70 WHAT IS EUGENICS? 



There are no doubt some individuals who act like the lower 

 animals, being quite uninfluenced in regard to parenthood 

 by any thoughts of future consequences. Such as these 

 would not be affected in regard to the size of their families 

 by public assistance one way or the other. The majority 

 of these animal-like creatures are, however, feeble in mind, 

 and on that account parenthood ought anyhow to be 

 prohibited in their case. 



Again, it has been said that some persons are made so 

 miserable by their surroiuidings that they take no thought 

 whatever of the future and act only on the spur of the 

 moment. All such as these, so it is argued, would be made 

 less reckless by adequate State aid, and would consequently 

 have smaller families. This may be true ; but, as I have 

 never come across any such person, I gather that they 

 cannot be numerous. 



The great mass of our population are certainly neither 

 purely animal nor utterly reckless ; and it is to the mass we 

 should mainly look when framing a social policy. If it 

 were known that the appearance of each additional child 

 would certainly result in the receipt of additional public 

 assistance, the effect on all ordinary citizens would certainly 

 be to make parenthood appear less onerous beforehand. 

 We may conclude, therefore, that any State aid dependent 

 on the number of children would generally tend to increase 

 the size of families. Outdoor relief of the poor other than 

 the aged, unemplo3Tnent doles if not truly part of an in- 

 surance system, and free feeding and clothing of children 

 would certainly tend to encourage fertility. 



On the other hand, the effect of the giving of State aid 

 must in all circumstances be to increase the taxation levied 

 on all independent citizens ; and increasing taxation tends 

 for long to produce a reduction in the size of the famihes 

 thus affected. 



The foregoing considerations indicate that assistance 

 which eases the strain of family life tends proportionately 

 to increase the number of dependents in the coming genera- 

 tions. All such assistance may be described as philanthropic, 



