284 EUGENICS 
this belief to the present or to the future. Few 
realize the full significance of the inferences that, if 
man has risen in the past, he may still rise higher in 
ages yet to come; if the type has undergone modifica- 
tion in the past, it may even now be changing. Those 
who move the forces of money or of popular opinion 
should take heed how their actions affect the rate 
and direction of this possibly momentous change. 
The evolution of man, like that of other animals, 
is believed to have been largely due to the effect of 
selection. Whether the variations selected were great 
or small makes little difference to the argument. In 
former days this selective action was exerted by fierce 
competition, which led to the survival of individuals 
endowed with certain qualities and to the extinction 
of other individuals differently constituted. 
Modern civilization and humanitarianism have 
effectually set aside the action of natural selection. 
The result at the present day indicates that the upward 
progress of the race has probably almost ceased, and 
that there is every danger of finding that a downward 
journey has begun. This is an inevitable conclusion 
to those who accept the well-established facts (1) that 
men are not born equal, but differ widely in their 
birthright in respect of every physical and mental 
character, and (2) that, although every man is free to 
become the father of a family, yet the tendency to 
bring up large families is becoming relatively smaller 
among those classes of society which we must regard 
as the best endowed, both physically and mentally. 
Are there any practicable means by which this 
