POSITIVE TASKS
The elimination of the abuses and dangers, pointed out under the heading of negative tasks, would prepare the soil for a healthier and more ideal development of the sexual relations of humanity in the future. These require the prevention of blastophthoric deterioration of germ cells, as well as all pathological degeneration of sexual intercourse. They also require true and natural affection, free from the influences of prejudice and money, and capable of surviving amorous intoxication. Lastly, they require a natural human organization, adapted to the social welfare, the duties of parents toward their children, and the rights they have over them.
Human Selection.—This is impossible to attain without recourse to artificial means, which have hitherto been generally condemned, or employed with an unhealthy and corrupt object. I refer to the distinction between satisfaction of the sexual appetite and the procreation of children.
Although it is true that the two things are inseparably connected in plants and animals, it is equally true that the culture and social development of humanity all over the world have given rise to conditions and necessities other than those which formerly existed, conditions which at the present day are so clearly evident that they cannot be disregarded.
The struggle for existence, as it obtains between the different animal species, hardly exists any longer in man. The latter has now to fight with microbes, and other infinitely small things of the same nature. The combat between man and man, in the form of international warfare, is approaching its end. The wars of the present day, as foolish as they are formidable, are rapidly becoming absurd. We may even hope that the supreme struggle which is impending between the Aryan and Mongolian races will end in peaceful agreement.
Is it, therefore, rational to abandon the quantitative and qualitative regulation of the procreation of children to natural selection—that is to say to brutal chance, disease, famine or infanticide—at a time of human evolution when science contends with the greatest success against accident, disease, infant mortality and famine?
Our strong sexual appetite is no longer in proportion to the exigencies of procreation, nor to the means of providing food for our descendants, nor to the right of the latter to better or even tolerable existence, for the simple reason that the weak, the diseased and the children are no longer eliminated as in former times among primitive races by infanticide, epidemics, wild-beasts, neglect or war (it is now the strong and courageous who are eliminated by the latter). But it is not in our power to modify our instinctive and hereditary sexual appetite, while we have always at hand the necessary means to regulate and improve procreation.
No prejudice, no dogma, no repetition of old maxims, based on so-called immutable natural laws, can stand against such simple and elementary truths. We like to call "natural laws" what to our limited knowledge appears regular in nature. We formulate a law, and too often make an idol, instead of always making further examinations, in the light of new truths, to see if these so-called laws hold good. But the new truths are there, crying for recognition. The sheet-anchor is in our hands, in the form of measures to prevent or regulate conception.
We must, therefore, have recourse to these measures, with prudence, employing them only at first where they are most necessary, and especially insisting on the procreation of numerous children wherever mental and moral strength is combined with bodily health. In this connection I am strongly opposed to the neo-Malthusians, who simply propose to diminish the number of births indiscriminately, as well as to the religious dogmas, especially Catholic, which, under the fallacious pretext of so-called divine inspiration, would hinder the progress of the social sciences.
Human selection is the principle which should lead us to the object to be attained in the remote future. It is not by legal constraint, but by universal instruction, that we shall obtain general recognition and acceptance of this principle. We have proved in Chapter VI, with regard to sexual selection, that women are much more exclusive in their choice than men, and that among savages they prefer courage and bodily strength. At the present day, owing to change of customs, cultured and intelligent women are, on the contrary, much less attracted by man's physical strength than by his intellectual superiority or genius. This gives us a very important indication of the selection we desire, and confirms the necessity of instructing women in sexual matters. I foresee that the enlightened and intelligent women are those who will support human selection with the greatest energy and success.
I repeat here that it is not our object to create a new human race of superior beings, but simply to cause gradual elimination of the unfit, by suppressing the causes of blastophthoria, and sterilizing those who have hereditary taints by means of a voluntary act; at the same time urging healthier, happier and more social men to multiply more and more.
A profound study of blastophthoria and all the phenomena of the mneme and normal heredity leaves no doubt on the possibility of attaining this object. Is not the quality of dogs improved by breeding from the good and eliminating the bad? Are not certain families distinguished in their character, work and intelligence, because for many generations their ancestors have preserved these qualities and maintained the family type by means of careful marriages? On the other hand, are not cowardice, falseness and meanness, etc., reproduced with quite as much certainty in other families? I refer the reader to the description given by Jörger of the disastrous effects of alcoholic blastophthoria and bad heredity produced during nearly two centuries in the numerous members of a family of vagabonds (vide Chapter XI).
