124 THE TREND OF THE RACE 
There is no doubt that the dominant tendencies at the present 
time are in the direction of racial uniformity rather than diver- 
gence, and that whether nations remain at peace or engage in war 
the process of unification will still go on. The ultimate result in 
any case will depend largely on the relative birth rates of superior 
and inferior types. The racial character of the survivors will 
doubtless be influenced according as the final unification will be 
effected forcibly or peaceably, but which outcome would be the 
more desirable from the eugenic standpoint is by no means a 
simple problem. Conflict may be defended as a means of insuring 
the predominance of the best racial elements. Whether or not it 
will do so, or whether it is the only or the best method of attaining 
this end is a complex question, which I shall not attempt to dis- 
cuss here. Nor is it my intention to touch upon the difficult 
ethical and political aspects of the effort to maintain a high birth 
rate, which characterizes the policy of militaristic nations. Cer- 
tain it is that a high birth rate with the temptations which it 
brings for nations to overflow their boundaries and encroach upon 
neighboring territories has led to frequent wars in the past, and 
will doubtless continue to be asource of strife in the future. The 
different rates of increase of different nations are bound to 
bring many difficult situations whose adjustment will seriously 
tax the resources of those who would maintain the peace of the 
world. 
A most important feature of the decline of the birth rate is the 
fact that the fecundity of different classes of people is very 
unequally affected. In the United States we have a marked 
decline of the birth rate among people of American parentage, 
while the immigrants who, up to the period of the present war 
have been arriving on our shores in ever increasing numbers, 
still continue to produce large families. Owing to the general 
lack of birth statistics in the United States, estimates must be 
based upon the age distribution of the population at different 
decades, and the birth statistics from a few states in which birth 
1 As Prof. Ross has remarked, “The real enemy of the dove of peace is not the 
eagle of pride or the vulture of greed, but the stork.” —Changing America. 
