THE SOCIAL PROBLEM 265 



and the cry is against race suicide. One is told that the early settlers 

 of this land had large families and that the children were strong, physi- 

 cally and mentally. But they were a fine stock, and, like all pioneers, 

 they were the best of their race — and natural selection came to their 

 aid. Sheltered in only too well-ventilated houses and exposed to a 

 severe climate, the feeble perished in infancy, the strong survived. No 

 such selection exists in the class under consideration, which, unfor- 

 tunately, lacks the original physique. More than that. Pure food 

 laws, sewerage, proper construction of houses, sanitary regulations and 

 the rest antagonize the operations of natural laws, whereby the sins 

 of the parents are visited upon the children. Those who, under former 

 conditions, would have died in infancy now survive the perils of the ear- 

 liest years, in increasing proportions reach maturity, marry and re- 

 produce themselves — a menace to the health and well-being of the 

 community. The reports of surgeons employed by the New York 

 Board of Education prove that a great part of the children in some 

 portions of the city suffer from congenital defects, which, uncorrected 

 by surgical treatment, lead to mental as well as moral deficiency; 

 while teachers have discovered that much of the mental obtuseness 

 observed in pupils is due to lack of proper nourishment. Quality, not 

 quantity is all important in a population. It is said that a nation 

 with stationary or decreasing population is in decadence and much 

 ado has been made over the sad condition of France. Yet the thought- 

 ful Frenchman is prompt to remark that he prefers 35,000,000 healthy, 

 well-fed and contented Frenchmen to 100,000,000 of wretched Eus- 

 sians. It is true that in France war material is not increasing so 

 rapidly as in some other lands; but the civilized world is outgrowing 

 the notion that men should be bred as horses, to be killed in settlement 

 of disputes which do not concern them. 



It may be well enough for wandering savages, such as the Austral- 

 ian aborigines, to multiply heedlessly like rabbits and weeds, but it is 

 not well enough in civilized lands where masses congregate in cities 

 and the food problem becomes complex. Philanthropists, as they think 

 themselves, would not prevent the multiplication of children, for that 

 is a natural right of which man may not be deprived, even though he 

 can not provide food for his offspring. The "cry of the child" is 

 made the basis of bitter attacks on the constitution of society and 

 demands are made that the state, whatever that may mean, should not 

 only protect but also provide for needy children. In recent months, 

 the pensioning of mothers left with children has been urged as the com- 

 munity's duty. An association for aid of the poor lately published in 

 its annual report the picture of a despairing man sitting by the bed- 

 side of his wife and her newly bom infant, with the query below, 

 "And what will he do with the sixth?" A missionary out west with 



