82 WHAT IS EUGENICS? 



of the inferior. At present perhaps aU that can be done 

 is to try to make the public realize the dangers to the race 

 which may accompany any method of easing the strain 

 of family life. 



Family allowances do, however, form the best way of 

 increasing the size of the family when that is desirable. 

 A small dole would, it is true, have no effect on the conduct 

 of the well-to-do ; and if their birth-rate is to be raised 

 by family allowances, both the sums paid in by individuals 

 and the sums received by parents must be higher where the 

 standard of life is higher. This system of allowances may 

 be regarded as an insiu'ance against the expenses of parent- 

 hood, and then it will be seen to be fair that those who 

 pay in most should get most out. Such a plan could easity 

 be adopted in all public services, and to strive to promote 

 reforms in this direction should be our first effort. Later 

 on this system might be adopted voluntarily in many call- 

 ings, to the great advantage of the nation in the future. 



If the allowances were to be handed to the wife, the result 

 might be an increase in the feeling of independence amongst 

 married women. This would make some superior women 

 more ready to marry. 



The strain on parents of good stock, as compared with 

 that felt by the childless, could also be eased in other ways. 

 For example, in regard to the income tax paid by parents, 

 the deduction on account of children might be increased. 

 And this could be done without altering the distribution of 

 taxation between rich and poor. 



In callings where salaries are fixed in advance for each 

 grade, as in the public services, the scale might be re- 

 arranged, the senior men getting less and the juniors more. 

 This would lessen customary expenditure on luxuries and 

 encourage early marriages. The change might be made 

 concurrently with the introduction of family allowances. 



Parents have to cover heavy expenditure when any of 

 their children pass from elementary schools to colleges or 

 universities. Scholarships should, therefore, be large 

 enough to cover all this extra expenditure. The cost to 



