PRESIDENTIAL ADDRESS: THE DEVELOPMENT OF EUGENICS 

 CHARLES B. DAVENPORT 



Carnegie Institution of Washington, Cold Spring Harbor, Long Island 



It is a privilege and an honor to occupy the place on this platform occupied 

 at the last Congress by my friend Professor Henry Fairfield Osborn. It is 

 an honor to succeed more remotely that grand old man of Eugenics, whom 

 distance and extreme age are keeping from us, — Leonard Darwin. He has a 

 message for us which he sends through the voice of the biologico-statistician 

 of his country, R. A. Fisher. 



We rejoice that so many from abroad have been able to come, even at 

 great sacrifice, financially. They have come from England, the Scan- 

 dinavian Countries, the Netherlands, Germany, Italy, Spain and Poland. 

 From the Americas we welcome Canada, Cuba and representatives of other 

 countries of Pan America. From the United States the representation is 

 good; some have come as far as those who crossed the ocean to participate in 

 the activities of this Congress. 



We regret that so many European leaders in eugenics have been pre- 

 vented from coming because of economic or political considerations. We 

 were urged by some of them to postpone the Congress but the appeal came 

 too late, after we had accepted and spent considerable funds. Their dis- 

 appointment is shared by us. We miss particularly Ploetz, that grand old 

 leader of eugenics, in Germany, Fritz Lenz, his associate; Marianne Van 

 Herwerden, beloved by all for her graciousness and esteemed for her re- 

 searches. Time fails to tell of all whom we miss here tonight. We hope 

 they will come to the next Congress in America. 



We meet again in Congress after 11 years. What progress has been 

 made by us as Eugenicists since 1921? 



The Federation of Eugenics Organizations has met regularly in European 

 Countries and we have come to know and esteem each other and have grad- 

 ually increased the scope of the Federation. Indeed now most of the princi- 

 pal countries of the globe have eugenical organizations. We have made con- 

 tacts with each other's countrymen and have a better understanding of their 

 social viewpoints. But what have we accomplished to advance the science 

 and application of eugenics? First, we may not underestimate the ad- 

 vantages of mutual contact in stimulating research. Since the publication 



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