BIOLOGY IN ITS WIDER ASPECTS 1277 



On the contrary, it has an ethical note; it has been resolved upon 

 and decided upon as the best thing to do in the circumstances. It 

 is far more moral to practise birth control than to say "damn the 

 consequences!" On the other hand, it may be said that the use of 

 artificial methods of birth control will tend to increase the pro- 

 portion of inferior stock, because the methods will be least used by 

 the less educated, the less intelligent, the less moral. Yet for how 

 long would these less educated people continue to refrain from the 

 use of birth control methods? How far does the slight knowledge 

 which has already been gained from the clinics justify the assertion 

 that they will not use them? All these changes work slowly from 

 above downwards. As a matter of fact the use of birth control 

 methods among the very poor was more than begun long ago. 



What is to be said for the so-called artificial methods ofhirth control ? 

 First of all we must keep our eyes on what will happen if the world 

 becomes too full. Is not the birth control method the least dangerous, 

 the most practicable way of evading a terrible debacle ? People say, 

 "Practise sex temperance, practise sex restraint." But in present 

 conditions of housing it is nonsense to tell the husband to practise 

 temperance and control beyond a certain limit— men are not angels, 

 as is evident. One must not credit them with supernatural powers 

 of self-restraint, and in many cases the more temperate the parents 

 are, the more certain they are to have children. They cannot be 

 temperate beyond a certain point, and their self-control increases 

 the likelihood that when they come together there will be a child. 



Again, in answering objections one may urge that the method 

 of artificial birth control will obviate to some extent the disastrous 

 postponement of marriage with all its far-reaching evil consequences, 

 and will increase the facilities for early marriage with its possibilities 

 of progress and happiness. We should lay great emphasis on this 

 especially, that for the poorer folk artificial birth control methods 

 will allow the mother greater freedom of life, better health and more 

 joy in her children. Perhaps this is the strongest argument of all. 

 How terrible it is to hear over and over again, "I had ten children 

 and two are left." Anything is better than this common tragedy. 

 We should face some risk to put an end to that sort of thing. 



If it is true that we are moving rapidly towards the saturation 

 point in the world's population, a humane effort must be made to 

 arrive at a stationary population before the extreme evil consequences 

 are within sight. We must seek to secure restriction of the size of 

 the family before we are in sight of the terrible struggle for existence 

 which will ensue in some form or other if the rate of population- 

 increase continues as at present. 



Everyone has sympathy with those who would say: "What a 

 repulsive frame of mind always to be weighing biological considera- 

 tions!" But perhaps the biological pre- occupation is as good as any 



