144 THE RIGHT TO BE WELL BORN 



it will be found that Kentucky once more is 

 on the road to prominence, as of old. 



If the race is to be improved by heredity, 

 and this is the only way it can be improved, 

 and by adding pure blood to pure blood, 

 each addition of value must be protected 

 against the ravages of intoxication and the 

 social diseases. This generation is the re- 

 cipient of all the good of the countless gen- 

 erations gone before. Life actually is per- 

 petuated and passes without a break from 

 one generation to another, except as the 

 blood of intermediate generations becomes 

 contaminated. No one has better ocular 

 proof of this than a horse breeder, for he 

 sees the results in three years. Our most 

 sacred duty is to preserve it unsullied and 

 hand it on. Why cannot our young men see 

 that theft, falsehood and murder are mild 

 faults compared to the crime of debasing 

 and brutalizing the bit of immortality 

 of which he is the guardian? Shall I 

 call this priceless inheritance a "bit of im- 

 mortality?" It is that, and so much more 

 that words fail to express its worth. To 

 produce my share of immortality, two 



