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“National Notes” [book review, 20 September 1936]

15 May 2021 · Leave a Comment

[Editor: This review of National Notes (by William Baylebridge) is from the “Book reviews” column, published in Truth (Sydney, NSW), 20 September 1936.]

“National Notes”

(By William Baylebridge.)

Excellent type and paper distinguish “National Notes,” Mr. Baylebridge’s thoughtful contribution to philosophy. The author is an apostle of Eugenics, not merely for physical perfection, but for beings mentally and spiritually endowed. Not until these are successfully bred will, he contends, life be worth living.

“The secret of life is joy,” but joy is the gift of few at present by reason of wrong living. Evolution is to be assumed, but “man can interfere with his instinctive evolution.” (Who, one may be entitled to ask, is to decide on the right type?)

Mr. Baylebridge would not permit the existence of the degenerate and the worthless, would prevent the propagation of the unfit, and would refuse grants for social services “which merely increase the evils they set out to surmount”; thus “Charity should be renounced or re-valued.”

“National Notes” abounds with wise saws in regard to marriage, population, woman’s duty, and the State, but while criticism is valuable, one looks for more constructive suggestions than the treatise provides. The public may be, as averred “An unhappy mass of restless, irrational and perplexed units,” but as Mr. H. G. Wells puts it, “Scolding, badgering, lashing won’t help much.”

If the book were in essay form it would be easier reading. A collection of aphorisms tends to irritate. — A.A.H.

Publishers: Tallabilla Press, Sydney.
Our copy from the publishers.




Source:
Truth (Sydney, NSW), 20 September 1936, p. 24

Editor’s notes:
aver = to assert, declare, or state something to be a fact; to declare positively that something is definitely true; (in a court of law) to allege or assert something as a fact (past tense: averred)

H. G. Wells = Herbert George Wells (1866-1946), an English author; especially well-known for his novels The Time Machine (1895), The Island of Doctor Moreau (1896), The Invisible Man (1897), and The War of the Worlds (1898)

saw = a maxim, proverb, or wise saying

[Editor: Inserted a double quotation mark after “to surmount”.]

Filed Under: articles Tagged With: A. A. H. (author), book review, SourceTrove, William Baylebridge (1883-1942) (subject), year1936

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