446 ROBERT COOK 



magic cures and palliatives suggested for the Body Social are simply chi- 

 meras—dunes of drifting words. That the truths we are trying to promul- 

 gate will inevitably prevail is a form of blind optimism that can hardly be 

 considered. They will not prevail unless we can manage to get our message 

 to Garcia's ear. I submit that the followers of Barnum know a thing or two 

 about the delivery of messages to Garcia. Wish fulfillment will not get us- 

 anywhere. Eugenics, if it is to have the slightest influence on human affairs 

 must leave the cloistered laboratory and take its place in the minds and 

 hearts of many people. Whether we like it or not, must we not study the 

 technique of moving people to action? That an artist has an inspiring con- 

 cept to present to his fellow men does not absolve him from mastering the 

 technique of the medium in which he works. The dilettante who is "some- 

 day going to paint a great picture" may have much more beautiful cloud- 

 castles before his mind's eye than Leonardo ever dreamed. Leonardo is 

 remembered because he could dream and because he could apply paint to 

 canvas. That we have fundamental truths to convey to our fellow beings, 

 does not give us the privilege of administering them as though they were a 

 dose of castor oil. Demosthenes is said to have chided a rival in the fol- 

 lowing words: "When you deliver an oration men say 'how beautifully he 

 speaks.' When I speak, men say, 'Let us march against Philip'." The 

 art of Demosthenes deserves the whole-hearted-study of eugenicists. 



Until a Eugenics Congress is at least as well attended as a political con- 

 vention, we have failed of our mission. If, with all the compelling argu- 

 ments and really fascinating facts at our command, we cannot bring this 

 about we must, I fear, concede that the popular writers are right, and that 

 we rightly deserve the approbrious title "half-baked"! 



