The Topeka state journal. [volume] (Topeka, Kansas) 1892-1980, 1922-03-20
TOPEKA STATE JOURNAL
Information Bureau
FREDERIC J. HAsKIN. Director.
washington, ID. O.
IEAvING Ir no EUGENICs.

ceived from that city.
Vienna has lately had occasion to
, become alarmed at the large sums
which the municipality has had to
spend on treatment for children~born
idiots; and DR.. Tandler. the chief sani-
tary officer. has decided to introduce
this pre-matrimoEial service as sort
of hopeful experiment.
You cannot prevent people from
having children" says DR.. Tandler,
by merely imposing conditions of
marriage any more than you can make
many people pay taxes if they are
must cultivate a sense of responsibility
in the individual I propose, there
fore, merely TO give people an oppor-
tunity of consulting a doctor gratis
before they are married. In the fu
ture there will be a municipal con-
sultant on wedlock who will be a doc
tor with a good knowledge of human
nature over and above his medical
qualificati ons. He will simply tell the
people the truth about themselves and
the prospects for their children If they
marry. The aim of the institution will
be to educate the public to a point
where it will be matter of common
sense to consult doctor before mar
rage"
The rendering of scientific opinions
to young couples contemplating mar
rage as TO the probable chara cteristics
OF their offspring, as well as the eS-
Enlistment of parentage in cases of
disputed legitimacy, are among the
new practical uses of eugenics. We
already have a well known eugenics
record office at Cold Spring Harbor in
this country. under the direction of
DR.. Charles y. Davenport, leader of
the eugenics movement over here,
which supplies advice similar to that
proposed for the citizens of Vienna
such advice is more in demand than
might be expected. and many romances
nave been blfghted or aided by the
coldly scientific analyses of eugenics
experts connected with the Davenport
laboratory.
More Serious Views Certain
Eventually there will come a wide
spread realization of the Importance
OF heredity in marriage" says Doctor
Davenport Young persons to whom
marriage is so serious a matter will
be led to stop and consider when they
feel they are falling in love, and in
qure concerning consequences to off
spring.
Already there is being developed
well defined conscience in the matter
of cousin marriages. for example, and
defective members. This is shown by
the extensive correspondence that the
eugenics office has been obliged to
enter into with persons who are con-
templating marriage.
They are quite willing to submit
an extensive account of their family
traits, and they write to learn what is
known about the inheritance of some
who make these inquiries are often
unusually intelligent. and not at all
radical; some of them stand high in
the social world.
1T is a high idealism and a forward
looking one which leads them to seek |
the desired knowledge, and one can
only respond to these requests by tell |
ing what is known, or highly probable, |
in respect to the recurrence of the
family defects in offspring. Whether |
the conclusions that one is able to give |
are always very valuable or not. at |
least the custom of considering chill |
dren and their inheritance of family |
traits is one to be encouraged. Normal |
dren, and it is natural for them to seek |
concerning the inheriting
of particular traits"
The only trouble with this high /
idealism'' at present is that the science /
Of eugenics is still in its infancy. and
eugenists show an alarming tendency
to contradict each other on various |
important points There is the ques-
ton of cousin marriages. for instance.
Some authorities. including Doctor /
believe that such mar
riageS are always unwise, but there is
the case of the Darwins. which would
Indicate that othed eugenists are in
favor of Them Maj. Leonard Darwin,
" no - A1d0eI OF int GuSeIlCS InONC-
ment in England, married a cousin
And so did his father the great
Charles Darwin.
Are Late Marriages Best?
Another question which is still sub
ect to much contradictory debate
among the best eugenics authorities
s that of delayed marriages. Some
believe that if the parents are not
Foung, the children are apt to be in
erior. On the other hand, others cite
evidence TO show that when the father
s over so at the birth OF a child, the
,hild has from to 10 times the
nance of being distinguished than
mother child would have whose father
vas 40 or under.
Casper l.. Redfield. in studying the
breeding of horses, COWS and hens"
avs one prominent eugenist, has
ome TO the conclusion that the race
winning colts are the progeny of ma
ure horses that have by long prac-
ice attained high speed before the
otis were born. Fishers statistics
f human beings seem to show that.
ther things being equal. the children
f older parents 'eXemplify in a strik-
ng way the inheritance of acquired
haracters-' He claims that the prob
bility of being eminent. when born
rom a father over so is 5 to 10 times
hat when born from a father of 40 or
ess"
Even the hitherto accepted theory
hat acquired chara cteristics cannot be
Inherited is now challenged by several
modern biologists who quote recent
experiments which seem {
o prove unquestionably that acquired
characteristics can be transmitted to
ffspring.
Wrong View OF Eugenics.
All agree, however, upon the hope
essness of attempting to regulate hu-
nan mating by legislation, and de-
lore the popular misconception of
ugenics (which credits that science
With a design to abolish romance and
o introduce cattle breeding princi-
Sy,Fn a oF |