OBLIGATION IN PARENTHOOD. 165 



had the most direful results upon the race. That 

 which we speak of is an enforced segregation which 

 would eliminate from it some of its worst qualities. 



Were this segregation proposed, it would be impos- 

 sible to oppose it except by prejudice and that inertia 

 which every change has to encounter. If our pity is 

 enlisted on the side of suffering, it must be used to 

 prevent the production of those who are bound to 

 suffer. Parents on an average produce from four to 

 five children, and the criminals and incapables are 

 reckless as to the condition of their offspring. The 

 " ins and outs " of our workhouses take refuge there ; 

 they live on the organised charity of the land ; they 

 have not the physical and moral power to support 

 themselves ; they can leave at any moment and re- 

 turn mothers and fathers of children, who, like them- 

 selves, must be clothed and fed by the toil of others. 

 Those who cannot support themselves, from poverty 

 of physique, disease, or mental or moral incapacity, 

 are yet permitted by the community to exercise the 

 functions of parenthood, which, in its nature and 

 essence, implies an excess of power over and above 

 that which is required for the individual's own self- 

 preservation. 



