EUGENIC SOCIOLOGY
Eugenic social thought is the child of biological discoveries.
Eugenics, the science of good breeding, which did not achieve
scientific standing until the closing years of the last century, may
be traced back in its incipient forms to Plato, who advocated that
strength should mate only with strength, and that imperfect children
should be eliminated from society. In its scientific origins eugenics
dates from 1859, when Darwin’s _Origin of Species_ was first published.
Its beginning as a distinct field of human thinking is found in
the articles by Francis Galton on “Hereditary Talent and Genius,”
which appeared in 1865; and in 1869, in book form under the title,
_Hereditary Genius_.[XIX-1]
Eugenic social thought deals with the operation of the laws of heredity
in society. It was a part of this field which Francis Galton made
world-known by his treatises on _Hereditary Genius_ and _Inquiries into
the Human Faculty_.[XIX-2] In 1904, Galton wrote a paper entitled:
“Eugenics; Its Definition, Scope and Aims.” In this dissertation the
new science of eugenics was formally introduced to the world. Gabon’s
analysis of eugenics became its leading interpretation.[XIX-3]
The mantle of the founder fell upon Professor Karl Pearson, whose
work at times has assumed a distinctly statistical nature. Professor
Pearson’s leaning toward biometry has brought severe criticism upon
him. The statistical approach, while exact and thought-provoking, is
subject to various errors in interpretation of data. The viewpoint from
which Professor Pearson writes, however, is not one-sided. For example,
he states that “it may require years to replace a great leader of man,
but a stable and efficient society can only be the outcome of centuries
of development.”[XIX-4] He holds that group conscience ought for the
sake of social welfare to be stronger than private interest, and that
the ideal citizen should be able to form a judgment free from personal
bias.[XIX-5]
C. W. Saleeby, another English writer, has developed an independent
reputation as a eugenist.[XIX-6] In the United States, such men as
C. B. Davenport[XIX-7] and Paul Popenoe have made important eugenic
contributions. The recent tendency has been to be wary of purely
statistical studies of heredity and to rely more definitely upon case
studies. However, since eugenics is directly indebted to the studies
of heredity and since heredity must be investigated for several
generations, eugenic social thought has not yet developed far.
Galton defined eugenics as the science of good breeding. Its aim as a
pure science is to study the agencies under social control “that may
improve or impair the racial qualities of future generations, either
physically or mentally.” Galton’s program, as outlined by the founder
shortly before his death, insisted upon (1) a study of the laws of
heredity, (2) a dissemination of knowledge about heredity, (3) a study
of the factors underlying marriage, (4) a study of birth rates, and (5)
a case study of individual families.
Eugenic social thought holds that heredity among human beings operates
according to the same laws that govern heredity among animals. The
theory of Mendelian units becomes in practice the theory of multiple
factors. The unit characters, upon analysis, appear to be complex and
to be inherited in complex ways. Multiple factors are inherited from
generation to generation directly when pure factors are united with
pure factors. But when the pure is united with the hybrid, then the
laws of dominance and recessiveness operate. In such combinations
certain factors tend to express themselves in greater proportion
than do other elements. This failure to secure expression in a given
generation, however, means that the specific factor is recessive for
the time being. Later, it will likely appear.
Galton stated another important eugenic law, the law of regression.
Each peculiarity is inherited by the offspring on the average in a
slightly less degree than it is found in the parent. Hence, according
to Galton, good traits and poor traits alike are inherited in a
degree nearer mediocrity by the offspring than by the parents. This
law partially explains why gifted men rarely have sons who are equally
gifted. The law seems to hold good for large numbers, but not when
considered in relation to single families. It serves as a check upon
variation and mutation.
Galton and Pearson advanced another statistical law, the law of
ancestral inheritance. Galton supposed that the parents contribute
to the child one-half of his inherited factors, the grandparents
one-fourth, and so on. Pearson has secured statistical evidence which
shows that Galton’s geometric series is incorrect, and that on the
average in a large number of cases the parents together contribute to
the child .624 of his traits; the four grandparents, .198; the eight
great grandparents, .063; and so on.
The law of mutation, described by de Vries and other geneticists,
refers to the appearance of mutants, or individuals who do not
reproduce to form but represent a new line of heredity. In this way the
appearance of genius may often be accounted for. However, the factors
which explain the appearance of mutants have not yet been analyzed.
Another fundamental genetic consideration is the law of selection. If
individuals with worthy traits mate only with individuals who possess
worthy traits, a superior stock will be produced. This tendency is very
important, since it points the way to a potent method of securing
social progress.
