The Eugenic Marriage, Volume I. | Page 9

W. Grant Hague
other criterion of an advanced civilization must
measure its success according to its wealth in worthy parenthood.
The eugenist does not even dictate what the test for parenthood shall be.
Common sense, however, suggests that it will assume some form that
will eliminate those physically or mentally diseased. He believes that,
when the people are sufficiently educated to appreciate the object in
view, they will devise a system that will meet with universal approval.
Eugenics concerns itself with problems on which the destiny of the race
depends. It must not, therefore, be limited to questions relative to
mating and breeding. Every factor that contributes to the well-being
and uplifting of the race, every subject that bespeaks physical or mental
regeneration, that aids moral and social righteousness and salvation,
and promises a greater social happiness and contentment, has a eugenic
[xxiii] significance. So long as there exists an unsupported mother or a
suffering child; so long as we rely on hospitals and prisons,
penitentiaries and the police, to minister to the correction and
regeneration of the unfit and degenerate; so long as we tolerate grafting
politicians and deprive the poor of breathing spaces, sanitary appliances,
and a hygienic environment; so long as war and pestilence deprive
posterity of the best of the race for parenthood; so long as we
emphasize rescue rather than prevention, so long must the eugenist
strive unceasingly to preach his propaganda of race regeneration.
The scope of eugenics is too far-reaching in its beneficent purpose to be
fettered by the querulous triflings of the ancient or intellectual prude;
nor should it be belittled by the superficial insight of the habitual
scoffer. It is not a fantasy nor an idle dream. It is not even an

inspiration. The destiny of the race has brought us face to face with
conditions unparalleled in the history of this civilization, and the very
existence of the race itself may be wholly dependent on the foresight of
the minds that have made the science of eugenics possible.
A brief consideration of the conditions that actually exist, with which
we are face to face, and which certainly justify the existence of a
science whose function it should be to demand serious investigation of
methods of race regeneration, may help the reader to an intelligent and
practical understanding of the tremendous importance of the subject.
It has been already remarked that, at the present rate of decrease, the
birth-rate will be reduced to zero within a century. If the birth-rates in
England, Germany, and France should continue to decrease as they
have since 1880, there would be no children born, one hundred years
hence, in these countries. While we do not assert, and probably none of
us believes that either or all of these nations will actually be out of
existence in a hundred years--unquestionably because we feel, at least
we hope, that our methods will be so changed in that time that the
necessary modification will ensure a continuance of the race,
nevertheless, the fact remains that the inevitable result of continuing
along present lines will be [xxiv] that, within the period of one hundred
years, these peoples will cease to perpetuate themselves.
It is not necessary to enquire closely into the various causes for this
unparalleled situation. The falling birth-rate in itself is not the prime
cause. Even admitting that there are enough babies born, too many of
them are born only to die in infancy. We need no further proof of the
urgent need for conscientious inquiry, call it by what name you please.
The science of common sense is all-sufficient. The seemingly
intelligent individual who can only find material for ribaldry in this
connection is a more serious buffoon than he imagines. It is apparent
that our methods are wrong. Any constructive effort to correct them is
commendable. When it is stated that 20 per cent. of the American
women are unable to bear children, and that 25 per cent. of all the
others are unwilling to assume the burden and responsibility of
motherhood, we partly realize the gravity of the case.

On the other hand, statistics show that the majority of men have
acquired disease before they marry, and that a very large percentage of
these men convey contagion to their wives. This condition, to a very
large extent, accounts for the inefficiency of women as mothers. It is
responsible for at least 75 per cent. of the sterility that exists. The effect
of this deplorable condition is directly responsible, also, for the ill
health that afflicts women and that renders necessary the daily
operations of a serious nature that are conducted in every hospital in
every city in the civilized world. As a result of the dissemination of this
poison, children are born blind, or are born to die, or,
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