Population and Birth-Control/Introduction

HEN people are engaged in the noble pursuit of exterminating their fellow men; when a nation&rsquo;s ingenuity is concentrated upon inventions which would destroy the largest number of human beings in the shortest possible time; when the patriotic delirium has reached such a pitch that any criticism of war as a proper means of settling disputes, or any sceptical attitude toward militarism as a useful institution, is treated as a treasonable offence, while the pacifist is regarded as an intolerable nuisance who should be given short shrift; worst of all, when the national hysteria fed and fostered by the deliberate, systematically planned falsehoods of an unscrupulous but all-powerful press has become so well-nigh universal that libertarians who have devoted their lives to the cause of freedom and humanity suddenly undergo a complete metamorphosis, make common cause with tyrants and reactionaries, sneer at universal brotherhood, and look not only with indifference but with approval at the ruthless and brutal suppression of free speech, free press and free assembly, being willing for the sake of a mythical possible democracy to swallow an active ruthless autocracy; when these things have come to pass in the life of a nation, then has the social worker who has preserved his balance and holds on to the eternal verities a scanty chance to be heard. When corybantine chauvinism is rampant peaceful humanism is thrown in the discard.

In fact, in times such as these, the social worker, the advocate of reforms, is looked upon with impatience, with annoyance; he is considered more than merely a nuisance; he is looked upon as a menace, as an abomination that should be done away with.

Nevertheless, all the scant courtesy, all the contumely notwithstanding, the man who believes that he is right, who feels that he has a mission to perform must continue to do his work, must persist in his duty as he sees it; he must deliver his message, even if, under certain circumstances, the message would seem to him a voice in the wilderness.

These remarks apply with particular force to the subject of birth-control. When a nation has lost or is about to lose a million of its sons, physically the best specimens of manhood, then it listens with but ill-concealed or open and angry impatience to the suggestion of limiting the number of offspring, of controlling the production of future war material. But we, who feel that reckless breeding with its resulting overpopulation and economic and moral misery is one of the causes of war, must not halt in our propaganda; on the contrary, we must, if possible, intensify it. Even a voice in the wilderness is sometimes heard, and unwilling listeners do, now and then, become converted.

And it is for this reason that it gives me pleasure and pride to introduce this excellent symposium to the intelligent English reading public. It cannot fail to do some good, perhaps much good, in the important cause of the rational limitation of offspring. And this cause needs continuous tireless championing. For its enemies are becoming numerous, active and malicious. As long as the cause of birth-control was weak and worked quietly it was not paid much attention to by its opponents. But now as it is becoming stronger, bolder, articulate and is gaining adherents rapidly, the enemies of the rational control of offspring are beginning to use their legal power, their money and their venom to crush the movement, and to imprison or at least to besmirch and belittle its advocates. Unscrupulous hack writers and hireling lecturers, both lay and medical, are now in a position to eke out a living by denouncing and misinterpreting the birth control movement and its advocates, in the pages of magazines and on the platform. But the more active the enemies of birth-control become, the more active must we be, and we must not give up until our cause has been won.

As in all intellectual and moral battles, the growth and success of the liberal element strengthen the opposition and increase the activity of the reactionaries; this in its turn calls forth greater activity and more unyielding determination on the part of the liberals, and so the fight goes on, until all the liberals and reactionaries are ranged in two camps, a battle royal is delivered, with the victory always on the side of the liberals&mdash;for eventually truth and common sense do win the day. In this country the day of the decisive battle was quite near; but for our entry into the war we might be witnessing now. However the setback is only a temporary one; the final struggle between the upholders of rational birth-control and the advocates of reckless breeding cannot be long delayed; and in order to make sure of victory, we must have a plentiful and varied supply of ammunition; books are our only ammunition, and we must have as many and as varied books as possible. And this Symposium,, will, I feel certain, prove a valuable weapon in the armamentarium of the birth-control advocate.


 * 12 Mount Morris Park, W., New York.
 * September 17, 1917.