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Why Washington Society Women Are Studying Eugenics
Leaders of the Nation’s Social Life Join Mrs. John Hays
Hammond’s Interesting Class, Designed Especially to
Guide Their Sex Throughout the Country in the Prin
ciples of Race Improvement.
By Mrs. John Hays Hammond.
EVERY woman should study eugenics
Such knowledge should not be withheld
until women have reached motherhood.
At heart and soul w-e are all mothers. The
Instinct of motherhood is in us aud if It is
not exercised toward children of our own. Its
Influence at least can be extended to those
who actually are mothers
Those of ua who see and feel the Importance
of bringing home the plain truths of eugenics
to every woman in the land have also felt the
need of examples and influence In the most
respected quarters. Thus came about the or
ganization of a class composed of women
who are polltioally and socially the highest
placed in the nation—a class virtually in the
White House.
This class includes Mrs. Woodrow Wilson,
wife of the President of the United States;
Mrs. William Jennings Bryan, wife of the Sec
retary of State; Mrs Justice Hughes, and
others in the Cabinet circle. All of these are
serious students of the science of eugenics
and were eager to extend and perfect their
knowledge We met at my home in Washing
ton and arranged for a series of lectures by
Dr. Elnora C. Folkmar, a woman of profound
scholarship, clean mind and spiritual vision.
For these qualities we chose her as our guide.
Each quality we deemed extremely important,
but the greatest were the last two, for we
knew that unless so guided it would be easy
to wander into perusal of the morbid class of
works on allied subjects, the study and dis
cussion of which would be time lost, or worse.
We adopted as our text-books the reports,
pamphlets and more ambitious works—every
thing we could glean that they had written —
by Dr. C. B. Davenport, Dr. Llewellyn Barker,
Dr. H. B. Goddard, Dr. J. E. Jordan, Dr. Prince
A. Morrow, Drs. Galston. Pearson, Bateson,
Saleeby, Bell and Starr Jordan. Reports of
Dr. Davenport s work at the Carnegie Institute
tor Experimental Evolution, which is located
at Cold Spring Harbor, near Oyster Bay, on
Ixmg Island, we know to be among the last
words on the great theme of how to make the
race better.
1 purposely cite these authorities at the be
ginning lest the conscientious student be led
into bypaths of worse than fruitless study
through meretricious works that to my mind,
have no excuse for having been written.
thus the weekly lectures were well started
by several meetings under Dr. Folkmar's
guidance, before the Summer dispersion to
aur country homes, and each member of the
class had received an impetus to Summer
study that will undoubtedly displace the Sum
mer novel in her interest and in Its far
reaching effects.
‘‘Give Your American Children a Regular Course in Manners,” SaysM.de fouquieres
Andre DE FOUQUIERES, the Parisian
arbiter of the elegances, who recently
made a memorable visit to the United
States, has addressed the fashionable women
of Parle, among whom were many members of
of the American colony, on the manners and
appearance of American children.
He generously praises the spirit and courage
of American boys and delicately suggests that
a regular course in manners would do them no
harm. Here Is the report of his address, fur
nished exclusively to this newspaper:
By the Chevalier Andre de Fouquieres.
HAPPY American children! How I admire
and envy them! They lead a life of
freedom, sport and open air, which Is
very different from that of our French chil
dren, who grow pale from long hours passed
in hard study.
American children are at their best in the
country and country towns. I have observed
them there with much pleasure. If I had only
seen New York. 1 should have gone away with
a monstrous idea of the American attitude
toward children
Children are evidently unwelcome visitors
in New York. I cannot describe to you my
stupefaction on finding that in many apart
ment houses they would not receive children
and would not permit them to be born This
policy is absolutely unjust and immoral The
divine and human laws require us to do our
best to found a family here below.
