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diff --git a/.gitattributes b/.gitattributes new file mode 100644 index 0000000..6833f05 --- /dev/null +++ b/.gitattributes @@ -0,0 +1,3 @@ +* text=auto +*.txt text +*.md text diff --git a/6568.txt b/6568.txt new file mode 100644 index 0000000..337b0bc --- /dev/null +++ b/6568.txt @@ -0,0 +1,9306 @@ +The Project Gutenberg EBook of Sociology and Modern Social Problems +by Charles A. Ellwood + +Copyright laws are changing all over the world. Be sure to check the +copyright laws for your country before downloading or redistributing +this or any other Project Gutenberg eBook. + +This header should be the first thing seen when viewing this Project +Gutenberg file. Please do not remove it. Do not change or edit the +header without written permission. + +Please read the "legal small print," and other information about the +eBook and Project Gutenberg at the bottom of this file. Included is +important information about your specific rights and restrictions in +how the file may be used. You can also find out about how to make a +donation to Project Gutenberg, and how to get involved. + + +**Welcome To The World of Free Plain Vanilla Electronic Texts** + +**eBooks Readable By Both Humans and By Computers, Since 1971** + +*****These eBooks Were Prepared By Thousands of Volunteers!***** + + +Title: Sociology and Modern Social Problems + +Author: Charles A. Ellwood + +Release Date: September, 2004 [EBook #6568] +[Yes, we are more than one year ahead of schedule] +[This file was first posted on December 28, 2002] + +Edition: 10 + +Language: English + +Character set encoding: ISO-8859-1 + +*** START OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK SOCIOLOGY *** + + + + +Produced by Julie Barkley, Charles Franks +and the Online Distributed Proofreading Team. + + + + + +SOCIOLOGY AND MODERN SOCIAL PROBLEMS + +BY + +CHARLES A. ELLWOOD, PH. D. + +Professor of Sociology, University of Missouri + + + + + + +PREFACE + +This book is intended as an elementary text in sociology as applied to +modern social problems, for use in institutions where but a short time +can be given to the subject, in courses in sociology where it is desired +to combine it with a study of current social problems on the one hand, +and to correlate it with a course in economics on the other. The book is +also especially suited for use in University Extension Courses and in +Teachers' Reading Circles. + +This book aims to teach the simpler principles of sociology concretely +and inductively. In Chapters I to VIII the elementary principles of +sociology are stated and illustrated, chiefly through the study of the +origin, development, structure, and functions of the family considered +as a typical human institution; while in Chapters IX to XV certain +special problems are considered in the light of these general +principles. + +Inasmuch as the book aims to illustrate the working of certain factors +in social organization and evolution by the study of concrete problems, +interpretation has been emphasized rather than the social facts +themselves. However, the book is not intended to be a contribution to +sociological theory, and no attempt is made to give a systematic +presentation of theory. Rather, the student's attention is called to +certain obvious and elementary forces in the social life, and he is left +to work out his own system of social theory. + +To guide the student in further reading, a brief list of select +references in English has been appended to each chapter. Methodological +discussions and much statistical and historical material have been +omitted in order to make the text as simple as possible. These can be +found in the references, or the teacher can supply them at his +discretion. + +The many authorities to whom I am indebted for both facts and +interpretations of facts cannot be mentioned individually, except that I +wish to express my special indebtedness to my former teachers, Professor +Willcox of Cornell and Professors Small and Henderson of the University +of Chicago, to whom I am under obligation either directly or indirectly +for much of the substance of this book. The list of references will also +indicate in the main the sources of whatever is not my own. + +CHARLES A. ELLWOOD. + +UNIVERSITY OF MISSOURI. + + + + + + +CONTENTS + +CHAPTER I: THE STUDY OF SOCIETY + +CHAPTER II: THE BEARING OF THE THEORY OF EVOLUTION UPON SOCIAL PROBLEMS + +CHAPTER III: THE FUNCTION OF THE FAMILY IN SOCIAL ORGANIZATION + +CHAPTER IV: THE ORIGIN OF THE FAMILY + +CHAPTER V: THE FORMS OF THE FAMILY + +CHAPTER VI: THE HISTORICAL DEVELOPMENT OF THE FAMILY + +CHAPTER VII: THE PROBLEM OF THE MODERN FAMILY + +CHAPTER VIII: THE GROWTH OF POPULATION + +CHAPTER IX: THE IMMIGRATION PROBLEM + +CHAPTER X: THE NEGRO PROBLEM + +CHAPTER XI: THE PROBLEM OF THE CITY + +CHAPTER XII: POVERTY AND PAUPERISM + +CHAPTER XIII: CRIME + +CHAPTER XIV: SOCIALISM IN THE LIGHT OF SOCIOLOGY + +CHAPTER XV: EDUCATION AND SOCIAL PROGRESS + +INDEX + + + + + + +SOCIOLOGY AND MODERN SOCIAL PROBLEMS + + + +CHAPTER I + + +THE STUDY OF SOCIETY + +What is Society?--Perhaps the great question which sociology seeks to +answer is this question which we have put at the beginning. Just as +biology seeks to answer the question "What is life?"; zoölogy, "What is +an animal?"; botany, "What is a plant?"; so sociology seeks to answer +the question "What is society?" or perhaps better, "What is +association?" Just as biology, zoölogy, and botany cannot answer their +questions until those sciences have reached their full and complete +development, so also sociology cannot answer the question "What is +society?" until it reaches its final development. Nevertheless, some +conception or definition of society is necessary for the beginner, for +in the scientific discussion of social problems we must know first of +all what we are talking about. We must understand in a general way what +society is, what sociology is, what the relations are between sociology +and other sciences, before we can study the social problems of to-day +from a sociological point of view. + +The word "society" is used scientifically to designate the reciprocal +relations between individuals. More exactly, and using the term in a +concrete sense, a society is any group of individuals who have more or +less conscious relations to each other. We say conscious relations +because it is not necessary that these relations be specialized into +industrial, political, or ecclesiastical relations. Society is +constituted by the mental interaction of individuals and exists wherever +two or three individuals have reciprocal conscious relations to each +other. Dependence upon a common economic environment, or the mere +contiguity in space is not sufficient to constitute a society. It is the +interdependence in function on the mental side, the contact and +overlapping of our inner selves, which makes possible that form of +collective life which we call society. Plants and lowly types of +organisms do not constitute true societies, unless it can be shown that +they have some degree of mentality. On the other hand, there is no +reason for withholding the term "society" from many animal groups. These +animal societies, however, are very different in many respects from +human society, and are of interest to us only as certain of their forms +throw light upon human society. + +We may dismiss with a word certain faulty conceptions of society. In +some of the older sociological writings the word society is often used +as nearly synonymous with the word nation. Now, a nation is a body of +people politically organized into an independent government, and it is +manifest that it is only one of many forms of human society. Another +conception of society, which some have advocated, is that it is +synonymous with the cultural group. That is, a society is any group of +people that have a common civilization, or that are bearers of a certain +type of culture. In this case Christendom, for example, would constitute +a single society. Cultural groups no doubt are, again, one of the forms +of human society, but only one among many. Both the cultural group and +the nation are very imposing forms of society and hence have attracted +the attention of social thinkers very often in the past to the neglect +of the more humble forms. But it is evident that all forms of +association are of equal interest to the sociologist, though, of course, +this is not saying that all forms are of equal practical importance. + +Any form of association, or social group, which may be studied, if +studied from the point of view of origin and development, whether it be +a family, a neighborhood group, a city, a state, a trade union, or a +party, will serve to reveal many of the problems of sociology. The +natural or genetic social groups, however, such as the family, the +community, and the nation, serve best to exhibit sociological problems. +In this text we shall make particular use of the family, as the simplest +and, in many ways, the most typical of all the forms of human +association, to illustrate concretely the laws and principles of social +development. Through the study of the simple and primary forms of +association the problems of sociology can be much better attacked than +through the study of society at large, or association in general. + +From what has been said it may be inferred that _society_ as a +scientific term means scarcely more than the abstract term +_association_, and this is correct. Association, indeed, may be +regarded as the more scientific term of the two; at any rate it +indicates more exactly what the sociologist deals with. A word may be +said also as to the meaning of the word _social_. The sense in +which this word will generally be used in this text is that of a +collective adjective, referring to all that pertains to or relates to +society in any way. The word social, then, is much broader than the +words industrial, political, moral, religious, and embraces them all; +that is, social phenomena are all phenomena which involve the +interaction of two or more individuals. The word social, then, includes +the economic, political, moral, religious, etc., and must not be thought +of as something set in opposition to, for instance, the industrial or +the political. + +Society and its Products.--Beneath all the forms and processes of human +society lies the fact of association itself. Industry, government, and +civilization itself must be regarded as expressions of collective human +life rather than _vice versa_. Industry, for example, is one side +or aspect of man's social life, and must not be mistaken for society +itself. Industry, government, religion, education, art, and the like, +are all products of the social life of man. Among these coördinate +expressions of collective human life, industry, being concerned with the +satisfying of the material needs of men, is perhaps fundamental to the +rest. But this must not lead to the mistaken view that the social life +of man can be interpreted completely through his industrial life; for, +as has just been said, beneath industry and all other aspects of man's +collective life lies the biological and psychological fact of +association. This is equivalent to saying that industry itself must be +interpreted in terms of the biology and psychology of human association. +In other words, industrial problems, political problems, educational +problems, and the like must be viewed from the collective or social +standpoint rather than simply as detached problems by themselves. We +must understand the biological and psychological aspects of man's social +life before we can understand its special phases. + +The Origin of Society.--From the definition of society that we have +given it is evident that society is something which springs from the +very processes of life itself. It is not something which has been +invented or planned by individuals. Life, in its higher forms at least, +could not exist without association. From the very beginning the +association of the sexes has been necessary for reproduction and for the +care and rearing of offspring, and it has been not less necessary for +the procuring of an adequate food supply and for protection against +enemies. From the association necessary for reproduction has sprung +family life and all the altruistic institutions of human society, while +from the association for providing food supply have sprung society's +industrial institutions. Neither society nor industry, therefore, has +had a premeditated, reflective origin, but both have sprung up +spontaneously from the needs of life and both have developed down to the +present time at least with but little premeditated guidance. It is +necessary that the student should understand at the outset that social +organization is not a fabrication of the human intellect to any great +degree, and the old idea that individuals who existed independently of +society came together and deliberately planned a certain type of social +organization is utterly without scientific validity. The individual and +society are correlatives. We have no knowledge of individuals apart from +society or society apart from individuals. What we do know is that human +life everywhere is a collective or associated life, the individual being +on the one hand largely an expression of the social life surrounding him +and on the other hand society being largely an expression of individual +character. The reasons for these assertions will appear later as we +develop our subject. + +What is Sociology?--The science which deals with human association, its +origin, development, forms, and functions, is sociology. Briefly, +sociology is a science which deals with society as a whole and not with +its separate aspects or phases. It attempts to formulate the laws or +principles which govern social organization and social evolution. This +means that the main problems of sociology are those of the organization +of society on the one hand and the evolution of society on the other. +These words, _organization_ and _evolution_, however, are used +in a broader sense in sociology than they are generally used. By +organization we mean any relation of the parts of society to each other. +By evolution we mean, not necessarily change for the better, but orderly +change of any sort. Sociology is, therefore, a science which deals with +the laws or principles of social organization and of social change. Put +in more exact terms this makes sociology, as we said at the beginning, +the science of the origin, development, structure, and function of the +forms of association. We may pass over very rapidly certain faulty +conceptions of sociology. The first of these is that it is the study of +social evils and their remedies. This conception is faulty because it +makes sociology deal primarily with the abnormal rather than the normal +conditions in society, and secondly, it is to be criticized because it +makes sociology synonymous with scientific philanthropy. It is rather +the science of philanthropy, which is an applied science resting upon +sociology, that studies social evils and their remedies. This is not +saying, of course, that sociology does not consider social evils, but +that it considers them as incidents in the normal processes of social +evolution rather than as its special matter. A second conception of +sociology which is to be dismissed as inadequate is the conception that +it is the science of social phenomena. This conception is not incorrect, +but is somewhat vague, as there are manifestly other sciences of social +phenomena, such as economics and political science. Such a conception of +sociology would make it include everything in human society. A third +faulty conception is that it is the science of human institutions. This +is faulty because it again is too narrow. An institution is a +_sanctioned_ form of human association, while sociology deals with +the ephemeral and unsanctioned forms, such as we see in the phenomena of +mobs, crazes, fads, fashions, and crimes, as well as with the sanctioned +forms. A fourth conception which might be criticized is that sociology +is the science of social organization. This makes sociology deal with +the laws or principles of the relations of individuals to one another, +and of institutions to one another. It is to be criticized as faulty +because it fails to emphasize the evolution of those relations. All +science is now evolutionary in spirit and in method and believes that +things cannot be understood except as they are understood in their +genesis and development. It would, therefore, perhaps be more correct to +define sociology as the science of the evolution of human interrelations +than to define it simply as the science of social organization. + +The Problems of Sociology.--The problems of sociology fall into two +great classes; first, problems of the organization of society, and +second, problems of the evolution of society. The problems of the +organization of society are problems of the relations of individuals to +one another and to institutions. Such problems are, for example, the +influence of various elements in the physical environment upon the +social organization; or, again, the influence of various elements in +human nature upon the social order. These problems are, then, problems +of society in a hypothetically stationary condition or at rest. For this +reason Comte, the founder of modern sociology, called the division of +sociology which deals with such problems _Social Statics_. But the +problems which are of most interest and importance in sociology are +those of social evolution. Under this head we have the problem of the +origin of society in general and also of various forms of association. +More important still are the problems of social progress and social +retrogression; that is, the causes of the advancement of society to +higher and more complex types of social organization and the causes of +social decline. The former problem, social progress, is in a peculiar +sense the central problem of sociology. The effort of theoretical +sociology is to develop a scientific theory of social progress. The +study of social evolution, then, that is, social changes of all sorts, +as we have emphasized above, is the vital part of sociology; and it is +manifest that only a general science of society like sociology is +competent to deal with such a problem. Inasmuch as the problems of +social evolution are problems of change, development, or movement in +society, Comte proposed that this division of sociology be called +_Social Dynamics_. + +The Relations of Sociology to Other Sciences. [Footnote: For a fuller +discussion of the relations of sociology to other sciences and to +philosophy see my article on "Sociology: Its Problems and Its Relations" +in the _American Journal of Sociology_ for November, 1907.]--(A) +_Relations to Biology and Psychology._ In attempting to give a +scientific view of social organization and social evolution, sociology +has to depend upon the other natural sciences, particularly upon biology +and psychology. It is manifest that sociology must depend upon biology, +since biology is the general science of life, and human society is but +part of the world of life in general. It is manifest also that sociology +must depend upon psychology to explain the interactions between +individuals because these interactions are for the most part +interactions between their minds. Thus on the one hand all social +phenomena are vital phenomena and on the other hand nearly all social +phenomena are mental phenomena. Every social problem has, in other +words, its psychological and its biological sides, and sociology is +distinguished from biology and psychology only as a matter of +convenience. The scientific division of labor necessitates that certain +scientific workers concern themselves with certain problems. Now, the +problems with which the biologist and the psychologist deal are not the +problems of the organization and evolution of society. Hence, while the +sociologist borrows his principles of interpretation from biology and +psychology, he has his own distinctive problems, and it is this fact +which makes sociology a distinct science. + +Sociology is not so easily distinguished from the special social +sciences like politics, economics, and others, as it is from the other +general sciences. These sciences occupy the same field as sociology, +that is, they have to do with social phenomena. But in general, as has +already been pointed out, they are concerned chiefly with certain very +special aspects or phases of the social life and not with its most +general problems. If sociology, then, is dependent upon the other +general sciences, particularly upon biology and psychology, it is +obvious that its relation to the special sciences is the reverse, +namely, these sciences are dependent upon sociology. This is only saying +practically the same thing as was said above when we pointed out that +industry, government, and religion are but expressions of human social +life. In other words, sociology deals with the more general biological +and psychological aspects of human association, while the special +sciences of economics, politics, and the like, generally deal with +certain products or highly specialized phases of society. + +(B) _Relations to History._ [Footnote: For a discussion of the +practical relations between the teaching of history and of sociology, +see my paper on "How History can be taught from a Sociological Point of +View," in Education for January, 1910.] A word may be said about the +relation of sociology to another science which also deals with human +society in a general way, and that is history. History is a concrete, +descriptive science of society which attempts to construct a picture of +the social past. Sociology, however, is an abstract, theoretical science +of society concerned with the laws and principles which govern social +organization and social change. In a sense, sociology is narrower than +history inasmuch as it is an abstract science, and in another sense it +is wider than history because it concerns itself not only with the +social past but also with the social present. The facts of contemporary +social life are indeed even more important to the sociologist than the +facts of history, although it is impossible to construct a theory of +social evolution without taking into full account all the facts +available in human history, and in this sense history becomes one of the +very important methods of sociology. Upon its evolutionary or dynamic +side sociology may be considered a sort of philosophy of history; at +least it attempts to give a scientific theory which will explain the +social changes which history describes concretely. + +(C) Relations to Economics. Economics is that special social science +which deals with the wealth-getting and wealth-using activities of man. +In other words, it is concerned with the commercial and industrial +activities of man. As has already been implied, economics must be +considered one of the most important of the special social sciences, if +not the most important. Yet it is evident that the wealth-getting and +wealth-using activities of man are strictly an outgrowth of his social +life, and that economics as a science of human industry must rest upon +sociology. Sometimes in the past the mistake has been made of supposing +that economics dealt with the most fundamental social phenomena, and +even at times economists have spoken of their science as alone +sufficient to explain all social phenomena. It cannot be admitted, +however, that we can explain social organization in general or social +progress in terms of economic development. A theory of progress, for +example, in which the sole causes of human progress were found in +economic conditions would neglect political, religious, educational, and +many other conditions. Only a very one-sided theory of society can be +built upon such a basis. Economics should keep to its own sphere of +explaining the commercial and industrial activities of man and not +attempt to become a general science dealing with social evolution. This +is now recognized by practically all economists of standing, and the +only question which remains is whether economics is independent of +sociology or whether it rests upon sociology. + +The view which has been presented thus far and which will be adhered to +is that economics should rest upon sociology. That economics does rest +upon sociology is shown by many considerations. The chief problem of +theoretical economics is the problem of economic value. But economic +value is but one sort of value which is recognized in society, moral and +aesthetic values being other examples of the valuing process, and all +values must express the collective judgment of some human group or +other. The problem of economic value, in other words, reduces itself to +a problem in social psychology, and when this is said it is equivalent +to making economics dependent upon sociology, for social psychology is +simply the psychological aspect of sociology. Again, industrial +organization and industrial evolution are but parts or phases of social +evolution in general, and it is safe to say that industry, both in its +organization and evolution, cannot be understood apart from the general +conditions, psychological and biological, which surround society. Again, +many non-economic forces continually obtrude themselves upon the student +of industrial conditions, such as custom, invention, imitation, +standards, ideals, and the like. These are general social forces which +play throughout all phases of human social life and so show the +dependence of industry upon society in general, and, therefore, of +economics upon sociology. Much more might be said in the way of +concretely illustrating these statements, but the purpose of this text +precludes anything but the briefest and most elementary statement of +these theoretical facts. + +(D) _Relations to Politics._ We have already said that the state is +one of the chief forms of human association. The science which treats of +the state or of government is known as political science or politics. It +is one of the oldest of the social sciences, having been more or less +systematized by Aristotle. The problems of politics are those of the +origin, nature, function, and development of government. It is manifest +that politics, both on its practical and theoretical sides, has many +close relations to sociology. While the state or nation must not be +confused with society in general, yet because the state is the most +imposing, if not the most important, form of human association, the +relations of politics and sociology must be very intimate. On the one +hand, political scientists can scarcely understand the origin, nature, +and proper functions of government without understanding more or less +about the social life generally; and, on the other hand, the sociologist +finds that one of the most important facts of human society is that of +social control, or of authority. While political science deals only with +the organized authority manifested in the state, which we call +government, yet inasmuch as this is the most important form of social +control, and inasmuch as political organization is one of the chief +manifestations of social organization, the sociologist can scarcely deal +adequately with the great problems of social organization and evolution +without constant reference to political science. + +An important branch of political science is jurisprudence, or the +science of law. This, again, is closely related with sociology, on both +its theoretical and practical sides. Law is, perhaps, the most important +means of social control made use of by society, and the sociologist +needs to understand something of the principles of law in order to +understand the nature of the existing social order. On the other hand, +the jurist needs to know the principles of social organization and +evolution in general before he can understand the nature and purpose of +law. + +(E) _Relations to Ethics._ [Footnote: For a full statement of my +views regarding the relations of sociology and ethics, see my article on +"The Sociological Basis of Ethics," in the _International Journal of +Ethics_ for April, 1910.] Ethics is the science which deals with the +right or wrong of human conduct. Its problems are the nature of morality +and of moral obligation, the validity of moral ideals, the norms by +which conduct is to be judged, and the like. While ethics was once +considered to be a science of individual conduct it is now generally +conceived as being essentially a social science. The moral and the +social are indeed not clearly separable, but we may consider the moral +to be the ideal aspect of the social. + +This view of morality, which, for the most part, is indorsed by modern +thought, makes ethics dependent upon sociology for its criteria of +rightness or wrongness. Indeed, we cannot argue any moral question +nowadays unless we argue it in social terms. If we discuss the rightness +or wrongness of the drink habit we try to show its social consequences. +So, too, if we discuss the rightness or wrongness of such an institution +as polygamy we find ourselves forced to do so mainly in social terms. +This is not denying, of course, that there are religious and +metaphysical aspects to morality,--these are not necessarily in conflict +with the social aspects,--but it is saying that modern ethical theory is +coming more and more to base itself upon the study of the remote social +consequences of conduct, and that we cannot judge what is right or wrong +in our complex society unless we know something of the social +consequences. + +Ethics must be regarded, therefore, as a normative science to which +sociology and the other social sciences lead up. It is, indeed, very +difficult to separate ethics from sociology. It is the business of +sociology to furnish norms and standards to ethics, and it is the +business of ethics as a science to take the norms and standards +furnished by the social sciences, to develop them, and to criticize +them. This text therefore, will not attempt to exclude ethical +implications and judgments from sociological discussions, because that +would be futile and childish. + +(F) _Relations to Education._ Among the applied sciences, sociology +is especially closely related to education, for education is not simply +the art of developing the powers and capacities of the individual; it is +rather the fitting of individuals for efficient membership, for proper +functioning, in social life. On its individual side, education should +initiate the individual into the social life and fit him for social +service. It should create the good citizen. On the social or public +side, education should be the chief means of social progress. It should +regenerate society, by fitting the individual for a higher type of +social life than at present achieved. We must have a socialized +education if our present complex civilization is to endure. Social +problems touch education on every side, and, on the other hand, +education must bear upon every social problem. It is evident, therefore, +that sociology has a very great bearing upon the problems of education; +and the teacher who comes to his task equipped with a knowledge of +social conditions and of the laws and principles of social organization +and evolution will find a significance and meaning in his work which he +could hardly otherwise find. + +(G) _Relations to Philanthropy._[Footnote: This topic is more fully +discussed in my article on "Philanthropy and Sociology" in The Survey +for June 4, 1910.] The great science which deals directly with the +depressed classes in society and with their uplift may be called the +science of philanthropy. It may be regarded as an applied department of +sociology. The science of philanthropy is especially concerned with the +prevention, as well as with the curative treatment, of dependency, +defectiveness, and delinquency. That part which deals with the social +treatment of the criminal class is generally called penology, while the +subdivision which treats of dependents and defectives is generally known +as "charities" or "charitology." + +It is evident that there are very close relations between the science of +philanthropy and sociology. The elimination of hereditary defects, the +overcoming of the social maladjustment of individuals, and the +correction of defective social conditions, the three great tasks of +scientific philanthropy, all require great knowledge of human society. +The social or philanthropic worker, therefore, requires thorough +equipment in sociology that he may approach his tasks aright. + +The Relation of Sociology to Socialism.