That
many chronic inebriates owe their condition almost wholly to heredity,
and are likely to leave offspring of the same character, is
indisputable. As to the possibility of "reforming" such an individual,
there may be room for a difference of opinion; as to the possibility of
reforming his germ-plasm, there can be none. Society owes them the best
possible care, and part of its care should certainly be to see that they
do not reproduce their kind. As to the borderland cases--and in the
matter of inebriety borderland is perhaps bigger than mainland--it is
doubtful whether much direct action can be taken in the present state of
scientific knowledge and of public sentiment. Education of public
opinion to avoid marriage with drunkards will probably be the most
effective means of procedure.
Finally, there is the criminal class, over which the respective
champions of heredity and environment have so often waged partisan
warfare. There is probably no field in which restrictive eugenics would
think of interfering, where it encounters so much danger as here--danger
of wronging both the individual and society. Laws such as have been
passed in several states, providing for the sterilization of criminals
_as such,_ must be deplored by the eugenist as much as they are by the
pseudo-sociologist who "does not believe in heredity"; but this is not
saying that there are not many cases in which eugenic action is
desirable; for inheritance of a lack of emotional control makes a man
in one sense a "born criminal.
Pages:
282
283
284
285
286
287
288
289
290
291
292
293
294
295
296
297
298
299
300
301
302
303
304
305
306