spring by our choice in
marriage. The basis of the development of desirable or undesirable
tendencies or traits lies, of course, in the mating from which the
individual springs. On the kind of combinations of germinal traits that
are made by marriage depends whether or not undesirable traits shall
reappear in the offspring. For instance, a man may inherit a defect from
his father because his father married a certain type of woman. Had the
father selected a different type, the children might not have inherited
the father's defect. The importance of choice in marriage results from
certain laws of inheritance, which make it clear that by proper
combinations of individuals certain bad traits may be entirely "bred
out."

[Sidenote: Choice in Marriage]

As soon as men and women acquire the knowledge that their choices in
marriage largely determine whether or not their physical and mental
faults and virtues will reappear in children, they feel a sacred
responsibility in that act of choosing. A little conscious knowledge of
what kind of combinations of traits bring about their reappearance in
offspring can not help but modify a person's taste, and thus
automatically direct the choice of a mate, which choice will still be,
and rightfully, an instinctive one. Upon the wisdom with which choices
in marriage are now made depends in large degree the health and
efficiency of all the individuals who will constitute society in the
coming generations. As the science of eugenics gathers a greater wealth
of evidence and subjects it to vigorous analysis, its ability to guide
the race to higher levels will become more positive and far-reaching.
This can be done without surrendering the general principle of
individual freedom. It will not reduce but increase the number of
natural love-marriages. The errors of crude and superficial or
overenthusiastic eugenists should not obscure the enormous possibilities
of the science for the human race. Eugenic knowledge is, therefore, not
only a personal advantage but a social necessity.

[Sidenote: Social Progress]

For society as a whole, a thoroughgoing eugenic program must include:

(1) The prevention of reproduction by the markedly unfit, such as the
feeble-minded, by sterilization of the most unfit and by segregating the
remainder in public institutions.

(2) The enactment of wise marriage laws.

(3) The development of an enlightened sentiment against improper
marriages and the putting at t