ly life.

For educational reasons, the natural family may be imitated in these
artificial ones, by giving to each couple children of both sexes and
different ages. The result is perfect: I have seen in Vienna
artificial families of ten children formed in this way. This shows
again the rule confirmed by the exception; it would be better for the
good seed to be more fruitful and the bad sterile.

The normal condition must, however, always be for parents to bring up
their own children. But here the State and the school should come to
their aid, and even intervene with authority; for society is under the
obligation of educating its children to a certain degree of culture,
and maternal or paternal authority should not have the right to
prevent or even attenuate this social work. Obligatory and gratuitous
education is thus a duty of the State which is becoming more and more
recognized everywhere, although it is still very incomplete and often
badly carried out.

The State should, moreover, protect the children by restricting the
power of parents more than is done at present. The child should not be
allowed to become an object for exploitation by its parents. It has
also the right to be protected against all unmerited punishment and
ill-treatment. Corporal punishment, which is still practiced in some
schools, is a relic of barbarism which ought to disappear.

The State should severely enforce the duty of the procreators of
children to nourish their offspring. Rich or poor, no father or mother
should escape this duty, whether the child is legitimate or
illegitimate. In our imperfect social condition, it is still much too
easy for the man to escape and abandon his child to the mother, or to
public charity. He should be compelled to provide for the life and
education of his children, whether legitimate or illegitimate, if he
does not bring them up himself. If unable to provide money, he should
do the equivalent in labor. Such measures, strictly enforced, would be
more efficacious than all the complicated laws on sexual relations, in
maintaining monogamy and fidelity.

I repeat, that these measures should apply to all unworthy parents
from whom we are obliged to remove the children. These parents are not
always of the poorer class.

It may be objected that I am unjust in charging such duties to poor
people who can often hardly keep themselves. I agree that in the
present state of society it is quite impossible for many pare