HUMAN CONSERVATION 475 
gram of eugenics which does not grip the imagination of the common 
people in such a way as to become an effective part of their very lives 
is bound to remain largely an academic affair for utopians to quarrel 
and theorize over. 
It is not enough to collect facts and work out an analysis and 
interpretation of them, for, important as this preliminary step is, it 
must be followed by a convincing campaign of education. 
The lives of the unborn do not force themselves upon the average 
man or woman with the same insistency as the lives already begun. 
In the midst of the overwhelming demands of the present, the appeal 
of posterity for better blood is vague and remote. If every individual 
regarded the germplasm he carries as a sacred trust, then it would be 
the part of an awakened eugenic conscience to restrain that germplasm 
when it is known to be defective or, when it is not defective, to hand 
it on to posterity with at least as much foresight as is exercised in 
breeding domestic animals and cultivated plants. 
The eugenic conscience is in need of development, and it is only 
when this becomes thoroughly aroused in the rank and file of society 
as well as among the leaders, that a permanent and increasing better- 
ment of mankind can be expected. 
4. THE RESTRICTION OF UNDESIRABLE GERMPLASM 
A negative way to bring about better blood in the world is to 
follow the clarion call of Davenport, and “dry up the streams that 
feed the torrent of defective and degenerate protoplasm.” This may 
be partially accomplished, at least in America, by employing the 
following agencies: control of immigration; more discriminating 
marriage laws; a quickened eugenic sentiment; sexual segregation of 
defectives; and finally, drastic measures of asexualization or steriliza- 
tion when necessary. 
@) CONTROL OF IMMIGRATION 
The enforcement of immigration laws tends to debar from the 
United States not only many undesirable individuals, but also inci- 
dentally to keep out much potentially bad germplasm that, if admitted, 
might play havoc with future generations. 
For example, during the year of 1908, 65 idiots, 121 feeble-minded, 
184 insane, 3,741 paupers, 2,900 individuals having contagious dis- 
eases, 53 tuberculous individuals, 136 criminals, and 124 prostitutes 
were caught in the sieve at Ellis Island alone and turned back from 
this country by the immigration officials. These 7,000 and more 
