The fact remains, however, that as long as the advertisement now given to Birth Control is permitted to continue, its practice will become yearly more prevalent. Its spread will certainly not be limited by an attitude of official negativism towards it while the propaganda is allowed to continue unchecked.
There remains the other process above distinguished as ‘dysgenic,’ the effect of which upon the quality of the race is probably as detrimental as the one just considered, namely, the nurture and perpetuation of the morally and physically unfit. This tendency can only possibly be met by some form of Eugenic legislation. The existing opposition to anything of the sort in this country probably springs from a deep-seated dislike of bureaucratic interference in people’s private lives, and is associated with a failure to realize the harmful consequences of the existing order. It is of interest, however, to observe that in America, where, in practice if not in theory, individual liberty is valued less highly than in this country, various enactments have been passed with a definitely Eugenic object. Thus in the State of Nebraska marriage is forbidden to anyone afflicted with venereal disease, and all applications for marriage licenses have to be accompanied by affidavits of freedom from such disease. Nobody acquainted with the nature of the infant mortality produced by congenital syphilis can fail to approve of this measure.
In 1895 the State of Connecticut forbade the marriage of epileptics and feeble-minded persons, under penalty of three years’ imprisonment. Everyone possessing knowledge of the Neurological Out-patients’ Department of any large hospital must realize the existing prevalence of epilepsy and appreciate how this hereditary disease may incapacitate and stultify its victims. Montana provides for the sterilizing of idiots, epileptics, feeble-minded and insane persons, which measure must again commend itself to those aware of how prolific such types can be if left unwatched. In males, sterilization can be effected by a very minor operation, the use of X-rays for this purpose being a procedure with regard to which there is still medical controversy.
The principle might even be extended to individuals who, by a record of crime or misdemeanour, prove themselves to belong to a type which the nation does not want perpetuated. The sterilization of the male leaves quite undisturbed his sexual function, though it destroys his power of reproduction. The infringement which it therefore involves of the liberty of the individual is far less than that made by the State when it takes it upon itself to hang a man. Yet the social benefit arising from the two measures cannot be compared. Though it is difficult at this stage to define the details of Eugenic legislation it seems likely that the physical and moral standard of the race could broadly be raised by such a qualitative Birth Control.
The number of emigrants which we are in a position to send to the Dominions each year is limited by difficulties of transport, and could never amount to more than a fraction of our present unemployment figure. There is further the important consideration that the Dominions themselves do not relish the idea of our regarding them as dumping grounds for our superfluous undesirables. The type of emigrant they want is a courageous, hardworking, physically healthy type, capable of initiative, of withstanding hardships without grumbling, and of making a good citizen. Such do not tend to become unemployed here, though, under very adverse circumstances, they often may. A decrease of our population need not therefore be opposed to our Imperial interests if, in the process, we raise the standard of the race and improve our national stock.
What will be the bearings of such enlightened Birth Control upon the future? It will affect the Individual directly in his immediate relation to his family, and it will influence him indirectly through its effect upon the community as well as through the international relationships of the country to which he belongs. The international implications will be considered first, since they are the most far-reaching.
The most obvious of these is the connexion between unrestricted increase of population and wars. To what extent was the late war due to this cause, and to what extent has the world learnt from it the necessity of regulating such increase?
The causes of the late war were complex and are not yet wholly understood. A fact however stands out clearly now that we contemplate it in retrospect and now that changes in international feelings have forced upon us a consideration of the point of view of our late enemies. It is that the causes now recognized are essentially different from what those causes were represented to be in the war propaganda of the various belligerents.