jealousy could be hanished. the
: happiness Of our children would de-
pend greatly on their Unborn guali-
: ties and but little on their Dlac" IN
society. We should recognize that
we shall best serve our country ny
bringing healthy and Intelligent
E children into the world. provided
that we can give them sound edu-
2 cation and a fair start in lie: ana
{ all of US should be ready to make
: some sacrifice Of social position IN
order TO obey our country'S call m
this respect. The nation tha, wins
3 in this moral campaign VIII have
3 gone half way towards gaining an
l all round racial victory"
WILL DISCUSS CAUSES or
GRAIN DUST EXPLOSIONS.