Full resolution (JPEG) - On this page / på denna sida - Part I - Professor J. Vilhelm Hultkrantz, Uppsala and Doctor Emanuel Bergman, Uppsala, The Struggle for Race-improvement in Sweden
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Swedes left their fosterland and settled in foreign countries, mostly in America.
At the present time 2 to 3 millions of Swedes are living in foreign lands (the
Swedes in Finland included). As it is the young and strong who preferably
emigrate, the statistics in respect to the people, divided into classes according to
age, are less favourable. Added to this there are the rigorous laws on immigration,
which have been in force during these latter years in U. S. A., whither the
strongest stream of emigrants has wandered, and which have brought about a
selection, so that the worst elements have been obliged to stay at home, while
the better elements have been allowed to enter America without any hinder.
As through this our country has lost no small number of fully satisfactory, from
a race*biological point of view, individuals and their offspring, one can concerning
this matter talk about a for us contra*selection respecting emigration. In hopes
of mending the matter, the state has started an exhaustive investigation respect*
ing emigration. And further the National Society against Emigration has been
working in the matter since 1907. It devotes itself partly to bringing enlight*
enment to the people, and partly to practical work especially in procuring small
holdings and own homes for the people. If the more efficient individuals are
offered better chances of making a home and settling down in Sweden, and of
becoming parents, the result will be a good addition to the next generation. The
struggle to prevent a too great amount of emigration, acts therefore in a for Sweden
positive eugenic direction.
Industrialism also, and the flight from the country to the towns, works in an
anti*selective manner. The unfavourable effects of the former, one has sought to
avoid or to reduce as far as possible, through legislation on the matter. Our le*
gislation to protect the workers, which has a long pedigree, stands at present tol*
erably high. Regarding the employment of children in industry, there are to be
found detailed instructions which are intended to prevent the children from being
given too heavy work, such as might do harm to their development, too early
in life. In the same way there are to be found certain exceptional regulations
in respect to women industrial workers, as for example, that they are to be
allowed a free time both before and after the birth of a child, during which time
they can obtain pecuniary assistance also (Maternity help). Since 1919 the time
for work has been restricted by law to 8 hours per day or 48 hours per week.
In regard to the migration from the country to the towns over a quarter of
Sweden’s population live in the towns at the present time, while in 1800 only
a tenth did so. If one reckons all the thickly settled tracts, having at least 2,000
inhabitants as belonging to the towns, the number of town*dwellers reaches at
present to about a third of the population. Above all the circumstance that peo*
pie dwell so closely packed together, the greater extent of inebriety and sexual
diseases, and, as a rule, the more unhygienic work in the towns actsun favourab*
ly on their inhabitants. A danger that is underrated is the strong mixture of
biood which usually occurs in industrial centres which flourish rapidly. It is of
importance that sound state*craft should be brought to bear on the subject of
dwelling houses in the towns. During the latter years a considerable improvement
has certainly taken place till the war came with its unfavourable consequences, which
were felt even in regard to the housing question. Some of the larger industrial inter*
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