let him stay reformed for two or three years, and then
the woman may take the chance, if she wants to.

=Feeblemindedness=

Feeblemindedness, in all its gradations--including idiocy, imbecility,
moronism, and so on--is strongly hereditary and is one of the most
dysgenic factors we have to deal with. It is the most dysgenic of all
factors. It is more dysgenic than insanity. Marriage with a
feebleminded person not only should be advised against, but should be
prohibited by law. A feebleminded man has much fewer chances for
marriage than has a feebleminded woman. Feebleminded girls, even to
the extent of being morons, if pretty (as they often are) have very
good chances of getting married, not infrequently getting for husbands
young men of good families who themselves of course are not very
strong mentally, but still are far from being considered feebleminded.

There are many cases of brilliant men--more than the public has any
idea of--who married pretty, shy, demure, but withal feebleminded,
girls, and the result has been in the largest percentage of cases very
disastrous. In many cases all the children are feebleminded, or if not
feebleminded, so weak mentally that it is impossible to make them go
through any college or school. All the private tutoring is often in
vain. And the brilliant father's heart breaks. It must be borne in
mind that feeblemindedness or weak mentality is much more difficult to
detect in a woman than it is in a man. Weakmindedness in a woman often
passes for "cuteness," and as among the conservatives a woman is not
expected to be able to discuss current topics, her intellectual
caliber is often not discovered by the blinded husband until some
weeks after the marriage ceremony.

As any instruction in the use of contraceptives would be wasted on the
feebleminded, the only way to guard the race against pollution with
feebleminded stock is either to segregate or to sterilize them.
Society could have no objection against the feebleminded marrying or
indulging in sexual relations, provided it could be assured that they
will not bring any feebleminded stock into the world. After the man
and the woman have been sterilized there is no objection to their
getting married.

Where a normal, able or brilliant husband finds out too late that his
wife's mentality is of rather a low order he is certainly justified in
using contraceptives; and if he is determined to have children he will
be obliged to divorc