One must be blinded by religious prejudice to deny such striking truths. No doubt, our pathological degenerations and our cross-breeding are so infinitely complex that at any time atavism may produce ecphoria of better children derived from bad parents, and that of inferior children derived from better parents. We have seen in the first chapter the complex relations which exist between these phenomena. We must not allow ourselves to be deceived by the appearances of certain particular cases.
What then are the types of men which we should endeavor to produce?
Types to Eliminate.—First of all we must understand that negative action is much easier than positive. It is more easy to mention the types which should not be allowed to multiply than those which should. These are, in the first place, all criminals, lunatics, and imbeciles, and all individuals who are irresponsible, mischievous, quarrelsome or amoral. These are the persons who do the most harm in society, and introduce into it the most harmful taints. It is the same with alcoholics, opium-eaters, etc., who, although often capable in other respects, are dangerous by their blastophthoric influence. Here the only remedy consists in the suppression of the use of narcotics, for it is no use eliminating a few narcotized individuals as long as a greater number is always being produced.
Persons predisposed to tuberculosis by heredity, chronic invalids, the subjects of rickets, hemophilia, and other persons incapable of procreating a healthy race owing to inherited diseases or bad constitution, form a second category of individuals who ought to avoid propagation, or do so as little as possible.
Types to Perpetuate.—On the other hand, men who are useful from the social point of view—those who take a pleasure in work and those who are good tempered, peaceful and amiable should be induced to multiply. If they are endowed with clear intelligence and an active mind, or with an intellectual or artistic creative imagination, they constitute excellent subjects for reproduction. In such cases certain taints which are not too pronounced may be passed over.
True will-power, i.e., perseverance in the accomplishment of rational resolutions, and not the tyrannical and obstinate spirit of domination, is also one of the most desirable qualities which ought to be reproduced. Will-power must not be confounded with impulsiveness, which is rather the antinomy of it, but often deceives superficial observers, and makes them believe in the existence of a strong will, because of the violent manner in which it tries to realize momentary impulsive resolutions.
Human Social Value.—We have seen that, owing to traditional routine, the intellectual merit of a young man is unfortunately judged by the results of examinations. To succeed in these, a good memory and strong mental receptivity are all that is necessary. It follows from this that nonentities often attain the highest social positions, while originality, creative power, perseverance, honesty, responsibility and duty take a back place. I refer the reader to what I have said on the estimation of human value, especially in the Landerziehungsheime (Chapter XVI). They should be estimated according to their utility in practical social life, where the qualities of will and creative imagination play a more considerable part than memory and rapidity in assimilating the ideas of others.
But we have seen that the standard of ordinary examinations is false, even as regards pure intelligence. Critical judgment and imaginative power of combination have a much greater intellectual value than memory or the power of assimilation. It is, therefore, not to be wondered at that the boy who is at the top of his class so often turns out a failure, while the dunce who failed in his examinations sometimes becomes a genius or at any rate a very useful and capable man. From such facts, which are extremely common, it is falsely concluded, by a kind of fatalism, that "one never knows what will become of a man, for personalities change so much." This false conclusion is simply due to the erroneous criterion which is used in the evaluation of childhood, combined with the disgust inspired in strong and original minds by our schools.
Diseases and other accidents may sometimes hinder the development of good dispositions, or even cause them to abort completely. Nevertheless, we shall rarely make false prophecies if we begin by avoiding the gross errors that we have pointed out in the mental evaluation of youth. It is also necessary to institute extensive psychological observations on the development of individuals, and in the value of their work at adult age compared with their peculiarities observed in childhood. I am certain that in this way the social value of a young man, or even a child, and in general all members of human society, could be calculated in advance in a more exact way.
Domestic Animals and Plants.—The weak constitution of the domestic varieties of plants and animals has been used as an argument against human selection. If the animal and vegetable varieties which we raise by artificial selection have not enough strength when left to themselves, this is due to the fact that in creating them we have not consulted their interests in the struggle for existence, but only our own. For example, we raise for our own use fat pigs which can scarcely walk, pear trees with succulent fruit which has very few seeds, etc. It is obvious that these monstrosities cannot be expected to maintain themselves in the struggle for existence. Human selection, on the contrary, is only concerned with what is advantageous for man, individually as well as socially. It is, therefore, not a question of a Utopian hypothesis, but of facts, the daily consequences of which we can observe in society, if we only look at them without prejudice.