--Curiously enough sociology is +often confused with socialism by those who pay but little attention to +scientific matters. This comes from the fact that some of the adherents +of socialism claim that socialism is a science. As a matter of fact, +socialism is primarily a party program. It is the platform of a social +and political party that has as the main tenet of its creed the +abolition of private property in the means of production. Socialism, in +other words, is a scheme to revolutionize the present order of society. +It cannot claim to be a science in any sense, though it may rest upon +theories which its adherents believe to be scientific. Sociology, on the +other hand, is a science, and is concerned not with revolutionizing the +social order, but with studying and understanding social conditions, +especially the more fundamental conditions upon which social +organization and social changes depend. As a science it aims simply at +understanding society, at getting at the truth. It is no more related +logically to socialism than to the platform of the Republican or the +Democratic party. + +The theories upon which revolutionary socialism rest may be proved or +disproved by scientific sociology. It is perhaps too early to say +finally whether sociology will pronounce the theoretical assumptions of +socialism correct or incorrect; but so far as we can see it seems +probable that the theories of social evolution advocated by the Marxian +socialists at least will be pronounced erroneous. In any case, there is +no logical connection between sociology as a science and socialism as a +program for social reconstruction. + +Nevertheless, there has been a close connection between sociology and +socialism historically. It has been largely the agitations of the +socialists and other radical social reformers which have called +attention to the need of a scientific understanding of human society. +The socialists and other radical reformers, in other words, have very +largely set the problem which sociology attempts to solve. Practically, +moreover, the indictments and charges of the socialists and anarchists +against the present social order have made necessary some study of that +order to see whether these charges were well founded or not. In this +sense sociology may be said to be a scientific answer to socialism, not +in the sense that sociology is devoted to refuting socialism, but in the +sense that sociology has been devoted very largely to inquiring into +many of the theoretical assumptions which revolutionary socialism makes. + +The further relations of sociology to socialism will be taken up later. +Here we are only concerned to have the reader see that there is a sharp +distinction between the sociological movement on the one hand, that is, +the movement to obtain fuller and more accurate knowledge concerning +human social life, and the socialist movement, the movement to +revolutionize the present social and economic order. Moreover, it may be +remarked that while socialism seems to be mainly an economic program, it +involves such total and radical reconstruction of social organization +that in the long run the claims of socialism to a scientific validity +must be passed upon by sociology rather than by economics. + +The Relation of Sociology to Social Reform.--From what has been said it +is also evident that sociology must not be confused with any particular +social reform movement or with the movement for social reform in +general. Sociology, as a science, cannot afford to be developed in the +interest of any social reform. Certain social reforms, sociology may +give its approval to; others it may designate as unwise; but this +approval or disapproval will be simply incidental to its discovery of +the full truth about human social relations. This is not saying, of +course, that social theory should be divorced from social practice, or +that the knowledge which sociology and the other social sciences offer +concerning human society has no practical bearing upon present social +conditions. On the contrary, while all science aims abstractly at the +truth, all science is practical also in a deeper sense. No science would +ever have been developed if it were not conceived that the knowledge +which it discovers will ultimately be of benefit to man. All science +exists, therefore, to benefit man, to enable him to master his +environment, and the social sciences not less than the other sciences. +The physical sciences have already enabled man to attain to a +considerable mastery over his physical environment. When the social +sciences have been developed it is safe to say that they will enable man +not less to master his social environment. Therefore, while sociology +and the special social sciences present as yet no program for action, +aiming simply at the discovery of the abstract truth, they will +undoubtedly in time bring about vast changes for the betterment of +social conditions. + + +SELECT REFERENCES + + +_For Brief Reading:_ + +WARD, _Outlines of Sociology,_ Chaps. I-VIII. +ROSS, _The foundations of Sociology,_ Chaps. I and II. +DEALEY, _Sociology, Its simpler Teachings and Applications,_ Chap. I. + + +_For More Extended Reading:_ + +GIDDINGS, _The Principles of Sociology,_ 3d edition. +SMALL, _General Sociology._ +SPENCER, _The Study of Sociology._ +STUCKENBERG, _Sociology: The Science of Human Society._ +WARD, _Pure Sociology._ +_American Journal of Sociology_, many articles. +For a fairly extensive bibliography on sociology, consult Howard's + General Sociology: An Analytical Reference Syllabus. + + + + + + +CHAPTER II + + +THE BEARING OF THE THEORY OF EVOLUTION UPON SOCIAL PROBLEMS + +Since Darwin wrote his _Origin of Species_ all the sciences in any +way connected with biology have been profoundly influenced by his theory +of evolution. It is important that the student of sociology, therefore, +should understand at the outset something of the bearing of Darwin's +theory upon social problems. + +We may note at the beginning, however, that the word _evolution_ +has two distinct, though related, meanings. First, it usually means +Darwin's doctrine of descent; secondly, it is used to designate +Spencer's theory of universal evolution. Let us note somewhat in detail +what evolution means in the first of these senses. + +The Darwinian Theory of Descent.--Darwin's theory of descent is the +doctrine that all forms of life now existing or that have existed upon +the earth have sprung from a few simple primitive types. According to +this theory all forms of animals and plants have sprung from a few +primitive stocks, though not necessarily one, because even in the +beginning there may have existed a distinction at least between the +plant and the animal types. So far as the animal world is concerned, +then, this theory amounts to the assertion of the kinship of all life. +From one or more simple primitive unicellular forms have arisen the +great multitude of multicellular forms that now exist. Popularly, +Darwin's theory is supposed to be that man sprang from the apes, but +this, strictly speaking, is a misconception. Darwin's theory +necessitates the belief, not that man sprang from any existing species +of ape, but rather that the apes and man have sprung from some common +stock. It is equally true, however, that man and many other of the lower +animals, according to this theory, have come from a common stock. As was +said above, the theory is not a theory of the descent of man from any +particular animal type, but rather the theory of the kinship, the +genetic relationship, of all animal species. + +It is evident that if we assume Darwin's theory of descent in sociology +we must look for the beginnings of many peculiarly human things in the +animal world below man. Human institutions, according to this theory, +could not be supposed to have an independent origin, or human society in +any of its forms to be a fact by itself, but rather all human things are +connected with the whole world of animal life below man. Thus if we are, +according to this theory, to look for the origin of the family, we +should have to turn first of all to the habits of animals nearest man. +This is only one of the many bearings which Darwin's theory has upon the +study of social problems; but it is evident even from this that it +revolutionizes sociology. So long as it was possible to look upon human +society as a distinct creation, as something isolated, by itself in +nature, it was possible to hold to intellectualistic views of the origin +of human institutions. + +But some one may ask: Why should the sociologist accept Darwin's theory? +What proofs does it rest upon? What warrant has a student of sociology +for accepting a doctrine of such far-reaching consequences? The reply +is, that biologists, generally, during the last fifty years, after a +careful study of Darwin's arguments and after a careful examination of +all other evidence, have come substantially to agree with him. There is +no great biologist now living who does not accept the essentials of the +doctrine of descent. Five lines of proof may be offered in support of +Darwin's theories, and it may be well for us, as students of sociology, +briefly to review these. + +(1) The homologies or similarities of structure of different animals. +There are very striking similarities of structure between all the higher +animals. Between the ape and man, for example, there are over one +hundred and fifty such anatomical homologies; that is, in the ape we +find bone for bone, and muscle for muscle, corresponding to the +structure of the human body. Even an animal so remotely related to man +as the cat has many more resemblances to man in anatomical structure +than dissimilarities. Now, the meaning of these anatomical homologies, +biologists say, is that these animals are genetically related, that is, +they had a common ancestry at some remote period in the past. + +(2) The presence of vestigial organs in the higher animals supplies +another argument for the belief in common descent. In man, for example, +there exist over one hundred of these vestigial or rudimentary organs, +as the vermiform appendix, the pineal gland, and the like. Many of these +vestigal organs, which are now functionless in man, perform functions in +lower animals, and this is held to show that at some remote period in +the past they also functioned in man's ancestors. + +(3) The facts of embryology seem to point to the descent of the higher +types of animals from the lower types. The embryo or fetus in its +development seems to recapitulate the various stages through which the +species has passed. Thus the human embryo at one stage of its +development resembles the fish; at another stage, the embryo of a dog; +and for a long time it is impossible to distinguish between the human +embryo and that of one of the larger apes. These embryological facts, +biologists say, indicate genetic relation between the various animal +forms which the embryo in its different stages simulates. + +(4) The fossil remains of extinct species of animals are found in the +earth's crust which are evidently ancestors of existing species. Until +the doctrine of descent was accepted there was no way of explaining the +presence of these fossil remains of extinct animals in the earth's +crust. It was supposed by some that the earth had passed through a +series of cataclysms in which all forms of life upon the earth had been +many times destroyed and many times re-created. It is now demonstrated, +however, that these fossils are related to existing species, and +sometimes it is possible to trace back the evolution of existing forms +to very primitive forms in this way. For example, it is possible to +trace the horse, which is now an animal with a single hoof, walking on a +single toe, back to an animal that walked upon four toes and had four +hoofs and was not much larger than a fox. It is not so generally known +that it is also possible to trace man back through fossil human remains +that have been discovered in the earth's crust to the time when he is +apparently just emerging from some apelike form. The latest discovery of +the fossil remains of man made by Dr. Dubois in Java in 1894 shows a +creature with about half the brain capacity of the existing civilized +man and with many apelike characteristics. Thus we cannot except even +man from the theory of evolution and suppose that he was especially +created, as Alfred Russel Wallace, Darwin's contemporary and colaborer, +and others, have supposed. + +(5) The last line of argument in favor of the belief that all existing +species have descended from a few simple primitive forms is found in the +fact of the variation of animals through artificial selection under +domestication. For generations breeders have known that by carefully +selecting the type of animal or plant which they have desired, it is +possible to produce approximately that type. Thus have originated all +the breeds or varieties of domestic plants and animals. Now, Darwin +conceived that nature also exercises a selection by weeding out those +individuals that are not adapted to their environment. In other words, +nature, though unconscious, selects in a negative way the stronger and +the better adapted. Animals vary in nature as well as under +domestication from causes not yet well understood. The variations that +were favorable to survival, Darwin argued, would secure the survival, +through the passing on of these variations by heredity of the better +adapted types of plants and animals. The natural process of weeding out +the inferior or least adapted through early death, or through failure to +reproduce, Darwin called "natural selection", and likened it in its +effect upon organisms to the artificial selection which breeders +consciously use to secure types of plants or animals that they desire. +The only great addition to Darwin's theories which has been made since +he wrote is that of the Dutch botanist, Hugo de Vries, who has shown +that the variations which are fruitful for the production of new species +are probably great or discontinuous variations, which he terms +"mutations," instead of the small fluctuating variations which Darwin +thought were probably most important in the production of new species. +De Vries' theory in no way affects the doctrine of descent, nor does it +take away from the importance of natural selection in fixing the +variations. Darwin's theory, therefore, stands in all of its essentials +to-day unquestioned by men of science, and it must be assumed by the +student of sociology in any attempt to explain social evolution. + +Spencer's Theory of Universal Evolution.--A second meaning given to the +word _evolution_ is that which Spencer popularized in his _First +Principles_. This is a philosophical theory of the universe which +asserts that not only have species of animals come to be what they are +through a process of development, but everything whatsoever that exists, +from molecules of matter to stars and planets. It is the view that the +universe is in a process of development. Evolution in this wider sense +includes all existing things whatsoever, while evolution in the sense of +Darwin's theory is confined to the organic world. While the theory that +all things existing have through a process of orderly change come to be +what they are, is a very old one, yet it was undoubtedly Spencer's +writings which popularized the theory, and to Spencer we also owe the +attempt in his Synthetic Philosophy to trace the working of evolution in +all the different realms of phenomena. The belief in universal evolution +which Spencer popularized has also come to be generally accepted by +scientific and philosophical thinkers. While Spencer's particular +theories of evolution may not be accepted, some form of universal +evolution is very generally believed in. The thought of evolution now +dominates all the sciences,--physical, biological, psychological, and +sociological. It is evident that the student of society, if he accepts +fully the modern scientific spirit, must also assume evolution in this +second or universal sense. + +The Different Phases of Universal Evolution.--It may be well, in order +to correlate our knowledge of social evolution with knowledge in +general, to note the different well-marked phases of universal +evolution. + +(1) _Cosmic Evolution._ This is the phase the astronomer and the +geologist are particularly interested in. It deals with the evolution of +worlds. In this phase we are dealing merely with physical matter, and it +is supposed that the active principle which works in this phase of +evolution is the attraction of particles of matter for one another. This +leads to the condensation of matter into suns and their planets, and the +geological evolution of the earth, for example. Laplace's nebular +hypothesis is an attempt to give an adequate statement of the cosmic +phase of evolution. While this hypothesis has been much criticized of +late, in its essentials it seems to stand. We are not, however, as +students of society, concerned with this phase of evolution. + +(2) _Organic Evolution._ This is the phase of evolution with which +Darwin dealt and which biology, as a science of evolution of living +forms, deals with. The great merit of Darwin's work was that he showed +that the active principle in this phase of evolution is natural +selection; that is, the extermination of the unadapted through death or +through failure to reproduce. Types unsuited to their environment thus +die before reproduction. The stronger and better fitted survive, and +thus the type is raised. Natural selection may be regarded, then, as +essentially the creative force in this phase of evolution. + +(3) _The Evolution of Mind._ This might be included in organic +evolution, but all organisms do not apparently have minds. It is evident +that among animals those that would stand the best chance of surviving +would not be simply those that have the strongest brute strength, but +rather those that have the keenest intelligence and that could adapt +themselves quickly to their environment, that could see approaching +danger and escape it. Natural selection has, therefore, favored in the +animal world the survival of those animals with the highest type of +intelligence. It cannot be said, however, that natural selection is the +only force which has created the mind in all its various expressions. + +(4) _Social Evolution._ By social evolution we mean the evolution +of groups, or, in strict accordance with our definition of society, +groups of psychically interconnected individuals. Groups are to be found +throughout the animal world, and it is in the human species, as we have +already seen, that the highest types of association are found. This is +not an accident. Association, or living together in groups, has been one +of the devices by which animal species have been enabled to survive. It +is evident that not only would intelligence help an animal to survive +more than brute strength, but that ability to cooperate with one's +fellows would also help in the same way. Consequently we find a degree +of combination or coöperation almost at the very beginning of life, and +it is without doubt through coöperation that man has become the dominant +and supreme species upon the planet. Man's social instincts, in other +words, have been perhaps even more important for his survival than his +intelligence. The man who lies, cheats, and steals, or who indulges in +other unsocial conduct sets himself against his group and places his +group at a disadvantage as compared with other groups. Now, natural +selection is continually operating upon groups as well as upon +individuals, and the group which can command the most loyal, most +efficient membership, and has the best organization, is, other things +being equal, the group which survives. Natural selection is, then, +active in social evolution as well as in general organic evolution. But +the distinctive principle of social evolution is coöperation. In other +words, it is sympathetic feeling, altruism, which has made the higher +types of social evolution possible. + +While the same factors are at work in the higher phases of evolution +which are at work in the lower phases, yet it is evident that the higher +phases have new and distinct factors. Sociology, being especially +concerned with social evolution, has a new and distinct factor at work +which we may call association, coöperation, or combination, and this it +is which gives sociology its distinct place in the list of general +sciences. + +Factors In Organic Evolution.--As has already been said, the factors +which are at work in organic evolution generally are also at work in +social evolution. We need, therefore, to note these factors carefully +and to see how they are at work in human society as well as in the +animal world below man. While these factors are not all of the factors +which are at work in social evolution, still they are the primitive +factors, and are, therefore, of fundamental importance. Let us see what +these factors are. + +(1) _The Multiplication of Organisms in Some Geometric Ratio through +Reproduction._ It is a law of life that every species must increase +so that the number of offspring exceeds the number of parents if the +species is to survive. If the offspring only equal in number the +parents, some of them will die before maturity is reached or will fail +to reproduce, and so the species will gradually become extinct. Every +species normally increases, therefore, in some geometric ratio. Now, +this tendency to reproduce in some geometric ratio, which characterizes +all living organisms, means that any species, if left to itself, would +soon reach such numbers as to occupy the whole earth. Darwin showed, for +example, that though the elephant is the slowest breeding of all +animals, if every elephant lived its normal length of life (one hundred +years) and to every pair were born six offspring, then, at the end of +seven hundred years there would be nineteen million living elephants +descended from a single pair. This illustration shows the enormous +possibilities of any species reproducing in geometric ratio, as all +species in order to survive must do. + +That this tendency to increase in some geometric ratio applies also to +man is evident from all of the facts which we know concerning human +populations. It is not infrequent for a people to double its numbers +every twenty-five years. If this were continued for any length of time, +it is evident that a single nation could soon populate the whole earth. + +(2) _Heredity._ Heredity in organic evolution secures a continuity +of the species or racial type. By heredity is meant the resemblance +between parent and offspring. It is the law that like begets like. +Offspring born of a species belong to that species, and usually resemble +their parents more closely even than other members of the species. + +It is evident that heredity is at work also in human society as well as +in the animal world. We do not expect that the children born of parents +of one race, for example, will belong to another race. Racial heredity +is one of the most significant facts of human society, and even family +heredity counts in its influence far more than some have supposed. + +(3) _Variation._ This factor in organic evolution means that no two +individuals, even though born of the same parents, are exactly like each +other. Neither are they of a type exactly between their two parents, as +theoretically they should be, since inheritance is equal from both +parents. Every new individual born in the organic world, while it +resembles its parents and belongs to its species or race, varies within +certain limits. This variation so runs through organic nature that we +are told that there are no two leaves on a single tree exactly alike. +The result of this variation, the causes of which are not yet well +understood, is that some individuals vary in favorable directions, +others in unfavorable directions. Some are born strong, some weak; some +inferior, some superior. + +It is evident that variation characterizes the human species quite as +much as other species, and indeed the limits of variation are wider, +probably, in the human species than in any other species. Man is the +most variable of all animals, and human individuality and personality +owe not a little of their distinctiveness to this fact. + +(4) _The Struggle for Existence._ Individuals in all species, as we +have seen, are born in larger numbers than is necessary. The result is +that a competition is entered into between species and individuals +within the species for place and for existence. This competition or +struggle results in the dying out of the inferior, that is, of those who +are not adapted to their environment. The gradual dying out of the +inferior or unadapted through competition results in the survival of the +superior or better adapted, and ultimately in the survival of the +fittest or those most adapted. Thus the type is raised, and we have +evolution through natural selection, that is, through the elimination of +the unfit. + +Some have thought that this struggle for existence which is so evident +in the animal world does not take place in human society. This, however, +is a mistake. The struggle for existence in human society is not an +unmitigated one, as it seems to be very often in the animal world, but +it is nevertheless a struggle which has the same consequences. In the +human world the competition, except in the lower classes, is not so much +for food, as it is for position and for supremacy. But this struggle for +place and power results in human society in the weak and inferior going +to the wall, and therefore ultimately in their elimination. In all +essential respects, then, the struggle for existence goes on in human +society as it does in the animal world. This means that in society, as +in the animal world, progress comes primarily through the elimination of +unfit individuals. The unfit in human society, as we shall see, are +especially those who cannot adapt themselves to their social +environment. Progress in society, in a certain sense, waits upon death, +as it does in all the rest of the animal world. Death is the means by +which the stream of life is purged from its inferior and unfit elements. + +(5) _Another Factor in Organic Evolution is Coöperation_, or +altruism, as we have already called it. As Henry Drummond has said, this +is the struggle not for one's own life but for the lives of others. +Really, however, it is a device which enables a group of individuals to +struggle more successfully with the adverse factors in their +environment. Something of coöperation,--that is, a group of individuals +carrying on a common life,--is found almost at the beginning of life, +and, as we rise in the scale of animal creation, the amount of +coöperation and of altruistic feelings which accompany it very greatly +increases. Perhaps the chief source of this coöperation is to be found +in the rearing of offspring. The family group, even in the lower +animals, seems to be the chief source of altruism. At any rate, +sympathetic or altruistic instincts grow up in all animals, probably +chiefly through the necessities of reproduction. + +It is only in human social life that coöperation, or altruism, attains +its full development. Human society is characterized by the protection +it affords to its weaker members, and in human society the natural +process of eliminating the inferior often seems reversed. As Huxley has +pointed out, human society tries to fit as many as possible to survive, +and we may add, not only to survive, but to live well. Altruism and its +resulting coöperation have come especially to characterize human social +evolution. To some extent this is due, no doubt, to the necessities of +group survival; for only that nation, for example, can survive that can +maintain the most loyal citizenship, the best institutions, and the +largest spirit of self-sacrifice in its members. Human social groups, +therefore, try to fit as many individuals as possible for the most +efficient membership, and this necessitates caring for the temporarily +weak, and also for the permanently incapacitated, in order that the +sentiments of social solidarity may be strengthened to their utmost. + +It is evident, then, that all the factors at work in organic evolution +are at work also in social evolution, though in some part modified and +varying in degree. The struggle for existence in human society, for +example, has been greatly modified from the condition in the early +animal world, while coöperation, or altruism, is much more highly +developed. Nevertheless, these factors of organic evolution are at work +in social evolution and must be taken into full account by the student +of social problems. Social evolution rests upon organic evolution. + +Some Effects upon Industry.--These factors in organic evolution express +themselves more or less in the industrial phase of human society. Thus, +the first factor, the multiplication of organisms through reproduction +in some geometric ratio, was first studied by Malthus, an economist in +the beginning of the nineteenth century, and exclusively with reference +to its effect upon economic conditions. Malthus perceived the tendency +for human beings to multiply in some geometric ratio where food supply +was sufficiently abundant, and argued from this that if better wages, +and so a larger food supply, were given the lower classes, they would +multiply so much more rapidly that worse poverty would result than +before. There is no doubt that in certain classes of human society there +is a tendency for population to press against food supply, and it is in +these classes that the struggle for existence takes on its most +animal-like forms. + +Again, the struggle for existence is continually illustrated in the +world of human industry. Not only do individuals lose place and power +because they are unadapted to their environment, but also economic +groups, such as corporations, show the natural competition or struggle +for existence sometimes in its most intense form. The result in all +cases is the dying out of the least adapted and the survival of the +better adapted. Thus, through competition and the survival of the better +adapted we secure in industry the evolution of higher types of +industrial organization, industrial methods, and the like, just as +higher types are secured in the same way in the animal world. Again, in +economic matters, as in other social affairs, coöperation continually +comes in to modify competition and to lift it to a higher plane. Just as +the higher type of societies has been characterized by higher types of +coöperation, so it is safe to say that the higher types of industry are +characterized by higher types of coöperation. And while, as we shall see +later, coöperation can never displace competition in industry any more +than elsewhere in life, yet increasing coöperation characterizes the +higher types of industry as well as the higher types of society. + +A word of caution is perhaps necessary against confusing the economic +struggle as it exists in modern society with the natural struggle under +primitive conditions. It is evident that in present society the economic +struggle has been greatly changed in character from the primitive +struggle, and therefore can no longer have the same results. Laws of +inheritance, of taxation, and many other artificial economic conditions, +have greatly interfered with the natural struggle. The rich and +economically successful are therefore by no means to be confused with +the biologically fit. On the contrary, many of the economically +successful are such simply through artificial advantageous +circumstances, and from the standpoint of biology and sociology they are +often among the less fit, rather than the more fit, elements of society. + +A Brief Survey of Social Evolution from the Biological Standpoint.