Eugenic social thought has been developed in part on the basis of the
Weismann theory of no or slight transmission of acquired traits. The
germ-plasm is transmitted from individual to offspring in a direct
line of descent. Injuries to the parent rarely change the nature of
the germ-plasm. Only extreme malnutrition or excessive use of alcohol
apparently exerts a definite influence on the germ cells. Nature has
thus made provision for the protection of germ-plasm, whether strong
or defective. Society, then, may encourage the mating of individuals
who possess strong physical and mental traits, and discourages the
mating of individuals who are defective--thus securing its own positive
improvement.
Eugenic social thought follows two courses. Restrictive eugenics
advocates the segregation of the so-called dysgenic classes, such as
the feeble-minded, the insane, and the grossly defective criminal.
Public opinion reacts against sterilization; injustice that cannot be
remedied may be done through the use of sterilization. Segregation by
sexes, while involving expense, is a satisfactory eugenic method of
safeguarding society against the reproduction of dysgenic persons.
The other trend of eugenic thought supports the raising of the
standards of choice in mating. Constructive eugenics, as distinguished
from restrictive eugenics, urges a program of education whereby
young people will habitually rate one another by physical and mental
standards rather than by wealth and class standards.
Eugenics disapproves of random mating. It favors assortative
mating, because, for example, the “marriage of representatives of
two long-lived strains ensures that the offspring will inherit
more longevity than does the ordinary man.”[XIX-9] Eugenics thus
stresses the importance of teaching young people eugenic ideas, and
of training them to be guided by these ideals rather than by caprice
and passion.[XIX-10] Eugenic ideals include health, paternity and
maternity, and pleasing disposition. Education and character are
secondary eugenic ideals of importance.
A study of the birth rate shows that the inferior stocks and classes
of individuals produce many more children than do the superior groups.
Many cultured people do not marry, or if they marry they keep the birth
rate very low. As a result, the racial character of a whole people may
change within a few generations. The superior strains may be lost and
the inferior furnish the entire population.
The low birth rate of the superior stocks is due to several factors:
(1) The lengthening period of education and of professional training
calls for the postponement of marriage. (2) The desire to give children
the best advantages limits the birth rate. (3) The increasing spirit of
independence on the part of women causes a postponement of marriage
and a limitation of the number of children. These and other causes have
produced a differential birth rate in favor of the inferior strains.
Eugenic thought urges that the differential be reversed in favor of the
superior strains. This conclusion implies that the dysgenic classes
must be prevented from producing children, that the poor must be raised
to higher educational and economic levels and taught to limit the birth
rate, and that the eugenically superior be taught to increase the birth
rate.
Eugenics pronounces war to be both dysgenic and eugenic.[XIX-11] (1)
It is dysgenic in that the bravest and the physically best are killed
first. In the case of a long war only the weakest men physically and
mentally are left alive to propagate the race. (2) War is dysgenic
in that it produces a large number of hurried marriages. Rational
choices of mates are supplanted by sudden emotional reactions. (3) War
is dysgenic in that sex immorality greatly increases. Prostitution
flourishes in the neighborhood of military encampments, unless rigid
means of control are established. (4) Again, the dysgenic effect of war
is seen in the period of socio-mental unrest which always follows war,
and which among other things undermines rational sexual selection.
The chief eugenic effect of war is manifested during the period of
training. This preparation period accents the importance of a strong
physique and health measures. An insipid, stoop-shouldered population
of city young men may be transformed into an army of fit soldiers.
However, the conclusions are obvious that the dysgenic effects of
war are far more potent than the eugenic gains, and that the eugenic
advantages may he acquired in other ways than by promulgating war.
Eugenics looks askance at the feminism movement. Feminism once meant
the development of the womanly traits of the sex. It now refers to the
elimination as far as possible of sex differences. It would make women
as nearly as possible like men. Eugenics objects to this trend, since
it underestimates the importance of the fact that women physically
are built to be mothers. To the extent that women enter into all the
occupations, they will become men-like; and their efficiency as mothers
of the race will decrease, and the race will suffer.
The economic equality of the sexes is a satisfactory doctrine to the
eugenist if the doctrine is extended to make motherhood a salaried
occupation, like mill work or stenography.[XIX-12] “Child-bearing
should be recognized as being as worthy of remuneration as any
occupation which men enter, and should be paid for (by the state) on
the same basis.”[XIX-13]
Eugenics would throw every possible safeguard around motherhood,
especially in the period immediately before and after the birth of
the child. The mother, even the expectant mother, “is doing our
business, indispensable and exacting business, and we must take care
of her accordingly. She is not only a worker but the foremost of all
workers.”[XIX-14]
Eugenic thought as represented in the writings of C. W. Saleeby has
denominated alcohol, venereal disease, and tuberculosis as “racial
poisons.” While there is some doubt regarding the eugenic effects of
taking small amounts of alcohol into the human body, eugenists are
agreed that alcohol, when taken in excess quantities, affects the
germ-plasm and produces a neurotic taint. It appears that alcoholism
may be a cause in producing defective children. The verdicts of hygiene
and economics that alcoholism is injurious to the race is supported by
eugenics.