Calculation of Averages.—Francis Galton has studied this question by the aid of the law of variations and by the calculation of probabilities. This law only deals with so-called fortuitous elements, due to thousands of minute causes which act to a great extent against each other and become mutually compensated in their general effect, so that the two extremes are always represented by small numbers and the average by large numbers. But, when certain special and greater forces come into play, the general resultant is deviated in one direction or the other.
Galton shows that this law applies to social relations and mental values as well as to the stature of the body. In a given society there are always some individuals who are very good, some very bad, and many mediocrities. When a powerful general factor, such as alcohol or corruption by money, lowers all the individual values, the total value of the whole scale of capacities is lowered. Galton shows that the average values can be appreciably raised by inducing the class of higher values to reproduce themselves, and by preventing the lower values from doing so.
Prof. Jules Amann has shown how the immigration of the Huguenots into Switzerland and Germany after the Revocation of the Edict of Nantes by Louis XIV (1685) contributed to raise the mental level in these countries and continues to do so at the present day.
Visions of the Past and Future.—It is always sad to see capable, hard-working men and women, very useful from the social point of view, remaining sterile, simply on account of our social or religious prejudices; whereas, for the benefit of the community, they ought to marry as young as possible and procreate numerous children.
I have already said (the idea is found in André Couvreur's La Graine) that, if the sterility of one of the conjoints in marriage unfortunately leads to sterility in the other conjoint, the law, to make good the loss, should allow bigamy or concubinage in favor of the second, when the latter is very capable. I cannot dwell too strongly on the necessity of compensating for the sterilization which is so necessary with ill-formed or incapable beings, as well as for the period of rest which is due to women between their confinements, by an energetic multiplication of all useful and capable individuals.
In the same way, it is a real pity to see so many healthy, active and intelligent girls become old maids, simply because they have no money and do not wish to throw themselves at the first scamp who comes. It would be far better to allow a little free polygamy, with complete equality of the two sexes and certain legal precautions, than to lose so much good seed and grow so many weeds. I refer the reader to what I have said on the duties of parents toward their children, and on the duties of society toward the procreators of healthy children. (Chapter XIII.)
It would certainly take a century to obtain any appreciable improvement in the quality of a race by this procedure, even if it were carried out in a methodical and general way. At the end of a few centuries our descendants might recognize the happiness that they owe to our efforts. They would also no doubt be astonished at being descended from such a race of barbarians, and at having so many drunkards, criminals and imbeciles among their ancestors. The mingling of mysticism in sexual life, which now exists under the name of religion, would appear to them almost the same as idolatry and the practice of "magicians" among savage races appears to us.
As to the effects of alcoholic drinks and prostitution, these would give them almost the same impression as the instruments of torture of the Middle Ages which we see exhibited in museums, or the horrors of the Inquisition, or burning at the stake for witchcraft.
Many of my readers will no doubt regard my comparisons as exaggerated or fanatical, because, imbued as we are with contemporary thought, we cannot, without a great effort of imagination and having at our disposal much experience and many objects of comparison, identify ourselves with the thought of the past or that of the future. I recommend persons who cannot appreciate this fact to read the "Key to Uncle Tom's Cabin," by Harriet Beecher-Stowe (not the novel itself). This book contains numerous documents relating to the time of negro slavery before the American war of secession. When they read what happened at that time, for example, advertisements in the public journals of dogs trained to track escaped slaves, they will perhaps agree with me. Pious pastors then gave their support to slavery, as they often do now to alcohol. What now appears to us as monstrous seemed then quite natural.
Reform in Education.—After human selection, I consider pedagogic reform in the sexual and other domains as the most important of positive reforms. (Vide Chapters XVII and XIII.) Although good quality in the germ is one of the fundamental conditions for man's happiness, it is not sufficient. Just as we can obtain by education comparatively useful individuals from comparatively defective germs, so can we more easily damage phylogenetically good germs, by evil influences during their ontogeny.