1 am shocked at the thought that a child can
be denied the right to live anywhere I love
children with all my heart They are the con
olation of our sorrows, the hope and the light
of our existence. In a word, they are the
'uture. Indeed, I often feel very sad when I
reflect that as a bachelor 1 cannot know the
joys of family life Nothing can be sweeter
and more beautiful than to prolong one's own
existence in that of one's children, to bequeath
o them ones traditions and ones sentiments
The child is the sunshine of the house. I
realized this when 1 visited the other day the
family of an employe who had shown me great
kindness on the ship going to America. He had
three little rooms, neat as new pins, in a re
spectable quarter of New York On coming
nome from work he found health, exercise and
happiness in playing with bis two children,
*ged tour and five years This trio was com
pleted by a fourth, a fine parrot, who was not
t'e least talkative of the group
"But, alas!" said the father to me. We shall
soon be driven out of our little home, because
we make a little noise, because we enjoy uc
selves too much."
In France, if we do not have many children
>.e would at least not dream of showing such
harshness to them when they do come Publi
opinion in Paris. 1 am happy to say. would
not permit a landlord to close his doors to
people guiltji of having children. Our land
lords are less cruel. Sometimes they forbid us
•he possession of a cat or a dog. or of a.iy
animal which bites, scratches or howls, mu
not of a dear little baby. ,
We are eager for the formation of slmiliar
classes among other women In this country
ind will be to give them such help and
direction as we can, for. while each life in this
world is the product of two half lives, yet the
chief responsibility for the uplift and better
ment of the home rests with the mother. The
IbMiKi » ■
fIEIL D
Scene at a Children’s Welfare Meeting in Washington—This Is a Movement with
Which Mrs. Hammond Is in Hearty Sympathy.
so-called childless woman is a spiritual mother
of the race and In no sense escapes the re
sponsibility of providing ideals for the Im
provement of the race.
For mothers and for fathers there is no
excuse for lack of that knowledge which will
guide their children Into wise selection of life
partners and the giving of a temple tc future
souls. Parents who ignore this responsibility,
who are careless of it, are ignorant of the
dangers in the path or neglect to flash the
signals of danger, should bow their heads in
shame.
Women who wish to know more of this
science can form In classes and clubs and
hear lectures by a woman medical authority.
1 do not advise the selection of a male lec
turer because there is inevitably the sex
barrier to frank discussion. A high minded,
clean-souled woman is the right guide for
There are women In New York, and also in
Paris, who prefer not to have children for
fear of spoiling their figures, or losing their
freedom These are doubtless exceptions, but
does not philosophy teach us that the excep
tions tend to become the rule?
Let us face this delicate question bravely.
No matter whose susceptibilities 1 may hurt.
1 feel obliged to say that the wife who does not
wish to become a mother is unworthy the
name of woman. Evidently she is lacking In
a certain natural instinct. Os course. I can
not deny that there are cases where wisdom
suggests that it is better not to have a family,
but the desire should exist. The healthy and
wealthy woman who prefers poodles to babies,
should be an object of pity.
I must add that the limited number of chil
dren 1 saw In New York appeared strong and
healthy. They have fresh complexions, well
developed muscles, and an energetic bearing.
They have an air of frankness in the eyes
that pleases me. Everything about them be
tokens strong will. One understands that they
are preparing to be business men from their
earliest years. They imitate the papa and fol
low in his footsteps.
One of these little men. nine years old. said
to me with a very important air: “I'm going
downtown on business." Evidently he had the
ambition to make money at this early age
This manner of facing life gives the American
boy the assurance and independence of a
man. In France our boys remain under the
control of their mothers until they are quite
young men. We have too many mothers' dar
lings
Children brought up iu the American way
are quite capable of traveling around the world
alone, when they are seventeen or eightteen
years old In France the American method of
education has already had its influence on
the classes of society that are susceptible to
'deas from abroad Many French fathers of
families are now planning to send their sons
to the United States to complete their educa
tion and cultivate a spirit of independence and
self-reliance.
