supported them and who would have continued to support them; but in the case of a large number the payment is simply made by one authority instead of another, and such must certainly be classed as paupers. The pauper disqualification ceased to operate on December 31, 1910. Of the persons who received pensions on January 6, 1911, no less than 121,337 in England and Wales had been in receipt of Poor-Law relief immediately prior to that date. None of these pensions are contributory; and it is a mere verbal quibble to say that, because they are now paid by the Treasury instead of the Poor-Law guardians, their recipients have ceased to be paupers.

Further, it is to be remembered that many other forms of relief are now supplied which are not called Poor Relief, but are nevertheless paid for out of the local rates. These include municipal fever-hospitals, unemployment relief, meals and medical and surgical treatment for school-children, County Council asylums and the like. The following figures show the number of persons admitted to night shelters (County Council) on certain dates in London alone during five years.

Over and above the group just mentioned there is a very large class which is assisted unofficially by private philanthropy and various charitable agencies. This number it is impossible to calculate, but when we consider the enormous growth of Hospitals, Homes, Refuges, Charitable Societies and Committees, when we bear in mind the continuous expansion of such relief agencies as those of the Church and Salvation Armies, it is impossible to come to any other conclusion than that there has been a very real increase in the proportion of those persons who are unable or unwilling to subsist by their own efforts. In an admittedly incomplete table (which does not include 'spiritual' charities), given in the Annual Charities Digest, it is shown that the amount contributed

for the maintenance of various charitable homes must be well over 5,000,000l. annually. For the three years ending March 31, 1907-8-9, the amounts of the grants made out of the sums voted by Parliament for the relief of distress due to unemployment were, respectively, 105,420., 124,1957. and 232,7381. And yet, with all these other forms of help, official Poor-Law expenditure has increased in forty years from 8,000,000l. to over 14,000,000l. As the Poor-Law Commissioners say,

'The country is maintaining a multitude of paupers not far short of the numbers maintained in 1871-2, and is spending double the amount upon each individual . . . the cost absorbs an annual amount which is now equivalent to nearly one-half of the present expenditure upon the army.'

The same unsatisfactory condition of affairs is found when we consider Crime. The best comparative data regarding this are the volumes of criminal statistics published annually by the Home Office. These show that, while from 1857 to 1899 there was a steady decrease in the number of persons tried for indictable offences, since the beginning of this century there has been a marked increase. The actual figures are as follows:

*

To quote the words of the last volume,

'These figures clearly show that in spite of the considerable reduction as compared with the two preceding years, the amount of crime in 1910 remained much above the average of recent years, both absolutely and in proportion to population.'

It is not devoid of interest to note that the police estimated there were nearly 4000 habitual criminals at large; and that the total number of criminal lunatics under detention at the end of the year was 1089, of whom 472 were accused of or had committed murder.

* Taken, prior to 1906, from 'Criminal Statistics,' 1910 [Cd 5096, p. 9].

Now, in spite of the facts I have adduced, I do not doubt that England produces to-day many citizens who are as capable and industrious, as sound and healthy, as thrifty and enterprising, in short, as biologically fit, as ever her citizens were. Were it not so, she would long ere this have ceased to hold her place amongst the nations; and the fact is further shown by the increase in the membership of Friendly Societies and of Savings Bank depositors. Moreover, the presence of degenerate individuals in a State need not in itself be a cause for alarm. With every advance in civilisation there must be some individuals who are unequal to the strain, some rotten branches which are continually dropping off the tree of life; and every civilised country has its insane, its diseased, its paupers and its criminals. But it is obvious that if a nation is to progress, even if it is to hold its own, the number of these must be kept within such bounds as will not interfere with the development of the fit; and it is impossible to avoid the conclusion that at present England contains an increasing number of people who are failing to adapt themselves to the exigencies of the times, who are not keeping pace with the increasing demands which civilisation entails, and who are deficient in the capacity to carry on the progress of the nation and of the race. It seems probable, in view of the history of nations in the past, that much of the present social and industrial unrest and of the movement towards Communism is also an expression of the same increasing physical and mental incapacity and of a waning of grit and independence. But, further, the number of the socially incompetent and dependent class has now multiplied to such an extent that it is imposing a serious burden upon the shoulders of the fit, and is handicapping their progress and development to no small extent. That this is the case is fully shown by the figures I have already quoted, and is exemplified by the enormous increase in expenditure on paupers and pauper lunatics which has taken place during the past few years, as revealed by the following figures (see next page) from the Charities Digest' for 1909.

