102 DARWINISM AND RACE PROGRESS. 



props to the aged and needy, this reluctance would 

 largely vanish. People are generous enough wit- 

 ness the cordial support universally given to supple- 

 mentary charities but few pay their poor-rates 

 willingly, for they know that in most cases these 

 rates go to the support of the drunken, vicious and 

 lazy. As to the paupers themselves, not only would 

 increased funds be at the disposal of the deserving 

 poor, but the moral atmosphere of the poorhouse and 

 relieving office would be altogether purged by the 

 exclusion of the sturdy beggars, of those who are 

 able-bodied, but idle and vicious, who should be 

 placed apart and treated under separate regulations. 

 They are subjects for the police and for the criminal 

 law ; as outcasts from humanity, we may endeavour 

 to reclaim them, but whilst unreclaimed, let them 

 feel the full effects of their misconduct. The prison 

 cell is warmer than the rock cranny or pit in which 

 the primitive Briton sheltered himself, and the prison 

 fare is better than was his food. Why, then, should 

 the idle and reprobate vagabond receive the advan- 

 tages of a civilisation built up by the busy toil of 

 those around him, a toil in which he will take no 

 part ? 



To this class we may, if we will, offer work, but in 

 offering bread, we undertake a greater responsibility 

 than we perhaps are aware of. Food and clothing 

 means the power to live and marry, and as there are 



