The Propagation of the Unfit The appointment of a Departmental
CoMmittee on the sterilization of the unfit is to be welcomed. In itself it involves nothing in the way of definite action. That will be a matter for deliberate and considered decision later, on the basis of the facts the committee may bring to light. It will have ample material to work on. for sterilization has already been practised in enough countries, and on a sufficient scale, to enable its good and evil effects to be accurately gauged. The practice obviously involves grave interference with the freedom of the individual, but there are points at which the good of the individual must be subordinated to the good of society, and the individuals concerned in this case are of a type whose freedom must by common consent suffer some restriction. The real difficulty is to decide who may be regarded for this purpose as unfit. The mere fact of the appointment of a committee must not, of course, be taken to mean that the case for sterilization is established.
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