Society should devote all its care to the good general education of the body and mind of children. It should do everything possible to develop harmoniously the intelligence, sentiments, will, character, altruism and æsthetics, after the manner of the Landerziehungsheime, which we have described in Chapter XVII. Every good hereditary type should be given the opportunity for free expansion, by means of rational education and work.
With regard to individuals who are defective by heredity, their better dispositions might be developed up to a certain point and made to antagonize the bad dispositions, so that the latter should not predominate in the brain. (Vide Chapter XVII.)
In spite of the great importance of rational pedagogy, we must not forget that it is incapable of replacing selection. It serves for the immediate object, which is to utilize in the best possible way human material as it exists at present; but by itself it cannot in any way improve the quality of the future germ. It can, however, by instructing youth on the social value of selection, prepare it to put the latter in action.
UTOPIAN IDEAS ON THE IDEAL MARRIAGE OF THE FUTURE
The outward life of man is largely influenced by events of the moment; but his inner life is determined by memories of the past combined with heredity, and thus gives rise to efforts toward the future. The past should never be allowed to dominate the present or the future, but should combine past experience with new impressions, and constitute a prolific source of ideas and resolutions.
The marriage of the future pre-supposes people to be completely instructed from their childhood in natural sexual intercourse and its eventual dangers. It pre-supposes man brought up without alcohol or other narcotics, possessing the right to utilize the produce of his work for life and the maintenance of his own person, but not that of capitalizing for himself or his children, nor of making legacies to others, i.e., of founding by the aid of money a power for the exploitation of others. Everyone will know from his childhood that work is a necessary condition for the existence of all.
Brought up in common with absolutely equal rights, girls and boys will be aware of the differences in their life tasks, such as differences of sex and individuality indicate them. Till the age of sixteen, or perhaps longer, they will have been instructed in the schools by simultaneous development of intelligence, bodily and technical exercises, æsthetics, moral and social sentiments and will. Without frightening them with the specter of eternal punishment, and without alluring them by the promise of paradise after death, they will have been taught that the object of our transient individual existence is continual effort to attain a pure human ideal. They will have learnt to find the truest satisfaction in the accomplishment of their different duties, and in work in common for the benefit of society. They will also have learnt to despise frivolity and luxury, to attach no importance to personal property and to put all their ambition into the quantity and quality of their work.
The sexual appetite will manifest itself in different individuals at different ages. Trained from childhood not to yield to every desire, but to subordinate their appetites to the welfare of the community, they will not yield immediately. Moreover, they will know the signification of this appetite. They will also know that their patience will not be tried too long, and that they may speak openly on sexual subjects to their masters and parents and even to their companions of the opposite sex.
What will be the consequences of such a state of things? Attachments will be formed early. But, instead of making all kinds of calculations concerning money, social position, etc.; instead of concealing their thoughts in the form of conventional politeness; instead of avoiding an honest explanation of the knotty point, or, at the most passing over this explanation like a cat on hot cinders; instead of trying to dazzle by their charms the one they wish to capture, the lovers of the future will be much more frank because they will have less reason to dissimulate. They will exchange plans for the future, and will mutually test each other's constancy and loyalty without fear of scandal and slander.
The two sexes will be able to enter into free relations with each other, first of all because they will both be instructed in sexual life, and secondly, because manners and customs will be more free. Without actual sexual intercourse, two lovers will thus be able to see whether their temperaments are well adapted to each other.
Then, thanks to its liberty, the period of betrothal will allow a free interchange of ideas on life between the parties concerned, so that they will soon find out whether they are likely or not to live harmoniously in conjugal union. Questions of heredity, procreation and education will be dealt with calmly and freely. This will be certainly more moral than the present conversations between betrothed couples, "well-brought up," who, apart from certain conventional degrees of flirtation, hardly dare mention anything but commonplaces.
A young man of talent, who wishes to continue his studies, will not be prevented from marrying. He may, for example, marry at twenty-four a young girl of eighteen and continue his studies till he is twenty-six. The inconvenience will be slight, for the habits of life will be simpler, and he can easily, by anticonceptional measures, avoid having children for a year or two.