--In +order to sum up and make clear some of the principal applications to +social evolution of the biological principles just stated we shall +endeavor to state in a brief way some of the salient features of social +evolution from the biological standpoint. + +From the very beginning there has been no such thing as unmitigated +individual struggle among animals. Nowhere in nature does pure +individualism exist in the sense that the individual animal struggles +alone, except perhaps in a few solitary species which are apparently on +the way to extinction. The assumption of such a primitive individual +struggle has been at the bottom of many erroneous views of human +society. The primary conflict is between species. A secondary conflict, +however, is always found between the members of the same species. +Usually this conflict within the species is a competition between +groups. The human species exactly illustrates these statements. +Primitively its great conflict was with other species of animals. The +supremacy of man over the rest of the animal world was won only after an +age-long conflict between man and his animal rivals. While this conflict +went on there was apparently but little struggle within the species +itself. The lowest groups of which we have knowledge, while continually +struggling against nature, are rarely at war with one another. But after +man had won his supremacy and the population of groups came to increase +so as to encroach seriously upon food supply, and even on territorial +limits of space, then a conflict between human groups, which we call +war, broke out and became almost second nature to man. It needs to be +emphasized, however, that the most primitive groups are not warlike, but +only those that have achieved their supremacy over nature and attained +considerable size. In other words, the struggle between groups which we +call war was occasioned very largely by numbers and food supply. To this +extent at least war primitively arose from economic conditions, and it +is remarkable how economic conditions have been instrumental in bringing +about all the great wars of recorded human history. + +The conflict among human groups, which we call war, has had an immense +effect upon human social evolution. Five chief effects must be noted. + +(1) Intergroup struggle gave rise to higher forms of social +organization, because only those groups could succeed in competition +with other groups that were well organized, and especially only those +that had competent leadership. + +(2) Government, as we understand the word, was very largely an outcome +of the necessities of this intergroup struggle, or war. As we have +already seen, the groups that were best organized, that had the most +competent leadership, would stand the best chance of surviving. +Consequently the war leader or chief soon came, through habit, to be +looked upon as the head of the group in all matters. Moreover, the +exigencies and stresses of war frequently necessitated giving the war +chief supreme authority in times of danger, and from this, without +doubt, arose despotism in all of its forms. The most primitive tribes +are republican or democratic in their form of government, but it has +been found that despotic forms of government rapidly take the place of +the primitive democratic type, where a people are continually at war +with other peoples. + +(3) A third result of war in primitive times was the creation of social +classes. After a certain stage was reached groups tried not so much to +exterminate one another as to conquer and absorb one another. This was, +of course, after agriculture had been developed and slave labor had +reached a considerable value. Under such circumstances a conquered group +would be incorporated by the conquerors as a slave or subject class. +Later, this enslaved class may have become partially free as compared +with some more recently subjugated or enslaved classes, and several +classes in this way could emerge in a group through war or conquest. +Moreover, the presence of these alien and subject elements in a group +necessitated a stronger and more centralized government to keep them in +control, and this was again one way in which war favored a development +of despotic governments. Later, of course, economic conditions gave rise +to classes, and to certain struggles between the classes composing a +people. + +(4) Not only was social and political organization and the evolution of +classes favored by intergroup struggle, but also the evolution of +morality. The group that could be most efficiently organized would be, +other things being equal, the group which had the most loyal and most +self-sacrificing membership. The group that lacked a group spirit, that +is, strong sentiments of solidarity and harmonious relations between its +members, would be the group that would be apt to lose in conflict with +other groups, and so its type would tend to be eliminated. Consequently +in all human groups we find recognition of certain standards of conduct +which are binding as between members of the same group. For example, +while a savage might incur no odium through killing a member of another +group, he was almost always certain to incur either death or exile +through killing a member of his own group. Hence arose a group code of +ethics founded very largely upon the conceptions of kinship or blood +relationship, which bound all members of a primitive group to one +another. + +(5) A final consequence of war among human groups has been the +absorption of weaker groups and the growth of larger and larger +political groups, until in modern times a few great nations dominate the +population of the whole world. That this was not the primitive +condition, we know from human history and from other facts which +indicate the disappearance of a vast number of human groups in the past. +The earth is a burial ground of tribes and natrons as well as of +individuals. In the competition between human groups, only a few that +have had efficient organization and government, loyal membership and +high standards of conduct within the group, have survived. The number of +peoples that have perished in the past is impossible to estimate. But we +can get some inkling of the number by the fact that philologists +estimate that for every living language there are twenty dead languages. +When we remember that a language not infrequently stands for several +groups with related cultures, we can guess the immense number of human +societies that have perished in the past in this intergroup competition. + +Even though war passes away entirely, nations can never escape this +competition with one another. While the competition may not be upon the +low and brutal plane of war, it will certainly go on upon the higher +plane of commerce and industry, and will probably be on this higher +plane quite as decisive in the life of peoples in future as war was in +the past. + +While the primary struggle within the human species has been in the +historic period between nations and races, this is not saying, of +course, that struggle and competition have not gone on within these +larger groups. On the contrary, as has already been implied, a continual +struggle has gone on between classes, first perhaps of racial origin, +and later of economic origin. Also there is within the nation a struggle +between parties and sects, and sometimes between "sections" and +communities. Usually, however, the struggle within the nation is a +peaceful one and does not come to bloodshed. + +Again, within each of these minor groups that we have mentioned struggle +and competition in some modified form goes on between its members. Thus +within a party or class there is apt to be a struggle or competition +between factions. There is, indeed, no human group that is free from +struggle or competition between its members, unless it be the family. +The family seems to be so constituted that normally there is no +competition between its members,--at least, there is good ground tor +believing that competition between the members of a family is to be +considered exceptional, or even abnormal. + +From what has been said it is evident that competition and coöperation +are twin principles in the evolution of social groups. While competition +characterizes in the main the relation between groups, especially +independent political groups, and while coöperation characterizes in the +main the relation of the members of a given group to one another, still +competition and coöperation are correlatives in practically every phase +of the social life. Some degree of competition, for example, has to be +maintained by every group between its members if it is going to maintain +high standards of efficiency or of loyalty. If there were no competition +with respect to the matters that concern the inner life of groups, it is +evident that the groups would soon lose efficiency in leadership and in +membership and would sooner or later be eliminated. Consequently +society, from certain points of view, presents itself to the student at +the present time as a vast competition, while from other standpoints it +presents itself as a vast coöperation. + +It follows from this that competition and coöperation are both equally +important in the life of society. It has been a favorite idea that +competition among human beings should be done away with, and that +coöperation should be substituted to take its place entirely. It is +evident, however, that this idea is impossible of realization. If a +social group were to check all competition between its members, it would +stop thereby the process of natural selection or of the elimination of +the unfit, and, as a consequence, would soon cease to progress. If some +scheme of artificial selection were substituted to take the place of +natural selection, it is evident that competition would still have to be +retained to determine who were the fittest. A society that would give +positions of trust and responsibility to individuals without imposing +some competitive test upon them would be like a ship built partially of +good and partially of rotten wood,--it would soon go to pieces. + +This leads us to emphasize the continued necessity of selection in +society. No doubt natural selection is often a brutal and wasteful means +of eliminating the weak in human societies, and no doubt human reason +might devise superior means of bringing about the selection of +individuals which society must maintain. To some extent it has done this +through systems of education and the like, which are, in the main, +selective processes for picking out the most competent individuals to +perform certain social functions. But the natural competition, or +struggle between individuals, has not been done away with, especially in +economic matters, and it is evidently impossible to do away with it +until some vast scheme of artificial selection can take its place. Such +a scheme is so far in the future that it is hardly worth talking about. +The best that society can apparently do at the present time is to +regulate the natural competition between individuals, and this it is +doing increasingly. + +What people rightfully object to is, not competition, but unregulated or +unfair competition. In the interest of solidarity, that is, in the +interest of the life of the group as a whole, all forms of competition +in human society should be so regulated that the rules governing the +competition may be known and the competition itself public. It is +evident that in politics and in business we are very far from this ideal +as yet, although society is unquestionably moving toward it. + +A word in conclusion about the nature of moral codes and standards from +the social point of view. It is evident that moral codes from the social +point of view are simply formulations of standards of conduct which +groups find it convenient or necessary to impose upon their members. +Even morality, in an idealistic sense, seems from a sociological +standpoint to be those forms of conduct which conduce to social harmony, +to social efficiency, and so to the survival of the group. Groups, +however, as we have already pointed out, cannot do as they please. They +are always hard-pressed in competition by other groups and have to meet +the standards of efficiency which nature imposes. Morality, therefore, +is not anything arbitrarily designed by the group, but is a standard of +conduct which necessities of social survival require. In other words, +the right, from the point of view of natural science, is that which +ultimately conduces to survival, not of the individual, but of the group +or of the species. This is looking at morality, of course, from the +sociological point of view, and in no way denies the religious and +metaphysical view of morality, which may be equally valid from a +different standpoint. + +Finally, we need to note that natural selection does not necessitate in +any mechanical sense certain conduct on the part of individuals or +groups. Rather, natural selection marks the limits of variation which +nature permits, and within those limits of variation there is a large +amount of freedom of choice, both to individuals and to groups. Human +societies, therefore, may be conceivably free to take one of several +paths of development at any particular point. But in the long run they +must conform to the ultimate conditions of survival; and this probably +means that the goal of their evolution is largely fixed for them. Human +groups are free only in the sense that they may go either backward or +forward on the path which the conditions of survival mark out for them. +They are free to progress or to perish. But social evolution in any +case, in the sense of social change either toward higher or toward lower +social adaptation, is a necessity that cannot be escaped. Sociology and +all social science is, therefore, a study not of what human groups would +like to do, but of what they must do in order to survive, that is, how +they can control their environment by utilizing the laws which govern +universal evolution. + +From this brief and most elementary consideration of the bearings of +evolutionary theory upon social problems it is evident that evolution, +in the sense of what we know about the development of life and society +in the past, must be the guidepost of the sociologist. Human social +evolution, we repeat, rests upon and is conditioned by biological +evolution at every point. There is, therefore, scarcely any sanity in +sociology without the biological point of view. + + +SELECT REFERENCES + + +_For brief reading:_ + +FAIRBANKS, _Introduction to Sociology,_ Chaps. XIV.-XV. +JORDAN, _Foot-Notes to Evolution,_ Chaps. I.-III. +ELY, _Evolution of Industrial Society._ Part II, Chaps. I.-III. + + +_For more extended reading:_ + +DARWIN, _Descent of Man._ +FISKE, _Outlines of Cosmic Philosophy._ +WALLACE, _Darwinism._ + + +_On the religious aspects of evolution:_ + +DRUMMOND, _Ascent of Man._ +FISKE, _The Destiny of Man._ +FISKE, _Through Nature to God._ + + + + + + +CHAPTER III + + +THE FUNCTION OF THE FAMILY IN SOCIAL ORGANIZATION + +Instead of continuing the study of social evolution in general it will +be best now, before we take up some of the problems of modern society, +to study the evolution of some important social institution, because in +so doing we can see more clearly the working of the biological and +psychological forces which have brought about the evolution of human +institutions. An institution, as has already been said, is a sanctioned +grouping or relation in society. Now, there can be scarcely any doubt +that the two most important institutions of human society are the family +and property. In Western civilization these take the form of the +monogamic family and of private property. It is upon these two +institutions that our civilization rests. The state is a third very +important institution in society, but it exists largely for the sake of +protecting the family and property. + +Of the two institutions, the family and property, the family is without +doubt prior in time and more fundamental,--more important in human +association. We shall, therefore, study very briefly the origin and +development of the family as a human institution in order to illustrate +some of the principles of social evolution in general. But before we can +take up the question of the origin of the family it will be well for us +to see just what the function of this institution is in the human +society of the present, in order to justify the assertion just made that +it is the most important and fundamental institution of humanity. + +The Family the Primary Social Institution.--Let us note first of all +that in society, as it exists at present, the family is the simplest +group capable of maintaining itself. It is, therefore, we may say, the +primary social structure. Because it contains both sexes and all ages it +is capable of reproducing itself, and so of reproducing society. For the +same reason it contains practically all social relations in miniature. +It has therefore often been called, and rightly, "the social microcosm". +The relations of superiority, subordination, and equality, which enter +so largely into the structure of all social institutions, are especially +clearly illustrated in the family in the relations of parents to +children, of children to parents, of parents to each other, and of +children to one another. Comte, for this reason, claimed that the family +was the unit of social organization, not the individual. However this +may be, it is evident that families do enter, as units, very largely +into our social and industrial life. While the tendency may be to make +the individual the unit of modern society, it is nevertheless true that +the family remains the simplest social structure in society, and from +it, in some sense, all other social relations whatsoever are evolved. + +_The Family Differs from All Other Social Institutions_, however, +in two respects: First, its members have their places fixed in the +family group by their organic natures, that is, the relations of husband +and wife, parent and child, rest upon biological differences and +relations, so that one may say that the family is almost as much a +biological structure as it is a social structure. This is not, to any +extent, true of other institutions. Secondly, the family is not a +product, so far as we can see, of other forms of association, but rather +it itself produces these other forms of association. The family, in +other words, is not a result of social organization in general, but +seems rather to antedate both historically and logically the forms of +social life. It is not a product of society, but it itself produces +society. + +THE PRIMARY FUNCTION OF THE FAMILY is continuing the life of the +species; that is, the primary function of the family is reproduction in +the sense of the birth and rearing of children. While other functions of +the family have been delegated in a large measure to other social +institutions, it is manifest that this function cannot be so delegated. +At least we know of no human society in which the birth and rearing of +children has not been the essential function of the family. From a +sociological point of view the childless family is a failure. While the +childless family may be of social utility to the individuals that form +it, nevertheless from the point of view of society such a family has +failed to perform its most important function and must be considered, +therefore, socially a failure. + +The Function of the Family in Conserving the Social Order.--The family +is still the chief institution in society for transmitting from one +generation to another social possessions of all sorts. Property in the +form of land or houses or personal property, society permits the family +to pass along from generation to generation. Thus, also, the material +equipment for industry, that is capital, is so transmitted. While it is +obvious that the material goods of society are thus transmitted by the +family from one generation to another, it is perhaps not quite so +obvious, but equally true, that the spiritual possessions of the race +are also thus transmitted. For example, language is very largely +transmitted in the family, and students tell us that each family has its +own peculiar dialect. Literature, ideas, beliefs on government, law, +religion, moral standards, artistic tastes and appreciation--all of +these are still largely transmitted in society from one generation to +another through the family. While public institutions, such as +libraries, art galleries, universities, scientific museums, and the +like, are often adopted to conserve and transmit these spiritual +possessions of the race, yet it is safe to say that if it were possible +for society to depend upon these institutions to transmit knowledge, +artistic standards, and moral ideals, there would be great discontinuity +in social life. The family has been in the past, and is still, the great +conserving agency in human society, preserving and transmitting from +generation to generation both the material and spiritual possessions of +the race. + +The Function of the Family in Social Progress.--While the conservative +function of the family is very obvious, its function in furthering +social progress is perhaps not so obvious. Nevertheless, this is one of +the greatest functions of the family life, because the family is the +chief or almost sole generator of altruism in human society, and it is +upon altruism that society depends for every upward advance in +coöperation. It is in the family that children learn to love and obey, +to be of service, and to respect one another's rights. The amount of +altruism in a given group has a very close relation to the quality of +its family life. If the family fails to teach the spirit of service and +self-sacrifice to its members, it is hardly probable that they will get +very much of that spirit from society at large. The ideal of a human +brotherhood has no meaning unless family affection gives it meaning. If +the family is the chief generator of altruism in human society and if +society depends upon altruism for each forward step in moral progress, +then the family is the chief source of social progress. + +What we have said is a brief presentation of the claims of the family in +modern society to count not only as the primary but also as the most +important human institution. The family, it is evident, is charged by +society with the most important task, not only of producing the new +individuals in society, but of training each individual as he comes on +the stage of life, adjusting him to society in all of its aspects, such +as industry, government, and religion. If the family fails to perform +these important functions the chances are that unsocialized individuals +will take important places in society, and this means ultimately social +anarchy. + +_The Family Life may be regarded as a School for Socializing the +Individual._ We need not trace in detail how the family does this for +the child. It is evident that the rudiments of morality, of government, +of religion, and even of industry and knowledge, must be learned by the +child in the family group. If the child fails, for example, to learn +morality, to get moral standards and ideals from his family life, he +stands but poor chance of getting them later in society. Again, if the +child fails to learn what law is and to get proper ideals of the +relation of the citizen to the state in his family life, there are good +prospects of his being numbered among the lawless elements of society +later. In the family, we repeat, the child first experiences all the +essential relations of society, learns the meaning of authority, +obedience, loyalty, and all the human virtues. Moreover, the family life +furnishes the moral and religious concepts which human society has set +before it as its goal. The ideal of human brotherhood, for example, is +manifestly derived from the family life; so also the religious idea of +the Divine Fatherhood. If a nation's family life fails to illustrate +these concepts, it is safe to say that they will not have great +influence in society generally. The nation whose family life decays, +therefore, rots at the core, dries up the springs of all social and +civic virtues. + +The Family and Industry.--From what has been said in general terms it is +evident that the family has a very important relation to the industrial +activities of society, and industry a very important bearing upon the +family. Primitively all industry centered in the family. Modern +industry, as has been well said, is but an enormous expansion of +primitive housekeeping; that is, the preparation of food and clothing +and shelter by the primitive family group for its own existence is the +germ out of which all modern industry has developed. The very word +_economics_ means the science or the art of the household. + +In primitive communities and in newly settled districts the family often +carries on all essential industrial activities. It produces all the raw +material, manufactures the finished products, and consumes the same. But +with the growth of complex societies there has come a great industrial +division of labor, and the family has delegated industrial activity +after activity to some other institution until at the present time the +modern family performs scarcely any industrial activities, except the +preparation of food for immediate consumption. Even this, however, in +modern cities seems about to be delegated to some other institution. + +All that need be said at present about the delegation of the industrial +activities of the family to other industrial institutions is that the +movement is not one which need cause any anxiety so long as it does not +interfere with the essential function of the family, namely, the birth +and rearing of children. Even though children can no longer learn the +rudiments of industry in their home life, still it is possible through +manual and industrial training in our public schools to teach all +children this. And the removal of industries from the home, even such +essential industries as the preparation of food, is to be regarded as a +boon if it gives more time to the parents, especially to the mother, for +the proper care and bringing up of their children. + +But the removal of industries from the family group has not always had +the beneficent effect of simply giving more time to the parents for the +proper care of their children. On the contrary, the removal of these +industries has often been followed by the removal of the parents +themselves from the home and the practical disintegration of the family. +This has been particularly the case where married women have gone into +factories. Under such circumstances children have often been neglected, +allowed to grow up on the streets, and to grow up as unsocialized +individuals in general. It would seem that the labor of married women +outside of the home should be forbidden by the state, except in certain +instances, with a view to assuring to the state itself a better +citizenship. The labor of children in factories and other industrial +institutions has sprung very largely from the same general causes. While +child labor may have the merit of giving the child some industrial +training, still it has been shown that it dwarfs the child in body and +mind, produces a one-sided development, fails to prepare for citizenship +in the higher sense, and so must be regarded as altogether an evil. Even +the labor of the young unmarried women in factories and shops, when they +should be preparing for the duties of wifehood and motherhood, is to +some extent an evil in society, though not by any means of the same +proportions as the labor of married women. + +_The Subordination of Industry to the Family Life_ is necessary, +therefore, from a social point of view. Industry, as we have seen, was +primitively an adjunct of the family life, and all modern industry, if +rightfully developed, should be but an adjunct to the family life. +Industrial considerations must be, therefore, subordinate to domestic +considerations, that is, to considerations of the welfare of parents and +their children in the family group. One trouble with modern society is +that industry has come to dominate as an independent interest that +oftentimes does not recognize its reasonable and socially necessary +subordination to the higher interests of society. There can be no sane +and stable family life until we are willing to subordinate the +requirements of industry, that is, of wealth-getting, to the +requirements of the family for the good birth and proper rearing of +children. + + +SELECT REFERENCES + + +_For brief reading:_ + +HENDERSON, _Social Elements_, Chap. IV. +DEWEY AND TUFTS, _Ethics_, Chap. XXVI. +ADLER, _Marriage and Divorce_, Lecture I. + + +_For more extended reading:_ + +BOSANQUET, _The Family_. +SALEEBY, _Parenthood and Race Culture_. + + + + + + +CHAPTER IV + + +THE ORIGIN OF THE FAMILY + +We must understand the biological roots of the family before we can +understand the family as an institution, and especially before we can +understand its origin. Let us note, then, briefly the chief biological +facts connected with the family life. + +The Biological Foundations of the Family.--(1)_The Family rests upon +the Great Biological Fact of Sex._ While sex does not characterize +all animal forms, still it does characterize all except the simplest +forms of animal life. These simplest forms multiply or reproduce by +fission, but such asexual reproduction is almost entirely confined to +the unicellular forms of life. It may be inferred, therefore, that the +higher animal types could not have been evolved without sexual +reproduction, and something of the meaning or significance of sex in the +whole life process will, therefore, be helpful in understanding all of +the higher forms of evolution. Biologists tell us that the meaning or +purpose of sexual reproduction is to bring about greater organic +variation. Now variation, as we have seen, is the raw material upon +which natural selection acts to create the higher types. The immense +superiority of sexual reproduction over asexual reproduction is due to +the fact that it multiplies so greatly the elements of heredity in each +new organism, for under sexual reproduction every new organism has two +parents, four grandparents, and so on, each of which perhaps contributes +something to its heredity. The biological meaning of sex, then, is that +it is a device of nature to bring about organic variation. From the +point of view of the social life we may note also that sex adds greatly +to its variety, enriching it with numerous fruitful variations which +undoubtedly further social evolution. The bareness and monotony of a +social life without sex can readily be imagined. + +While the differences between the sexes have been mainly elaborated +through the differences of reproductive function, yet these differences +have come to be fundamental to the whole nature of the organism. In the +higher animals, therefore, the sexes differ profoundly in many ways from +each other. Biologists tell us that the chief difference between the +male and female organism is a difference in metabolism, that is, in the +rapidity of organic change which goes on within the body. In the male +metabolism is much more rapid than in the female; hence the male +organism is said to be more katabolic. In the female the rapidity of +organic change is less; hence the female is said to be more anabolic. +Put in more familiar terms, the male tends to expend energy, is more +active, hence also stronger; the female tends more to store up energy, +is more passive, conservative, and weaker. These fundamental differences +between the sexes express themselves in many ways in the social life. +The differences between man and woman, therefore, are not to be thought +of as due simply to social customs and usages, the different social +environment of the two sexes, but are even more due to a radical and +fundamental difference in their whole nature. The belief that the two +sexes would become like each other in character if given the same +environment is, therefore, erroneous. That these differences are +original, or inborn, and not acquired, may be readily seen by observing +children of different sex. Even from their earliest years boys are more +active, restless, energetic, destructive, untidy, and disobedient, while +little girls are quieter, less restless, less destructive, neater, more +orderly, and more obedient. These different innate qualities fit the +sexes naturally for different functions in human society, and there is, +therefore, a natural division of labor between them from the first. +Indeed, the division of labor between the two sexes may be said to be +the fundamental division of labor in human society. + +The causes which produce sex in the individual are not known to any +extent and are probably beyond the control of man. In each species the +relative number of the two sexes is fixed by nature, probably through +some obscure working of natural selection, and in practically all of the +higher species of animals, man included, the number of the two sexes is +relatively equal. In human society much depends upon this relative +numerical equality of the two sexes. Hence it can be readily seen that +it is fortunate that man does not know how to control the sex of +offspring, for if he did the numerical equality of the two sexes might +be disturbed and serious social results would follow. + +(2) _The Influence of Parental Care._ Sex alone could never have +produced the family in the sense of a relatively permanent group of +parents and offspring. We do not begin to find the family until we get +to those higher types where we find some parental care. In the lowest +types the relation between the sexes is momentary and the survival of +offspring is secured simply through the production of enormous numbers. +Thus the sturgeon, a low type of fish, produces between one and two +million of eggs at a single spawning, from which it is estimated that +not more than a dozen individuals survive till maturity is reached. Thus +sexual reproduction of itself necessitates no parental care and in +itself could give rise in no way to the family; but quite low in the +scale of life we begin to find some parental care as a device to protect +immature offspring and secure their survival without the expenditure of +such an enormous amount of energy in mere physiological reproduction. +Even among the fishes we find some that watch over the eggs after they +are spawned and care for their young by leading them to suitable feeding +grounds. In such cases a much smaller number of young need to be +produced in order that a few may survive until maturity is reached. In +the mammals the mother, obviously, must care for the young for some +time, since mammals are animals that suckle their young. But this care +of the young by a single parent only foreshadows the family as we +understand it. Among the mammals it is not until we reach the higher +types that we find care of offspring by both parents,--a practice, +however, which is common among the birds. It is evident that as soon as +both parents are concerned in the care of the offspring they have a much +better chance of survival. Hence, natural selection favors the growth of +this type of group life and develops powerful instincts to keep male and +female together till after the birth and rearing of offspring. Such we +find to be the condition among many of the higher mammals, such as some +of the carnivora, and especially among the monkeys and apes and man. + +If it is allowable at this point to generalize from the facts given, it +must be said that the family life is essentially a device of nature for +the preservation of offspring through a more or less prolonged infancy. +The family group and the instincts upon which it rests were undoubtedly, +therefore, instituted by natural selection. Summing up, we may say, +then, the animal family group owes its existence, first, to the +production of child or immature forms that need more or less prolonged +care; secondly, to the prolongation of this period of immaturity in the +higher animals, and especially in man; thirdly, to the development, +parallel with these two causes, of parental instincts which keep male +and female together for the care of the offspring. It is evident, then, +that the family life rests, not upon sex attraction, but upon the fact +of the child and the corresponding psychological fact of parental +instinct. The family, then, has been created by the very conditions of +life itself and is not a man-made institution. + +The Origin of the Family in the Human Species.