"EUGENICS."— PRESIDENTIAL ADDRESS by Db. GRAHAM WILLS. 



Under the chairmanship of Dr. Graham 

 Wills (president), the opening meeting of 

 the winter season was held on 

 Wednesday evening (October 23) in the 

 Reference Library at the Beaney Institute. 

 There was a fairly good attendance, con- 

 sidering the unsatisfactory state of the 

 weather. Among those present were : Mrs. 

 Wills, Miss Mason, Miss Fowler, Miss Ab- 

 bott, Mr. and Mrs. Lewis, Messrs. C. Gard- 

 ner, T. Underbill, A. Landea-, W. Cozenw, 

 Miss Greenwood, and Miss Widdison. The 

 first part of the proceedings was devoted 

 to business. Then the presidential address 

 was given. Dr. Wills delivering an ex- 

 tremely useful and interesting discourse on 

 the Theory of Eugenics. 



ELECTION OF OFFICEES. 



The following were elected as officials 

 for the ensuing year : — President, Dr. 

 Graham Wills; vice-presidents, the Very 

 Rev. the Dean of Canterbury, Captain 

 McDakin, Mr. S. Harvey, the "Rev. C. R. 

 McDowall, and Mr. F. B. Goldney. M.P ; 

 hon. treasurer, Mr. W. Cozens; hon. li- 

 brarian, Mr. H. T. Mead ; committee, 

 Messrs. n. M. Chapman, J. H. Sharp, G. 

 M. Pittock, W. T. Leeraing, Dr. Malcolm 

 Burr, A. Brownscombe, and J. Underbill; 

 hon. secretary, Mr. A. Lander; hon. assis- 

 tant secretaries, Messrs. C. A. Gardner and 

 E. B. Hayward. 



A letter of regret at inability to be 

 present was received from Captain 

 McDakin, Dover. 



The Hon. Treasurer (Mr. W. Cozens) sub- 

 mitted a satisfactory report. 



Miss Widdison, B.Sc., and Mr. Arthur 

 Davies were elected members of the 

 Society. 



PRESIDENTIAL ADDRESS. 



The President then addressed the meet- 

 ing as follows : — 



It is impossible for any individual wh(t»o 

 lot is cast anywhere within bail of the 

 large centres of industry to be otherwise 

 than impressed with tlie rapid development 

 in all departments of knowledge during 

 even the past few months. Equally impos- 

 sible is it for me to attempt a recapitula- 

 tion of such progress since last I addressed 

 you. and any cursory remarks I may make 

 must necessarily refer to one or more 

 selected subjects. It is to be regretted that 

 a certain section of recent discoveries have 

 not proved to be unmitigated blessings, 

 but have been diverted from their original 

 utility and abused, and crime has been 

 facility tied and its detection and punish- 

 ment rendered more difficult, e.g., the 

 motor ear bandit and modern burglar have 

 at their command the same resources which 



have done such yeoman service in many of 

 the industries. I do not overlook the fact 

 that an the other side of the account wo 

 have such balancing factors as the use of 

 wireless telegraphy, which has so fre- 

 quently of late brought the fugitive to jus- 

 tice amongst other incalculable benefits. 

 But still, we can only lament the presence 

 r>f a strong element of aggression and de- 

 dtruction in our methods of utilising what 

 science is constantly providing. Our ad- 

 vancing methods of locomotion, for ex- 

 ample, exact a heavy toll of human life. 

 We are told that already this year 188 

 lives have been lost in motor accidents in 

 London alone; the loss of the Titanic, with 

 its heavy death roll, was undoubtedly 

 another sacrifice to speed, and the heavy 

 casualties connected with the development 

 of the aeroplane and the submarine vessel 

 go to swell a formidable list, apart from 

 the fact that all these machines seem to 

 owe much of their popularity to their 

 importance in war, and to thoughtful prc- 

 sons comes the conviction that they may, 

 in the near future, be responsible for such 

 wholesale destruction of human life as may 

 indeed "stagger humanity." It may seem 

 remarkable (though it is not uncommon) 

 that at such a time a new science should 

 spring up, having an entirely different 

 object, and we might term it a neutralising 

 factor in the general destructive movement 

 aiming, as it docs, at construction of the 

 human race on the best obtainable Hnet.. 

 I allude to the so-called Science of Eugen- 

 ics, which has recently been brought be- 

 fore us, and which we may find some in- 

 terest in examining. What is the science 

 of Eugenics? I will quote from one of the 

 ;_est known writers on the subject (Dr. 

 Saleeby, I believed : — 



"The people called Eugenists believe 

 that the soul of all improvement is the 

 improvement of the soul ; that since indi- 

 viduals are mortal, the quality and quan- 

 tity of parenthood are the dominant factors 

 in the destiny of any people; that the cul- 

 ture of the racial life is the vital industrv 

 of mankind everywhere and always; that 

 every child who comes into the world 

 should be planned, desired, and loved :n 

 anticipation; that the function of govern- 

 ment is the production and recognition of 

 human worth and the extirpation of human 

 unworth, and that to these incomparable 

 ends for which the world was made all 

 powers of man and nature, all forces 

 spiritual and material, must be made sub- 

 servieu*." This is no new fad, but rather 

 the modern form of the idea, and the ideal 

 to which the noblest men and women of all 

 the past have consecrated all their powers. 



