HUMAN CONSERVATION 



523 



gram of eugenics which does not grip the imagination of the common 

 people in such a way as to become an effective part of their very lives 

 is bound to remain largely an academic affair for Utopians to quarrel 

 and theorize over. 



It is not enough to collect facts and work out an analysis and 

 interpretation of them, for, important as this preliminary step is, it 

 must be followed by a convincing campaign of education. 



The lives of the unborn do not force themselves upon the average 

 man or woman with the same insistency as the lives already begun. 

 In the midst of the overwhelming demands of the present, the appeal 

 of posterity for better blood is vague and remote. If every individual 

 regarded the germplasm he carries as a sacred trust, then it would be 

 the part of an awakened eugenic conscience to restrain that germplasm 

 when it is known to be defective or, when it is not defective, to hand 

 it on to posterity with at least as much foresight as is exercised in 

 breeding domestic animals and cultivated plants. 



The eugenic conscience is in need of development, and it is only 

 when this becomes thoroughly aroused in the ranis, and file of society 

 as well as among the leaders, that a permanent and increasing better- 

 ment of mankind can be expected. 



4. THE RESTRICTION OF UNDESIRABLE GERMPLASM 



A negative way to bring about better blood in the world is to 

 follow the clarion call of Davenport, and "dry up the streams that 

 feed the torrent of defective and degenerate protoplasm." This may 

 be partially accomplished, at least in America, by employing the 

 following agencies: control of immigration; more discriminating 

 marriage laws; a quickened eugenic sentiment; sexual segregation of 

 defectives; and finally, drastic measures of asexualization or steriliza- 

 tion when necessary. 



a) CONTROL OF IMMIGRATION 



The enforcement of immigration laws tends to debar from the 

 United States not only many undesirable individuals, but also inci- 

 dentally to keep out much potentially bad germplasm that, if admitted, 

 might play havoc with future generations. 



For example, during the year of 1908, 65 idiots, 121 feeble-minded, 

 184 insane, 3,741 paupers, 2,900 individuals having contagious dis- 

 eases, 53 tuberculous individuals, 136 criminals, and 124 prostitutes 

 were caught in the sieve at Ellis Island alone and turned back from 

 this country by the immigration officials. These 7,000 and more 