What will marriage be like? First of all, all useless luxury and conventional formality will be reduced to a minimum. The husband and wife will both work, either together, or each on their own account, according to circumstances. Part of the work will naturally be devoted to the children. As at present, the husband will be able to participate in the personal education of the children, if he is more disposed than the wife.
Equality in the rights of the two sexes and matriarchy (vide Chapter XIII) will not render conjugal relations less intimate, but will, on the contrary, deepen their roots by raising their moral value. There will be less time to shine in society; dinner-parties and society functions of all kinds will be unknown; these things are for the idle rich, who have time to kill and money to spend. If a friend comes, and there is time to receive him and something for him to eat, he will be invited to take "potluck" with his family.
Clothes will be simple, comfortable and hygienic. Dwellings will be artistic, æsthetic and scrupulously clean. Pomp and luxury are not art, and are sometimes so overdone that they wound the most elementary sense of æsthetics.
If the occupation of the married couple or the number of their children render domestic servants necessary, the latter will not have the same position in the family as our present servants. Their education and social position being the same as those of the members of the family, they will take the position of companions rather than servants. No domestic work will be considered as degrading.
If the marriage is sterile, the conjoints will adopt orphans or children from other large families. In certain cases, of which we have spoken, concubinage may be preferred which, with such a change in social organization, will amount to bigamy; but here everything will be done openly and by mutual agreement. In such cases any one who cannot overcome jealousy will be divorced.
If, in spite of everything, a marriage is not happy, owing to incompatibility of character, the marriage (or sexual contract) will be dissolved, after legal provision for the children and their education. After this each of the conjoints will be free to marry again. This last contingency will probably not be more frequent than it is as present, possibly less, especially when there are children, for divorce is always painful when there are children to be brought up.
Work, and the effort of striving toward the ideal of social life, are the best and most healthy distractions for the sexual appetite. It is the idleness, luxury and corruption of large cities which cause it to degenerate. Moreover, work revives love and leaves little time for family disputes.
With a little independence of character, and abandonment of old prejudices, we can even now realize our scheme to a great extent.
The Art of Loving Long.—The ideal true love often only shows itself after the first amorous intoxication has subsided. In order to remain harmonious, love requires above all things the higher psychic irradiation of intimate sympathetic sentiments associated with the sexual appetite, with which they should always remain intimately connected, or at any rate as long as the duration of the active sexual life of man. Later on, in the evening of life, the first are sufficient.
The great error into which most men fall who marry is to rely on the civil and religious bonds of matrimony. As soon as the union is sealed, they return to their usual habits and mode of life. Each expects much from the other and gives as little as possible. When amorous sexual intoxication is over, the husband no longer finds any charm in his wife, he becomes enamored of other women to whom he devotes his attention, reserving his bad temper for his wife, while the latter takes no more trouble to please him.
I agree that a man cannot for long conceal his true nature; we are what we are by heredity. Nevertheless, the art of being amiable may be acquired by habit and education, an art which the poorest may employ. Education should never cease during life. Along with the higher sentiments of love and mutual respect, lasting sexual attraction is a link of inestimable value in maintaining a long and happy union between man and woman in marriage.
The married couple should, therefore, avoid everything which may rupture this link. The wife should devote herself to making the home attractive to her husband. The latter, on his part, should neither regard his wife as a mere housekeeper, nor only as an object for the satisfaction of his sexual appetite. Such a conception of woman and marriage is unfortunately very common and is incompatible with true conjugal happiness.
On the other hand, it is not enough for the husband to esteem and respect his wife as a faithful companion, to whom he is united in a purely intellectual way. For the couple to find lasting and complete happiness in marriage, love, however ideal it may be, should be accompanied by sexual enjoyment. In short, intellectual and sentimental harmony should be combined with sensual harmony in a single and sublime symphony. The husband should not only regard his wife as the incarnation of all the domestic virtues, but should also continue to imagine her as the Venus of his early love.
This condition may be realized even when youth has passed away, provided the deep sympathetic sentiments of an ideal love have truly existed and are maintained. The wife will then continue to be for her husband the goddess she has always been. But if this condition is not realized it is not always easy for the husband, with his polygamous disposition, to remain insensible to the charms of other women. However, habit and imagination may do much to correct this tendency.