I am familiar with the adverse criticisms
which two eminent literary psychologists. M.
Paul Bourget and M Henry James, have dared
to pass on the American child, and I do not en
tirely agree with them They object to his
lack of politeness, but I find that that defect,
which they greatly exaggerated, is more than
counterbalanced bj his fine qualities.
It if sport that makes the American child
what he is He learns the word "baseball,'’
with his alphabet He practices boxing as
soon as he is able to walk. I appreciate the
' igor of the American boy from personal ex
perience. for 1 received a remarkably hard and
well-aimed snow ball in the neck.
For my part 1 believe that the American
boy's view of life is the right one The spirit
f sport develops the ardent and competent
American youth into practical and successful
men The American lives faster than the Eu
ropean. and this haste makes him a lover of
action Americans do not seem to know the
aeari.iess of mind or body of which we see so
much in Eurojie.
-.lortiu- -piiit takes hold of the Amer-
women In these researches. I am glad to see
that women s clubs in lowa have arranged for
baby shows at their annual county fairs, at
which there are lectures on standardization of
infants, so that all who attend will know the
good points of a baby as well as they know
those of a dog or horse. Oregon is preparing
for a baby fair this FMII, preparatory to a great
baby fair at the exposition in San Francisco
in 1915. All these movements are placing an
Ideal of race before us -and Individuals and
the race are better for ideals.
We have taken land we would advise
others taking up the study and aligning them
selves with the students and apostles of eu
genics) a conservative stand. In eight States
measures have been taken to prevent the con
tinuance of a blood line of the unfit —those
who are mildly termed the “socially Inade
quate," or, more brutally put, those who are
unable to earn their own living and have to
he taken care of by the State or those with
the criminal taint. There is much to bo said
for this, especially when we are faced by the
appalling tact that New York State, for in
stance, spends one-fifth of its income in
caring for Its unfit unfit either through crim-
ican child at the beginning of his development.
Inspires a confidence in him which increases
the instinct of combat and the quality of cour
age.
The enemies of sport say that a man who cul
tivate his muscles does so at the expense of
his intelligence. That is an error. There is a
balance between muscles and intelligence which
a man must find.
Are there fewer scientific men and artists
because we have become to-day so generally
addicted to sport? Surely we have enough of
the former in France. Sport, on the other hand,
has a very great educational value. It teaches
discipline and application. I know that young
athletes in school make the best pupils. Their
games occupy them after the hours of study and
keep them away from cabarets, evil resorts and
i 81. M g
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I ol| 111
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Fine French Manners, as They Flourish in the Blue-Blooded Faubourg St. Germain. From a Sketch in That Entertaining
Periodical, La Vie Partsknnc. Above is M. de Fouquieres in the Persian Costume in Which He Captivated Paris Society.
♦Jii MB
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Mrs. John Hays Hammond.
Inal bias or by reason of feeble-mindedness.
Yet in such cases there are possibilities of
succeeding viciousness that are amazing and
alarming. These measures are still in an ex
perimental state. It is encouraging ro learn
that in one’institution in Indiana 150 of the
inmates voluntarily acceded to such a measure
for the good of the community. Believing
themselves undesirable citizens, they pre
ferred that their traits should not descend to
posterity.
But It is the sense of the class of students
whom I represent that these are grave meas
ures and that the lack of moral responsibility
might inaugurate an era of viciousness that
would be appalling. That is the danger and
that Is the reason we weigh without yet de
ciding for so extreme a measure. We believe
in the custodial care of all those persons who
by mental or moral taint would transmit qual
ities whose possessors would make bad citi
zens. Call it colonization, if you will, the cus
todial care should be effective. It would in
volve a great expense to the State; yes, but
it would save that other enormous drain, the
foundling asylums, most of the homes for
friendless children and the maternity hos
pitals maintained by charity.
