Enough has been written elsewhere by myself and others to show that
whenever public opinion is strongly roused it will lead to action,
however contradictory it may be to previous custom and sentiment.
Considering that public opinion is guided by the sense of what best
serves the interests of society as a whole, it is reasonable to expect
that it will be strongly exerted in favour of Eugenics when a
sufficiency of evidence shall have been collected to make the truths on
which it rests plain to all. That moment has not yet arrived. Enough is
already known to those who have studied the question to leave no doubt
in their minds about the general results, but not enough is
quantitatively known to justify legislation or other action except in
extreme cases. Continued studies will be required for some time to come,
and the pace must not be hurried. When the desired fulness of
information shall have been acquired then, and not till then, will be
the fit moment to proclaim a ‘Jehad,’ or Holy War against customs and
prejudices that impair the physical and moral qualities of our race.
LOCAL ASSOCIATIONS FOR PROMOTING EUGENICS[8]
I propose to take the present opportunity of submitting some views of my
own relating to that large province of eugenics which is concerned with
favouring the families of those who are exceptionally fit for
citizenship. Consequently, little or nothing will be said relating to
what has been well termed by Dr. Saleeby “negative” eugenics, namely,
the hindrance of the marriages and the production of offspring by the
exceptionally unfit. The latter is unquestionably the more pressing
subject of the two, but it will soon be forced on the attention of the
legislature by the recent report of the Royal Commission on the
Feeble-minded. We may be content to await for awhile the discussions to
which it will give rise, and which I am sure the members of this society
will follow with keen interest, and with readiness to intervene when
what may be advanced seems likely to result in actions of an
anti-eugenic character.
The remarks I am about to make were suggested by hearing of a desire to
further eugenics by means of local associations more or less affiliated
to our own, combined with much doubt as to the most appropriate methods
of establishing and conducting them. It is upon this very important
branch of our wide subject that I propose to offer a few remarks.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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