If the individual genealogist does this, the science of genealogy will become a useful servant of the whole race, and its influence, not confined to a few, will be felt by all, as a positive, dynamic force helping them to lead more worthy lives in the short span allotted to them, and helping them to leave more worthy posterity to carry on the names they bore and the sacred thread of immortality, of which they were for a time the custodians.
CHAPTER XVIII
THE EUGENIC ASPECT OF SOME SPECIFIC REFORMS
Nearly every law and custom of a country has an influence direct or remote on eugenics. The eugenic progress to be expected if laws and customs are gradually but steadily modified in appropriate ways, is vastly greater and more practicable than is any possible gain which could be made at present through schemes for the direct control of "eugenic marriages."
In this present chapter, we try to point out some of the eugenic aspects of certain features of American society. It must not be supposed that we have any legislative panaceas to offer, or that the suggestions we make are necessarily the correct ones. We are primarily concerned with stimulating people to think about the eugenic aspects of their laws and customs. Once the public thinks, numerous changes will be tried and the results will show whether the changes shall be followed up or discontinued.
The eugenic point of view that we have here taken is becoming rather widespread, although it is often not recognized as eugenic. Thinkers in all subjects that concern social progress are beginning to realize that the test of whether or not a measure is good is its effect. The pragmatic school of philosophy, which has been in vogue in recent years, has reduced this attitude to a system. It is an attitude to be welcomed wherever it is found, for it only needs the addition of a knowledge of biology, to become eugenic.
TAXATION
To be just, any form of taxation should repress productive industry as little as possible, and should be of a kind that can not easily be shifted. In addition to these qualifications, it should, if possible, contribute directly to the eugenic strength of the nation by favoring, or at least by not penalizing, useful families. A heavy tax on land values (in extreme, the single-tax) and a heavy tax on bachelors have sometimes been proposed as likely to be eugenic in effect. But they are open to criticism. The tax on land values appears too likely to be indiscriminate in working: it would appear to favor inferior families as much as superior ones. The tax on bachelors is proposed as a means of getting bachelors to marry; but is this always desirable? It depends on the quality of the bachelors. Even at present it is our belief that, on the whole, the married men of the population are superior to the unmarried men. If the action of sexual selection is improved still further by the eugenics campaign, this difference in quality will be increased. It will then be rather an advantage that the bachelors should remain single, and a tax which would force them into marriage for reasons of economy, is not likely to result in any eugenic gain. But a moderate indirect tax by an exemption for a wife and each child after a general exemption of $2,000 would be desirable.
The inheritance tax seems less open to criticism. Very large inheritances should be taxed to a much greater degree than is at present attempted in the United States, and the tax should be placed, not on the total amount of the inheritance, but on the amount received by each individual beneficiary. This tends to prevent the unfair guarantee of riches to individuals regardless of their own worth and efforts. But to suggest, on the other hand, as has often been done, that inheritances should be confiscated by the government altogether, shows a lack of appreciation of the value of a reasonable right to bequeath in encouraging larger families among those having a high standard of living. It is not desirable to penalize the kind of strains which possess directing talent and constructive efficiency; and they certainly would be penalized if a man felt that no matter how much he might increase his fortune, he could not leave any of it to those who continued his stock.