We believe that public sentiment (and if
that fail, the law) should require that all
clergymen performing marriage ceremonies
should first have a certificate of health and
character of both parties. If it can be made
practicable to give also an abstract of the
health and character of the parents and grand
parents of both parties, so much the better.
In time. 1 have no doubt, this can be made
quite feasible.
harmful reading. Athletic young men are
chaste. The experience of training makes them
lead a careful life, watch their health, avoid
excesses of all kinds, drink less alcohol and go
to bed early. Such a life will not, like excessive
book study, lead a child into neurasthenia or
effeminacy. Indeed, there is no better school
to form a man than sport. In France now we
are undergoing the happy influence of the
spirit of sport. The other day 1 was walking
along the boulevards of Paris. Suddenly I was
jostled, whirled around, nearly overthrown by
a crowd, which surged toward the terrace of a
case. I seized a young man who was rushing
past me and I asked him, "What is it? Is it
a very big fire? Are you going to See the Presi
dent of the Republic or some King pass by?”
"No, monsieur.” said the young man. "but it
is the moment when Carpentier takes his ap
petizer."
I have told you about the best qualities of
the American boy, because I feel that that
will interest you most. In France to-day we
wish to know what is best in foreign nations.
It would be idle to deny that the American boy
might study the old French traditions of polite
ness with advantage.
If sport has great educational value, polite
ness must remain the foremost principle of
education.
Good manners and a courteous method of ex
pression facilitate good relations between indi
viduals, between political parties and between
nations. Let me emphasize this —that polite
ness is a most necessary virtue to democracy.
I have observed with pleasure in New York
that many men are quite models of politeness.
They usually take off their hats in the pres-,
ence of a lady. Some of them even give up
their seats in a car. and others make profuse
excuses when they offer you a gloved hand. All
that is very well, but 1 must insist on the neces
sity of a regular education in politeness by
those who have the authority to give it.
In old times good manners were the appanage
of an instructed minority. To-day they are the
We believe in warning the young against
the scourges that punish the sins of youth
that we have dismissed as "youthful follies."
We believe that men should as early as the
years of going away to college acquaint their
sons with those dangers and in a most im
pressive manner. A woman whom I well know
took double means to this end. Before her
eldest son left his home she had an earnest
talk with him. She told him of the dignity of
parenthood, the duty of preparing for that
honor clean bodies and minds and souls. She
said to him:
"The dearest moment of my life will be
when a child of yours Is placed in my arms
and I see It is perfect. But if you descend to
wallow in filth I shall think of you with the
disgust with which I regard a swine.”
This solemn duty done, she arranged daring
his first week in college, and before the in
sidious spell of temptation could beset him,
for hiß visit to the Massachusetts Hospital.
Under guidance of a conscientious physician, a
friend, she insisted that he spend a day there
seeing all the horrors of the results of wrong
living. He looked upon drunkenness and de
generacy. He saw the dying. He witnessed
major operations; saw men and women sunken
to the lowest depths of depravity. Evidently
the leeson was a vital one, for when, two
years later, the time came for his younger
brother to go to college and the mother pre
pared for him the same plan the elder brother
begged off for the younger.
"Don’t make him go through that,” he
pleaded. "He is so imaginative."
“Very well,” responded the mother, “If you
will promise to take him In hand."
“I shall," promised the elder brother, and
there is evidence that he has kept his word.
While I think this duty of acquainting the
young with the terrors that lurk in wrong
paths is necessary, I do not believe in antici
pating by one hour the question in the mind
of youth. As well tear open the leaves of a
but to hasten the blooming of a rose. Vigi
lance Is desirable, but awakening morbid curi
osity is deplorable.
“Make the stock better,” is our watchword.
By informing ourselves we can go far in this
direction, and knowledge has ever been power.
These are some principles of eugenics which
should become a part of the common stock of
knowledge.
The feeble-minded are increasing several
times as fast as the normal.
Babies inherit both the defects and excel
lences of their parents, mental and physical.