I think the following advice may be useful to the husband (and occasionally also to the wife). When his sexual passion is excited by another woman and he is in danger of succumbing, he should endeavor, by the aid of his imagination, to clothe his own wife with the charms of his would-be seducer. With a little determination this measure will often succeed; he will thus strengthen his sexual desire toward his own wife, and perhaps increase hers also. In this way, a flame which threatened to destroy conjugal happiness may sometimes serve to strengthen it, by reviving afresh the mutual feelings of love and desire. In the first part of his "Wahlverwandtschaften" (elective affinities), Goethe designates this phenomenon by the term mental adultery; but I am of the opinion that it is rather the expression of a mental conjugal fidelity which is strengthened by sensual substitution.
When there is true love and good-will on both sides, such experiences may often help toward the gradual consolidation of conjugal relations. Not only may a deviated passion be brought back to the conjugal bed, but certain discords may be restored to harmony, and the couple may find new desire and mutual affection which have been put to the test.
Matriarchism.—With regard to family relations there is an important point to consider, which we have already touched upon in Chapter XIII. The power of man and of patriarchism has had the result of giving the father's name to the family. This system is not only unnatural, but also has deplorable effects. If it is true that the germ of the individual (Chromosomes, Chapter I) inherits on the average as much from the father as from the mother, the latter is more closely connected with it from all other points of view. Races in which the maternal influence predominates in the family, not only in name but also in other respects, have better understood the voice of nature.
The fact that the mother carries the child for nine months in her womb, and for many years after birth is more intimately associated with it than the father, gives her a natural right which the father cannot claim. Children ought, therefore, to be named after the mother. Moreover, in case of divorce, it should be the rule for children to be restored to the mother, unless there are special reasons for another decision.
It is evident that in the conditions of modern civilization we cannot return to matriarchism in its primitive sense. An old patriarch cannot become the sole sovereign of all his descendants without the occurrence of grave abuses, no more can this power devolve on a grandmother. Apart from denomination in the maternal line, I mean by matriarchism, the legal privilege of the management of the family conferred on the wife, who is in reality the center of the family.
I will sum up what appears to me to be required, in the following propositions:
1. Denomination in the maternal line.
2. With the exception of cases in which the wife loses her maternal rights owing to incapacity, bad conduct or insanity, etc., or when the law is obliged to deprive her of them, she alone will possess the guardianship and the management of her children during their minority.
3. The wife will be proprietor and housekeeper of the house and household. Her work of housekeeping and her maternal duties will be estimated at their just value, and will have the right to compensation, equivalent to the husband's work in his business.
4. As long as conjugal union exists, the husband has the right to live in his wife's house, for the protection he gives to the family, for the work he gives toward the house and the education of the children, as well as for his pecuniary contributions toward the expenses of both.
5. With the exception of contributions to the house and education, and to the feeding and clothing of the children, the product of the husband's work and private fortune belong to him, just as the product and fortune of his wife are her own property. In the case of divorce there will then be no difficulty in separating the two properties. Excepting in cases mentioned in the second proposition, which will be decided by law, the children will belong to the mother only. But as long as he lives and is able to work, the divorced father must continue to contribute to the maintenance and education of the children he has procreated, till they come of age.
These propositions have only a legal value, and will only be required when the conjoints cannot come to a mutual understanding. They in no way concern those who are able to live together in mutual concord. A weak and passive woman will continue as before to subordinate herself to the advice and opinions of a husband stronger and wiser than herself.
It is needless to say that, after divorce or separation, things will not always go smoothly, although more so than at present. The husband will always have the right to have certain claims decided by law. When the law is not exclusively in the hands of men, it will be more capable of protecting the rights of women. Cases in which a mother is incapable of bringing up her own children, or where the father is capable of great devotion and sacrifice are not now so rare, but they are nevertheless exceptional.
The Present Day.—It is not to be expected that the above propositions will find much support at the present day among the majority of people, still less that they will soon be realized by the governing bodies, considering their conservative and idle tendencies and their inertia. It may be asked, on the other hand, whether the present laws do not already provide us with the ways and means of attaining the ideal that we propose. I already see two:
First of all, as pointed out in Chapter XIII, we may enter into contracts which make the properties entirely separate, and according to the local legislation in force, fulfill other of the above propositions. For instance, in some countries, the wife can preserve by contract the property and management of the house, etc.
