160 THE MENDEL JOURNAL 



Dr. Cobbett says that the "street arabs " of the 

 slums only need the influence of " decent people " to 

 make them respectable and useful citizens. I suppose 

 Dr. Cobbett will assent to the proposition that what is 

 true of ''street arabs " must be truer still, or at least as 

 true, of more successful people. For if he does not 

 accept that proposition, then he is asking us to believe 

 that the works of social evolution have been cast out 

 of her mould upside down, and that the good, noble, 

 and responsive people have sunk into the slums, while 

 the evil, vicious, and irresponsive people have risen to 

 the higher civic strata of Society. Let us see, then, 

 whether the influence of " decent people " is real or 

 imaginary. The train of ideas underlying the term 

 " decent people " may of course be applied to many 

 things. We may consider it in relation to good taste. 

 If we pass through the very respectable portions of 

 any of the suburbs around London during the Summer 

 months and on Sundays, we shall occasionally hear 

 coming through the open windows of some even of the 

 larger houses, evidently well furnished and with well- 

 kept gardens, the discordant and metallic vibrations 

 of the gramophone. These spread far and wide, and 

 gratuitously impinge upon the hearing of everyone in 

 the neighbourhood, whether they care for such enter- 

 tainment or not. Now, no stretch of the imagination 

 upon the part of people with good taste can possibly 

 regard these vibrations as beautiful or inspiring. They 

 are not melodious ; they are merely pulsating 

 volumes of clashing noises. In some cases the songs 

 which have been chosen for emission by the gramo- 