--Two great theories of +the origin of the family in the human species have in the past been more +or less accepted, and these we must now examine and criticize. First, +the traditional theory that the human family life was from the beginning +a pure monogamy. Secondly, the so-called evolutionary theory that the +human family life arose from confused if not promiscuous sex relations. +The first of these theories, favored both by the Bible and Aristotle, +held undisputed sway down to the middle of the nineteenth century. Then, +after the publication of Darwin's _Origin of Species_ in 1859, +certain social theorists began to put forward the second theory in the +name of evolution. In order that we may see precisely what the origin of +the human family life was, and its primitive form, we must now proceed +to criticize these two theories, especially the last, which is known as +the hypothesis of a primitive state of promiscuity. + +_The Habits of the Higher Animals_. We have already spoken of the +origin of the family group in the animal world generally, but it must be +admitted that there are some difficulties in arguing directly from the +lower animals to man. Man is so separated from the lower animals through +having passed through many higher stages of an independent evolution +that in many respects his life is peculiar to itself. This is true +especially of his family life. If we survey the whole range of animal +life and then the whole range of human life, we find that there are but +two or three striking similarities between the family life of man and +that of the brutes, but a great many striking dissimilarities. The +similarities may be summed up by saying that man exhibits in common with +all the animals the phenomena of courtship, that is, of the male seeking +to win the female, also the phenomenon of male jealousy, and we may +perhaps add an instinctive aversion to crossing with the other species. +These characteristics of his family life man shares with the brutes +below him. There are, however, many things peculiar to the human family +life that are found in no animal species below man. The most striking of +these differences may be mentioned. (1) Man has no pairing season, as +practically all other animals have. (2) The number of young born in the +human species is on the whole much smaller than in any other animal +species. (3) The dependence of offspring upon parents is far longer in +the human species than in any other species. (4) Man has an antipathy to +incest or close inbreeding which seems to be instinctive. This is not +found clearly in any animal species below man. (5) There is a tendency +among human beings to artificial adornment during the period of +courtship, but not to natural ornament to any extent, as among many +animal species. (6) The indorsement of society is almost invariably +sought, both among uncivilized and civilized peoples, before the +establishment of a new family--usually through the forms of a religious +marriage ceremony. (7) Chastity in women, especially married women, is +universally insisted upon, both among uncivilized and civilized peoples, +as the basis of human family life. (8) There is a feeling of modesty or +of shame as regards matters of sex among the human beings. (9) In +humanity we find, besides animal lust, spiritual affection, or love, as +a bond of union between the two sexes. + +None of these peculiarities of human family life are found in the family +life of any animal species below man. It might seem, therefore, that +man's family life must be regarded as a special creation unconnected +with the family life of the brutes below him. But this view is hardly +probable, rather is impossible from the standpoint of evolution. We must +say that these peculiarities of human family life are to be explained +through the fact that man has passed through many more stages of +evolution, particularly of intellectual evolution, than any of the +animals below him. If we examine these peculiarities of man's family +life carefully, we will see that they all can be explained through +natural selection and man's higher intellectual development. That man +has no pairing season, has fewer offspring born, and a longer period of +dependence of the offspring upon parents, and the like, is directly to +be explained through natural selection; while seeking the indorsement of +society before forming a new family, sexual modesty, tendencies to +artificial adornment, and the like, are to be explained through man's +self-consciousness and higher intellectual development, also through the +fuller development of his social instincts. The gap between the human +family life and brute family life is, therefore, not an unbridgeable +one. + +That this is so, we see most clearly when we consider the family life of +the anthropoid or manlike apes--man's nearest cousins in the animal +world. All of these apes, of which the chief representatives are the +gorilla, orangutan, and the chimpanzee, live in relatively permanent +family groups, usually monogamous. These family groups are quite human +in many of their characteristics, such as the care which the male parent +gives to the mother and her offspring, and the seeming affection which +exists between all members of the group. Such a group of parents and +offspring among the higher apes is, moreover, a relatively permanent +affair, children of different ages being frequently found along with +their parents in such groups. So far as the evidence of animals next to +man, therefore, goes, there is no reason for supposing that the human +family life sprang from confused or promiscuous sex relations in which +no permanent union between male and female parent existed. On the +contrary, there is every reason to believe, as Westermarck says, that +human family life is an inheritance from man's apelike progenitor. + +The Evidence from the Lower Human Races.--The evidence afforded by the +lowest peoples in point of culture even more clearly, if anything, +refutes the hypothesis of a primitive state of promiscuity. The habits +or customs of the lowest peoples were not well known previous to the +nineteenth century. Therefore it was possible for such a theory as the +patriarchal theory of the primitive family to remain generally accepted, +as we have already said, down to the middle of the nineteenth century. +This was the theory that the oldest or most primitive type of human +family life is that depicted in the opening pages of the Book of +Genesis, namely, a family life in which the father or eldest male of the +family group is the absolute ruler of the group and practically owner of +all persons and property. The belief that this was the primitive type of +the human family life was first attacked by a German-Swiss philologist +by the name of Bachofen in a work entitled _Das Mutterrecht_ (The +Matriarchate), published in 1861, in which he argued that antecedent to +the patriarchal period was a matriarchal period, in which women were +dominant socially and politically, and in which relationships were +traced through mothers only. Bachofen got his evidence for this theory +from certain ancient legends, such as that of the Amazons, and other +remains in Greek and Roman literature, which seemed to point to a period +antecedent to the patriarchal. + +In 1876 Mr. J.F. McLennan, a Scotch lawyer, put forth, independently, +practically the same theory, basing it upon certain legal survivals +which he found among many peoples. With Bachofen, he argued that this +matriarchal period must have been characterized by promiscuous relations +of the sexes. In 1877 Mr. Lewis H. Morgan, an American ethnologist and +sociologist, put forth again, independently, practically the same +theory, basing it upon an extensive study of the North American Indian +tribes. Morgan had lived among the Iroquois Indians for years and had +mastered their system of relationship, which previously had puzzled the +whites. He found that they traced relationship through mothers only, and +not at all along the male line. This method of reckoning relationship, +moreover, he found also characterized practically all of the North +American Indian tribes, and he argued that the only explanation of it +was that originally sexual relations were of such an unstable or +promiscuous character that they would not permit of tracing descent +through fathers. + +From these theories sociological writers put forth the conclusion that +the primitive state was one of promiscuity, or, as Sir John Lubbock +called it in his _Origin of Civilization_, one of "communism in +women." Post, a German student of comparative jurisprudence, for +example, summed up the theory by saying that "monogamous marriage +originally emerged everywhere from pure communism in women, through the +intermediate stages of limited communism in women, polyandry, and +polygyny." Even Herbert Spencer in his _Principles of Sociology_, +while he avoided accepting such an extreme theory, asserted that in the +beginning sex relations were confused and unregulated, and that all +forms of marriage--polyandry, polygyny, monogamy, and promiscuity-- +existed alongside of one another and that monogamy survived through +its being the superior form. + +Before giving a criticism in detail of this theory let us note whether +the evidence from the lowest peoples confirms it. The lowest peoples in +point of culture are not the North American Indians nor the African +Negroes, but certain isolated groups that live almost in a state of +nature, without any attempt to cultivate the soil or to control nature +in other respects. Such are the Bushmen of South Africa, the Australian +Aborigines, the Negritos of the Philippine Islands and of the Andaman +Islands, the Veddahs of Ceylon, and the Fuegians of South America. Now +all of these peoples, with a possible exception, practice monogamy and +live in relatively stable family groups. Their monogamy, however, is not +of the type which we find in patriarchal times or among civilized +peoples, but is a simple pairing monogamy, husband and wife remaining +together indefinitely if children are born, but if no children are born, +separation may easily take place. Westermarck in his _History of Human +Marriage_ has reviewed at length all of the evidence from these lower +peoples and shows undoubtedly that nothing approaching promiscuity +existed among them. Promiscuity is apt to be found at a higher stage of +social development, and is especially apt to be found among the nature +peoples after the white man has visited them and demoralized their +family life. But in all these cases the existence of promiscuity is +manifestly something exceptional and abnormal. Perhaps civilized peoples +such as the Romans of the decadence have more nearly approximated the +condition of promiscuity than any savage people of which we have +knowledge. At any rate, one must conclude that the lowest existing +savages found in the nineteenth century had definite forms of family +life, and that the type usually found was the simple pairing monogamy +which we have just mentioned. + +Objections to the Hypothesis of a Primitive State of Promiscuity.--We +may now briefly sum up the main criticisms of this theory of a primitive +state of promiscuity, not only as we may derive them from inductive +study of the higher animals and the lower peoples, but also as we may +deduce them from known psychological and biological facts or principles. + +(1) In the first place, then, the animals next to man, namely, the +anthropoid apes, do not show a condition of promiscuity. + +(2) The evidence from the lower peoples does not show that such a +condition exists or has ever existed among them. + +(3) A third argument against this hypothesis may be gained from what we +know of primitive economic conditions. Under the most primitive +conditions, in which man had no mastery over nature, food supply was +relatively scarce, and as a rule only very small groups of people could +live together. The smallness of primitive groups, on account of the +scarcity of food supply, would prevent anything like promiscuity on a +large scale. + +(4) A fourth argument of a deductive nature is that the jealousy of the +male, which characterizes all higher animals and especially man, would +prevent anything like the existence of sexual promiscuity. The tendency +of man would have been to appropriate one or more women for himself and +drive away all rivals. Long ago Darwin argued that this would prevent +anything like the existence of a general state of promiscuity. + +(5) A fifth argument against this theory may be got from the general +biological fact that sexual promiscuity tends to pathological conditions +unfavorable to fecundity, that is, fertility, or the birth of offspring. + Physicians have long ago ascertained this fact, and the modern +prostitute gives illustration of it by the fact that she has few or no +children. Among the lower animal species, in which some degree of +promiscuity obtains, moreover, powerful instincts keep the sexes apart +except at the pairing season. Now, no such instincts exist in man. +Promiscuity in man would, therefore, greatly lessen the birth rate, and +any group that practiced it to any extent would soon be eliminated in +competition with other groups that did not practice it. + +(6) We have finally the general social fact that promiscuity would lead +to the neglect of children. Promiscuity means that the male parent does +not remain with the female parent to care for the offspring and, +therefore, in the human species it would mean that the care of children +would be thrown wholly upon the mother. This means that the children +would have less chance of surviving. Not only would promiscuity lead to +lessening the birth rate, but it would lead to a much higher mortality +in children born. This is found to be a striking fact wherever we find +any degree of promiscuity among any people. Hence, promiscuity would +soon exterminate any people that practiced it extensively in competition +with other peoples that did not practice it. + +From all of these lines of argument, without going over the evidence in +greater detail, it seems reasonable to conclude with Westermarck "that +the hypothesis of a primitive state of promiscuity has no foundation in +fact and is essentially unscientific." The facts put forth in support of +the theory do not justify the conclusion, Westermarck says, that +promiscuity has ever been a general practice among a single people and +much less that it was the primitive state. Promiscuity is found, +however, more or less in the form of sexual irregularities or immorality +among all peoples; more often, however, among the civilized than among +the uncivilized, but among no people has it ever existed unqualified by +more enduring forms of sex relation. Moreover, because promiscuity +breaks up the social bonds, throws the burden of the care of children +wholly upon the mother, and lessens the birth rate, we are justified in +concluding that promiscuity is essentially an antisocial practice. This +agrees with the facts generally shown by criminology and sociology, that +the elements practicing promiscuity to any great extent in modern +societies are those most closely related with the degenerate and +criminal elements. Those elements, in other words, in modern society +that practice promiscuity are on the road to extinction, and if a people +generally were to practice it there is no reason to believe that such a +people would meet with any different fate. + +_The Earliest Form of the Family Life in the Human Species_, +therefore, is probably that of the simple pairing monogamous family +found among many of the higher animals, especially the anthropoid apes, +and also found among the lower peoples. This primitive monogamy, +however, as we have already seen, was not accompanied by the social, +legal, and religious elements that the historic monogamic family has +largely rested upon. On the contrary, this primitive monogamy rested +solely upon an instinctive basis, and, as we have seen, unless children +were born it was apt to be relatively unstable. Permanency in family +relations among primitive peoples depended largely upon the birth of +children. Thus we find confirmed our conclusion drawn some time ago that +family life rests primarily upon the parental instinct. That it still so +rests is shown by the fact, as we shall see later, that divorce is many +times more common among couples that have no children than among those +that have children. + +SOME GENERAL CONCLUSIONS, both of theoretical and practical bearing, may +here be pointed out. We have seen that the biological processes of life +have created the family, and that the family, as an institution, rests +upon these biological conditions. Hence it is not too much to say, +first, that the family is not a man-made institution; and, secondly, +that it rests upon certain fundamental instincts of human nature. Now, +both of these statements are also true to a certain extent as to human +society in general. There is a sense in which social organization is not +wholly man-made, and it is true that all human institutions rest to some +extent upon human instincts. This is not saying, of course, that man has +not modified and may not modify social organization and human +institutions through his reason, but it is saying that the essential +elements in human institutions and in the social order must correspond +to the conditions of life generally and to the instincts which natural +selection has implanted in the species. To attempt to reorganize human +society or to reconstruct institutions regardless of the biological +conditions of life, or regardless of human instincts, is to meet with +certain failure. + +A practical conclusion which may be drawn also is that those people who +advocate sexual promiscuity in present society, or free love, as they +please to style it, are advocating a condition which would result in the +elimination of any group that practiced it. Promiscuity, or even great +instability in the family life, as we have already seen, would lead to +the undermining of everything upon which a higher civilization rests. +The people in modern society who advocate such theories as free love, +therefore, are more dangerous than the worst anarchist or the most +revolutionary socialist. In other words, the modern attack upon the +family is more of a menace to all that is worth while in human life than +all attacks upon government and property, although it is not usually +resented as such; and it is one of the most serious signs of the times +that many intellectual people have indorsed such views. We must +reemphasize, therefore, the fact that the family is the central +institution of human society, that industry and the state must +subordinate themselves to its interest. Neither the state nor industry +has had much to do with the origin of the family, and neither the state +nor industry may safely determine its forms independent of the +biological requirements for human survival. Moreover, it is evident that +human society from the beginning has in more or less instinctive, and +also in more or less conscious, ways attempted to regulate the relations +between the sexes with a view to controlling the reproductive process. +While material civilization is mainly a control over the food process, +moral civilization involves a control over the reproductive process, +that is, over the birth and rearing of children; and such control over +the reproductive process, which has certainly been one of the aims of +all social organization in the past, whether of savage peoples or of +civilized peoples, evidently precludes anything like the toleration of +promiscuity or even of free love. + + +SELECT REFERENCES + + +_For brief reading:_ + +WESTERMARCK, _History of Human Marriage_, Chaps. I-VI. +HOWARD, _History of Matrimonial Institutions_, Vol. I, Chaps. I-III +HEINEMAN, _Physical Basis of Civilization_, Chaps. IV-VII. + + +_For more extended reading:_ + +CRAWLEY, _The Mystic Rose: A Study of Primitive Marriage_. +GEDDES AND THOMSON, _Evolution of Sex_. +LETOURNEAU, _The Evolution of Marriage_. +MORGAN, _Ancient Society_. +STARCKE, _The Primitive Family_. +SPENCER, _Principles of Sociology_, Vol. I. + + + + + + +CHAPTER V + + +THE FORMS OF THE FAMILY + +The family as an institution has varied greatly in its forms from age to +age and from people to people. This is what we should expect, seeing +that all organic structures are variable. Such variations in human +institutions are due partially to the influences of the environment, +partially to the state of knowledge, and partially to many other causes +as yet not well understood. The family illustrates in greater or less +degree the working of these causes of variation and of change in human +institutions. + +The Maternal and Paternal Families.--As regards the general form of the +family we have to note first of all the two great forms which we may +characterize respectively as "the maternal family" and "the paternal +family." As we have already seen, Bachofen, Morgan, and others +discovered a condition of human society in which relationship was traced +through mothers only, and in which property or authority descended along +the female line rather than along the male line. Further investigation +and research have shown that up to recent times, say up to fifty years +ago, one half of all the peoples of the world, if we reckon them by +nations and tribes rather than by numbers, practiced this system of +reckoning kinship through mothers only, and passed property and +authority down along the female line. Ethnologists and sociologists have +practically concluded, from the amount of evidence now collected, that +this maternal or metronymic system was the primitive system of tracing +relationships, and that it was succeeded among the European peoples by +the paternal system so long ago that the transition from the one to the +other has been forgotten, except as some trace of it has been preserved +in customs, legends, and the like. + +Among many tribes of the North American Indians this metronymic or +maternal system was peculiarly well-developed. Children took their +mother's name, not their father's name; belonged to their mother's clan, +not their father's clan; and the chief transmitted his authority, if +hereditary, not to his own son, but to his eldest sister's son. The +relatives on the father's side, indeed, were quite ignored. Frequently +the maternal uncle had more legal authority over the children than their +own father, seeing that the children belonged to his clan, that is, to +their mother's clan. + +Now, Bachofen claimed not only that in this stage was kinship reckoned +through mothers only, but that women were dominant socially and +politically; that there existed a true matriarchy, or rule of the +mothers. Do the facts support Bachofen's theory? Let us see. The +Iroquois Indians, among whom Morgan lived, were a typical maternal or +metronymic people. Among them, without any doubt, the women had a +position of influence socially and even politically which often is not +found among peoples of higher culture. For example, among the Iroquois +the government of the clan was in the hands of four women councilors +(Matrons), who were elected by all the adults in the clan. These four +women councilors, however, elected a Peace Sachem, who carried out the +will of the clan in all matters pertaining to peace generally. Moreover, +the councilors of the several clans, four fifths of whom were women, met +together to form the Tribal Council; but in this Tribal Council the +women sat separate, not participating in the deliberations, but +exercising only a veto power on the decisions of the men. In matters of +war, however, government was intrusted to two war chiefs elected from +the tribe generally, the women here only having the right to veto the +decision of the tribe to enter upon the warpath. Thus we see that while +the women of the Iroquois Indians had a great deal of social and +political influence, the actual work of government was largely turned +over by them to the men, and especially was this true of directing the +affairs of the tribe in time of war. There is no doubt, however, that in +the maternal stage of social evolution women had an influence in +domestic, religious, and social matters much greater than they had at +many later stages of social development. Among the Zuni of New Mexico, +for example, another well-developed maternal people, marriage is always +arranged by the bride's parents. The husband goes to live with his wife, +and is practically a guest in his wife's house all his life long, she +alone having the right of divorce. Indeed, among all maternal peoples +the rule is that the husband goes to live with the wife, and not the +wife with the husband, the children, as we have already seen, keeping +the mother's name and belonging to her kindred or clan. + +Nevertheless we cannot agree with Bachofen that a true matriarchy, or +government by women, ever existed. On the contrary, among all of these +maternal peoples, while the women may have much influence socially and +politically, the men, on account of their superior strength, are +intrusted with the work not only of protecting and providing for the +families and driving away enemies, but also largely with the work of +maintaining the internal government and order of the people. Strictly +speaking, therefore, there has never been a matriarchal stage of social +evolution, but rather a maternal or metronymic stage. + +We have already said that this stage was probably the primitive one. How +are we to explain, then, that primitive man reckoned kinship through +mothers only? Was this due, as Morgan thought, to a primitive practice +of promiscuity which prevented tracing relationships through fathers? +The reply is, that among the many maternal peoples now well known, among +whom relationships are traced through mothers only, we find no evidence +of the practice of general promiscuity now or even in remote times. The +North American Indians, for example, had quite definite forms of the +family life and were very far removed from the practice of promiscuity, +though they traced relationship through mothers only. It is evident that +the causes of the maternal family and the maternal system of +relationship are not so simple as Morgan supposed. What, then, were the +causes of the maternal system? It is probable that man in the earliest +times did not know the physiological connection between father and +child. The physiological connection between mother and child, on the +other hand, was an obvious fact which required no knowledge of +physiology to establish; therefore, nothing was more natural than for +primitive man to recognize that the child was of the mother's blood, but +not of the father's blood. Therefore, the child belonged to the mother's +people and not to the father's people. If it be asked whether it is +possible that there could be any human beings so ignorant that they do +not know the physiological connection between father and child, the +reply is, that this is apparently the case among a number of very +primitive peoples, even down to recent times. It is not infrequent among +these peoples to find conception and childbirth attributed to the +influence of the spirits, rather than to relations between male and +female. While, therefore, a social connection between the father and the +children was recognized, leading the father to provide in all ways for +his children, as fathers do whether among civilized or uncivilized +peoples, yet the blood relationship between the father and the child +could not have been clear in the most primitive times. + +Perhaps an even more efficient cause, however, of the maternal system +was the fact that the mother in primitive times was the stable element +in the family life, the constant center of the family. The husband was +frequently away from home, hunting or fighting, and oftentimes failed to +return. Nothing was more natural, therefore, than that the child should +be reckoned as belonging to the mother, take her name and belong to her +kindred or clan. Moreover, after the custom of naming children from +mothers and reckoning them as belonging to the mother's clan was +established, it could not be displaced by the mere discovery of the +physiological connection between the father and the child. On the +contrary social habits, like habits in the individual, tend to persist +until they work badly. We find, therefore, the maternal system +persisting among peoples who for many generations had come fully to +recognize the physiological connection of father and child. Indeed, the +maternal system could never have been done away with if social evolution +had not brought about new and complex conditions which caused the system +to break down and to be replaced by the paternal system. + +_The Paternal or Patriarchal Family._ At a certain stage we find, +then, that a vast revolution took place in human society, especially in +the family life, and the family and society generally came to be +organized more definitely in regard to the male element. At a certain +period, indeed, we find that the authority of the husband and father in +the family has become supreme, and that he is practically owner of all +persons and property of the family group, the wife and children being +reduced, if not to the position of property, at least to the position of +subject persons. This is the patriarchal family, classical pictures of +which we find set forth in the pages of the Old Testament. How, then, +did the transition take place from the maternal system, in which the +mother was so important in the family, to the paternal system, in which +the father was so all-important? What were the causes which brought +about the breakdown of the maternal system and the gradual development +of the patriarchal family? Some of these causes we can clearly make out +from the study of social history. + +(1) War was unquestionably a cause of the breakdown of the maternal +system through the fact that women were captured in war, held as slaves, +and made wives or concubines by their captors. These captured wives were +regarded as the property of the captor. Any children born to them were, +therefore, also regarded as the property of the captor. Furthermore, +these captured wives were separated from their kindred, and their +children could not possibly belong to any clan except their husband's. +Manifestly this cause could not have worked in the earliest times, when +slave captives were not valuable; but as soon as slavery became +instituted in any form, then women slaves were particularly valued, not +only for their labor, but because they might be either concubines or +wives. It is evident, then, that war and slavery would thus indirectly +tend to undermine the maternal system. + +(2) Wife purchase would operate in the same way. Among peoples that had +developed a commercial life as well as slavery it early became the +practice to purchase wives. It is evident that these purchased wives +would be regarded as a sort of property, and the husband would naturally +claim the children as belonging to him. Among certain North American +Indians we find exactly this state of affairs. If a man married a wife +without paying the purchase price for her, then her children took her +name and belonged to her clan; but if he had purchased her, say with a +number of blankets, then the children took his name and belonged to his +clan. + +(3) The decisive cause, however, of the breakdown of the maternal system +was the development of the pastoral stage of industry. Now, the grazing +of flocks and herds requires considerable territory and necessitates +small and compact groups widely separated from one another. Hence, in +the pastoral stage the wife must go with the husband and be far removed +from the influence and authority of her own kindred. This gave the +husband greater power over his wife. Moreover, the care of flocks and +herds accentuated the value of the male laborer, while primitively woman +had been the chief laborer. In the pastoral stage the man had the main +burden of caring for the flocks and herds. Under such circumstances +nothing was more natural than that the authority of the owner of the +family property should gradually become supreme in all matters, and we +find, therefore, among all pastoral peoples that the family is itself a +little political unit, the children taking the father's name, property +and authority passing down along the male line, while the eldest living +male is usually the ruler of the whole group. + +(4) After all these causes came another factor--ancestor worship. While +ancestor worship exists to some extent among maternal peoples, it is +usually not well-developed for some reason or other until the paternal +stage is reached. Ancestor worship, being the worship of the departed +ancestors as heroes, seems to develop more readily where the line of +ancestors are males. It may be suggested that the male ancestor is apt +to be a more heroic figure than the female ancestor. At any rate, when +ancestor worship became fully developed it powerfully tended to +reenforce the authority of the patriarch, because he was, as the eldest +living ancestor, the representative of the gods upon earth, therefore +his power became almost divine. Religion thus finally came in to place +the patriarchal family upon a very firm basis. + +Thus we see how each of these two great forms, the maternal family and +the paternal family, arose out of natural conditions, and therefore they +may be said to represent two great stages in the social evolution of +man. It is hardly necessary to point out that civilized societies are +now apparently entering upon a third stage, in which there will be +relative equality given to the male and the female elements that go to +make up the family. + +Polyandry.