In the second place, illegitimate children now bear the family name of their mother; this is exactly what we desire. When concubinage is not prosecuted and punished by law, a free marriage could be arranged by private contract which would fulfill the above conditions. Some persons, I admit, would require much courage to do this, for it is not every one who can brave public opinion when he has a good reputation to lose. Moreover, such unions would not enjoy the protection of the State. By a little perseverance, however, the public might be induced to call the woman "Mrs." instead of "Miss."
It is not impossible for unions of this kind between honorable persons to become more frequent, and gradually compel society to recognize free unions as the equivalent of traditional, or so-called legal, marriage, to accord them the same rights and recognize the children born of them. The conjoints could be named by combining both family names; for example, if Miss Martin enters into a free union with Mr. Durand, she might be called Mrs. Martin-Durand, and her husband Mr. Durand-Martin.
Conclusion.—It may perhaps be thought that I am imagining the existence of the purest ideal and the happiness of paradise in a world in which the hereditary quality of men will be no better than it is to-day. I hope that no reader who has followed me carefully will regard me as so ingenuous. Then as now there will be intrigues and disputes, hatred, envy, jealousy, idleness, impropriety, falsehood, negligence, temper, etc., but their power will be less. There will be less excuse for these bad qualities and those who possess them will be regarded as pathological individuals who should be eliminated as much as possible by means of proper selection, combined with good hygiene and thorough education.
On the other hand, men of originality and high ideals will be able to develop much more freely and naturally than at present. They will no longer be the slaves of power, money, prejudice and routine. They will not be obliged to conform to religious hypocrisy, but will be able to speak and act according to their convictions. Marriage, and sexual relations in general, will no longer be a perpetual conventional falsehood. The sentiments no longer fettered, will not be led astray into mischievous ways by artificial excitement, so long as they do not depend on unhealthy dispositions, for the pretexts and especially the pecuniary inducement to commit evil actions and contract bad habits will have been removed as far as possible.
For the same reason prostitution will become almost impossible, for it will cease to have any reason for existence. Immoderate sexual intercourse, like other excesses, will not cease to exist, but will be kept in certain limits by the work which no one will be able to escape.
At the end of his history of materialism (1874) F.A. Lange wrote as follows:
"We lay down our pen and terminate our criticism at a time when Europe is agitated by the social question. In the vast social domain, all the revolutionary elements of science, religion and politics meet together and seem prepared for a decisive battle. Whether this battle remains a simple contest of minds or whether it takes the form of a cataclysm which will bury thousands of unfortunates in the ruins of a disappearing period, one thing is certain:—the new epoch will only succeed by abolishing egoism, and placing the work of improvement of the human race in the hands of a human coöperative society, in place of our feverish work which has only personal interest at heart.
"The contests which are impending will be mitigated if the minds which are to direct the people are imbued with the knowledge of human evolution and historical phenomena.
"We must not abandon the hope that in the remote future great changes may take place without defiling humanity with fire and bloodshed. It would certainly be the finest reward for strenuous work of the human mind, if it could from this time prepare an easy way to that which a certain future reserves for us, avoiding atrocious sacrifices and saving the treasures of our civilization to be transmitted to the new epoch.
"Unfortunately, this prospect has little chance of realization, and we cannot disguise the fact that blind party passion goes on increasing, and that the brutal struggle of interests becomes more and more removed from the influence of theoretical research. However, our efforts will not all be in vain, and truth will prevail in the end. In any case the observer who thinks has no right to be silent, simply because at the present moment he has only a small number of listeners."
Thirty years ago Lange's pessimism would be comprehensible; but ideas have progressed since then, and the prospects of to-day give us more courage for social work.
The Utopian ideas which I have expressed have in no way the pretension to be new. Analyzing the facts in the most diverse domains, I have simply attempted to find those which seem to me suited to solve the sexual problem of the human race most advantageously under the present social conditions. Every one to-day admits that our sexual life leaves much to be desired, but is afraid of touching the crumbling edifice.
I leave it to my readers to decide whether my ideas are nothing more than Utopian, or whether they do not rather represent a realizable ideal, begging them to reflect as calmly and independently as possible before giving their judgment.
