we argue that, because a blindly devised custom fell into desuetude and failed to save the civilizations of the past, an intelligent adaptation of the good which was in it to modern needs would likewise accomplish little? That would be to say that the rule-of-thumb methods of our forefathers were as efficient as the methods of scientific precision in use to-day. It is clear that the old method was brutal and inadequate; but to conclude therefrom that the plan now proposed is unworthy of trial is surely not reasonable.

In like manner, the inefficiency of judicial severity during past centuries argues nothing against the plan here proposed, for, although criminals were swept from the earth in vast numbers, the supply was constantly renewed, and continued without apparent diminution, generation after generation, because of the tolerance accorded to imbeciles, drunkards, and persons otherwise "defective," by whom countless criminals were begotten.

There is an objection which, so far at least as our own republic is concerned, seems to me the strongest of all. The adoption of this plan would throw a great increase of power into the hands of those who represent the State, and there would be great risk that the men charged with the administration of it, however intelligent and honorable at first, might become the corrupt tool of some political ring. We can readily imagine that bribery and not high regard for the public weal would, in such a case, soon control the working of the plan, and the "defective " or criminal worthy of death might usually escape through the timely offer of a pecuniary ransom.

The objection is a very grave one, but its force is a dishonor to our people rather than an intrinsic defect in the plan. If we, as a nation, approve a measure but dare not entrust its administration to the officials whom we select to execute our will, then are we, indeed, far gone on the downward path of degeneracy.

Many other plausible objections may be raised, no doubt, as in the case of every great undertaking, and it may be said, finally, that the practical difficulties, when we should come to the details of actual application, would make the realization of the plan utterly impossible. We should remember, however, that, as Dr. Johnson observed," so many objections might be made to everything, that nothing could overcome them but the necessity of doing something," and that objections often disappear marvellously when a plan has been set in motion. In law, as in morals, that can be done which ought to be done.'

CHAPTER VII

WE

ance.

CONCLUSION

E have now seen that our condition is very unsatisfactory; that we have reason to question whether we are truly progressing, and even ground for alarm as to the future of our civilization. Weakness and vice are everywhere about us, crime is outrageously rampant, and the repressive measures which society has devised have proved themselves inadequate for its protection. The fundamental cause of our evils is our weak and depraved inheritTo improve our condition, make true progress possible, and render the lives of our posterity less miserable than our own, we must renounce completely certain burdens which we have hitherto borne so meekly, and must check the breeding of such human strains as are weak and vicious. But in the way of such a reasonable reform, there lies a mighty obstacle, the exaggerated value set upon human life. If the great goal is to be reached, our path must be made straight; we must dig about this rock of offence and show that it is not an outcrop of the very foundation of our morals but a mere deposit of immature sentiment, then upheave and cast it aside, that it may no longer obstruct the difficult course

of man's upward progress. True pity and farsighted philanthropy alike incite us to such action.

But what actual profit may we reasonably expect from the proposed remedy? The plan really strikes at the root of all our evils, and, in spite of its present crudity and the practical difficulties involved in its application, it is not unreasonable to believe that it might, in the course of many generations, be so matured as to eradicate from the earth nearly all human evil. Crop after crop of useless, burdensome, unhappy, and malevolent lives would need to be mown, but the sad harvests would gradually grow lighter, until finally the method would cease to be used, because all human life, through its intrinsic worth, would appear precious and sacred. This desirable end could be attained only in the very distant future; let us, therefore, confine our attention to the benefits likely to be conferred upon the men of the present and upon our immediate posterity.

Through the great reduction in the number of idiots, imbeciles, epileptics, habitual drunkards, and incorrigible criminals, there would result, even in our own times, a tremendous reduction in the amount of crime, for not only would large numbers of those who perpetrate grave misdeeds have disappeared, but likewise of those who beget criminals. There would result hereby an enormous saving of material wealth, for the destruction of the products of human labor through crime is beyond calculation. The wealth which is at present absorbed in the support of "defectives" and in the arrest, convicting, and holding of criminals, in asylums and hospitals,

in police force and militia, in courts, reformatories, and prisons, would be gradually set free to assist positively the advance of the race; through the increasing sense of security, large funds now lying fallow would be brought into use, to the furthering of enterprises innumerable; and, with the new assurance of return for every effort, there would gradually appear among us a spirit of zeal and a marvellous output of energy.

With the gradual disappearance of crime-that greatest blight upon human enterprise and comfort -and of the incompetence dependent upon physical and mental weakness, there would come a reign of happiness, an expansion of human life, such as the world has never known. The increase of each man's confidence in his fellows would tend to awaken a generous sympathy, and a spirit of altruism would gradually become the dominant factor in the regulation of the affairs of men. I believe that, were such plans carried out as those here suggested, there would be seen within the generations of a near future the dawn of this devoutly desired consummation. If such benefits were wrought for the men of our own time or their immediate successors, words would fail to describe the blessing to be conferred upon our remote posterity. Men would inherit sound minds and sound bodies; they would live long, healthy, and happy lives, and leave this world only through the physiological processes of kindly old age, with as little consciousness of pain at death as at birth; and, throughout life, all would work together in harmony and enjoyment, to draw from the earth