Message to the International Congress of 

 Eugenics, New York, 1932 



As advancing years will prevent me from attending 

 the Congress at New York, may I be allowed to take this 

 opportunity of sending to it a message to say how very 

 sincerely I appreciate the great honor of being nomi- 

 nated as one of its Honorary Presidents and how keenly 

 I wish it every success, even though knowing that such 

 success is a certainty? And may I take this opportu- 

 nity of adding a few words concerning eugenic policy 

 generally ? 



In order to be practically successful in our endeavors 

 to promote racial progress, or, I should rather say, to 

 stem racial decay, two things are necessary. We must 

 have such accurate scientific knowledge as will make it 

 possible to foretell with a considerable degree of prob- 

 ability the consequences of any proposed social policy. 

 And we must include within the scope of our moral pre- 

 cepts — of our religious ideals — a firm determination to 

 pursue whatever policy is thus indicated as tending 

 steadily to improve the inborn qualities of our nation as 

 the generations succeed each other. 



As to the many institutions in America where admir- 

 able scientific work is being carried on in this field, there 

 is one which I must, for two reasons, be allowed on this 

 occasion to pick out for special mention, and that is the 

 Eugenics Record Office, now a department of the Car- 

 negie Institution of Washington, located on Long Island, 

 New York. In the first place, it has for many years 

 been under the direction of Charles B. Davenport, the 

 President of this Congress, with Harry H. Laughlin, 

 Secretary to the Congress, in immediate charge; and 



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