It is obviously a matter of vital importance to determine to what this increasing deterioration is due. The influences which contribute to the make-up of every

925,810

1900 2,548,295 2,697,684 1,820,117 2,095, 436 973,118 507,189 1907 3,167,734 3,358,102 2,364,945 2,512,771 1,001,888 1,227,939 890,883

individual are many and varied, but they may all be grouped under two headings, namely, heredity and environment. It is a matter of common knowledge that every individual is developed from the union of two germ cells, one derived from the male, the other from the female; but the enormous influence which these cells exert upon the course of that development has only recently been understood, and is by no means commonly perceived. Forming as they do the connecting link with the past, they contain within them forces which determine the anatomical development of the offspring, not merely in the likeness of the order, species and race to which he belongs, but also in the particular likeness of his family or immediate antecedents. This organic relationship is known as heredity; and by a person's inheritance is meant the sum total of the qualities which are in this way received. But it is not merely a question of reception. The germ plasm, as has been shown by Weismann, is continuous; and, although subject to variations, it is an undoubted fact that qualities or tendencies which are present in it are extraordinarily persistent and transmissible to subsequent generations.

It would be out of place to discuss here the various theories and laws concerning the precise mode of this transmission; indeed, these are matters which are still sub judice; but the fact that such transmission does occur, and to such an extent as to exert an enormous influence upon the anatomical structure and vitality of every organ and tissue of the body, has been amply demonstrated by the researches of Galton, Mendel, Weismann and others. For instance, anomalies like polydactylism, albinism, colour-blindness, and many others have been traced through many generations. diseases as hæmophilia and certain forms of paralysis are well known to be hereditary. Longevity runs in families; so does premature senility, as well as many tendencies

Such

to disease; and, as I shall presently show, the same is the case with certain varieties of mental and social incapacity. The attention which is now paid by practically all Life Assurance offices to the heredity of persons making proposals is an indication of the importance which this factor has assumed.

The term 'environment' embraces all the physical and moral influences which surround the growing offspring. In man it is divisible into two periods, an intra- and an extra-uterine; and there is no question that during each of these periods the nature of the environment may operate to modify the course of development. Severe ill-health or disease of the mother during gestation may so interfere with the child's development as seriously to handicap its future career. Adverse surroundings in the early years of life, such as insufficient or improper food, impure air, want of sun, and anti-hygienic conditions generally, have a similar effect. Further, considering the extremely plastic state of the brain during the early years of life, the moral training and general up-bringing of the child will also exert a considerable influence upon his character and mental development, and so upon the course of his life. I think we may even go further. In my opinion certain forms of disease, produced by the environment, may actually impair the vitality of the germ plasm to such an extent as to give rise to pathological variations which are transmissible. But here the influence of the environment ends. Everything points to the conclusion that, although it can destroy or materially check the development of faculties, it cannot create them; it can merely give or withhold opportunities for the evolving of such tendencies as are inherent in the germ cells. The essential characteristic of germinal peculiarities is their transmissibility, while the essential feature of modifications produced by environment is their non-transmissibility. In other words, in the great majority of cases the adverse and inhibitory effect of the environment would appear to be limited to the individual. With the exception of those instances to which I have referred where germinal impairment results, an adverse environment exerts a transitory influence only; as soon as it is removed, the development of the germ cell proceeds in a normal manner.