514 STUDIES, SCIENTIFIC AND SOCIAL chap. 



unless some effective measures are soon adopted and 

 strictly enforced, our case will be irremediable ; and, since 

 natural selection fails so largely, recourse must be had to 

 artificial selection. "The drunkard, the criminal, the 

 diseased, the morally weak should never come into 

 society. Not reform but prevention should be the cry." 

 The method by which this is proposed to be done is hinted 

 at in the following passages : " In the true golden age, 

 which lies not behind but before us, the privilege of 

 parentage will be esteemed an honour for the compara- 

 tively few, and no child will be born who is not only 

 sound in body and mind, but also above the average as to 

 natural ability and moral force " — and again — " The most 

 important matter in society, the inherent quality of the 

 members which compose it, should be regulated by 

 trained specialists." 



Of this proposal and all of the same character we may 

 say, that nothing can possibly be more objectionable, even 

 if we admit that they might be effectual in securing the 

 object aimed at. But even this is more than doubtful ; 

 and it is quite certain that any such interference with 

 personal freedom in matters so deeply affecting individual 

 happiness will never be adopted by the majority of any 

 nation, or if adopted would never be submitted to by the 

 minority without a life-and-death struggle. 



Another popular writer of the greatest ability and 

 originality, who has recently given us his solution of the 

 problem, is Mr. Grant. Allen. His suggestion is in some 

 respects the very reverse of the last, yet it is, if possible, 

 even more objectionable. Instead of any interference 

 with personal freedom he proposes the entire abolition of 

 legal restrictions as to marriage, which is to be a free 

 contract, to last only so long as either party desires. 

 This alone, however, would have no effect on race- 

 improvement, except probably a prejudicial one. The 

 essential part of his method is, that girls should be taught 

 both by direct education and by the influence of public 

 opinion, that the duty of all healthy and intellectual 

 women is to be the mothers of as many and as perfect 

 children as possible. For this purpose they are re- 



