THE THOUGHT OF THE DAY.

Otago Daily Times, Issue 14926, 31 August 1910, Page 2

THE THOUGHT OF THE DAY.

THIS SCOPE OF KUGENIOS With the formation of a branch oi the -London Kugenics Society in Dmiedin the question assumes a definite and practical slmp'e, In the Wesliiiiiisler for July .H. J. Laski ;has written many pages on this subject. .Ho interprets, tho new spirit of change in his.opening.sentences: " The scientific adyanco of tho last half-century lias profoundly altored the aspect of sociology; We arc no longer compelled to force conclusions derived from purely theoretical reasoning on an unwilling'populace. We have at last come to understand that biology is really the science of life, and that its utility is to be determined' by its value to human society." So we have almost universally accepted the dictum of Huxley that science is systemalised common sense, and we seek to apply' science to everything. Eugenics might bo described as the application of science to the production of the face. Mr Laski says Eugenics " is at once a study of national deterioration and -of national progress." We cannot here adequately follow the author through his recapitulation of the scientific basis' on which ooigenies rest, nor very far into his lengthy examination into the transmission of acquired characters. He places much reliance'on. heredity. "The force of heredity cannot be evaded. . Nothing is more justifiable than Heine's bitter mockery: 'A man cannot' be too careful iii the selection of-, his parents.' .'That may seem paradoxical, but it is a profound biological truth. It is useless to breed from a wilted stock in the hope that a fit mutation may arise." In the light of this point of'view it is not surprising to find a condemnation of modern charity and a reference to model'cities in these terms:—-"Man cannot lie separated from his environment, and it is well that we should render it a.s healthy as we can. But we have learnt now the corelation between the two, and we realise that,' however excellent the social heritage may be. it docs not outweigh the. importance of the natural inheritance. Wo shall never create a race of Englishmen able to survive iii tho struggle for existence by merely every town in this 'country into a, Bournville or a Letchworlh. Such an environment would simply act as: a stimulus to the inherited qualities. We must lay stress upon the fact that our modern methods of charity are based upon insecure biological data. We do not'question the joftiness of the aim, but we must doubt the beneficence, of the result."

Under no circumstances must we allow breeding from the unfit at the expense of the fit. The writer shows from statistics that, the"unfit, are propagating out of all proportion with the fit. This points "to a swamping of. 'the better by the worse.' As a nation we are faced by racial suicide." It is interesting to note that Mr Laski differs from some of the promoters 'of our local society on the suhject of marriage.. He refers to certain people, " the opposition of whom have to face, who. assert that marriage purely a private affair, and that the State' 'has .no right-, of interference. Eugenists maintain that,such a view is anti-social and productive of infinite harm. .Whatever action is fraught witli national consequences rightly comes within tho cognisance of the State. . . . 3So. eugenist desires'to see-State offices estab-. lished to dispose of individuals in marriage as |a judige disposes of-criminals. That is a conception of,the eugenic ideal which can rightly .lie left to such professional jesters as .Mr Chesterton. Wo must place our chief reliance on the force of public opinion. The time is surely coining in our;.history- -when society will look. upon,".Qie-v|>r6^'aioii > '6f '■'¥ weakling as a crime agamst itself. When ire remember that the highest, duty is parent hood, it is surely only right to ask that the parents have no serious, ...heritable taint."; .?>' »' ft :; ?j Mr Laski. pleads, with Sir Francis Galton, that " we must-hold the eujgenic ideal of parenthood with the fervour of a new religion," and declares that " the advance of modern-science, anH'the insight- it has given us into life, make us 'realise more vividly, and with greater truth, the possibilities and limitations of our civilija: tion. Upon the framework, with which genetics provides us, we must build a strong political superstructure. We see the necessity of a radical reform in the basis of our life; we have realised that the science which enables us -to elevate itlies ready to pur" Jiaind. .'Society wil l ijwork out'its own-destiny without'eugenics; 'b]ut .witli'■'•its aid,}'it., can accomplish its salvatioiY.'"..'! ,*,.. V";-'.','. j .VJ'Whateyer!' else; may.'bo said, the ideal sought' to'-be attained''by' the application of eugenics is a lofty and 1 commendable one. . , ''' WHAT DO WE BEAD? Tho' consideration of and speculation on what the • people read is* perhaps 'a. \well-worn . topic. But- as books published -are of a changing character'and •the literary tastes of the people a variable quality, the topic is always fresh: "An Ex-Librarian" occupies, several pages in the July Fortnightly with an article on "The Heading Public." It is not a, list of ■. what the people read and do * not read; it is a reasoned effort to se? ju6t' where the leading public are, This writer is cynical in referring' to thi political power of the newspaper: -'If wc are not cured'of taking seriously the moral,and political advice offered us by our. leading journals, we are indeed past praying for," "Ex-Librarian" insists that thero. are several reading publics, each requiring separate study. The publishers are. ignorant of the tastes of the reading public, because their guides— the booksellers . and .the libraries—are false ones. "Book-sellers neither read themselves, nor want other people to read. They., want them to ,buy, which is a very different matter, and to : this end they encourage 'the publisher to produce a class of 'article,' rightly''-so called, • designed for ' the . ' moneyed - classes, and .nicely .calculated to fit in exactly with the taste of the Stock Exchange. To vwhat other source of inspiration are we'to',attribute the never-ending-flow of 'colour books,' and those' ' art' publications in which nothing is so conspicuous as the absence of art? ' Books are the best presents, 1 as the ad-, vertiscthent of a-leading library has jt,j and to meet the demand arises thai-v literary monstrosity, the '-presentation '..'.\ volume." ".*