There is no case recorded of a normal child
being born of feeble-minded parents.
It Is becoming a matter of common knowl
edge that one-fifth of the blind lose their eye
sight because of infection at birth.
Our institutions are being filled with the
blind, with neurasthenics, paralytics and men
tal defectives.
One hundred thousand babies die each year
because of the transmissible diseases of their
parents.
The laws of inheritance are not the onl}’
agents in the rearing of fine children. Condi
tions of environment promote or impair the
production of perfect offspring. Those condi
tions should be known to all persons of the
age of parenthood.
The greatest cause of Infant mortality is the
fact that children are born without a sufficient
"biological capital” to meet the demands of
life. They quickly succumb in the struggle
for existence, filling graves or public institu
tions.
privilege of every man. We should, therefore,
take care that every man enjoys his privilege.
An ill-bred business man should not be allowed
to succeed, and we should help a polite employe
to make his fortune. Politeness is the great
est proof of self-control that one can offer. It
obliges us to be moderate, and calm. It con
trols instinct and trains the will, it is not a
virtue of the weak.
I should like to see America make an educa
tion in politeness obligatory in her schools. A
class of an hour a week devoted to this subject
would do much good. I do not think that this
would interfere seriously with the studies of
children they teach so many useless things.
A competent professor would teach in his class
not only manners, but the jsavoir-vivre, the art
of living rightly, a distaste for rude behavior
and an understanding of tact, moderation and
correct bearing. That would build up a nation
which would gain influence in the world. I do
not say that such classes are necessary to the
United States alone. They would help us in
France to have some day a Chamber of Depu
ties where the members would not scratch at
one another's faces or overwhelm one another
with vulgar abuse.
In the Hungarian Parliament recently in the
midst of a most important debate there oc
curred a general free fight, in which fists, teeth
and chairs were used as weapons. Such scenes
evidently tend to weaken democratic institu
tions.
The professor of politeness would teach his
pupils such simple maxims as the following:
"When a lady or a person older than yourself
speaks to you, remove you hat and do not put
it on again until asked to do so.”
"Answer every question with politeness, and
never contradict directly anyone who speaks to
you. There are other methods of expressing
one’s opinion than contradiction.’’
"If you are walking with another person,
allow him to take the part of the sidewalk
next to the houses.”
"If there are three persons, the place in the
Eugenics impresses upon us that our immi
gration laws should restrict the immigration
of stocks unfit to blend with the American pop
ulation. The representative of one of the
Powers is quietly working to keep the unfit
of his nation at home for that reason. He
told me so.
The characteristics of children show ms’
many defects are traceable to parents who arc
either too old or too young. Thirty-seven per
cent of all swindlers are the children of parents
who are more than forty-one years old. A ma
jority of the crimes of violence against prop
erty, as incendiarism, are committed by the
children of too young parents. Yet the chil
dren of the young parents show the greater
intelligence. Fifty-two per cent (more than
half) of the assassins are the children of eld
erly parents.
We should all know that consanguineous
marriages (those of close relatives, as cous
ins) may have disastrous results. If only be
cause cousins are liable to have the same
traits and marriage and parenthood would
cause these traits to become more marked, they
should be avoided because of intensifying fam
ily faults which might disappear in a genera
tion or two of remote matings. The anti
eugenists point to Cleopatra as a proof of~the
value of inbreeding. She was the daughter of
a wedded brother and sister, for it was the
custom then for brothers and sisters to wed
and so keep the throne of the Ptolemies in the
family. True, Cleopatra was wonderfully beau
tiful, but beauty is not the chief purpose of
the eugenists. The truth is that if she were
living to-day Egypt’s beautiful queen would be
in the ward of Matteawan or some other asy
lum for the criminally insane. Consanguineous
marriages between persons of weak mentality
are a source of both crime and insanity.
