RACIAL VALUES IN THE WAR 



France and Great Britain Seem Least Able to Make Good Their Losses- 

 Lies in Hands of Germans or of English-Speaking Peoples 

 Outside of England — Need for Eugenics 



Review of a Book by Seth K. Humphrey 



-Future 



THAT the Great War will markedly 

 affect the future history of the 

 world is universally recognized, 

 but the exact nature of the effect 

 is not so often discussed. Seth K. 

 Humphrey devotes much space to it, in 

 an interesting series of essays^ which 

 serve as an introduction to eugenics. He 

 concludes that England and France 

 have passed their highest points, and 

 that the future belongs to the Germans 

 or the extra-Brittanic Anglo-Saxons, 

 that is, America and the English colonies. 



A relatively small loss of men will 

 seriously cripple a nation, he points 

 out, if these men are the best she has. 



"Someone has said that if France 

 were to lose fifty of her greatest states- 

 men, fifty leading scientists, fifty each 

 of her shining lights in education, art, 

 music, and so on, there would be nothing 

 left of France. This states in an exag- 

 gerated way a deep truth which can be 

 far more convincingly illustrated. We 

 may continue with France as an exam- 

 ple, although the case fits England, Ger- 

 many, and America as well. 



"The population of France is about 

 forty millions. Then, instead of a few 

 hundred suppose France were suddenly 

 to lose four hundred thousand, 1%, of 

 her very best in human values ; not of the 

 ph3^sically best, such as are being lost in 

 the horrible war, but of the best in intel- 

 lectual and creative ability, in leader- 

 ship, in genetic worth. What would be 

 left of France? Gather in every man 



and woman in France who leads, sus- 

 tains, creates, and brings to pass the 

 things that are vital to her life; then to 

 the sum of all these add as many of 

 equal potential worth, who in the nature 

 of things would succeed them; and still 

 this 1% conscription of France's best 

 would be unfilled. Add, again, the most 

 promising child in every family that has 

 ever produced exceptional ability; it is 

 doubtful whether then the list of four 

 hundred thousand would be complete. 



"This idea is so pertinent that it can- 

 not be impressed too strongly. Take 

 the illustration to England — eliminate a 

 half million of her active and potential 

 leaders; and to Germany — subtract six 

 hundred and fifty thousand from her 

 best genetic values. What would be 

 left of Europe? 



America's leaders 



"Bring it home to our own United 

 States. One per cent of the population 

 is one million. Ten times this many 

 l^hysically fit could be raised to defend 

 their country, but could we find a 

 quarter of one million who have a vital, 

 constructive part in the making of it? 

 If so, remove these from the nation's 

 life, and then, to complete the lists, 

 three times as many more chosen from 

 the most promising of the country's 

 blood. What would be left of the 

 United States ^ 



"A smaller unit may bring the idea 

 closer. In New York City is supposed 



' Mankind — Racial Values and the Racial Prospect, by vSeth K. Humphrey. Pp. 223, price 

 SI. 50 net. New York, Charles Scribner's Sons, 1917. Mr. Humphrey, a Boston business man 

 and author but a serious student of biology, outlines the problerrs of eugenics in the most elemen- 

 tary terms possible, dispensing not only with references to authorities but even, for the most part, 

 with citations of facts. While the book is admirably planned and, on the whole, shows notably 

 sound judgment, the addition of more statistical data would have added to its value. Although 

 many of Mr. Humphrey's conclusions are naturally open to auestion, his point of view is so intelli- 

 gent and so lucidly set forth that it is to be hoped he will follow up this essay with a more detailed 

 and documented study- 



493 



