94 EUGENIC WORK IN SWEDISH FINLAND 



SWEDISH MEN AND WOMEN! 



On our own will, on our innate power ultimately depends the future of the 

 Swedish race in our country. A people mentally and physically strong can hold 

 out even under hard outward pressure! 



Improvement in the health of the people must therefore be our watchword, 

 and first of all we must direct our attention to the children! That they are born 

 with a good disposition, that they are taken care of and educated well, there is 

 the surest ground for our happiness in the future! 



The inherited qualities of the parents, both the good and the bad, are re* 

 fleeted in the children. Be careful therefore when you marry that your chosen 

 one has good health and belongs to a healthy family! 



Be on your guard against strong drink and sexual disease! They not only 

 undermine your own health. They can even do harm to your children and their 

 posterity. Do not forget that the sins of the fathers are visited upon the children 

 unto the third and fourth generation! 



Be modest and thrifty! But still not a slave to the desire for money! It can 

 so easily lead you astray, and what shall it profit you to gain the whole world 

 if you lose your own soul the while! The best inheritance you can give your 

 children is not money and gold but a sound mind in a sound body! 



Should you be the owner of a piece of ground do not sell it, however temps 

 ting the offers may be! Rather make it your glory and your pride as your fathers 

 before you to leave it in an improved state to your descendants! Remember also that 

 a farmer's work is the most important and the healthiest among all occupations! 



And even if you have no land of your own, but have lived and grown up 

 in the country since your birth, do not abandon your native place unless circum* 

 stances really force you to do so! Above all, do not move into town! There 

 temptations and dangers threaten you, which may be the cause of your own and 

 your children's ruin! 



Take care of the children from their birth onward tenderly and lovingly 

 Educate them to be obedient, to love truth and to keep their word! Harden 

 their will and accustom them early to do useful work, adapted to their strength 

 and ability! Diligence promotes health and welfare and keeps you from many 

 occasions for sinning! 



Briefly: all members of our Swedish race should be educated to become honest 

 and diligent workers for their native place and their fatherland! 



There must be no bad Swedish men and women in this country! 



Let us all obey these admonitions and keenly feel our responsibility before 

 coming generations! If we do so it will be well with us and the day of our 

 Swedish race shall be long in the land! 