--We must notice now the various forms of marriage by which +the family has been constituted among different peoples and in different +ages. Marriage, like the family itself, is variable, and an indefinite +number of forms may be found among various peoples. We shall notice, +however, only the three leading forms,--polyandry, polygyny, and +monogamy,--and attempt to show the natural conditions which favor each. +It is evident that if we assume that the primitive form of the family +was that of a simple pairing monogamy, the burden is laid upon us to +show how such different types as polyandry and polygyny arose. + +Polyandry, or the union of one woman with several men, is a relatively +rare form of marriage and the family, found only in certain isolated +regions of the world. It is particularly found in Tibet, a barren and +inhospitable plateau north of India and forming a part of the Chinese +Empire. It is also found in certain other isolated mountainous regions +in India, and down to recent times also in Arabia. In none of these +places does it exist exclusively, but rather alongside of monogamy and +perhaps other forms of the family. Thus in Tibet the upper classes +practice polygyny and monogamy, while among the lower classes we find +polyandry and monogamy. In all these regions where polyandry occurs, +moreover, it is to be noted that the conditions of life are harsh and +severe. Tibet is an exceptionally inhospitable region, with a climate of +arctic rigor, the people living mainly by grazing. Under such +circumstances it is conceivably difficult for one man to support and +protect a family. At any rate, the form of polyandry which we find in +Tibet suggests that such economic conditions may have been the main +cause of its existence. Ordinarily in Tibet a polyandrous family is +formed by an older brother taking a wife, and then admitting his younger +brothers into partnership with him. The older brother is frequently +absent from home, looking after the flocks, and in his absence one of +the younger brothers assumes the headship of the family. Under such +circumstances we can see how the natural human instincts which would +oppose polyandry under ordinary circumstances, namely, the jealousy of +the male, might become greatly modified, or cease to act altogether. +Certain other conditions besides economic ones might also favor the +existence of polyandry, such as the scarcity of women. Summing up, we +can say, then, that this rare form of the family seems to have as its +causes: (1) In barren and inhospitable countries the labor of one man is +sometimes found not sufficient to support a family. (2) Also there +probably exists in such regions an excess of males. This might be due to +one of two causes: First, the practice of exposing female infants might +lead to a scarcity of women; secondly, in such regions it is found that +from causes not well understood a larger number of males are born. It +may be noted as a general fact that when the conditions of life are hard +in human society, owing to famine, war, or barrenness of the soil, a +larger number of male births take place. We may therefore infer that +this would disturb the numerical proportion of the sexes in such +regions. (3) A third cause may be suggested as having something to do +with the matter, namely, that habits of close inbreeding, or +intermarriage, might perhaps tend to overcome the natural repugnance to +such a relation. Moreover, close inbreeding also, as the experiments of +stock-breeders show, would tend to produce a surplus of male births, and +so would act finally in the same way as the second cause. + +POLYGYNY, [Footnote: The word "polygamy" is too broad in its meaning to +use as a scientific term for this form of the family. "Polygamy" comes +from two Greek words meaning "much married;" hence it includes +"polyandry" (having several husbands) and "polygyny" (having several +wives).] or the union of one man with several women, is a much more +common form of marriage. It is, in fact, to be found sporadically among +all peoples and in all ages. It has perhaps existed at least +sporadically from the most primitive times, because we find that at +least one of the anthropoid apes, namely, the gorilla, practices it to +some extent. It is manifest, however, that it could not have existed to +any extent among primitive men, except where food supply was +exceptionally abundant. In the main, polygyny is a later development, +then, which comes in when some degree of wealth has been accumulated, +that is, sufficient food supply to make it possible for one man to +support several families. Polygyny came in especially after women came +to be captured in war and kept as slaves or wives. The practice of wife +capture, indeed, and the honor attached to the custom, had much to do in +making the practice of polygyny common among certain peoples. Wherever +slavery has existed, we may also note, polygyny, either in its legal +form or in its illegal form of concubinage, has flourished. Polygyny, +indeed, is closely related with the institution of slavery and is +practically coextensive with it. In the ancient world it existed among +the Hebrews and among practically all of the peoples of the Orient, and +also sporadically among our own Teutonic ancestors. In modern times +polygyny still exists among all the Mohammedan peoples and to a greater +or less degree among all semicivilized peoples. It exists in China in +the form of concubinage. It even exists in the United States, for all +the evidence seems to show that the Utah Mormons still practice polygyny +to some extent, although it may be doubted whether polygynous unions are +being formed among them at the present time. + +Two facts always need to be borne in mind regarding polygyny: First, +that wherever it is practiced it is relatively confined to the upper and +wealthy classes, for the reason that the support of more than one family +is something which only the wealthy classes in a given society could +assume. Secondly, it follows that under ordinary circumstances only a +small minority of a given population practice polygyny, even in +countries in which it is sanctioned. In Mohammedan countries like Turkey +and Egypt, for example, it is estimated that not more than five per cent +of the families are polygynous, while in other regions the percentage +seems to be still smaller. The reason for this is not only the economic +one just mentioned, but that everywhere the sexes are relatively equal +in numbers, and therefore it is impossible for polygyny to become a +widespread general custom. If some men have more than one wife it is +evident that other men will probably have to forego marriage entirely. +This is not saying that under certain circumstances, namely, the +importation of large numbers of women, a higher per cent of polygynous +families may not exist. It is said that among the negroes on the west +coast of Africa the number of polygynous families reaches as high as +fifty per cent, owing to the fact that female slaves are largely +imported into that district, and that they serve not only as wives, but +do the bulk of the agricultural labor, the male negro preferring female +slaves, who can do his work and be wives at the same time, to male +slaves. But such cases as these are altogether exceptional and +manifestly could not become general. + +Summing up, we may say that the causes of polygyny are, then: + +(1) First of all, the brutal lust of man. No doubt man's animal +propensities have had much to do with the existence of this form of the +family. Nevertheless, while male sensuality is at the basis of polygyny, +it would be a mistake to think that sensuality is an adequate +explanation in all cases. On the contrary, we find many other causes, +chiefly, perhaps, economic, operating also to favor the development of +polygyny. + +(2) One of these is wife capture, as we have already seen. The captured +women in war were held as trophies and slaves, and later became wives or +concubines. Among all peoples at a certain stage the honor of wife +capture has alone been a prolific cause of polygyny. + +(3) Another cause, after slavery became developed, was the high value +set on women as laborers. Among many barbarous peoples the women do the +main part of the work. They are more tractable as slaves, and +consequently a high value is set upon their labor. As we have already +seen, these female slaves usually serve at the same time as concubines, +if not legal wives of their masters. + +(4) Another cause which we can perhaps hardly appreciate at the present +time is the high valuation set on children. We see this cause operating +particularly in the case of the patriarchs of the Old Testament. Under +the patriarchal family great value was set upon children as necessary to +continue the family line. Where the device of adoption was not resorted +to, therefore, in case of barrenness or the birth exclusively of female +children, nothing was more natural than that polygyny should be resorted +to in order to insure the family succession. In the patriarchal family +also a high valuation was necessarily set upon children, because the +larger the family grew the stronger it was. + +(5) Finally, religion came to sanction polygyny. The religious sanction +of polygyny cannot be looked upon as one of its original causes, but +when once established it reacted powerfully to reenforce and maintain +the institution. How the religious sanction came about we can readily +see when we remember that very commonly religions confuse the practice +of the nobility with what is noble or commendable morally. The +polygynous practices of the nobility, therefore, under certain +conditions came to receive the sanction of religion. When this took +place polygyny became firmly established as a social institution, very +difficult to uproot, as all the experience of Christian missionaries +among peoples practicing polygyny goes to show. We may note also the +general truth, that while religion does not originate human institutions +or the forms of human association, it is preeminently that which gives +fixity and stability to institutions through the supernatural sanction +that it accords them. + +Some judgment of the social value of polygyny may not be out of place in +connection with this subject. Admitting, as all students of social +history must, that in certain times and places the polygynous form of +family has been advantageous, has served the interests of social +survival and even of civilization, yet viewed from the standpoint of +present society it seems that our judgment of polygyny must be wholly +unfavorable. In the first place, as we have already seen, polygyny is +essentially an institution of barbarism. It arose largely through the +practice of wife capture and the keeping of female slaves. While often +adjusted to the requirements of barbarous societies, it seems in no way +adjusted to a high civilization. Polygyny, indeed, must necessarily rest +upon the subjection and degradation of women. Necessarily the practice +of polygyny must disregard the feelings of women, for women are jealous +creatures as well as men. No high regard for the feelings of women, +therefore, would be consistent with the practice of polygyny. Finally, +all the evidence that we have goes to show that under polygyny children +are neglected, and, at least from the standpoint of a high civilization, +inadequately socialized. This must necessarily be so, because in the +polygynous family the care of the children rests almost entirely with +the mother. While we have no statistics of infant mortality from +polygynous countries, it seems probable that infant mortality is high, +and we know from experience with polygynous families in our own state of +Utah, according to the testimony of those who have worked among them, +that delinquent children are especially found in such households. +Fatherhood, in the full sense of the word, can hardly be said to exist +under polygyny. + +Those philosophers, like Schopenhauer, who advocate the legalizing of +polygyny in civilized countries, are hardly worth replying to. It is +safe to say that any widespread practice of polygyny in civilized +communities would lead to a reversion to the moral standards of +barbarism in many if not in all matters. That polygyny is still a +burning question in the United States of the twentieth century is merely +good evidence that we are not very far removed yet from barbarism. + +MONOGAMY, as we have already seen, has been the prevalent form of +marriage in all ages and in all countries. Wherever other forms have +existed monogamy has existed alongside of them as the dominant, even +though perhaps not the socially honored, form. All other forms of the +family must be regarded as sporadic variations, on the whole unsuited to +long survival, because essentially inconsistent with the nature of human +society. In civilized Europe monogamy has been the only form of the +family sanctioned for ages by law, custom, and religion. The leading +peoples of the world, therefore, practice monogamy, and it is safe to +say that the connection between monogamy and progressive forms of +civilization is not an accident. + +What, then, are the social advantages of monogamy which favor the +development of a higher type of culture? These advantages are numerous, +but perhaps the most important of them can be grouped under six heads. + +(1) The number of the two sexes, as we have already seen, is everywhere +approximately equal. This means that monogamy is in harmony with the +biological conditions that exist in the human species. The equal number +of the two sexes has probably been brought about through natural +selection. Why nature should favor this proportion of the sexes can +perhaps be in part understood when we reflect that with such proportion +there can be the largest number of family groups, and hence the best +possible conditions for the rearing of offspring. + +(2) Monogamy secures the superior care of children in at least two +respects. First, it very greatly decreases mortality in children, +because under monogamy both husband and wife unite in their care. Again, +monogamy secures the superior upbringing and, therefore, the superior +socialization of the child. In the monogamous family much greater +attention can be given to the training of children by both parents. In +other forms of the family not only is the death rate higher among +children, but from the point of view of modern civilization, at least, +they are inferiorly socialized. + +(3) The monogamic family alone produces affections and emotions of the +higher type. It is only in the monogamic family that the highest type of +altruistic affection can be cultivated. It is difficult to understand, +for example, how anything like unselfish affection between husband and +wife can exist under polygyny. Under monogamy, husband and wife are +called upon to sacrifice selfish desires in the mutual care of children. +Monogamy is, therefore, fitted as a form of the family to foster +altruism in the highest degree, and, as we have seen, the higher the +type of altruism produced by the family life, the higher the type of the +social life generally, other things being equal. It is especially to the +credit of monogamy that it has created fatherhood in the fullest sense +of the term, and therefore taught the male element in human society the +value of service and self-sacrifice. Under polygynous conditions the +father cannot devote himself to any extent to his children or to any one +wife, since he is really the head of several households, and therefore, +as we have already noted, fatherhood in the fullest sense scarcely +exists under polygyny. + +(4) Under monogamy, moreover, all family relationships are more definite +and strong, and thus family bonds, and ultimately social bonds, are +stronger. In the polygynous household the children of the different +wives are half brothers and half sisters, hence family affection has +little chance to develop among them, and as a matter of fact between +children of different wives there is constant pulling and hauling. +Moreover, because the children in a polygynous family are only half +brothers this immensely complicates relationships, and even the line of +ancestors. Legal relations and all blood relationships are, therefore, +more entangled. It is no inconsiderable social merit of monogamy that it +makes blood relationships simple and usually perfectly definite. All of +this has an effect upon society at large, because the cohesive power of +blood relationship, even in modern societies, is something still worth +taking into account. But of course the main influence of all this is to +be found in the family group itself, because it is only under such +simple and definite relations as we find in the monogamous family that +there is ample stimulus to develop the higher family affections. + +(5) From all this it follows that monogamy favors the development of +high types of religion and morals, family affection being an +indispensable root of any high type of ethical religion. That form of +the family which favors the development of the highest type of this +affection will, therefore, favor the development of the highest type of +religion. We see this even more plainly, perhaps, in ancient times than +in the present time, because it was monogamy that favored the +development of ancestor worship through making the line of ancestors +clear and definite, and thus monogamy helped to develop this type of +religion, which became the basis of still higher types. + +(6) Monogamy not only favors the preservation of the lives of the +children, but also favors the preservation of the lives of the parents, +because it is only under monogamy that we find aged parents cared for by +their children to any extent. Under polygyny the wife who has grown old +is discarded for a young wife, and usually ends her days in bitterness. +The father, too, under polygyny is rarely cared for by the children, +because the polygynous household has never given the opportunity for +close affections between parents and children. That monogamy, therefore, +helps to lengthen life through favoring care of parents by children in +old age is an element in its favor, for it adds not a little to the +happiness of life, and so to the strength of social bonds, that people +do not have to look forward to a cheerless and friendless old age. + +In brief, the monogamic family presents such superior unity and harmony +from every point of view that it is much more fitted to produce a higher +type of culture. From whatever point of view we may look at it, +therefore, there are many reasons why civilized societies cannot afford +to sanction any other form of the family than that of monogamy. + +The Relation of the Form of the Family to the Form of Industry.--As we +have already seen, the form of the family is undoubtedly greatly +influenced by the form of industry. This is so markedly the case that +some sociologists and economists have claimed that the form of the +family life is but a reflection of the form of the industrial life; that +the family in its changes and variations slavishly follows the changes +in economic conditions. That such an extreme view as this is a mistake +can readily be seen from a brief review of the causes which have +produced certain types of family life in certain periods. Thus, the +maternal type of the family cannot be said by any means to have been +determined by economic conditions. On the contrary, primarily the +maternal family, as we have seen, was determined by certain intellectual +conceptions, namely, the absence of knowledge of the physiological +connection between father and child, though the economic conditions of +primitive life tended powerfully to continue the maternal family long +after intellectual conditions had changed. Again, it has been said that +the patriarchal family owed its existence entirely to a form of +industry, namely, pastoral industry, but, as we have seen, other factors +also operated to produce the patriarchal type of the family, such as +war, religion, and perhaps man's inherent desire to dominate. Moreover, +religion continued the patriarchal family in many cases long after +pastoral industry had ceased to be the chief economic form. + +So too with the forms of marriage. While polygyny has been claimed to be +due entirely to economic causes, we have seen that these so-called +economic causes have only been the opportunities for the polygynous +instincts of man to assert themselves. These polygynous instincts of man +have asserted themselves more or less under all conditions of society, +but under certain conditions, when there was an accumulation of wealth, +and especially with the institution of slavery, they had greater +opportunity to assert themselves than elsewhere. Thus the basic cause of +polygyny is not economic, but psychological; and given certain moral and +economic conditions of society, these polygynous tendencies assert +themselves. Monogamy, on the other hand, has in no sense been determined +by economic conditions but is fundamentally determined by the biological +fact of the numerical equality of the sexes. This is doubtless the main +reason why monogamy has been the prevalent form of the family +everywhere. Certain moral and psychological factors which go along with +the development of higher types of culture have, however, powerfully +reenforced monogamy. It is doubtful if economic conditions can to any +extent be shown to have equally reenforced the monogamic life. + +Our conclusion must be, then, that while the form of the family and the +form of industry are closely related, so closely that the form of +industry continually affects more or less the family life, yet there is +no reason for concluding that the form of the family is wholly or even +chiefly determined by the form of industry. + + +SELECT REFERENCES + + +_For brief reading:_ + +WESTERMARCK, _History of Human Marriage_, Chaps. XX-XXII. + + +_For more extended reading:_ + +MCLENNAN, _The Patriarchal Theory._ +MORGAN, _Ancient Society._ +PARSONS, _The Family._ +WAKE, _The Development of Marriage and Kinship._ + + + + + + +CHAPTER VI + + +THE HISTORICAL DEVELOPMENT OF THE FAMILY + +While we cannot enter into the historical evolution of the family as an +institution among the different civilized peoples, still it will be +profitable for us to consider the history of the family among some +single representative people in order that we may see the forces which +have made and unmade the family life, and incidentally also to a great +degree, the general social life of that people. We shall select the +ancient Romans as the people among whom we can thus best study in +outline the development of the family. While the family life of the +ancient Hebrews is of particular interest to us because of the close +connection of our religion and ethics with that of the Hebrews, yet in +the family life of the ancient Romans constructive and destructive +factors are more clearly marked and, therefore, the study of ancient +Roman family life is best fitted to bring out those factors. The ancient +Romans were among the earliest civilized of the Aryan peoples, and their +institutions are, therefore, of peculiar interest to us as representing +approximately the early Aryan type. What we shall say concerning Roman +family life, moreover, will apply, with some modifications and +qualifications, to the family life of other Aryan peoples, especially +the Greeks. The Greeks and the Romans, indeed, were so closely related +in their early culture that for the purpose of institutional history +they may be considered practically one people. Without any attempt, +then, to sketch the history of the family as an institution in general, +let us note some of the salient features of the family life of the +ancient Romans. + +The Early Roman Family.--(1) _Ancestor Worship as the Basis of the +Early Roman Family._ What we have said thus far indicates a close +connection between the family life and religion among all peoples. This +was especially true of the early Romans. It may be said, indeed, that +ancestor worship was the constitutive principle of their family life. +Among them the family seemed to have lost in part its character as a +purely social institution and to have become specialized into a +religious institution. At any rate, the early Roman family existed very +largely for the sake of perpetuating the worship of ancestors. Of +course, ancestor worship could have had nothing to do with the origin of +the family life among the Romans. The type of their family life was +patriarchal, and we have already noticed the causes which brought about +the existence of the patriarchal family. But while ancestor worship had +nothing to do with the origin of the family, once it was thoroughly +established it became the basis of the family life and transformed the +family as an institution. + +The early Romans shared certain superstitions with many primitive +peoples, which, if not the basis of ancestor worship, powerfully +reinforced it. They believed, for example, that the soul continued in +existence after death, and that persons would be unhappy unless buried +in tombs with suitable offerings, and that if left unburied, or without +suitable offerings, the souls of these persons would return to torment +the living, Inasmuch as in the patriarchal family only sons could +perform religious rites, that is, could make offerings to the departed +spirits, these superstitions acted as a powerful stimulus to preserve +the family in order that offerings might continue to be made at the +graves of ancestors. + +Thus, as we have already said, among the early Romans the family was +practically a religious institution with ancestor worship as its +constitutive principle. It is supposed by de Coulanges that in the +earliest times the dead ancestors were buried beneath the hearth. At any +rate, the hearth was the place where offerings were made to the departed +ancestors, and the flame on the hearth was believed to represent the +spirit of the departed. The house under such circumstances became a +temple and the whole atmosphere of the family life was necessarily a +religious one. + +(2) _The Authority in the Early Roman Family_ was vested, as in all +patriarchal families, in the father or eldest living male of the family +group. Under ancestor worship he became the living representative of the +departed ancestors, the link between the living and the dead. Here we +may note that the family was not considered as constituted simply of its +living members, but that it included also all of its dead members. +Inasmuch as the dead were more numerous and were thought to be more +powerful than the living, they were by far the more important element in +the life of the family. The position of the house father, as +representative of the departed ancestors, and as the link between the +living and the dead, naturally made his authority almost divine. Hence, +the house father was himself, then, almost a deity, having absolute +power over all persons within the group, even to the extent of life and +death. This absolute power, which was known in the early Roman family as +the "patria potestas," could not, however, be exercised arbitrarily. The +house father, as representative of the departed ancestors, was +necessarily controlled by religious scruples and traditions. It was +impossible for him to act other than for what he believed to be the will +of the ancestors. Disobedience to him was, therefore, disobedience to +the divine ancestors, and hence was sacrilegious. + +(3) _Relationship in the Early Roman Family_ was determined by +community of worship, inasmuch as only descendants upon the male side +could perform religious rites, and inasmuch as married women worshiped +the household gods of their husbands' ancestors; therefore, only +descendants on the male side could worship the same ancestors and were +relatives in the full religious and legal sense. These were known as +"agnates." Later, some relationship on the mother's side came to be +recognized, but relatives on the mother's side were known as a +"cognates," and for a long time property could not pass to them. Indeed, +in the earliest times the property of the family, as we have already +implied, was kept as a unit, held in trust by the eldest living member +of the family group for the good of all the family. In other words, the +house father in earliest times did not possess the right to make a will +but the property of the family passed intact from him to his eldest male +heir. + +(4) _The Marriage Ceremony among the Early Romans_ was necessarily +of a religious character. It was constituted essentially of the +induction of the bride into the worship of her husband's ancestors. But +before this could be done the bride's father had first to free her from +the worship of her household gods, in later times a certificate of +manumission being given not unlike the manumission of the slave. After +the bride had been released from the worship of her father's ancestors, +the bridegroom and his friends brought her to his father's house, where +a ceremony of adoption was practically gone through with, adopting the +bride into the family of her husband. The essence of this ceremony, as +we have already said, was the induction of the bride into the worship of +her husband's ancestors through their both making an offering on the +family hearth and eating a sacrificial meal together. After that the +wife worshiped at her husband's altar and had no claim upon the +household gods of her father. + +Under such circumstances it is not surprising that marriage was +practically indissoluble. A wife who was driven out of her husband's +household or deserted was without family gods of any sort, having no +claim upon those of her husband, and became, therefore, a social +outcast. Under such circumstances it is not surprising that divorce was +practically unknown. It is said, indeed, that for five hundred and +twenty years after Rome was founded there was not a single divorce in +Rome. While this may be an exaggeration, it is historically certain that +divorce was so rare in early Rome as to be practically unknown. + +In case of a failure of sons to be born there was no taking of a second +wife, as among the Hebrews. Polygyny was unknown in early Rome. The +Roman device to prevent the failure of the family succession in such +cases was adoption. Younger sons of other families were adopted if no +sons were born, and these adopted sons, taking the family name, became +the same legally as sons by birth. Inasmuch as the position of younger +sons in the patriarchal household was not an enviable one there was +never lack of candidates for the position of eldest son in some family +group in which no sons had been born. + +Not only was the early Roman family life the most stable that the world +has ever known, but it must also be considered to have been of a +relatively pure type. Chastity was rigidly enforced among the women, but +of course, as in all primitive peoples, was not enforced among the men. +Still it was expected that the married men at least should remain +relatively faithful to their wives. On the whole, therefore, the early +Roman family life must be judged to have been of a singularly high and +stable type. While the position of women and children in the early Roman +family was one of subjection, the family itself was nevertheless of a +high type. But it was inevitable that it should decay, and this decay +began comparatively early. Inasmuch as the early Roman family was based +upon ancestor worship, a religion which was fitted for relatively small +isolated groups, it was inevitable that the family life should decay +with this ancestor worship. How early the decay of ancestor worship +began it is impossible to say. Perhaps the nature gods, Jupiter, Venus, +and the rest, existed alongside of ancestor worship from the earliest +times. At any rate, we find their worship growing rapidly within the +period of authentic history and undermining the domestic worship, while +at a still later period skeptical philosophy undermined both religions. +Along with the decay of ancestor worship went many economic and +political changes which marked the dissolution of the patriarchal +family. Let us see what some of the steps in this decadence were. + +(5) _The Decadence,_ (a) One of the earliest steps toward the +breaking down of the patriarchal family which we find is the limiting of +the power of the house father. This took place very early--as soon as +the Council of Elders, or Senate, was formed to look after matters of +collective interest. Gradually the paternal power diminished, until it +was confined to matters concerning the family group proper. + +(b) A second step was when the right to make a will was conceded. This +right, as we have seen, did not exist in the earliest Roman times, but +with the development of property and of a more complex economic life the +house father was given the right to divide his property among his +children, at first only on the male side, but later among any of his +children, and still later to bequeath it to whom he pleased. + +(c) Thus women came to be given the right to hold property, a thing +which was unknown in the earliest times; and becoming property holders, +their other rights in many respects began to increase. Originally the +wife had no right to divorce her husband, but in the second century B.C. +women also gained the right of divorcing their husbands. + +(d) The rights of children were increased along with the rights of +women, particularly of younger children. + +(e) The right of plebeians to intermarry with the noble families became +recognized. All of these changes we should perhaps regard as good in +themselves, but they nevertheless marked the disintegration of the +patriarchal family. The decay of the family life did not stop with these +changes, however, but went on to the decay of the family bonds +themselves. + +Later Roman Family Life.