224 THE FAMILY AND THE NATION 



it comes, provides but bitter reflection over lost oppor- 

 tunities. Those in the prime of life can make the best 

 use of wealth in the service of the nation ; may each 

 generation, as they grow older, learn to relinquish it 

 in time to watch their successors meet fully their 

 responsibilities. 



Not only should public opinion favour the free 

 production of the best elements of the population, and 

 the restriction of the worst, in the upper and middle 

 classes, but similar principles should guide the conduct 

 of all who have to deal with workpeople or servants. 

 For instance, the present habit of advertising for coach- 

 men, gardeners, and gamekeepers " without encum- 

 brances " should meet with the universal reprobation it 

 deserves. Such announcements ought not to be allowed 

 to disfigure the columns of otherwise respectable 

 newspapers. These men, usually of good stock, with 

 regular, well-paid work, should be a steady source of 

 valuable addition to the population, and pride should 

 be taken in providing for their occupation cottages 

 with accommodation suitable for a large family. In 

 fact, those responsible for the management of estates 

 might make sure, as a general policy, that the 

 limited number and inadequate size of cottages cannot 

 be made the excuse by satisfactory parents for the 

 limited production of children. Country landowners 

 have many and great responsibilities, which for the 

 most part they have met well. When they come to 

 realize the importance to the nation at large, and even 

 to their own neighbourhood, of a constant supply of 

 healthy children of good stock, they will find there are 



