764 THE POPULAR SCIENCE MONTHLY. 



guished from the artificial method of dealing with a social question. 

 A persistent struggle for continuous and successful life, with inter- 

 vening accidents or catastrophes, always possible, forms the ever-pres- 

 ent condition of physical as well as of social living. Much of our 

 daily energy is necessarily expended in repairing continual bodily 

 waste that the process of life entails, in fighting off disease or avoid- 

 ing accidents. Life can truly be defined as a struggle for existence. 

 With reference to life in society, Carlyle, in his terse, strong style, 

 puts it thus : " No man lives without jostling and being jostled ; in 

 all ways he has to elbow himself through the world, giving and re- 

 ceiving offense. His life is a battle, in so far as it is an entity at all." 

 Sociology must try and determine why many fight such a losing bat- 

 tle, by seeking closer counsel with the laws and teachings of physi- 

 ology. 



The lazy, inefficient, and even the criminal classes, are an inevitable 

 by-product of our complex modern civilization. They are not acci- 

 dents, but accretions. They are developed by laws that it is the duty 

 of social science to discover and obviate, instead of indulging in idle 

 moralizing. These laws must be evolved by a slow and patient study 

 of social phenomena interpreted by biological methods. When these 

 laws are understood, it will be seen that a sound education is the 

 measure of relief. I use this word in no narrow or conventional sense, 

 but meaning the development of the whole being in the line of the 

 highest strength and efficiency of the various parts. Every effort of 

 the philanthropist, the social reformer, and the Government must be 

 invoked to prevent degradation and degeneration in the poorer classes, 

 and raise them to a better status. The laws of healthy development 

 must be taught, and the consequences of their neglect in the habits of 

 life be shown. 



A young man who will marry early and raise a large family in a 

 closely populated center will inevitably involve himself in poverty and 

 his family in misery. Such apparent facts must be laid before the 

 young in time to prevent mistakes that can not be rectified. One of 

 the unfortunate factors in the social question is that the poorest and 

 often the physically unfittest classes are usually the most prolific, for 

 which (hey sometimes receive needless and undeserved praise. It is 

 the business and duty of Government to do all in its power to prevent 

 or mitigate any environment that all experience shows will produce 

 not only physical and mental inefficiency, but sufficient degradation of 

 the moral sense to make criminals. To this extent can Government 

 profitably interfere in a social question. It may be contended that 

 Government is not a philanthropic institution, and hence it is without 

 its scope to consider means to elevate the shiftless and unfortunate. 

 It may also be argued that Government can not consistently interfere 

 even with the degradation of people without assuming a right to regu- 

 late all their affairs. But, outside of all theoretical objections, no one 



