RELATION OF EUGENICS TO EUTIIENICs 475 



THE KELATION OF EUGENICS TO EUTHENICS 



By Professor LEON J. COLE 



UNIVERSITY OF WISCONSIN 



"VTfO attempt is made in the present paper to present a new array of 

 -i-^l facts nor to treat them in a novel light — even the title which 

 has been chosen is not new, except perhaps in the arrangement of the 

 words. But race improvement is a broad field, the cultivation of which 

 is barely begun, and as in all cases when a new territory is to be occu- 

 pied, a survey of the ground is of primary importance. Such a survey 

 helps us in the formulation of definite plans for the systematic develop- 

 ment of the land and saves much effort which might otherwise be mis- 

 directed. In what follows an attempt has been made to mark out some 

 of the delimitations of our territory, the character of the soil, and con- 

 sequently what crops — what lines of endeavor — may best be expected 

 to succeed. 



It is unfortunately true that a rich soil is equally suited to the 

 growth of the grain or the weeds, the wheat or the tares. The harvest 

 accords to the quality of the seed sown and to the diligence and intelli- 

 gence applied to uprooting the undesirable plants. And just so it is 

 with society. So long as we permit the marriage and the reproduction 

 of the unfit in human society, we are countenancing the contamination 

 of the seed which stands for the human crop of the next generation. 

 The seed which we use must either be relatively free from weeds or we 

 must put it through a winnowing process. 



Every agriculturist knows the importance of continued cultivation 

 in order to keep his land relatively free from weeds. A field allowed 

 to go without attention or even kept down to a meadow for only a few 

 years, soon " runs to weeds " to such an extent that the only procedure 

 is to plow it under and put on some strong-growing crop, which will 

 "kill out the weeds." In how far are these conditions comparable to 

 those of our physical, moral, social and civic life? And if they are 

 comparable, are we giving the attention we should to the winnowing of 

 the seed ? We shall also, of course, have to devote our attention to how 

 this winnowing may best be accomplished. 



Let me then be the surveyor who shall endeavor to map out our 

 field, to determine its limits and demarkations and its relation to the 

 neighboring fields on either side. Furthermore, let me try to chart its 

 general physical features in an endeavor to ascertain how it may best be 

 cultivated. 