A second principle is that those unable for
bodily or mental reasons to earn a living will,
if permitted to marry, bequeath other charges
to the state. Germany and Austria have pro
vided that no person living upon charity or
receiving state assistance shall be permitted
to marry.
It an insane or imbecile person marries a
normal one, one-half or at least one-fourth of
their children usually inherit the abnormality.
If two epileptics marry, their children will
all be epileptics, and if two imbeciles marry
they will produce imbeciles.
A woman may be more safely trusted to
marry above iter station than a man. Most
mesalliances are made by men. It is a wom
an's instinct to raise herself in the marriage
scale.
The tendency of nature is to slump. If a
fit and unfit person marry, the children are
liable to be more like the unfit than the fit
person. This is a regrettable truth which we
cannot evade.
The fear is in some minds that a knowledge
of eugenics will banish romance. Far from it.
It will make marriages happier as well as bet
ter. There will always be love, and by making
the race better we will make love more per
manent. It comes back to our watchword,
study to “Make the stock better.”
We do not believe in the elimination of the
infant unfit. When children have come into
the world let us take care of them. The Greek
idea of murdering the weakling infant does not
accord with our civilization. The world would
have been deprived of much of its greatness
had we adopted this law. Goethe, for Instance,
was a weakling infant. But, once again, I say,
let us study how to make the stock better.
middle is the place of honor.”
"Never enter a salon (a drawing room) with
out gloves or with the bottom of your trousers
turned up. Leave your hat, overcoat and stick
in the hall, but keep your gloves on. It is
almost as bad to enter a drawing room without
gloves as without shoes.”
Remember that politeness excites generosity
and good will—that is why an ambitious young
man should be polite. His manners will win
him the approbation, or at least the neutrality,
of those with whom he comes into contact, and
that will be sufficient to win him success.
The first principle of altruism is not to be
displeasing to one’s neighbor. Try to be not
only courteous in your manners, but in your
dress and bearing. What is more displeasing
than a person of slovenly appearance wearing
perhaps a dirty shirt or an unbrushed coat.
The poorest employe may show good taste,
even elegance, in this respect. Elegance of
dress is a true form of politeness.
Teach your children to be polite, simple and
natural: for simplicity, politeness and natural
ness are the characteristics of a truly elegant
man.
The great noblemen of other days set us
examples of politeness which may well serve
as models for the American children of to-day.
King Louis XVI., the most powerful and abso
lute monarch of his time, did not hesitate to step
aside w’hen he passed on the stairway of hie
Palace of Versailles a woman, even it she wist
only a servant, f recall an interesting anecdote
of the value of politeness in history that shouK.
be of special interest to Americans. The Mar
shal de Rochambeau, who fought bravely for
the Americans in the War of Independence, was
one of the many good men condemned to the
guillotine during the Reign of Terror. One
morning he and a crowd of others were led out
of prison to the cart which conveyed the vic
tims to execution. Among them was a priest.
The Marshal de Rochambeau and the priest
were the last of the party. The old soldier,
wishing to show respect to religion, begged the
priest to enter first into the vehicle. Removing
his hat and bowing with graceful politeness, as
if he were totally unaware that they were in
the presence of death, he said:
"After you, Monsieur l’Abbe!”
The priest, seeing that the Marshal, who was
eighty years old, was much older than him Self,
did not wish to go first, but, bowing with equal
politeness, said:
"After you. Monsieur le Marechai!”
After they had exchanged courtesies for
some minutes the jailor interfered, pushed the
priest into the cart and said to the Marshal:
"Stand back, old Marshal; there is no room
for you to-day.”
This very day saw the end of the Terror, the
Marshal was released from prison and spent
his last days in peace.
I hate roughness of manners and conduct as
Ido crime. Persons who behave in that way are
fundamentally vile in character. If you wish
your children to be great men in the State and
society, teach them to be chivalrous, which
means that they will be ruled by the sentiments
of duty and honor.