The New Zealand Tablet WEDNESDAY, JUNE 17, 1925 EUGENICS AND COMMONSENSE

New Zealand Tablet, Volume LII, Issue 22, 17 June 1925, Page 33

The New Zealand Tablet WEDNESDAY, JUNE 17, 1925 EUGENICS AND COMMONSENSE

IT is the rule when a thing is talked of as if it were a fact there will always be found a great number of people who believe it without going to the trouble of inquiring whether it is a fact or only a fancy. Noisy propagandists are well aware of this, and use their knowledge to no small purpose to further their ends. Many of these modern fads are likely to become as popular as they are pernicious and dangerous to human liberty. Among them is the Eugenic movement, which tends to become a terrible tyranny even in democratic States.

Eugenics means etymologically “happily born.” It purports to aim at finding laws by which healthy and normal children may come into existence. The Eugenics Education Society of England defines it as “the study of agencies under social control that may impair or- improve the qualities of future generations either physically or mentally.” Note well that there does not seem to be any concern for moral welfare! Now the Eugenists begin by taking it for proven that mental diseases are hereditary, and at once they are ready to adopt the most drastic means to prevent the transmission of these diseases. It does not matter to them that Dr. Flick and other eminent authorities declare boldly that so far as they know “there is not a scintilla of scientific evidence to prove that they are hereditary.” Hence, these authorities are absolutely opposed to the tyrannical methods proposed by Eugenists, and they assert that there is a better and surer and more humane manner of preventing mental diseases. Here are Dr. Flick’s words on the matter: —“We can im-

prove future generations..by. preserving ; those who now exist as normal human beings and guarding them against degeneracy. For this purpose we must keep in ; mind the fundamental principles that underlie reproduction: (1) that like produces like; (2) that the quality. of the. offspring may be raised or lowered by nutrition; and (3) that the primary cells which unite to form a new being may be influenced by both the physical and moral life ,of the parents. In the interests of Eugenics we must improve the conditions of life; we must make it possible for each human being to earn his bread without more exertion than is consistent with health; we must enlighten people that they will live as human beings in harmony with the great God of the universe; and we must seek to meet the difficulties and solve the problems which come with artificial life. . . We must lead clean, healthy lives under sanitary conditions in a good moral atmosphere . . . we must protect our women and children against excessive hours of labor at improper times and periods; we must get for the working man a living wage; we must protect our young people against the insidious and pernicious influence of open vice; and wo must encourage simplicity and discourage ostentation. Let us talk less about the moron and the helpless victim of poverty and more about the Christian hero and the reward of patient struggle against difficulties. By all odds the most important factor in Eugenics is purity. Sexual dissipation causes degeneracy in tin* offspring, whereas chastity and continency exercise a building-up influence. Foerster, one of the greatest living sociologists, a Protestant, tells us that the celibacy of the Catholic priests and Sisters is one of the greatest influences in the world at the present day because it.keeps before the world in concrete form the great heroic virtue of chastity. Whatever upholds morality undoubtedly makes for good progeny, and whatever breaks down morality leads to degeneracy.”

What is wanted is not the foolish talk of noisy fanatics of both sexes, but sane and rational living. What is wanted above all is that the children be given every chance to acquire habits formed on Christian principles, habits that will help them to be pure and self-restrained, not because to be so is eugenic or hygienic, but because it is the will of God and a plain matter of duty. The main causes of; degeneracy are the exploitation of the-workers by the capitalists and the maintenance of godless schools which turn out yearly young human animals without respect- for God, for parents, for anybody on earth, or for anything but their own pleasures and i gratifications. Remove these causes and the science of Eugenics will produce good fruits; maintain them and all the tyranny and all the force behind a servile State will be in vain.

He who receives the mystery of unity, and does not hold the bond of peace, receives the mystery, not for himself, but against him-self.—-St. Augustine.

NEW ZEALAND MORALS - At Christchurch last week - a deputation from the Society for the Protection of Women and .Children waited upon the Canterbury Members of Parliament Committee and vigorously censured dissolute youth in "God's Own Country." A formidable array of facts and figures were marshalled to show that impure; living flourishes exceedingly in New Zealanda truth of which ; mostpeople arc already aware. The chief spokesman of the deputation said the prevalence of illegitimacy was due partly to the high cost of living which prevented young men from marrying. It may be true that the high cost of living prevents many young men from marrying, but that cannot be advanced as a reason or excuse for single people becoming unbridled libertines. If the godless schools of this country had not corrupted and degraded the unfortunate children educated in them our young men and women would look upon it as a duty to restrain their passions in conformity with their state in life. If they cannot do this they are suffering from a moral disorder which all the economic science in the world cannot cure. In electing to remain single they do not become mere animals devoid of free will and released from the obligations imposed upon them by the moral law of God. It indicates a very unhealthy state of mind when people look upon chastity as an impossibility. The charge that economic pressure is responsible for illegitimacy suggests that it is only the needy who are immoral. Hut what about the abominations that attend joy riding, drunken parties, and other expensive debaucheries of a like nature? It takes money to purchase pleasures of that kind. Perhaps our social workers think that the sins of the rich become virtues when they are paid for in hard cash; or perhaps they think that virtue cannot be separated from riches, in which case a poor man is bound to be a profligate, while a millionaire could not help being as saintly as an archangel if he tried. No doubt hard conditions play their part in driving into licentious ways those who have never been allowed to acquire a sense of sin or a knowledge of what constitutes sin; but for any public body to declare that young people cannot remain single and chaste at the same time, that they are not responsible for their acts, is a species of criminal folly that merits condemnation in the strongest terms. What a pity it is that these people cannot be honest with themselves and admit that the wickedness they complain of is due to the fact that our children are trained.in schools in which Jingoism takes the place of God, in which the commandment " Be British " supersedes character training according to Christian principles, in which the pursuit of ; wealth is looked upon as the chief work of man. When we consider the kind of schools in which most of our people are educated, when we consider the conditions of life which; grow out of the godless principles inculcated in the youth trained in , those schools, we can only conclude that nothing r short of a miracle from heaven could- have preserved this country from general corruption.

I adore the Holy Trimly, beside Whom there is no God.—St. Euplius. : ,