Moreover, we affirm that he who denies our two cardinal theses, who denies the racial inferiority of the Negro, and the racial deterioration of the Mulatto, must consistently hold that mongrelization of the South is positively desirable; and we should esteem him not the less, but the more, for boldly defending it.[17] For if such miscegenation involves no declination from the Caucasian standard, then there is no reason whatever against it. On the other hand, there are strong reasons that favour it (as Bryce himself admits, p. 27, it "has two great merits"); in particular, it would bring about speedily and permanently a settlement of the race question, and a settlement far more amicable than is otherwise possible. There is no escape from this conclusion; and no disclaimer, however honest, can be adequate. The inference of approval, from non-hostility to miscegenation, is immediate and unavoidable; and we may justly hold our opponents to the logical consequence of their teachings, however earnestly they may reject it. [17] Mongrelization of the world has, in fact, been ably and honestly, however mistakenly, championed on quasi-scientific grounds by distinguished ethnologists--a grave error in science, but no moral reproach. With such must be ranged the mighty journal that "stands alone in its field," exponent of the highest civic life yet unfolded on this continent. In the edition of Dec. 26th, 1895, in commenting upon a conservative letter from Clinton, Iowa, the Editor remarks: "The laws forbidding honorable intermarriage between the two races are the guarantee of the perpetuation of this savage atrocity [lynching]; their abolition, the first step on the part of the whites towards its disappearance." Language could hardly be more explicit. Of course, such "abolition" would be tantamount to official invitation to such "honorable intermarriage"; otherwise it would be nugatory: he who throws wide open his gates, thereby bids come in. Herewith, then, for the present, we sheathe the sword for lack of argument; for it seems scarcely worth while to point out that when we demonstrate the racial inferiority of the Negroids, and insist upon the necessity of an impassable social chasm, we by no means excuse or extenuate any form of cruelty or injustice or oppression or inconsideration, political or other. Replies to our arguments are not pertinent when they fail to note this distinction, even though they may quote passages from the "Apostle of Heredity," written nearly a generation before his call to that apostolate. The humane man resents the maltreatment of inferiors no less quickly because he recognizes their inferiority; it is they that especially move his compassion. The ancient Hindu knew and felt this when he wrote: "He who needlessly tramples upon a worm in his path, that soul is darkly alienate from God."