After all, we have to choose between pessimistic acceptance of the fatal decay of our race for the benefit of the Mongols, and an immediate and energetic effort toward selective and educational improvement, an effort which will alone be capable of reviving our hereditary vital energy. Whoever decides in favor of the latter alternative should occupy himself with the sexual question, and boldly declare war against the domination of private capital, the abuse of alcohol, and all the prejudices by which we are hampered. He should abandon the luxury and effeminate comfort of our time and return to the principles of Lycurgus and the Japanese—to the education of character and self-control by methodical training in continuous social work combined with voluntary fatigue and privation.
BIBLIOGRAPHICAL REMARKS
I shall no doubt be reproached for not having taken sufficient notice of other works on the subject of this book. I have, however, desired to express my own opinion without allowing myself to be unduly influenced by others. I will nevertheless make a few remarks on the bibliography of this subject.
I may mention the celebrated work of the Italian physician, Mantigazza, on the Physiology of Love. It is a curious fact that this author, after his poetic descriptions of love, is in favor of prostitution. The German socialist, Bebel, has written a very remarkable book on woman in the past, the present and the future. In spite of scientific errors, which are easily excused in a self-made man who became one of the leaders of the German Reichstag, this book remains a veritable social monument on the sexual question. With the exception of his strong political bias, and the errors I have just mentioned I am, on the whole, in accord with the ideas of Bebel.
Another German author, Bölsche, (Das Liebesleben in der Natur) has recently described love among all organized beings, including man, with a tone of forced pleasantry which spoils the profound knowledge of the author on the zoölogical and other subjects which he treats.
With regard to German literature, I recommend the Archiv für Rassen und Gesellschafts' Biologie, edited by Doctor Plotz of Berlin. This publication has for its object the study of the causes of degeneration in our race and the remedies for it. Among other articles which have appeared in this publication I may specially mention those of Shallmayer on Heredity and Selection in the Life of Races, and Thurnwald, Town and Country in the Life of the Race. I may also mention Plotz: Die Tüchtigkeit unserer Rasse und der Schutz der Schwachen, 1895, and Mutterschutz, a journal for the reform of sexual ethics, 1905.
France has always shone in the domain of the poetry of love and the art connected with it. Apart from the ancient classics I may refer to George Sand, Alfred de Musset, Lamartine, and Madame de Stael. In the practical conception of free love, George Sand was in advance of her time. Among modern authors there are Paul Bourget; André Couvreur, who in La Graine deals with the problem of human selection; Brieux, who in Les Avariés, attacks the social tragedies of venereal disease. The book of Vacher de Lapouge on social selection is full of interesting ideas, although too much influenced by the unstable hypothesis of Gobineau. To make distinct zoölogical species of dolichocephalics and brachycephalics, as Vacher de Lapouge attempts, is a grave error in zoölogy. Charles Albert: L'Amour Libre, and Queyrat: La Démoralization de l'idée sexuelle, give the note of contemporary change in ideas on the sexual question.
In Le Mariage et les Théories Malthusiennes (Paris, 1906) Dr. Georges Guibert recommends early marriage, but does not take account of human selection. Remy de Gourmont, Physique de l'amour; Essai sur l'instinct sexuel, Paris, 1903, describes, very pessimistically, love in the animal kingdom. Jeanne Deflou (Le Sexualisme, Paris, 1905) has written a virulent feminine complaint against the injustice of the stronger sex.
But the French author who has given the most profound, the truest descriptions of the psychology of love and the sexual appetite is undoubtedly Guy de Maupassant. No doubt his last illness caused him to produce certain more or less regrettable works in which certain pornographic traits appeared. He may, perhaps, be accused of having too often described the pathology of love, which, by the way, he admirably understood. Perhaps also, he has too often dealt with exceptional situations and irresponsible passions. But these are only details, and we must admit that by drawing attention to the unhealthy features of our modern sexual life, he compels the reader to reflect, and inspires him not only with disgust for evil but with profound sadness and a feeling of revulsion. He often reveals his predilection for the refined, hypersensitive love of the boudoir which we have regarded here as a symptom of social degeneration. But this does not prevent his clear insight into the love of the proletariat, the peasant or the healthy man. He knows man as well as woman, and if he has presented them most often under their least moral aspect it is because he has observed them closely. But occasionally he rises to the greatest heights of the truest, purest and most profound love.