--By the beginning of the Christian era the +relations between the sexes had become very loose. Men not only +frequently divorced their wives, but women frequently divorced their +husbands. Indeed, a complete revolution passed over the Roman family. +Marriage became a private contract, whereas, as we have seen, in the +beginning it was a religious bond. Many loose forms of marriage were +developed, which amounted practically to temporary marriages. In all +cases it was easy for a husband or wife to divorce each other for very +trivial causes. Among certain classes of Roman society the instability +of the family became so great that we find Seneca saying that there were +women who reckoned their years by their husbands, and Juvenal recording +one woman as having eight husbands in five years. + +Women and children achieved their practical emancipation, as we would +say. Women, especially, were free to do as they saw fit. Marriages were +formed and dissolved at pleasure among certain classes, and among all +classes the instability of the family life had become very great. + +Along with all this, of course, went a growth of vice. It is not too +much to say that the Romans of the first and second centuries A.D. +approached as closely to a condition of promiscuity as any civilized +people of which we have knowledge. + +_Causes of the Decadence_. When we examine the causes of this great +revolution in Roman family life from the austere morals and stable +family of the early Romans to the laxity and promiscuity of the later +Romans, we find that these causes can perhaps be grouped under four or +five principal heads, (1) First among all the causes we must put the +destruction of the domestic religion, namely, ancestor worship, through +the growth of nature worship and skeptical philosophy. The destruction +of the domestic religion necessarily shattered the foundations of the +Roman family, since, as we have already seen, there was the closest +connection between the family life of the early Romans and ancestor +worship. But it is not probable that ancestor worship was destroyed +merely through the growth of nature worship and of skeptical philosophy. +As we have already seen, it was a religion which was mainly adapted to +isolated groups. Changes in economic and political conditions, +therefore, were to some extent prior to the decay of the domestic +religion. + +(2) Changes in economic conditions, that is, in the form of industry, +were, then, among the more important causes of the decay of the early +Roman family. The patriarchal family, as we have already seen, belonged +essentially to the pastoral stage of industry, and as soon as settled +agricultural life, commerce, and manufacturing industry developed, this +destroyed the isolated patriarchal groups, and so also in time affected +even the religion which was their basis. Again, the increase of +population going along with the changes in the methods in obtaining a +living destroyed the old conditions under which the family had been the +political unit. + +(3) We have therefore as a third cause the breaking up of old political +conditions. Family groups were welded into small cities and the +authority of the patriarch was destroyed. Legislation designed to meet +the new social conditions often profoundly affected the whole family +group, and weakened family bonds. + +(4) The growth of divorce and of vice may be put down as a fourth cause +of the decay of the Roman family. Some may say that this was an effect +of the decay of the Roman family rather than a cause, but it was also a +cause as well as an effect, for it is a peculiarity of social life that +what is at one stage an effect reacts to become a cause at a later +stage; and this was certainly the case with the growth of divorce and +vice in Rome, in its effect upon the Roman family. Moreover, much of +this came from Greece through imitation. The family life had decayed in +Greece much earlier than it had in Rome, and when Rome conquered Greece +it annexed its vices also. While the most radical social changes do not +usually come about merely through imitation, yet the imitation of a +foreign people is frequently, in the history of a particular nation, one +of the most potent causes in bringing about social changes. It was +certainly so in the case of the growth of divorce and vice in Rome. + +To sum up and to generalize: we may say that the causes of the decay of +the Roman family life were very complex, and that this is true of nearly +all important social changes. It is impossible to reduce the causes of +these changes to any single principle or set of causes. While we have +seen that changes in economic conditions were undoubtedly very +influential in bringing about the profound changes in the Roman family, +still we have no ground for regarding the economic changes as +determinative of all the rest. We know as yet little of the development +of industry in antiquity. What little we do know, however, furnishes +good ground for claiming that changes in the methods of getting a living +are among the most influential causes of social change in general; but +there is nothing which warrants the sweeping generalization of Karl Marx +and his followers, "that the method of the production of the material +life determines the social, political, and spiritual life process in +general." On the contrary, the evolution of the Roman family clearly +shows moral and psychological factors at work quite independent of +economic causes. The decay of ancestor worship, for example, cannot be +wholly attributed to the change in the method of getting a living. The +very growth of population and accompanying changes in political +conditions probably had quite as much to do with the undermining of +ancestor worship. Moreover, while religion may not be an original +determining cause of social forms, it is, nevertheless, as we have +already seen, especially that which gives them stability and permanency, +so much so that the life history of a culture is frequently the life +history of a religion. The decay of religious ideas and beliefs, +therefore, from any cause, frequently proves the important element +working for social change in all societies. So, too, changes in +political conditions, especially changes in law through new legislation, +frequently prove a profound modifying influence in societies. Lastly, +there are certain moral causes inherent in the individual, oftentimes +involving perverted expressions of instinct, which lead to profound +social changes. Such was the vice which Rome copied very largely from +Greece, but which proved the final solvent in its family life. + +In general we may say, then, that there is no single principle which +will explain the evolution of the family from the earliest times down to +the present. Any attempt to reduce the evolution of the family to a +single principle, or to show that it has been controlled by a single set +of causes, must inevitably end in failure. The economic determinism of +Marx and his followers, the ideological conceptions of Hegel, the +geographical influences of Buckle and his school, and like explanations, +are all found wanting when they are applied to the actual history of the +family. It is not different with the theories of recent sociologists, +who would strive to explain all social changes through a single +principle. Professor Giddings' principle of "Consciousness of Kind" and +Tarde's principle of "Imitation" will not go further in explaining the +changes in the family life than some of the older principles that we +have just mentioned. Human life is, indeed, too complex to be explained +in terms of any single principle or any single set of causes. The family +in particular is an organic structure which responds first to one set of +stimuli and then to another. Now it is modified by economic conditions, +now by religious ideas, now by legislation, now by imitation, and so on +through the whole set of possible stimuli which may impinge upon and +modify the activity of a living organism. So it is with all +institutions. + +The Influence of Christianity upon the Family.--While we cannot study +further the evolution of the family in any detail, still it is +necessary, in order to avoid too great discontinuity, to notice in a few +sentences the influence of Christianity upon the family in Western +civilization. + +Early Christianity, as we have already seen, found the family life of +the Greco-Roman world demoralized. The reconstruction of the family +became, therefore, one of the first tasks of the new religion, and while +other circumstances may have aided the church in this work, still on the +whole it was mainly the influence of the early church that reconstituted +the family life. From the first the church worked to abolish divorce, +and fought as evil such vices as concubinage and prostitution, that came +to flourish to such an extent in the Pagan world. Only very slowly did +the early leaders of the church win the mass of the people to accepting +their views as to the permanency of the marriage bond. In order to aid +in making this bond more stable the early church recognized marriage as +one of the sacraments, and, as implied, steadily opposed the idea of the +later Roman Law that marriage was simply a private contract. The result +was, eventually, that marriage came to be regarded again as a religious +bond, and the family life took on once more the aspect of great +stability. After the church had come fully into power in the Western +world, legal divorce ceased to be recognized and legal separation was +substituted in its stead. Thus the church succeeded in reconstituting +the family life upon a stable basis, but the family after being +reconstituted, was of a semipatriarchal type. Nothing was more natural +than this, for the church had no model to go by except the paternal +family of the Hebrew and Greek and Roman civilization. Nevertheless, the +place of women and children in this semipatriarchal religious family +established by the church was higher on the whole than in the ancient +patriarchal family. The church put an end to the exposure of children, +which had been common in Rome, and protected childhood in many ways. It +also exalted the place of woman in the family, though leaving her +subject to her husband. The veneration of the Virgin tended particularly +to give women an honored place socially and religiously. Only by the +advocacy and practice of ascetic doctrines may the early church be said +to have detracted from the social valuation of the family. On the whole +the reconstituting of the family by the church must be regarded as its +most striking social work. But the thing for us to note particularly is +that the type of the family life created by the church was what we might +call a semipatriarchal type, in which the importance of husband and +father was very much out of proportion to all the rest of the members of +the family group. It was this semipatriarchal family which persisted +down to the nineteenth century. + + +SELECT REFERENCES + + +_For brief reading:_ + +DE COULANGES, _The Ancient City_, Chaps. I-X. +LECKY, _History of European Morals_, Chap. V. +SCHMIDT, _Social Results of Early Christianity_, Chap. II. + + +_For more extended reading:_ + +HEARN, _The Aryan Household._ +HOWARD, _History of Matrimonial Institutions._ +GROTE, _History of Greece._ +MOMMSEN, _The History of Rome._ + + +_On the early Hebrew family:_ + +MCCURDY, _History, Prophecy, and the Monuments_, Vol. II. +ROBERTSON SMITH, _Kinship and Marriage in Early Arabia_. + + +_On the early German family:_ + +GUMMERE, _Germanic Origins._ + + + + + + +CHAPTER VII + + +THE PROBLEM OF THE MODERN FAMILY + +Passing over the changes which affected the family during the Middle +Ages and the still more striking changes which came through the +Reformation, we must now devote ourselves to the study of the problems +of the family as it exists at present. The religious theory of the +family which prevailed during the Middle Ages, but which was more or +less undermined by the Reformation, gave away entirely in those great +social changes which ushered in the nineteenth century. Again, the view +that marriage was a private contract came to prevail among the mass of +the people, and even to be embodied in a great many of the constitutions +and laws of the nineteenth century. At the same time profound economic +changes tended largely to individualize society, and these were +reflected in the democratic movement toward forms of popular government, +which have tended on the whole to make the individual the political +unit. The nineteenth century was, then, in all respects a period of +great social change and unrest. Moreover, the growth of wealth has +favored, in certain classes at least, lower moral standards and +increasing laxity in family relationships. Thus it happens that we find +the family life at the beginning of the twentieth century in a more +unstable condition than it has been at any time since the beginning of +the Christian era. The instability of the modern family is, indeed, so +great that many have thought that the family, as an institution, in its +present form at least, of permanent monogamy, will pass away. There can +be no doubt, at any rate, that the whole problem of the modern family +centers in the matter of its instability, that is, in divorce. The study +of the divorce movement, then, will throw more light upon the condition +of the modern family than the study of anything else. The instability of +the modern family has been most evident in the United States. Hence, it +is particularly American conditions that will concern us, although +undoubtedly the disintegration of the family is not a peculiarly +American phenomenon; rather it has characterized more or less all modern +civilization, but is especially in evidence in America because American +society has exaggerated the industrialism and individualism which are +characteristic of Western civilization in general. + +Without devoting too much time to the consideration of divorce +statistics in their technical aspects, let us note, then, some of the +main outlines of the modern divorce movement in this and other civilized +countries. + +Statistics of Divorce in the United States and Other Civilized +Countries.--For a long time the United States has led the world in the +number of its divorces. Already in 1885 this country had more divorces +than all the rest of the Christian civilized world put together. These +statistics of the number of divorces granted in different civilized +countries in 1885 (taken from Professor W. F. Willcox's monograph on +_The Divorce Problem_) are of sufficient interest to cite at +length: + + +United States...................... 23,472 +France............................. 6,245 +Germany............................ 6,161 +Russia............................. 1,789 +Austria............................ 1,718 +Switzerland........................ 920 +Denmark............................ 635 +Italy.............................. 556 +Great Britain and Ireland.......... 508 +Roumania........................... 541 +Holland............................ 339 +Belgium............................ 290 +Sweden............................. 229 +Australia.......................... 100 +Norway............................. 68 +Canada............................. 12 + + +It will be noted that in this particular year (1885), when the United +States had 23,472 divorces, all the other countries mentioned together +had only 20,131. For 1905, twenty years later, the following statistics +are available: + + +United States...................... 67,976 +Germany............................ 11,147 +France............................. 10,860 +Austria-Hungary.................... 5,785 +Switzerland........................ 1,206 +Belgium............................ 901 +Holland............................ 900 +Italy (1904)....................... 859 +Great Britain and Ireland.......... 821 +Denmark............................ 549 +Sweden............................. 448 +Norway............................. 408 +Australia.......................... 339 +New Zealand........................ 126 +Canada............................. 33 + + +It is evident from the above figures that the United States has more +than kept its lead over the rest of the world in this matter of +dissolving family ties, for it would seem probable from these figures +that in 1905, when the United States had nearly 68,000 divorces, all the +rest of the Christian civilized world put together had less than 40,000. +Moreover, the divorce rates of the different countries tell the same +story. In 1905 in France, there was only one divorce to every thirty +marriages; in Germany, but one to every forty-four marriages; in +England, but one to every four hundred marriages. Even in Switzerland, +which has the highest divorce rate of any country of Europe, there was +only one divorce in 1905 to every twenty-two marriages. Let us compare +these rates with that of the United States, and particularly with the +rates of several of the states that lead in the matter of divorces. In +1905 there was in the United States about one divorce to every twelve +marriages, but the State of Washington had one divorce to every four +marriages; Montana, one divorce to every five marriages; Colorado, +Texas, Arkansas, and Indiana all had one divorce to every six marriages; +California and Maine had one divorce to every seven marriages; New +Hampshire, Missouri, and Kansas, one divorce to every eight marriages. +While these rates are those of the states in which divorces are most +numerous, yet, nevertheless, the number of states in which the divorce +rates range from one to every six marriages to one to ten marriages are +so numerous that they may be said to be fairly representative of +American conditions generally. Some cities and localities have, of +course, even higher divorce rates than any of the states that have been +named. According to the United States Census Bulletin No. 20, there was +in 1903 one divorce in Kansas City, Missouri, to every four marriages, +and one divorce in the city of San Francisco to every three marriages. + +_Increase of Divorces in the United States._ Not only does the +United States lead the world in the number of its divorces, but +apparently divorces are increasing in this country much more rapidly +than the population. In 1867, the first year for which statistics for +the country as a whole were gathered, there were 9937 divorces in the +United States, but by 1906, the last year for which we have statistics, +the total number of divorces granted in this country, yearly, had +reached 72,062. Again, from 1867 to 1886 there were 328,716 divorces +granted in the United States, but during the next twenty years, from +1887 to 1906, the number reached 945,625, or almost a total of 1,000,000 +divorces granted in twenty years. Again, from 1867 to 1886 the number of +divorces increased 157 per cent, while the population increased only +about 60 per cent; from 1887 to 1906 the number of divorces increased +over 160 per cent, while the population increased only slightly over 50 +per cent. Thus it is evident that divorces are increasing in the United +States three times as fast as the increase of population. It becomes, +therefore, a matter of some curious interest to speculate upon what will +be the end of this movement. If divorces should continue to increase as +they have during the past forty years, it is evident that it would not +be long before all marriages would be terminated by divorce instead of +by death. In 1870, 3.5 per cent of all marriages were terminated by +divorce; in 1880, 4.8 per cent were terminated by divorce, and in 1900, +about 8 per cent. Professor Willcox has estimated that if this +increasing divorce rate continues, by 1950 one fourth of all marriages +in the United States will be terminated by divorce, and in 1990 one half +of all marriages. Thus we are apparently within measurable distance of a +time when, if present tendencies continue, the family, as a permanent +union between husband and wife, lasting until death, shall cease to be. +At least, it is safe to say that in a population where one half of all +marriages will be terminated by divorce the social conditions would be +no better than those in the Rome of the decadence. We cannot imagine +such a state of affairs without the existence alongside of it of +widespread promiscuity, neglect of childhood, and general social +demoralization. Without, however, stopping at this point to discuss the +results or the effects of the divorce movement upon society, let us now +consider for a moment how these divorces are distributed among the +various elements and classes of our population. + +_Distribution of Divorces._ It is usually thought by those who have +observed the matter most carefully that divorce especially characterizes +the wealthy classes and the laboring classes, but is least common among +the middle classes. We have no statistics to bear out this belief, but +it seems probable that it is substantially correct. The divorce +statistics which we have, however, indicate certain striking differences +in the distribution of divorces by classes and communities. + +(1) The divorce rate is higher in the cities than in their surrounding +country districts. We have just noted, for example, that the divorce +rate in Kansas City, Missouri, is one divorce to every four marriages, +while in the state as a whole it is one to every eight marriages. There +are, however, certain exceptions to this generalization. + +(2) A curious fact that the census statistics show is that apparently +the divorce rate is about four times as high among childless couples as +among couples that have children. This doubtless does not mean that +domestic unhappiness is four times more common in families where there +are no children than in families that have children, but it does show, +nevertheless, that the parental instinct, is now, as in primitive times, +a powerful force to bind husband and wife together. + +(3) While we have no statistics from this country telling us exactly +what the distribution of divorces is among the various religious +denominations, still we know that because the Roman Catholic Church is +strongly against divorce, divorces are very rare in that denomination. +In Switzerland, where the number of divorces among Protestants and +Catholics has been noted, it is found that divorces are four times as +common among Protestants as among Catholics. Some observers in this +country have claimed that divorces are most common among those of no +religious profession, next most common among Protestants, next among +Jews, and least common among Roman Catholics. + +(4) From this we might expect, as our statistics indicate, that the +divorce rate is much higher among the native whites in this country than +it is among the foreign born, for many of the foreign born are Roman +Catholics, and, in any case, they come from countries where divorce is +less common than in the United States. + +(5) For the last forty years two thirds of all divorces have been +granted on demand of the wife. This may indicate, on the one hand, that +the increase of divorces is a movement connected with the emancipation +of woman, and on the other hand it may indicate that it is the husband +who usually gives the ground for divorce. + +(6) The census statistics show three great centers of divorce in the +United States. One is the New England States, one the states of the +Central West, and one the Rocky Mountain and Pacific Coast states. These +three centers are also typical centers of American institutions and +ideas. The individualism of the New England, the Central West, and the +Rocky Mountain and Pacific Coast regions has always been marked in +comparison with some other sections of the country. But during the last +twenty years divorce has also been increasing rapidly in the Southern +states, and we now find such states as Texas, Arkansas, and Oklahoma +well up toward the front among the states with a high divorce rate. + +This distribution of divorces among the various elements and classes of +the country suggests something as to the causes of divorce, and this +will come out fully later in a discussion of the causes of the increase +of divorce. + +The Grounds for Granting Divorce.--There are no less than thirty-six +distinct grounds for absolute divorce recognized by the laws of the +several states, ranging from only one ground recognized in New York to +fourteen grounds recognized in New Hampshire. For this reason some have +supposed that many of the divorces in this country are granted on +comparatively trivial grounds. Several states have, for example, what is +known as an "Omnibus Clause," granting divorce for mere incompatibility +and the like. But the examination of divorce statistics shows that very +few divorces are granted on trivial grounds. On the contrary, most +divorces seem to be granted for grave reasons, such as adultery, +desertion, cruelty, imprisonment for crime, habitual drunkenness, and +neglect on the part of the husband to provide for his family. These are +usually recognized as grave reasons for the dissolution of the marriage +tie. None of them at least could be said to be trivial. Professor +Willcox showed that for the twenty year period, 1867 to 1886, over +ninety-seven per cent of all divorces were granted for these six +principal causes. Moreover, he also showed that over sixty per cent were +granted for the two most serious causes of all,--adultery and desertion. +Again, of the one million divorces granted from 1887 to 1906 over +ninety-four per cent were granted for the six principal causes and over +fifty-five per cent for adultery and desertion, while in still other +cases adultery and desertion figured in combination with other causes (a +total of over sixty-two per cent in all). Therefore, it seems probable +that in nearly two thirds of the cases the marriage bond had already +practically been dissolved before the courts stepped in to make the +dissolution formal. We must conclude, therefore, that divorce is +prevalent not because of the laxity of our laws, but rather because of +the decay of our family life; that divorce is but a symptom of the +disintegration of the modern family, particularly the American family. + +In other words, divorce is but a symptom of more serious evils, and +these evils have in certain classes of American society apparently +undermined the very virtues upon which the family life subsists. This is +not saying that vice is more prevalent to-day than it was fifty years +ago. We have no means of knowing whether it is or not, and there may +well be a difference of opinion upon such a subject. It is the opinion +of some eminent authorities that there has been no growth of vice in the +United States along with the growth of divorce, but this would seem to +be doubtful. The very causes for which divorce is granted suggest a +demoralization of certain classes. While there may not have been, +therefore, any general growth of vice in the United States along with +the growth of divorce, it is conceivable that it may have increased +greatly in certain classes of American society. Be this as it may, it is +not necessary to assume that there has been any growth of vice in the +American population, for if actual moral practices are no higher than +they were fifty years ago that alone would be a sufficient reason to +explain considerable disintegration of our family life. It is an +important truth in sociology that the morality which suffices for a +relatively simple social life, largely rural, such as existed in this +country fifty years ago, is not sufficient for a more complex society +which is largely urban, such as exists at the present time. Moreover, +recognized moral standards within the past fifty years have largely been +raised through the growth of general intelligence. It follows that +immoral acts, which were condoned fifty years ago and which produced but +slight social effect, to-day meet with great reprobation and have far +greater social consequences than a generation ago. This is particularly +true of the standards which the wife imposes upon the husband. For +centuries, as we have already seen, the husband has secured divorce for +adultery of the wife, but for centuries no divorce was given to the wife +for the adultery of the husband; and this is even true to-day in modern +England, unless the adultery of the husband be accompanied by other +flagrant violations of morality. Conduct on the part of the husband, +which the wife overlooked, therefore, a generation ago, is to-day +sufficient to disrupt the family bonds and become a ground for the +granting of a divorce. Even if vice, then, has not increased in our +population, if moral practices are no higher to-day than fifty years +ago, we should expect that this alone would have far different +consequences now than then. The growth of intelligence and of higher and +more complex forms of social organization necessitates realization of +higher standards of conduct if the institutions of society are to retain +their stability. + +But there are grave reasons for believing that there has been in certain +classes of society a decay of the very virtues upon which the family +rests, for the family life requires not only chastity, but even more the +virtues of self-sacrifice, loyalty, obedience, and self-subordination. +Now there is abundant evidence to show that these particular virtues +which belong to a self-subordinating life are those which have suffered +most in the changes and new adjustments of modern society. We have +replaced these virtues largely by those of self-interest, +self-direction, and self-assertiveness. + +Causes of the Increase of Divorce in the United States.--Let us note +somewhat more in detail the causes of the increased instability of the +American family during the past four or five decades. We have already in +a rough way indicated some of these causes in studying the distribution +of divorce and the grounds upon which it is granted. But the causes of +the instability of the family so affect our whole social life and all of +our institutions that they are well worth somewhat more detailed study. + +(1) As the first of these causes of the increase of divorce in the +United States we should put the decay of religion, particularly of the +religious theory of marriage and the family. As we have already seen, no +stable family life has existed anywhere in history without a religious +basis, but within the last few decades religious sentiments, beliefs, +and ideals have become largely dissociated from marriage and the family, +and the result is that many people regard the institutions of marriage +and the family as a matter of personal convenience. This decay of the +religious view of the marriage bond has, however, had other antecedent +causes, partially in the moral and intellectual spirit of our +civilization, partially in our industrial conditions. + +(2) We should put, therefore, as a second cause of the increase of +divorces in this country the growing spirit of individualism. By +individualism we mean here the spirit of self-assertion and +self-interest, the spirit which leads a man to find his law in his own +wishes, or even in his whims and caprices. Now, this growing spirit of +individualism is undoubtedly more destructive of the social life than +anything else. It makes unstable all institutions, and especially the +family, because the family must rest upon very opposite characteristics. + Our democratic government, the development of our industry, and our +education have all been responsible to some extent for making the +individual take his own interests and wishes as his law. + +(3) Moreover, this individualism has spread within the last fifty years +especially among the women of the population, and a great movement has +sprung up which is known as the "Woman's Rights Movement," or simply the +"Woman's Movement." Now this woman's movement has accompanied and in +part effected the emancipation of women legally, mentally, and +economically. The result is that women, as a class, have become as much +individualized as the men, and oftentimes are as great practical +individualists. + +No one would claim that the emancipation of woman, in the sense of +freeing her from those things which have prevented the highest and best +development of her personality, is not desirable. But this emancipation +of woman has brought with it certain opportunities for going down as +well as for going up. Woman's emancipation has not, in other words, +meant to all classes of women, woman's elevation. On the contrary, it +has been to some, if not an opportunity for license, at least an +opportunity for self-assertion and selfishness not consistent with the +welfare of society and particularly with the stability of the family. We +may remind ourselves once more that the Roman women achieved complete +emancipation, but they did not thereby better their social position. On +the contrary, the emancipation of woman in Rome meant woman's +degradation, and ultimately the demoralization of Roman family life. +While this is not necessarily an accompaniment of woman's emancipation, +still it is a real danger which threatens, and of which we can already +see many evidences in modern society. As in all other emancipatory +movements, the dangers of freedom are found for some individuals at +least to be quite as great as the dangers of subjection. + +That the woman's movement has had much to do with the growth of divorce +in this country gains substantiation from the fact that many of the +leaders of that movement, like Miss Susan B. Anthony and Mrs. Elizabeth +Cady Stanton, advocated free divorce, and their inculcation of this +doctrine certainly could not have been without some effect. + +But the woman's movement would have perhaps failed to develop, or at +least failed of widespread support, if it had not been for the economic +emancipation of woman through the opening to her of many new industrial +callings and the securing for her a certain measure of economic +independence. This, again, while perhaps a good thing in itself, has, +nevertheless, facilitated the growing tendency to form unstable family +relations. But this economic independence of woman, we need hardly +remark, is the necessary and, indeed, inevitable outcome of modern +industrial development. + +(4) The growth of modern industrialism must, then, be regarded as one of +the fundamental factors which has brought about the increase of divorce +in the United States. By industrialism we mean manufacturing industry. +As we have already noticed, the growth of manufacturing industry has +opened a large number of new economic callings to woman and has rendered +her largely economically independent of family relations. Moreover, the +labor of women in factories has tended to disrupt the home, particularly +in the case of married women, as we have already seen. For the laboring +classes it has tended to make the home only a lodging place, with little +or no development of a true family life. Again, such labor has set the +sexes in competition with each other, has tended to reduce their sexual +differences and to stimulate immensely their individualism. Finally, +inasmuch as modern industrialism has tended to destroy the home, the +result has been the production of unsocialized children, and especially +of those that had no tradition of a family life. Girls, for example, +through industrialism, have failed to learn the domestic arts, failed to +have any training in homemaking, and therefore when they came to the +position of wife and mother, they were frequently not fitted for such a +life, and through their lack of adjustment rendered the homes which they +formed unstable. + +(5) Closely connected with the growth of modern industrialism is the +growth of modern cities, and, as we have already seen, divorce is +usually much more common in the cities than in the rural districts. The +growth of the cities, in other words, has been a cause of the increase +of divorce. City populations, on account of the economic conditions +under which they live, are peculiarly homeless. A normal home can +scarcely exist in the slums and in some of the tenement districts of our +cities. Again, in the city there is perhaps more vice and other +immorality, less control of the individual by public opinion, and more +opportunity, on account of close living together and high standards of +living, for friction, both within and without the domestic circle. + +(6) The higher standards of living and comfort which