1. Laws restricting marriage.
2. Systems of mating with the purpose of covering up and gradually diluting out defective traits.
3. Segregation during the reproductive period.
4. Sterilization.
5. Education in the principles of eugenics.
Inefficacy of Laws Which Forbid Marriage of Mental Defectives.—The utter inefficacy of the first proposition, namely the enactment of laws restricting marriage, at least as regards the socially unfit whose condition is based on impaired mentality, has been demonstrated time and again. If they are forbidden marriage, they merely have children without getting married. Most states have laws to prevent the marriage of such individuals but these laws are almost wholly ineffective in preventing procreation on their part. We might as well recognize once for all that in such cases nothing short of close custodial care or sterilization will accomplish the end desired.
As to the second proposition, systems of mating with the purpose of covering up and gradually diluting out defective traits, this has been shown to be possible with certain types of defectives. Whether it is desirable or not is a different question.
Fig. 39