Venereal disease, another so-called racial poison, produces toxins
which apparently affect the germ-plasm indirectly if not directly.
It lowers the physical and moral tone and causes unfavorable racial
tendencies. Venereal disease tends to destroy the generative organs and
to cut off the birth rate entirely. It is a result of sex immorality
which in itself tends to produce children under such abnormal
conditions of vice that it becomes an anti-social, if not a dysgenic
factor, in society. To the extent of course, that venereal disease
kills off the racially useless, it may be considered eugenic.[XIX-15]
Such a point of view, however, fails to rate properly the invasions
which venereal disease is continually making upon normal and superior
types of germ-plasm.
Tuberculosis weakens the membranous tissues and probably leads in a
few generations to an unusual degree of susceptibility to the invasion
of tubercle bacilli. It is still a question, however, to what extent
tuberculosis may be counted a racial poison. Professor Hobhouse has
argued that, by the development of scientific hygiene, it will be
possible to center attention not upon eliminating a tubercular stock
but upon eliminating the tubercle bacilli.[XIX-16]
In regard to race questions the social anthropologist and the eugenist
represent different poles of thought. As was indicated in the preceding
chapter, the social anthropologists, such as Boas and Thomas, support
the theory of potential race equality. The eugenist, on the other hand,
contends that there are inherently superior and inferior racial stocks,
and that the marriages of representatives of inferior stocks with
representatives of superior stocks will produce children of a stock
distinctly lower than that of the superior stocks. The eugenists in the
United States hold that the immigration of the southern and eastern
peoples of Europe will not only supplant through a higher birth rate
the native stock of Nordic origin but, where marriages between natives
and southern and eastern European immigrants occur, it will lower the
racial quality of the population. While eugenic thought in this matter
deserves a complete and respectful hearing, it must be considered along
with the findings of social anthropology.
Eugenic thought opposes the miscegenation of the Caucasian and
African. The Negro, it is contended, is not only different from
the Caucasian but as a rule is eugenically inferior, judged by the
achievements of the Negro. Moreover, the eugenist interprets the
anthropological tests to show that the innate ability of a colored
man “is proportionate to the amount of white blood he has.” The
conclusion of eugenics is that “in general the white race loses and
the Negro gains from miscegenation,”[XIX-17]--as far as the germinal
natures of the two races are concerned. The eugenist would forbid all
intermarriage between the races, and urge that the taboo against sexual
intercourse between the races be extended.
In the light of eugenic thought genealogy may become scientific,
in fact, it may become a valuable source of scientific materials
for eugenics. Heretofore genealogy has been the concern of a few
leisure-class people, who have taken pleasure and pride in recounting
the fact that some one of a possible thousand or more ancestors several
generations back was distinguished in some way or other, and who would
have friends or the public believe that they inherited from this
ancestor of note the characteristics which made him great. Eugenics
points out a nobler purpose to which genealogy may be put. It urges
that mental and physical traits of every individual in all families
be carefully analyzed and accurately and systematically recorded. In
this way it will be possible in a generation to have available a large
amount of eugenic materials, and in a few generations a reliable body
of data for studying racial heredity.
The debate regarding the comparative influences of nature and nurture
has been long and bitter. It may be said here that both heredity and
environment are more or less equally essential in the development of
human personality. Without inherited factors in the individual the
environment has nothing upon which to work. Without a stimulating
environment the inherited traits will remain dormant. Each human being
has inherited factors which, if played upon by certain environmental
factors, may lead the individual to try to wreck society or himself
or both. Every person, also, has traits which, if stimulated by
the proper environmental elements may cause him to develop into a
useful member of society. While the environment cannot change the
inherited potentialities very much, if any, it is a prime factor of
vast importance in determining which inherited tendencies will never
find expression, which will be expressed in modified ways, and which
will reach full fruition. Eugenics insists with increasing force that
educational programs shall provide that every child be not only well
reared but also well born. A weakness in eugenic thought is that it
implies that sound racial stock is sufficient to guarantee progress;
it tends at times to overstress an aristocracy of racial stock.
It sometimes detracts from the importance of character and moral
discipline as essential elements in social progress.