have come with the +growth of our industrial civilization, especially of our cities, must +also be set down as a cause of increasing instability of the family. +High standards of living are, of course, desirable if they can be +realized, that is, if they are reasonable. But many elements of our +population have standards of living and comfort which they find are +practically impossible to realize with the income which they have. Many +classes, in other words, are unable to meet the social demands which +they suppose they must meet in order to maintain a home. To found and +maintain a home, therefore, with these rising standards of living, and +also within the last decade or two with the rising cost of living, +requires such a large income that an increasingly smaller proportion of +the population are able to do this satisfactorily. From this cause, +undoubtedly, a great deal of domestic misery and unhappiness results, +which finally shows itself in desertion or in the divorce court. + +It is evident that higher standards of taste and higher standards of +morality may also operate under certain circumstances to render the +family life unstable in a similar way. + +(7) Directly connected with these last mentioned causes is another +cause,--the higher age of marriage. Some have thought that a low age of +marriage was more prolific in divorces than a relatively high age of +marriage. But a low age of marriage cannot be a cause of the increase of +divorce in the United States, because the proportion of immature +marriages in this country is steadily lessening, that is, the age of +marriage is steadily increasing, and all must admit that along with the +higher age of marriage has gone increasing divorce; and there may +possibly be some connection between the two facts. As we have already +seen, the higher standards of living make later marriage necessary. Men +in the professions do not think of marriage nowadays until thirty, or +until they have an independent income. Now, how may the higher age of +marriage possibly increase the instability of the family? It may do so +in this way. After thirty, psychologists tell us, one's habits are +relatively fixed and hard to change. People who marry after thirty, +therefore, usually find greater difficulty in adjusting themselves to +each other than people who marry somewhat younger; and every marriage +necessarily involves an adjustment of individuals to each other. This +being so, we can readily understand that late marriages are more apt to +result in faulty adjustments in the family relation than marriages that +take place in early maturity. + +(8) Another cause of the increase of divorce in the United States that +has been given is the popularization of law which has accompanied the +growth of democratic institutions. Law was once the prerogative of +special classes, and courts were rarely appealed to except by the noble +or wealthy classes; but with the growth of democratic institutions there +has been a great spread of legal education, especially through the +modern newspaper, and consequently a greater participation in the +remedies offered by the courts for all sorts of wrongs, real or +imagined. Many people, for example, who would not have thought of +divorce a generation ago, now know how divorce may be secured and are +ready to secure it. However, it would seem as though this cause of the +increase of divorce might have operated to a greater extent twenty-five +or thirty years ago than it has during the last two decades, for it +cannot be said that since the nineties there has been much increase of +legal education among the masses, or much greater popularization of the +law. + +(9) Increasing laxity of the laws regarding divorce and increasing +laxity in the administration of the laws has certainly been a cause of +increasing divorce in the United States, though back of these causes +doubtless lie all the other causes just mentioned, and also increasing +laxity in public opinion regarding marriage and divorce. To assume that +laxity of the laws and of legal administration has no influence upon the +increase of divorce in a population is to go contrary to all human +experience. The people of Canada and of England, for example, are not +very different from ourselves in culture and in institutions, yet there +is almost no divorce in England and in Canada as compared with the +United States. Canada has a few dozen divorces annually, while we have +over seventy thousand. Unquestionably the main cause of this great +difference between Canada and the United States is to be found in the +difference of their laws. This is not saying, however, that instability +of the family does not characterize Canada and England as well as the +United States, even though such instability does not express itself in +the divorce courts. + +Interesting statistics have been collected in numerous places in the +country to show the laxity of the administration of the divorce laws. In +many of the divorce courts of our large cities, for example, it has +repeatedly been shown that the average time occupied by the court in +granting a divorce is not more than fifteen minutes. In other words, +divorce cases are frequently rushed through our divorce courts without +solemnity, without adequate investigation, with every opportunity for +collusion between the parties, so as to favor a very free granting of +divorces. On the other hand, about one fourth of all the applications +for divorce which come to trial are refused by the courts, showing that +the courts are not so lax in all cases as they are sometimes pictured to +be. + +Moreover, the divorce courts have two excuses for their laxity. First, +the divorce courts are always greatly overburdened with the number of +cases before them; and, secondly, public opinion, which the courts as +well as other phases of our government largely reflect, favors this +laxity. This is shown by the fact that public opinion stands back of the +lax divorce statutes of many states, all efforts to radically change +these statutes having failed of recent years. + +(10) Our study of the family has accustomed us to the thought that the +family is an institution which, like all other human institutions, +undergoes constant changes. Now at periods of change in any institution, +periods of transition from one type to another, there is apt to be a +period of confusion. The old type of institution is never replaced at +once by a new type of institution ready-made and adjusted to the social +life, but only gradually does the new institution emerge from the +elements of the old. In the meantime, however, there may be a +considerable period of confusion and anarchy. This social principle, we +may note, rests upon a deeper psychological principle, that old habits +are usually not replaced by new habits without an intervening period of +confusion and uncertainty. In other words, in the transition from the +old habit to the new habit there is much opportunity for disorganization +and disintegration. It is exactly so in human society, because social +institutions are but expressions of habit. + +Now, the old semipatriarchal type of the family, which prevailed down to +the beginning of the nineteenth century, the type of the family which we +might perhaps properly call the monarchical type, has been disappearing +for the past one hundred years,--is in fact already practically extinct, +at least in America, but we have not yet built up a new type of the +family to take its place. The old semipatriarchal family of our +forefathers has gone, but no new type of the family has yet become +general. A democratic type of the family in harmony with our democratic +civilization must be evolved. But such a democratic type of the family +can be stable only upon the condition that its stability is within +itself and not without. Authority in various coercive forms made the old +type of the family stable, but a stable basis for a new type of the +family has not yet been found, or rather it has not been found by large +elements of our population. Unquestionably a democratic ethical type of +the family in which the rights of every one are respected and all +members are bound together, not through fear or through force of +authority, but through love and affection, is being evolved in certain +classes of our society. The problem before our civilization is whether +such a democratic ethical type of the family can become generalized and +offer a stable family life to our whole population. It is evident that +in order to do this there must be a considerable development, not only +of the spirit of equality, but even more, a considerable development of +social intelligence and ethical character in the minds of the people. To +construct a stable family life of this character, however, which is +apparently the only type which will meet the demands of modern +civilization,--is not an impossibility, but is a delicate and difficult +task which will require all the resources of the state, the school, and +the church. There is, however, no ground as yet for pessimism regarding +the future of our family life; rather all its instability and +demoralization of the present are simply incident, we must believe, to +the achievement of a higher type of the family than the world has yet +seen. Such a higher type, however, will not come about without effort +and forethought on the part of society's leaders. + +Remedies for the Divorce Evil.--That the instability of the family and +divorce, so far as it is an expression of that instability, is an evil +in society is implied in all that has thus far been said concerning the +origin, development, and functions of the family as an institution. We +shall not stop, therefore, to argue this point since all preceding +chapters amount to an argument upon this question. It may be added, +however, that in so far as observations have been made of the results of +divorce upon children, that the argument has been substantiated, for +apparently the children of separated or divorced parents are much more +apt to drift into poverty, vice, or crime, that is, into the +unsocialized classes, than children who do not come from such disrupted +homes. Assuming, then, without further argument that divorce, or rather +the instability of the family, is an evil in modern society, the +question arises, how can it be remedied? + +If, as has already been implied, the real evil is not so much divorce as +the decay of the family life, then it at once becomes evident that +legislation can do little to correct the real evil. That it can do +nothing, and that an attitude of _laissez-faire_ is justified upon +this question, is, of course, not implied. As we have already noted, the +difference between the few divorces of the Dominion of Canada and the +many divorces of the United States is largely due to a difference of +laws; nevertheless, we cannot assume from this that there is a like +difference in the state of the family life of the two countries. +Unquestionably, however, legislation can do something even in the way of +setting moral ideals before a people. Divorce laws should not be too lax +if we do not wish a state to set low moral standards for its citizens. +It is not too much to say, therefore, that the lax divorce laws of many +of our states are a crime against civilization, even though making these +laws much stricter might not of itself greatly check the decay of the +family. Again, reasonable restrictions upon the remarriage of divorced +parties might very well be insisted upon by law for the sake of public +decency if nothing more. Present laws in many states permit the +remarriage of divorced parties immediately upon granting of divorce. It +would seem that a law requiring the innocent party to wait at least six +months, and the guilty party to wait from two to five years and then +give evidence of good conduct before being permitted to remarry, would +work a hardship upon no one. Again, a uniform federal divorce and +marriage law might have some good effects upon the family life of the +nation. Divorce and marriage are of such general importance that they +should be controlled by federal statutes rather than by state laws. If +such an amendment to our present federal constitution were enacted, it +might not result in greatly decreasing the number of divorces in this +country, but it would result in bringing about uniformity in the +different states in the matter of marriage as well as in the matter of +divorce, which, from many points of view, is desirable. Moreover, if +divorce were under federal control this would throw all divorce cases +into the federal courts, and would, perhaps, secure a stricter +administration of divorce laws. + +But it is evident that the main reliance in combating the evils which +have given rise to the present instability of our family life must be +placed upon education rather than upon legislation. Legislation, we may +here note, has many shortcomings as an instrument of social +reconstruction or reform. Legislation is necessarily external and +coercive. It fails oftentimes to change the habits of individuals, and +very generally fails to change their opinion. Education, on the other +hand, alters human nature directly, changing both the opinions and +habits of the individual. Neither education nor legislation can be +neglected in social reconstruction. Both are necessary, but supplement +each other. But from the time of Plato down all social thinkers have +perceived the fact that education is a surer and safer means of +reorganizing society than legislation. While, therefore, I would not +oppose education to legislation, I would say that emphasis in all social +reform should be laid upon education rather than coercive legislative +action, and especially in this case of relaying the foundations for a +stable family life in our country. The main reliance, then, in this +matter must be placed upon the education which the school, the church, +and the home can give to the rising generation. Until children are +taught to look upon the family as a socially necessary and therefore +sacred institution, until they are taught to look upon marriage as +something other than an act to suit their own convenience and pleasure, +we must expect that our family life will be unstable. The +reconstruction of our family life, indeed, practically involves the +reconstruction of our whole social life. Things in industry, in +business, in politics, in the conventions and ideals and general spirit +of our people, that are opposed to stability in family relations, must +be remedied before we can strike at the root of the evil. All of this +may be taken for granted; but it would seem that the moral education of +the young is the key to the situation in any event. The importance of a +pure and wholesome family life in society should, therefore, be +emphasized by our whole system of public education, while the +responsibility which rests upon the church in this connection is +especially obvious; but the home itself must, it may be admitted, be the +chief means of inculcating in the young the sacredness of the family. +Inasmuch as this cannot be done in homes that are already demoralized, +the main hope must be that such education will be given to children in +homes that are as yet relatively pure and stable. Movements toward such +education already exist in society, and, as we have already said, there +is no reason for pessimism, if we take a long view of the situation. But +it is nevertheless evident that the instability of the family must be +regarded as the greatest of our social problems to-day. + +Summary Regarding the Influence of Industrial Conditions upon the +Present Instability of the Family.--As we have already seen, the +development of modern industry is one of the chief causes of the decay +of modern family life. Certain aspects of our industrialism, such as the +labor of women and children in factories, the growth of cities, and the +loss of the home through the slum and the tenement, the higher standards +of living and comfort, and the resulting higher age of marriage,--all of +these have had, to a certain extent at least, a disastrous effect upon +the family. Some of these things, like the growth of cities, seem +inseparable from modern industrial development. The problem must be, +therefore, how to overcome the evil effect of these tendencies in +industry upon the home. There is no reason for believing that such evil +effects cannot be overcome, although the problem is a difficult one. Our +aim should be, not to stop industrial development, but to guide it and +control it in the interest of the higher development of the family. That +this is entirely feasible may already be seen from what has been +accomplished in the way of regulating the labor of women and children +and in the way of providing better conditions in the homes of the +working population. + +There is, however, nothing in evidence in the causes of increasing +divorce in the United States which warrants the belief that American +industrial development is alone responsible for the increasing +instability of our family life. The industrial development of America is +less peculiar in many ways than its political and social development. +Divorce and instability of the family, as we have seen, characterize the +American people more than any other civilized population. This fact, +then, cannot be explained entirely in terms of American industrial +development, but we must look also, as has already been emphasized, to +certain peculiarities in American character, American institutions, and +American ideas and ideals. The divorce movement in the United States +affords no proof of the theory of economic determinism. + + +SELECT REFERENCES + + +_For brief reading:_ + +WILLCOX, _The Divorce Problem: A Study in Statistics._ +ADLER, _Marriage and Divorce_, Lecture II. +Special Report on _Marriage and Divorce_, 1867-1906, Bureau of the Census. + + +_For more extended reading:_ + +HOWARD, _History of Matrimonial Institutions._ +LICHTENBERGER, _Divorce: A Study in Social Causation._ +WOLSEY, _Divorce and Divorce Legislation._ +WRIGHT, _First Special Report of United States Commissioner of Labor: + Marriage and Divorce_, 1891. + + + + + + + +CHAPTER VIII + + +THE GROWTH OF POPULATION + +Mass is a factor in the survival of a social group. Other things being +equal, that society will stand the best chance of surviving which has +the largest population. Moreover, the larger the mass of a given group +the greater can be the industrial and cultural division of labor in that +group. Hence, other things being equal, a large population favors the +growth not only of a higher type of industry, but also of a higher type +of culture or civilization in a given society. The questions which +center around the growth of population, therefore, are among the most +important questions which sociology has to deal with. + +The growth of population is, of course, more or less indirectly +connected with the family life, since the growth of population in the +world as a whole is dependent upon the surplus of births over deaths. +But population has so long been looked at as a national question that +perhaps it will be best to study it from the standpoint of the national +group. The population of modern national groups, the influences which +augment and deter the growth of the population of these groups, and the +laws of population in general, will be what will concern us in this +chapter. + +Population Statistics of Some Modern Nations.--The following table of +statistics will show the status of the populations of the largest +nations of Europe and America in the nineteenth century: + + + Population, Population, Increase per + 1801. 1901. Year, per cent. + +Russia (in Europe) ... 40,000,000 106,159,000 1.36 +Germany .............. 24,000,000 56,367,000 1.39 +France ............... 26,800,000 38,961,000 0.12 +Great Britain and +Ireland .............. 16,300,000 41,605,000 1.21 +Austria .............. 25,000,000 45,310,000 0.91 +Italy ................ 17,500,000 32,449,000 0.73 +Spain ................ 10,500,000 18,000,000 0.32 +United States ........ 5,308,000 76,303,000 2.09 + + +This table shows, that while the population of nearly all of these +nations has increased rapidly within the nineteenth century, that the +increase is relatively unequal in some cases. If we project Russia's +increase of population to the year 2000 A.D., we shall find that its +probable population will be in the neighborhood of 300,000,000; +Germany's probable population, say 167,000,000; Great Britain and +Ireland's probable population, 135,000,000; while France's probable +population in the year two thousand, if it continues to increase only at +its present slow rate, will be but 45,000,000. While these forecasts of +population cannot be considered certain in any sense, still they are +sufficient to show that the growth of modern nations in population is +relatively unequal. Inasmuch as the mere element of numbers is one of +the greatest factors for the future greatness of any nation, this is a +highly important matter. A nation of only 40,000,000 a century hence, it +is safe to say, will be no more important than Holland and Belgium are +now. On the other hand, it is very probable that a century hence the +civilized nations that lead in population will also lead in industrial +and cultural development. Many other factors, of course, enter into the +situation, but the factor of mere numbers should not be neglected, as +all practical statesmen recognize. + +A century hence it is probable that the population of continental United +States will be about 300,000,000. It would be considerably more than +this if the present annual rate of increase were to continue, but +inasmuch as that is not likely, an estimate of 300,000,000 is +sufficiently high. [Footnote: The official estimate by the Census Bureau +is 200,000,000; but this for many reasons seems too low.] We have +already seen that it is probable that Russia's population may equal +300,000,000 by the year 2000. It seems probable, therefore, that the +United States and Russia may be the two great world powers a century +hence, particularly if Russia emerges from its present social and +political troubles and takes on fully Western civilization, while the +other nations may tend to ally themselves with the one or the other of +these great world powers. Of course, China is the _X_--the unknown +quantity--in the world's future. Should its immense population become +civilized and absorb Western ideas, this would certainly bring into the +theater of the world's political evolution a new and important factor. + +The population and vital statistics of the various civilized countries +show:-- + +(1) The population of all civilized countries, with one or two +exceptions, has been increasing rapidly since the beginning of the +nineteenth century. Previous to that time we have no statistics that are +reliable, but it seems probable that the population of Europe stood +practically stationary during the Middle Ages and increased only slowly +down to the nineteenth century; but during the nineteenth century the +population of the leading industrial nations has increased very rapidly. +This is due primarily, without doubt, to improved economic conditions, +which has made it possible for a larger population to subsist within a +given area. Back of these improved economic conditions, however, has +been increased scientific knowledge in ways of mastering physical +nature, and accompanying them has been a very greatly decreased death +rate, due in part at least to the advance of medical science. + +(2) This increase in population has been due, not to an increase in +birth rate, but to a decreased death rate. During the nineteenth century +the death rate decreased markedly in practically all civilized +countries. As we have already noted, this is due primarily to improved +living conditions, particularly in the food, clothing, and shelter for +the masses, but it has also been due in no small part to the advance in +medical science, and especially that branch of it which we know as +"public sanitation." Because the death rate decreases with improved +material, and probably also with improved moral conditions, it is a +relatively good measure, at least of the material civilization or +progress of a people. We may note that the death rate is measured by the +number of deaths that occur annually per thousand in a given population. +The death rate of the countries most advanced in sanitary science and in +industrial improvement apparently tends to go down to about fifteen or +sixteen per thousand annually. + +(3) The birth rate of civilized countries has also fallen markedly +during the nineteenth century, especially during the latter half. On the +whole, this is a good thing. The birth rate should decrease with the +death rate. This leaves more energy to be used in other things; but when +the birth rate falls more rapidly than the death rate or falls beyond a +certain point, it is evident that the normal growth of a nation is +hindered, and even its extinction may be threatened. While an +excessively high birth rate is a sign of low culture on the whole, on +the other hand an excessively low birth rate is a sign of physical and +probably moral degeneracy in the population. When the birth rate is +lower than the death rate in a given population, it is evident that the +population is on the way to extinction. In order that a birth rate be +normal, therefore, it must be sufficiently above the death rate to +provide for the normal growth of the population. On the whole, it seems +safe to conclude that we have no better index of the vitality of a +people, that is, of their capacity to survive, than the surplus of +births over deaths. Such a surplus of births over deaths is also a +fairly trustworthy index of the living conditions of a population, +because if the living conditions are poor, no matter how high the birth +rate may be, the death rate will be correspondingly high, and the +surplus of births over deaths, therefore, relatively low. + +Vital statistics are, therefore, an indication of more than the mere +health or even the material condition of a given population. Probably +there are no social facts from which we may gather a clearer insight +into the social conditions of a given population than vital statistics. + +Without going into the vital statistics of modern nations in any detail, +the following table of birth rates and death rates will serve to +illustrate the decrease in the death rates and the birth rates of the +three leading European nations, the birth rate being computed the same +as the death rate, that is, the number of births per thousand annually +of the population: + + + DEATH RATE + + 1871-1890 1893-1902 1904 + +England ................... 20.3 17.6 16.2 +Germany ................... 26.0 21.5 19.6 +France .................... 22.8 20.8 19.4 + + + + BIRTH RATE + + 1871-1890 1893-1902 1904 + +England ................... 34.0 29.3 28.0 +Germany ................... 38.1 35.9 35.2 +France .................... 24.6 22.8 20.9 + + +From the above table it is evident that while birth rates and death +rates have been declining in all civilized peoples, the decline has been +unequal in different peoples. Both England and Germany in the above +table show still a good surplus of births over deaths; in the case of +England in 1904 this surplus being 11.8 per thousand of the population +annually, while in the case of Germany it was 15.6. In the case of +France, however, the surplus of births over deaths for a number of years +has been very insignificant, and in the year 1907 there were actually +about 20,000 more deaths than births in all France (773,969 births +against 793,889 deaths). France's population has, therefore, been +practically stationary for a number of years, while within the last year +or two it seems to be actually declining. + +The causes of the stationary population of France are probably mainly +economic, although all the factors which influence the family life in +any degree must also influence birth rate. For a number of years the +economic conditions of France have not been favorable to the growth of a +large population, and at the same time the law necessitating the equal +division of the family's property among children has tended to encourage +small families. Unquestionably, however, other factors of a more general +social or moral nature are also at work in France as well as in all +other populations that are decreasing in numbers. + +_The Decrease in the Native White Stock in the United States._ +Certain classes in the United States also show a very slight surplus of +births over deaths and in some cases absolutely declining numbers. In +general the United States Census statistics seem to indicate that the +native white stock in the Northern states is not keeping up its numbers. +This is suggested by the decreasing size of the average family in the +United States. The average size of the family in the United States in +1850 was 5.6 persons; in 1860, 5.3; in 1870, 5.1; in 1880, 5.0; in 1890, +4.9; and in 1900, 4.7. Moreover, if we include only private families in +1900, the average size of the family was only 4.6. Thus, between 1850 +and 1900 the size of the average family in the United States decreased +by nearly one full person. This decrease is most evident in the North +Atlantic and North Central states. In Maine, Vermont, and New Hampshire, +for example, the average size of the family in 1900 was 4.1 persons. + +Moreover, the vital statistics kept by the state of Massachusetts for a +number of years show conclusively that the native white stock in that +state is tending to die out. In 1896, for example, in Massachusetts the +native born had a birth rate of only 16.58, while the foreign born had a +birth rate of 50.40. Again, the following table of birth rates and death +rates for 1890 in the city of Boston [Footnote: Taken from Bushee's +_Ethnic Factors in the Population of Boston_, Publications American +Economic Association, Vol. IV., No, 2, 1903.] for the native born and +sections of the foreign born shows conclusively that the native-born +element is not keeping up its numbers: + + + Birth Rate Death Rate + +Native born ..................... 16.40 17.20 +Irish ........................... 45.60 25.20 +Germans ......................... 48.00 15.00 +Russian Jews .................... 94.60 15.90 +Italians ........................ 104.60 25.30 + + +It is evident from this table that the foreign born are increasing in +Boston very rapidly in numbers through birth, while the native born are +apparently not even holding their own. The high birth rate of the +foreign born is, of course, in part to be explained through the fact +that the foreign-born population is made up for the most part of +individuals in the prime of life, that is, in the reproductive age. +Nevertheless, while this explains the excessively high birth rate of +some of these foreign elements, it does not explain the great +discrepancy between their birth rate and that of the native born. If the +present tendencies continue, it is apparently not difficult to foresee a +time in the not very distant future when the old Puritan New England +families will be replaced in the population of Boston entirely by the +descendants of recent immigrants. + +Moreover, so far as vital statistics concerning different classes can be +gathered in the northern tier of the states, practically everywhere the +same tendencies are manifest, that is, everywhere we find the +native-born white population failing to hold its own alongside of the +more recent immigrants. Apparently, therefore, we must conclude that the +birth rate in the native whites in the United States is declining to +such an extent that that element in our population threatens to become +extinct if present tendencies continue. Only the Southern whites present +an exception to this generalization. The Southern white people, from +various causes not well understood,--partially, perhaps, from family +pride, partially, perhaps, from racial instinct, but even more probably +on account of certain economic conditions,--keep up their numbers, +increasing more rapidly even than the negro population which exists +alongside of them. + +_Causes of the Decrease in Birth Rate in the Native White Stock in the +United States._ What, then, are the causes of this decrease in the +birth rate of the native white stock in the United States? It is worth +our while to inquire briefly into these causes, for they illustrate the +factors which are at work in favoring or deterring the growth of +population. + +(1) Economic conditions are without doubt mainly at the bottom of the +decreasing birth rate in the native white American population. Certain +unfavorable economic conditions have developed in this country of recent +years for this particular element; especially have higher standards of +living increased among the native white population in the United States +more rapidly than their income. This has led to later marriages and +smaller families. Again, more intense competition along all lines has +forced certain elements of the native stock into occupations where wages +are low in comparison with the standard of living. This has, perhaps, +especially come about through the increased competition which the +foreign born have offered to the native white element. The foreign born +have taken rapidly all the places which might be filled by unskilled +labor and many of the places filled by skilled labor. The native born +have shrunk from this competition and have retired for the most part to +the more socially honorable occupations, such as clerkships in business, +the professions, and the like. In many of these occupations, however, as +we have already said, the wages are low as compared with the standards +of living maintained by that particular occupational class; hence, as we +have already said, later marriages and fewer children. Rising standards +of living and rising costs of living have, therefore, impinged more +heavily upon the native born than upon the foreign born. It is difficult +to suggest a remedy for this condition of affairs. No legislator can +devise means of encouraging a class to have large families when by so +doing that class would necessarily have to sacrifice some of its +standards of living. However, it may be that the native born can be +protected to some extent from the competition of the foreign born +through reasonable restrictions upon immigration, and it may also be +that unreasonable advances in standards of living may be checked, but +both of these propositions seem to be of somewhat doubtful nature. + +(2) No doubt the pressure of economic conditions is not responsible for +small families in some elements of the native white population in the +United States, for oftentimes the smallest families are found among the +wealthy, among whom there could be no danger of a large family lowering +the standards of living or pressing upon other economic needs. We must +accept as a second factor in the situation, therefore, the inherent +selfishness in human nature which is not willing to be burdened with the +care of children. In other countries, and apparently in all ages, the +wealthy have been characterized by smaller families than the poor. The +following table from Bertillon, [Footnote: Quoted by Newsholme, Vital +Statistics, p. 75.] showing the number of births per thousand women +between fifteen and fifty years of age in Paris, Berlin, and London +among the various economic classes, shows conclusively that it is not +altogether the pressure of economic wants which leads to the limiting of +a population: + + + BIRTHS PER THOUSAND WOMEN PER ANNUM + + Paris Berlin London. + +Very poor ....... 