OCR Rendition - approximate

62 EUGENICS ITS DEFINITION, SCOPE AND AIMS 63 many degrees below that of the European races. I ventured to point out, some years ago, that this assumption appeared to be premature, and the data upon which it was founded insufficient. So much is now generally admitted. Yet it would have been awkward had we proceeded to draw any large practical conclusion from it at the time. The deficiency of what have been called the lower races is now seen to be, not so much an intellectual deficiency, as a deficiency in social qualities and social history, and therefore in social inheritance. Many examples of a similar kind might be given. It may be remembered, for instance, how a generation or two ago Malthusianism was urged upon us in the name of science, and almost with the zeal of a religion. We have lived to see the opposite view now beginning to be urged with much the same zeal and emphasis. A nation or a race cannot afford to make practical mistakes on a large scale in these matters. I trust and believe that much that Mr. Galton anticipates will be realised. But I think we must go slowly with our science of Eugenics, and that we must take care, above all things, that it advances with, and does not precede a real science of our social evolution. We must come to the work in a humble spirit. Even the highest representatives of the various social sciences must realise that in the specialised study of sociology as a whole, they are scarcely more than distinguished amateurs. Otherwise, in few other departments of study would there be 'so much danger of incomplete knowledge, and even of downright quackery, clothing itself with the mantle and authority of science. MR. ELDERTON SAID An important item in the study of heredity is the heredity of disease, and I think life assurance offices might be able to give useful statistics. When a person whose life is assured dies, a certificate of death is given to the office and is put away with the papers that were filled up when the assurance was taken out. These original papers state the causes of death of parents, brothers, and sisters, and their ages at death, or their ages if they were alive when the assurance was effected. These particulars give information for the study of heredity in relation to disease, and from the same source light might be thrown on a question of great importance-the correlation between specific disease and fertility. One point in conclusion. Dr. Hutchison spoke of the greater importance of environment, but in that he would hardly get actuaries to agree with him. Their observation, judged by life offices' experience and practice, would seem to show that environment operates merely as a modifying factor after heredity has done its work. biologists have to tell us in this matter. Until we have very definite information as to what heredity can do, I think those of us who are only students of sociology, and who cannot lay any claim whatever to be biologists, ought to keep silence. We have this afternoon had extremely divergent views put before us as to the actual or probable operation of heredity, and it seems quite clear that before we begin to tackle this question, which deals with one of the most powerful of human passions, with a view to regulate it, we must have highly perfected knowledge. As to the two factors, stock and environment, no one can doubt that both are of fundamental importance in relation to the welfare of society; no one can doubt that, if the kind of precise knowledge which I desiderate could be laid before us by the biologist, it would have considerable influence on our views not only of what is ethically right, but of what could be legislatively enforced. Of these two factors, stock and environment, which can we modify with the greater ease and certainty of not doing harm? It is fairly obvious that we can affect the environment of mankind in certain definite ways. We have the accumulation of considerable tradition as to the way in which a given act will affect the social environment. When we come to bring stock into consideration, we are dealing with that which is still very largely unknown. At the same time, we owe a great deal of thanks to Mr. Gallon for raising this subject. The bare conception of a conscious selection as a way in which educated society would deal with stock is infinitely higher than that of natural selection with which biologists have confronted every proposal of sociology. If we are to take the problem of stock into consideration at all, it ought to be in the way of intelligently handling the question, rather than submitting to the blind forces of nature. But until we have far more knowledge and agreement as to criteria of conscious selection, I fear we cannot, as sociologists, expect to do much for society on these lines. MR. L. T. HOBHOUSE SAID I feel a good deal of difficulty in intervening in this extremely interesting discussion at this stage. I, like many of you, am only a listener to what the CIibPDF - www.fastio.com