164 THE MENDEL JOURNAL 



" Character." What is the answer of Metaphysics ? 

 Is it the omnipotent " We " ? 



The considerations and facts which I have put 

 forward above must form my answer to Miss Wode- 

 house's question to me on page 1 35 of her criticism : 

 "Is it Mr. Mudge's opinion that the present slum 

 environment selects its survivors on the basis of 

 qualities so valuable and so varied that we can no 

 longer hope to improve it ? " 



I once more assert that the whole evidence before 

 us, when rightly analysed, leaves no alternative 

 conclusion but that the slums are made by the slum 

 people, and that there does not exist among them 

 as a class any good qualities which can be " selected " 

 either b}^ man or Nature. They are there as slum 

 people because of the absence of any such good 

 qualities which can make them otherwise. I will 

 not further labour the point, but refer my readers 

 to the considerations and facts which I advanced in 

 support of this conclusion on pages 49-57 and 94-96 

 of my original article. 



Next let us turn to the remarkable moral which 

 Miss Wodehouse extracts from my article. We are 

 told that the moral of the teaching that all natural 

 processes are benign " would seem to be that we 

 should make haste to remove such flagrant inter- 

 ferences with Nature as are found in the main drainage 

 system and the organisation of the metropolitan 

 police." I should be sorry if my critic could point 

 to a single utterance in the article which she criticises 

 which could legitimately justify anyone in inferring 



