llowing a mingling of the two blood-streams. That, it is alleged, is
the true way to elevate the Negro.

The question may well be considered from that point of view, even
though the validity of such a point of view is not admitted.

To ensure racial and social progress, nothing will take the place of
leadership, of genius. A race of nothing but mediocrities will stand
still, or very nearly so; but a race of mediocrities with a good supply
of men of exceptional ability and energy at the top, will make progress
in discovery, invention and organization, which is generally recognized
as progressive evolution.

If the level of the white race be lowered, it will hurt that race and be
of little help to the Negro. If the white race be kept at such a level
that its productivity of men of talent will be at a maximum, everyone
will progress; for the Negro benefits just as the white does from every
forward step in science and art, in industry and politics.

Remembering that the white race in America is nine times as numerous as
the black race, we conclude that it would be desirable to encourage
amalgamation of the two races only in case the average of mulattoes is
superior to the average of the whites. No one can seriously maintain
that this supposition is true. Biologically, therefore, there is no
reason to think that an increase in the number of mulattoes is
desirable.

There is a curious argument in circulation, which points out that
mulattoes are almost always the offspring of Negro mothers and white
fathers, not of Negro fathers and white mothers. Therefore, it is said,
production of mulattoes does not mean at all a decrease in the number of
white births, but merely substitutes a number of mulatto births for an
equivalent number of pure Negro births. It is therefore alleged that the
production of mulattoes is in the long run a benefit, elevating the
Negro race without impairing the white race.

But this argument assumes that most mulatto births are illegitimate,--a
condition which eugenists do not sanction, because it tends to
disintegrate the family. Rather than such a condition, the legitimate
production of pure-blood Negroes is preferable, even though they be
inferior in individual ability to the illegitimate mulattoes offered as
a substitute. There are not at the present time enough desirable white
fathers in the country. If desirable ones are set aside to produce
mulattoes, it would be a great loss to the nation; wh