THE FUTURE OF THE RACE

Nelson Evening Mail, Volume LXIV, 31 March 1930, Page 10

THE FUTURE OF THE RACE

(To the Editor) Sir, —In 'Saturday's issue "Darwinian" attempted to patch up his case re the above. He states that he tried to take a survey of both sides in order to come to a logical conclusion, in this he failed. Anyois reading his first letter would admit that ho backed the "go for your life, eat, drink, and be merry modern horse," for all he was worth'. With regard to nature, "Darwinian'' seems to have become completely tangled up, not realising the difference* between the nature of the individual and nature per se. I still contend that bodily survival does not concern nature as a whole, but it certainly does concern the individual, hence self-preservation being the ruling law of nature. When I mentioned that leeches would suck the blood of a beautiful woman and cause death, it was to illustrate that nature ipart from the individual point of view (lots not care two straws which survives. I did not mean to infer that a beautiful, healthy woman would quietly sit down while leeches settled en her. and allow

them to suck her life's blood away just for fun, while the family looked on and regarded it as a sort o'f entertainment. If as "Darwinian" states New Zealanders are the happiest people on the face of the earth, and are of such splendid physique, surely they are the people who should propagate and replenish the earth, instead of allowing inferior races to swamp us by numbers. A swarm of bees will kill a horse. ' I said that the maternal instinct was being crushed, not eradicated as our friend suggests. Women who train large families :ire generally splendid as elderly women, with a stronger maternal instinct than many of cur present young women, and it is well known that grandmothers after many, not few years of gratification as mentioned by your correspondent, manifest Hint instinct in a more marked degree even than as mothers. "Darwinian's" inference that numerical superiorities means individual inferior-

ity is absurd, and contrary to experience. Great Britain must rely on her numerical strength for her very existence. The parrot cry that all'is well with our nation is the voice of the foolish. If Great Britain is going to retain her position as a great power her people must work and multiply.—l am, etc., VICTORIAN. Nelson, 291 h March.