the problem with galton's idea is how to decide which features to select. there are so many different skills people could have, you could not agree who was "good stock" and who was "bad stock". there was rather more agreement on who should "not" be breeding. several countries passed laws for the compulsory sterilisation of unwelcome groups. most of these laws were passed between 1900 and 1940. after world war ii, disgust at what the nazis had done squashed any more attempts at eugenics.