Noyes: Development 
adequate and the method has been open 
to the objections raised against all 
forms of bribery. 
Dr. Saleeby, in his, “Method of Race 
Regeneration,” mentions three precau- 
tions to be observed in giving financial 
aid to parents; 
“First, the help is not to be a bribe. 
“Second, it is to be specific, definitely 
reaching the point toward which it is 
aimed, and 
“Third, it is to be steady and con- 
tinuous like the child’s needs.” 
It might be possible to form a Par- 
ents’ Mutual Protective League in such 
a manner as to comply with all three of 
Dr. Saleeby’s requirements, with a 
fourth stipulation added—that the ap- 
plicants be required to measure up to 
a certain standard as regards heredity 
as well as physical, mental and moral 
development. 
If 92 children are born annually per 
thousand women between 15-45 years, 
as was the case in 1913 for New York 
City, we may say roughly that one wo- 
man in ten between 15-45 years has a 
child each year. 
Let us suppose that the entire ten 
families should be willing to pay a 
small sum annually to form a protective 
fund so that the annual payment of all 
ten families would go as a benefit to 
the one family that was productive that 
year, to cover the unusual expenses at 
child-birth and during confinement, as 
well as smaller sums at stated intervals 
afterward. 
The increased expenses would thus 
be carried by a group instead of being 
met wholly by the productive parents 
concerned. 
The benefit payment could not be 
considered a bribe, or in the light of 
charity, because the beneficiary would 
also be one of the contributors. 
EXTENSION SERVICE IN THE HOME 
It would be specific, reaching the 
point toward which it was aimed, if 
administered carefully by the agent of 
the proposed society, especially if in 
connection with prenatal work and the 
follow-up visits of a nurse. 
of Useful Citizenship 89 
It would be reasonable to expect a 
reduction in the number of still births 
and in the loss of life in early infancy 
from accidents and complications which 
may thus be avoided. Also maternal 
mortality should be influenced for the 
better. 
The benefit could be steady and con- 
tinuous or just to cover the lying-in 
period as arranged for and desired. 
Compliance with the fourth stipula- 
tion would give the plan eugenic value 
as it would open the way to increase the 
birth and survival rates among those 
now shaping the thought and controlling 
the affairs of the nation. It is well 
known that our captains of industry, 
statesmen, soldiers, writers, scientific 
and professional classes are not per- 
petuating their strains in sufficient num- 
bers to keep their stocks intact. 
A recent number of the JoURNAL OF 
HEREDITY reported an investigation of 
the California Society of Mayflower 
Descendants showing the utterly inad- 
equate fecundity among its members. 
The somewhat spectacular statement 
was made that if the present rate of less 
than two children per family should 
continue for another three hundred 
years, it would be possible to put all 
of the descendants of that rare stock 
into a boat no larger than the May- 
flower without overcrowding. If this 
reproductive rate can be taken as a 
criterion of the superior stocks through- 
out the country, it is none too soon 
to sound the clarion note to awaken a 
widespread interest and consideration 
of what practical steps may be taken 
along constructive lines to prevent 
racial decay. 
In order to keep a stock from act- 
ual decline in numbers, Robert C. 
Sprague has shown that there must be 
an average of 3 7/10 children per fertile 
family to assure the raising of at least 
three children to marriageable age. 
EFFECT OF INCOME ON FAMILY LIFE 
The relation between the amount of 
income and the number of children in 
a family is definitely known. It is cer- 
tain that an inverse ratio exists in most 