Tho " intelligent,public" has.been stu-: diously and consistently''rieglected.""' 14' knows what it wants,., ''tliough.it-'.has. .almost conro to despair of ever getting 'it, and after an excited spasm of hope, somewhere about 1&05, it has sunk back again into a temporary apathy. But it would revive if it got the chance.' 1 This good taste in literature " is to be found just as much, and more, among the ranks of tin new democracy as among the leisured classes." This writer knows, from the breadth of his experience, that ■there'-is "a market, readyV.to~ ; be exploited by anyone who will.put- into the book .trade the brains and resource which, to do them justice, the' much satirised proprietors of the halfpenny press have put into the trade of journalism." Then at the other end of the scale there Ms, a tnia.ll iand' determined public' which is certain that .it wants . its. literature "blue." a public-of coarse and material taste. "There .are hundreds.who will come iii and say, ' There is a book which tho --- is condemning. I don't remember its name, o but that is the book I want.'"

This writer would lead one to imagine that, the libraries are jrenerally badlymanaged : "Librarians, always a timorous race," distrusted the critics in several cases, and the librarians were generally wrong. The alleged dulness in the book trade "is because- of unbusiness-like methods: " There are too many middlemen, and the publisher and the public need to be brought into closer relation." The writer contends that the publishers should run the libraries themselves [he is

A. GLIMPSE AT THE REVIEW WORLD.

referring to tlic big London distributing houses]. Ho enters a strong plea, for a. new departure.in publishing and distributing, and conveys the idea that it is not so much that the book-buying public have no laste as it is they have not a fair opportunity of showing what their taste really is. ' Running all 'through his article' is a condemnation of. the. book'feller's methods. The business of bookselling aiicl lending library is kall'ne; the' book trade. "In Germany most booksiUw« send their books out on approval, recouping .■ the possible deterioration of stock by the stimulus given' to custom. 11l England wo could do the same if we were not hampered -by the absurd wall of precautions and prohibitions, built' u]i by the bookseller to serve, him instead of brains."

Of books as books this .expert has some opinions, as witness :--"The machinemade biography is, perhaps, a- greater incubus than tlie worthless novel, because it is more pretentious, costs more, and is at present slocked mainly with a view to its formal and its illustrations, little or no regard being paid to.its literary merit. The. libraries, could, stop..this if they knew the difference, which at present they do rioty between a .piece of cieativc or critical work'and a piece of sheer book-making. Every season we get a few really good monographs, not infrequently translated from (he French, on famous personalities, written with insight, appreciation, of historical background, and power of producing a period. But every season wo get a. much larger number of vulvar, pretentious volumes covering the same ground, mere paste-and-scissors compilations, badly put together, spiced with a dubious anecdote hero and there, and absurdly overpriced a; 10s 6d,- 16s, or even a guinea and 245." Most book-lovers know how true is this, and also how worthless Lives often crowd out the good Life of a notable. The. bookseller doesn't know which is best and which are worthless. ' "An ExLibwiiui" insists that " the public are beginning, to be alive to the many fault-, arid failings of the institutions which serve them. To quote once more the witty author of ' What the Public Wants,' when the day comes that the public wants something' better, will there be anyone who knows how to supply it?"

