n marriage. It is a social
misfortune that the unfit should be taken care of by the tender
mercies of philanthropists and even permitted to propagate their kind,
while no special encouragement is given to those who are supremely fit
to give their best to the upbuilding of the race. The principle of
brotherly kindness requires that the weak and unfortunate be taken
care of, but they should not be permitted to increase. It is a
principle of social welfare that those who are incapable of exercising
self-control should be placed under the control of the larger group.

49. =Eugenics in Legislation.=--It is the conviction that the right to
be well-born is a valid one, that has given rise to the science of
eugenics. As a science it was first discussed by Francis Gallon, and
it has interested writers, investigators, and legislators in all
progressive countries. Various specific proposals have been made in
the interest of posterity, and agitation has resulted in certain
experiments in legislation. It is not proposed that any should be
required to marry, but it is thought possible to encourage the well
qualified and to discourage and restrain the incapable. Some of these
proposals, such as the offering of a premium by the State for healthy
children, or endowing mothers as public functionaries, are not widely
approved, but Great Britain in a National Insurance Act in 1911
included the provision of maternity benefits in recognition of the
mother's contribution to the citizenship of the nation. Restrictive
laws have been passed by certain of the States in America, which are
eugenic experiments. Feeble-mindedness, in so many ways a social evil,
is readily reproduced, and the weak-minded are easily controlled by
the sex instinct. To prevent this certain State legislatures have
forbidden the marriage of any feeble-minded or epileptic woman under
the age of forty-five. It is well known that insanity is a family
trait, and that criminal insanity is liable to recur if those who are
afflicted are permitted to indulge in parenthood. Certain States
accordingly annul the marriage of insane persons. Venereal disease is
easily transmitted; there has been a beginning of legislation
prohibiting persons thus tainted to marry. It is well established that
very many persons, while not actually tainted with such diseases as
tuberculosis and alcoholism, are predisposed to yield to their attack.
For this reason the scope of eugenic legislation is likely