IS PUNISHMENT A CRIME! In these days when prison Teform is very much in the air, and pages of Hansard and columns of newspapers are being filled with varied ideas on the reform of the criminal, the opinions of an' English medical expert are apropos. Dr C. J. Whitby seeks to answer the question at the- head of this article in the current ■ Hibbert. He believes that "every doctor, if he have any faculty of observation and generalisation, becomes in Ih'n course of years a specialist in human nature." ■ The true nature of 'punishment and its justifiability is a question upon' which every good citizen must form an opinion. Hence the doctor's contribution.' "The idea of punishment clearly has no claims to noble birth; it was born of the desire for retaliation, revenge." The three aims of punishment are ;■ summarised thus by Dr Whitby :- I.' To satisfy the sense of injury of the offended party. > ' 2. To reform the offender; and 3, To deter others, by fear, from like offences. ; The doctor thinks our conceptions of puirJshni'.Mit are mostly wrong. Taking the mentally deficient, for instance, he ipomts' out that there is a form-of epilepsy, in which the sufferer, instead of taking- a fit, becomes of a sudden raving mad. Such a person is just as likely to plunge_a knife into the heart of the. one standing: nearest as to do anything else. " And on recovering consciousness ha will have no recollection whatever of ■what he has done, No doubt hundreds of such unfortunates have in the past suffered the extremo penalty of the law. But,what their, case requires is not punishment but bromide of potassium. To punish a man for something done when, through no fault of his own, he was out'of his mind; is clearly a crime." And so on through all descriptions of feeble-minded criminals the doctor argues that our methods are wrong fundamenttally. Passing from that class of crime, Dr Withby says a pungent word on the relation, of <lrink to crime. He contends that there are two forms of drinking—convivial and industrial. The former is associated with high' days and holidays, and doeß often lead- to crime; " but ite importance is'slight in comparison with that of in■dnstraal drinking. . . . There are many occupations, mostly of an arduous or monotonous character, mostly in greater or less degree injurious and exhausting, mostly carried on und»r conditions obviously • in need of reform, in which it has become a- tradition among the workers to break off at stated intervals' in order to prpcure drink. The custom is perfectly recognised by employers , thes» breaks are provided for in the planning of the working day, and

so firmly established h tho tradition among the men that only those of exceptional strength of mind can possibly, resist it." The habit is not engendered by any vicnus motive, but " it is one of the very commonest causes or nil kinds of crime.'' The law holds men of this class responsible for their crimes, but the doctor m of opinion that tho " respniiiibiity is, at any rate, shared by tile employers who impose conditions of work sr> onerous' and unhealthy as 'n fores men to seek the aid of stimulants, and by society as a whole for tolerating such a state of affairs."

The doctor finds the task of drawing a hard and fast line between social and individual responsibility almost impossible. " The average criminal comes oi what breeders call a bad etock; all authorities agree that an inherited predisposition of a morbid kind is lite rule among malefactors. The mare we know about any given man's or woman's, parentage and ancestry the more intelligible that mill's good or bad qualities will bocome." Again, ilie criminal, is not insensible to the only public opinion he knows, and in his circles it is evil.

" Among criminals, the hero is the man who has effected a clever burglary, who has fooled th". police; the demigod is the murderer whose portrait appears in tho newspapers., Society at largo is responsible for (be existence of the foul dens and rookeries infested by those'dangerous beasts of prey called criminals, as well as for tho hard conditions of life which force many well-meaning but weak individuals into crime."

"This being so, what follows?" asks, the doctor. " That punishment is a crime, to be utterly condemned and abandoned? No; but that it is, like surgery,

a necessary .evil,.to be undertaken in no spirit of revenge, but with the same wise economy as a surgeon handles his knife. Punishment is moral surgery. The minimum iof torture for all punishment involves torture—and the -maximum of reform are the ends to be kept steadily m view. And to ensure success, the qualities mainly required aro imagination, pluck, and" science." The doctor hold* that punishments that degrade are always unjust punishments. ; The business 'of society in -its own interests is to " make the punishment fit the crime," and not, merely the crime but the criminal. Hence, " individual treatment is the primary condition oi penal reform, flm initiation of which donbtless involves the elimination of theological preconceptions with regard to crime and punishment, and the subordination of the legal to the medical point of view." , '