108 157 147 +Poor ............ 95 129 140 +Comfortable ..... 72 114 107 +Rich ............ 53 63 87 +Very rich ....... 34 47 63 + + +(3) Besides economic conditions and individual selfishness we must +unfortunately add another cause of decreasing birth rate in our +population which has been definitely ascertained, and that is vice. Vice +cuts the birth rate chiefly through the diseases which accompany it. +About 20 per cent of American marriages are childless, and medical +authorities state that in one half of these childless marriages the +barrenness is due to venereal diseases. According to Dr. Prince A. +Morrow, in his _Social Diseases and Marriage_, 75 per cent of the +young men in the United States become impure before marriage. This +serves to disseminate venereal diseases among the general population, +especially among innocent women and children. The consequence is, on the +one hand, a considerable number of sterile marriages and on the other +hand a high infant mortality. It need not be assumed, as we have already +said, that vice is more prevalent to-day than in previous generations, +but on account of the conditions of our social life diseases which +accompany vice are now more widely disseminated than they have been at +any time in our previous history; therefore, even the physical results +of vice are different to-day than they were a generation or more ago. + +(4) Education has been alleged as a cause of decreasing birth rate in +the native white American stock. This, however, is true only in a very +qualified sense. While it is a fact, as collected statistics have shown, +that if Harvard and other universities depended on children of their +alumni for students their attendance would actually decrease in numbers, +it is not true that college graduates have had a lower birth rate than +the economic and social classes to which they belong. So far as +statistics have been collected, indeed, they seem to indicate that the +wealthy uneducated are producing fewer children than the educated +classes who associate with them. The influence decreasing the birth rate +among the educated is, therefore, not education itself, but the high +standards of living and the luxury of the classes with whom they +associate. + +On the other hand, the higher education of women seems to be, down to +the present time, operating as a distinct influence to lessen the birth +rate among the educated classes for the reason that apparently a +majority of educated women do not marry. The higher education has not +yet gone far enough, however, to give us any definite facts with which +to judge what the ultimate effect of woman's higher education will be. +If the higher education of woman is going to lead to a large per cent of +the best and most intellectual women in society leading lives of +celibacy, then, of course, ultimately the higher education of woman will +be disastrous to the race. But probably the relative infrequency of +marriage among women who are college graduates is a transitory +phenomenon due to the fact that neither women nor men are as yet +adjusted to the higher education of women. + +(5) Some phases of the "woman's movement" have without doubt tended to +lessen the birth rate in certain sections of American society. Some of +the leaders of the woman's movement have advocated, for example, that +women should choose a single life, while others have advocated that +families should not have more than two children. Mrs. Ida Husted Harper, +indeed, has gone so far as to claim that if families would have but two +children this would be a cure-all for many social troubles. Indeed, this +ideal of two children in the family has been so widely disseminated in +this country that it is often spoken of as the "American Idea." Of +course, such teachings could not be without some effect. Without +attempting to reply to the advocates of this theory of but two children +to a family, it will be sufficient to remark that for a population +simply to remain stationary three children at least must be born to each +family on the average; otherwise, if only two children are born, as one +of the children is apt to die or fail to marry, the population will +actually decrease in numbers. Under the best modern conditions one out +of three children now born either fails to live to maturity or fails to +reproduce. There must be, therefore, more than three children born to +the average family for a population to grow. From the sociological point +of view the ideal family would seem to be one in which from three to six +children are born. + +(6) Finally, not all of the childless and small families in the native +American stock are due by any means to voluntary causes, or even +involuntary causes of the kind that we have mentioned. There are also +certain other obscure physiological causes at work producing sterility +in American women. The sterility of American women is greater than that +of any other civilized population, even apart from the causes which have +just been mentioned. Some say this is due to physical deterioration in +the native white American stock, and there are other things which seem +to point in that direction. It may be, however, that this deterioration +is in no sense racial, but only individual, affecting certain +individuals who lead a relatively unnatural life. Our American +civilization puts a great strain upon certain elements of our +population, and this strain in many cases falls even more upon the women +than upon the men. The social life of the American people, in other +words, is oftentimes such as to produce exhaustion and physical +degeneracy, and this shows itself in the women of a population first of +all in sterility. It is evident that the remedy for this cause is a more +natural and more simple life on the part of all, if it is possible to +bring this about. + +Thus, the causes which influence birth rate are evidently very complex. +In the main they are doubtless economic causes among all peoples, but +there is no reason to believe that these economic causes act alone in +determining birth rate, nor is there any reason to believe that the +other psychological and biological causes may be in any way derived from +the economic. So far as we can see, then, industrial conditions are +mainly responsible for the lessened birth rate in the native white +American stock. But mingled with these industrial conditions, operating +as causes, are certain psychological (or moral) and biological factors +that have to be considered as in the main independent. It is furthermore +evident that the causes which lead to the decline and extinction of any +population, whether civilized or uncivilized, are complex. All efforts +to explain the extinction of peoples of antiquity, or modern nature +peoples, such as the North American Indians and the Polynesians, through +any single set of causes, must be looked at as unscientific. It can +readily be shown that in all these cases the causes of the decline of +the birth rate and the ultimate extinction of the stock are numerous and +are not reducible to any single set of causes. + +_Causes which Influence the Death Rate._ Before we can fully +understand the causes of the growth of a population, that is, of the +surplus of births over deaths, we must understand something also about +the things which influence the death rate as well as the things which +influence the birth rate, because, let it be borne in mind, the growth +of a given population (excluding immigration always) is due to the +combined working of these two factors. + +Within certain limits the death rate is more easily controlled than the +birth rate. It is very difficult for society deliberately to set about +to increase the birth rate, but it is comparatively easy for it to take +deliberate measures to decrease the death rate, because all individuals +have a selfish interest in decreasing the death rate; but the increase +of the birth rate does not appeal to the self-interest of individuals. +Modern medical science, as we have seen, has done much to decrease the +death rate in civilized countries, and it promises to do even more. +Fifty years ago a death rate of fifty or sixty per thousand population +in urban centers was not unusual, but now a death rate of thirty to +forty in a thousand in the same communities is considered an intolerable +disgrace, and the time will shortly come, no doubt, when even a death +rate of twenty per thousand of the population will be considered +disgraceful to any community. As we have already seen, the normal death +rate of the most enlightened European and American communities tends to +establish itself around fifteen or sixteen. + +Of course the sanitary and hygienic conditions which influence the death +rate are so numerous that we cannot enter into and discuss them. We can +only mention some of the more general social influences which are often +overlooked and are of particular interest to the sociologist. + +(1) The effect of war upon the death rate, particularly of the +victorious, is not so great as many people suppose. Considerable wars +are apparently often waged without very greatly increasing the number of +deaths in a given population. This is, however, only true, as has +already been said, of the victorious side. With the defeated it is far +different. The death rate among the defeated in a modern war is +oftentimes very greatly raised, but this is due not so much to the large +number killed in battle as to the fact that the defeated have their +territory invaded, their industries disturbed, and their general +industrial and living conditions depressed. The vital statistics of +France and Germany in the Franco-Prussian War of 1870-1871 illustrate +this point. In Germany the death rate in 1869, the year before the war, +was 28.5; in 1870, the first year of the war, 29; and in 1871, the +culminating year of the war, 31. These figures include the armies in the +field. For France, however, the defeated party, the figures were far +different. In 1869 the death rate in France was 23.4; in 1870, 28.3; in +1871, 34.8. Thus, while Germany had its death rate increased by the +Franco-Prussian War merely 2.5 per thousand of the population, France +had its death rate increased 11.4. From this it is plain that it is the +economic disturbances which accompany war, and particularly those which +are manifest among the defeated, which cause a very large part of the +higher death rate. + +(2) As already implied, then, economic depression exercises a very +considerable influence upon death rate, particularly when economic +depression causes very high prices for the necessities of life and even +widespread scarcity of food. This cause produces far more deaths in +modern nations than war. The doubling of the price of bread in any +civilized country would be a far greater calamity than a great war. +While modern civilized peoples fear famine but little, there are many +classes in the great industrial nations that live upon such a narrow +margin of existence that the slightest increase in the cost of the +necessities of life means practically the same as a famine to these +classes. Statistics, therefore, of all modern countries, and +particularly of all great cities, show an enormous increase in sickness +and death among the poorer classes in times of economic depression. + +(3) Climate and season are rather constant factors in the death rate of +all communities. The rule here is that in northern countries the death +rate is higher in winter, while in southern countries and in great +cities the death rate is higher in summer. Taking 100 as an arbitrary +standard, in Sweden in February deaths rise to 113, in August they go +down to 79; while in Italy in February deaths are at 106 as compared +with the standard, and in August at 111,--the period of minimum death +rate in Italy being in the spring and autumn. In a great city like +Berlin, if 100 be taken as the standard, deaths are 88 in February and +144 in August, owing very largely to the higher death rate of children +in the summer months in great cities. + +(4) The biological fact of sex also influences death rate. Males in +general are shorter-lived than females. This is in part due to the fact +that in human populations men are more exposed to the dangers of +industry in earning a livelihood, while women are more secluded in the +home. But this does not explain entirely the discrepancy in the death +rate of the two sexes, for boy babies under the same conditions die more +frequently than girl babies. As we have already seen, the female +organism is the more stable, biologically, and hence females, while +having less physical strength, have more vitality than males. In Great +Britain the death rate (1872-1880) for the males was 22.7 per thousand +of the male population annually, while the death rate for the females +was 20.2 per thousand of their population annually. + +(5) Conjugal condition is also a factor which affects death rate. The +differences between the death rates of the married and unmarried have +long been noted. The following table of the death rates of males and +females of different conjugal classes between the ages of forty and +fifty years (in Germany, 1876-1880), taken from Professor Mayo-Smith's +_Statistics and Sociology_, illustrates this: + + +Single males ....................... 26.5 per thousand +Married males ...................... 14.2 " " +Widowed males ...................... 29.9 " " + +Single females ..................... 15.4 " " +Married females .................... 11.4 " " +Widows ............................. 13.4 " " + + +It will be seen from these figures that the death rate among the single +is in all the more advanced years of life higher than among the married. +The probable explanation of this, however, is not that the married state +is better physiologically, as has been so often claimed, but that it is +better socially. These figures are a testimony, in other words, to the +social advantages of the home. Single persons, particularly in the more +advanced years of life, who are without homes, are more liable to fall +sick, and when sick are less liable to receive proper care. That these +figures show the great social advantage of the home in preserving life +is evident from the fact that among the widowed males, whose homes have +been broken up, the death rate is higher even than among the single +males. Moreover, in interpreting such statistics we must bear in mind +that the unmarried in the higher ages of life are made up very often of +those who are relatively abnormal, either physically or mentally, that +is, of the biologically unfit. Inasmuch as the single persons include +many of this class, and also lack the comforts of home, it is not +surprising that the death rate is much higher among them. + +(6) Infantile mortality is one of the most interesting phases of vital +statistics. We have already said that the death rate is a good rough +measure of a people's civilization. Even more can we say that the death +rate among children, particularly those under one year of age, is an +index to a people's sanitary and moral condition. Taking the world as a +whole, it is still estimated that one half of all who are born die +before the age of five years. This represents an enormous waste of +energy. Even in many of the most civilized countries the death rate +among children, and especially among infants under one year of age, is +still comparatively high. Most of this death rate is unnecessary, could +be avoided, and, as we have already said, represents a waste of life. +Dr. Newman [Footnote: In his work on _Infant Mortality_.] gives the +following statistics for different civilized countries for the ten-year +period of 1894-1903. These statistics, we may note, are based on the +percentage of deaths among children under one year of age and not upon +the one thousand of their population. In Russia, 27 per cent of all +children born during the ten-year period of 1894-1903 died the first +year; in Germany, 19.5 per cent; in Italy, 17 per cent; in France, 15.5 +per cent; in England, 15 per cent; in Ireland, 10 per cent; in Norway, +9.4 per cent; in New Zealand, 9.7 per cent; while in the United States +in 1900, according to the census, 16.2 per cent of all children born in +the registration area died the first year. + +The Laws of the Growth of Population.--Can the growth of population be +reduced to any principle or law? This is a problem which has puzzled +social thinkers for a long time. Many have thought that the growth of +population can be reduced to one or more relatively simple laws, but we +have seen from analyzing the statistics of birth rate and death rate +that this is hardly probable. A formula that would cover the growth of +population would have to cover all of the variable causes influencing +birth rate and death rate and so entering into the surplus of births +over deaths. It is evident that these causes are too complex to be +reduced to any such formula among modern civilized peoples. In the +animal world and among uncivilized peoples, however, conditions are +quite different, and the growth of population is regulated by certain +very simple principles or laws. Thus it is probable that for centuries +before the whites came, the Indians of North America were stationary in +their population, for the reason that under their stationary condition +of culture a given area could support only so many people. In conditions +of savagery, and even of barbarism, therefore, we can lay down the +principle that population will increase up to the limit of food supply, +will stop there and remain stationary until food supply increases. This +is the condition which governs the growth of the population of all +animal species, and, as we have already said, of the savages and +barbarians among the human species. But among civilized men who have +attempted the control of physical nature, and to some extent even the +control of human nature, many other factors enter in to influence both +birth rate and death rate, and so the growth of the population. + +Nevertheless, many social thinkers of the past have conceived, as has +already been said, that the growth of population might be reduced to +very simple and definite laws. Among the first who proposed laws +governing population was an English economist, Thomas Robert Malthus, +whose active career coincides with the first quarter of the nineteenth +century. In 1798 Malthus put forth a little book which he entitled _An +Essay on the Principle of Population as it affects the future +improvement of society_. This essay went through numerous editions +and revisions, and in it Malthus elaborated his famous economic theory +of the growth of population. Inasmuch as this theory of Malthus has been +the storm center of sociological and economic writers for the past one +hundred years, it is worth our while to note very briefly what Malthus's +theory was, and why it is inadequate as a scientific statement of the +laws governing the growth of population. + +_Malthus's Theory of Population._ In the first edition of his essay +Malthus contended that population tends to increase in geometric ratio, +while food at best will increase only in arithmetical ratio; and that +this means that constant discrepancies between population and food +supply would appear, with the result that population would have to be +cut down to food supply. Later Malthus saw how crude this statement of +his theory was and abandoned any attempt at mathematical statement, +presenting substantially the following theory: (1) Population is +necessarily limited by food; (2) Population always increases where food +increases and tends to increase faster than food; (3) The checks that +keep population down to food supply may be classified as positive and +preventive. Positive checks are those which increase the death rate, +such as famine, poverty, vice, disease, and the like. Preventive checks +are those that decrease the birth rate, such as late marriage and +prudence in the birth of children. Inasmuch as Malthus believed that the +positive checks must always operate where the preventive checks did not, +he advocated the use of the preventive checks as the best means to +remedy human misery. The inherent tendency of population to outstrip +food supply, Malthus believed to be the main source of human misery in +all of its forms. + +_Criticisms of Malthus's Theory._ (1) It is evident that Malthus's +theory applies only to a stationary society, that is, a non-progressive +society, because in a progressive society human invention and, +therefore, food supply, may far outstrip any increase of population. +This has been the case in practically all civilized countries during the +nineteenth century, where improvements in machinery and agriculture have +greatly increased the food supply. If it be replied that this increase +of food is but temporary, and that sooner or later Malthus's theory must +operate, then it may be said, on the other hand, that as yet we see no +limit of man's mastery over nature, and that apparently we are just +entering upon the stage of material progress. Moreover, so far as any +given country is concerned, wealth is potential food supply, and in the +United States during the last fifty years wealth has increased four +times as fast as the population. Malthus, of course, did not foresee the +inventions and agricultural progress of the nineteenth century. Still, +it is evident that his theory is a static one and cannot be made to +apply to any progressive society. + +(2) Similarly, the theory makes no allowance for the increased +efficiency which may come with increased population, because increase of +population makes possible better coöperation. As we have already seen, +coöperation and division of labor in a society depend upon the size of +the group to a certain extent, that is, the larger the group there is +for organization the better can be the organization and division of +labor in that group. Every increase of population, therefore, opens up +new and superior ways of applying labor; and coöperation and the +division of labor make it possible for men to do more as a group than +they could possibly accomplish working as individuals. Improved means of +coöperation, therefore, operate very much the same way in human society +in controlling nature as new inventions. + +(3) The theory of Malthus makes no allowance for the general law of +animal fertility, which is that as the rate of individual evolution +increases the rate of reproduction decreases. Of course, Malthus's +theory antedates this law of animal fertility, which was first stated by +Herbert Spencer. Some scientists declare that this law does not apply +within the human species, and it must be admitted that it is not yet +certain that it does. As we have already seen, however, the lower and +less individualized classes in human society reproduce much more rapidly +than the upper or more individualized classes. Increase of food supply, +of wealth, and so on, does not necessarily mean increase of population, +and the fatal error in Malthus's theory is that he assumes that wherever +food increases population always increases also. + +(4) The overpopulation which Malthus feared, so far from being an evil, +has been shown by the labors of Darwin to be the condition essential to +the working of the process of natural selection in the human species. +Overpopulation, at least until artificial selection arrives, is not an +evil, but a good in human society. Without it there would not be +sufficient elimination of the unfit in human society to prevent +wholesale social degeneration. Even with artificial selection, however, +some overpopulation would be necessary for the working of any scheme of +selection. We must conclude, then, that Malthus's theory, either as an +explanation of the growth of modern populations or as an implied +practical ethical doctrine, is of no value whatever. + +This is not saying, of course, that Malthus's theory may not have some +elements of truth in it. Undoubtedly Malthus's theory does apply to +stationary, non-progressive peoples, like savages and barbarians in +certain stages of culture, and also perhaps to certain classes in modern +society who fail to participate in modern social progress. But these +lower classes or elements in human society are constantly decreasing, +especially in America, where the tendency to individual improvement is +so marked. Again, Malthus's theory, so far as it depends upon the +economic law of diminishing returns in agriculture, has also certain +elements of truth in it, and in so far as it merely asserts that the +struggle for existence in human society is, in the last analysis, a +struggle for food. Finally, Malthus meant his theory chiefly as a +criticism of socialistic and communistic schemes, which would equalize +wealth and do away with competition in society. Unquestionably any such +scheme to equalize wealth and do away with competition in society would +result in the enormous increase of the lower and more brutal element of +society--those that have not yet participated in modern culture. +Malthus's theory as a criticism of socialistic schemes that would do +away with competition (this, however, does not apply to modern +scientific socialism) is unquestionably as good to-day as when it was +written. + +Most modern economists and sociologists recognize the failure of Malthus +to formulate a successful theory of population, and so many have +attempted to form theories independent of Malthus; but it must be said +regarding most of these attempts that they have succeeded no better than +Malthus. For example, a French economist and sociologist, Arsène Dumont, +has formulated the theory that society is like a sponge so far as +population is concerned,--that it will take up just as many new +individuals as it has industrial room for, and that population will in +all cases expand to meet these increased economic opportunities. +Dumont's theory is that population will increase so far as what he calls +the power of social capilarity extends. The law of population is, then, +the capilarity of society. Where there are new economic opportunities +population will increase; where there are no new economic opportunities +there will be no increase. France has no new economic opportunities, so +the population will not increase. The same is true of certain classes in +the United States. This theory tries to make population depend even more +entirely upon economic conditions than Malthus's theory. At first it +appears more plausible than Malthus's theory, but this is probably +because it is more vague. Economic influences are powerful influences, +as we have already seen, in determining the growth of a population, but +they are not the only ones. The factors which make up the surplus of +births over deaths are so complex that they cannot possibly be lumped +together and called collectively economic conditions. Dumont's theory of +the growth of population has no more scientific value than Malthus's +theory. + +In conclusion, we may say that we are unable to formulate any laws of +population which are worthy of the name of laws as yet, and it seems +probable that, while we may understand clearly enough the factors which +enter into the growth of population, we shall never be able to reduce +these factors to a single formula or law. Social phenomena are too +complex, we may here note, to reduce to simple formulas or laws as +physical phenomena are reduced. Indeed, it is doubtful whether laws +exist among social phenomena in the same sense in which they exist among +physical phenomena, that is, as fixed relations among variable forces. +Human society has in it another element than mechanical causation or +physical necessity, namely, the psychic factor, and this so increases +the complexity of social phenomena that it is doubtful if we can +formulate any such hard and fixed laws of social phenomena as of +physical phenomena. This is not saying, however, that social phenomena +cannot be understood and that there are not principles which are at work +with relative uniformity among them. It is only saying that the social +sciences, even in their most biological or physical aspects, cannot be +reduced to the same exactness as the physical sciences, though the +knowledge which they offer may be in practice just as trustworthy. + + +SELECT REFERENCES + + +_For brief reading:_ + +MAYO-SMITH, _Statistics and Sociology_, Chaps. IV-VIII. +BAILEY, _Modern Social Conditions_, Chaps. III-VI. + + +_For more extended reading:_ + +BONAR, _Malthus and his Work._ +BOWLEY, _Elements of Statistics._ +MALTHUS, _Essay on the Principle of Population._ +NEWSHOLME, _Vital Statistics._ + + + + + + +CHAPTER IX + + +THE IMMIGRATION PROBLEM + +In new countries population may increase by immigration as well as by +the surplus of births over deaths. Immigration is, therefore, a +secondary means of increasing the population of a country, and in new +countries is often of great importance. + +Immigration, or the migration of a people into a country, along with its +correlative emigration, or the migration of a people out of a country, +constitutes a most important social phenomenon. All peoples seem more or +less migratory in their habits. Man has been a wanderer upon the face of +the earth since the earliest times. According to modern anthropology the +human species probably evolved in a relatively narrow area and peopled +the earth by successive migrations to distant lands. In all ages, +therefore, we find more or less migratory movements of populations. But +the movements in modern times, particularly in the nineteenth century, +probably exceed, in the number of individuals concerned, any other +migratory movements of which we have knowledge in history. Ancient +migrations were, moreover, somewhat different from modern immigration +and emigration. Ancient migrations were largely those of peoples or +tribes, while in modern times migration is more of an individual matter. +The Huns, for example, came into Europe as a nation, but the immigration +into the United States at the present time is wholly an individual +movement. The causes of migration are more or less universal, but +corresponding to the difference in ancient and modern migrations we find +the causes varying somewhat in ancient and modern times. The causes of +ancient migrations and the primary causes of all migrations seem to be: +(1) lack of food; (2) lack of territory for an expanding population; (3) +war. In modern times we find other causes operating, like, (4) the labor +market; men now migrate chiefly to get better economic opportunities; +(5) government; in modern times the oppression of unjust governments has +often caused extensive migration; (6) religion; religious persecution +and intolerance have in modern times been important among the causes of +migration. + +History of Immigration into the United States.--The great economic +opportunities offered by the settlement of the vast territory of the +United States, together with a combination of causes in Europe, partly +political, partly religious, and partly economic, have caused, during +the last century, a flood of immigrants from practically all European +countries, to invade the United States, greater in number of individuals +than any recorded migration in history. Between 1820, the first year for +which we have immigration statistics, and 1907, 25,318,000 immigrants +sought homes, temporarily or permanently, in this country,--more than +one half of them coming since 1880. Before 1820 it is improbable that +immigration into the United States assumed any large proportions. Even +up to 1840 the number of immigrants was comparatively insignificant. +Thus in 1839 the number was only 68,000, and not until 1842 did the +number of immigrants first cross the 100,000 mark. Owing to the potato +famine in Ireland in the forties, however, and to the unsuccessful +revolution in Germany in 1848, the number of immigrants from Europe +began greatly to increase. From 1851 to 1860 inclusive no less than +2,598,000 immigrants sought homes in this country. The number fell off +greatly during the Civil War, and did not reach the same proportions +again until the eighties, when from 1881 to 1890 the volume of +immigration rose to 5,246,000. The number of immigrants again declined +during the nineties, owing largely to the financial depression in the +United States, to 3,800,000; but during the decade, 1901-1910, it +surpassed all former records, and amounted to nearly 9,000,000. + +It is curious to note how the maximum periods of immigration have +hitherto been about ten or twenty years apart. Thus the first noteworthy +maximum of 427,000, in 1854, was not surpassed again until 1873, when +another maximum of 459,000 was recorded; in 1882 another maximum was +reached of 788,000, and in 1903 another maximum of 857,000. After 1903, +however, immigration went on increasing until 1907. These fluctuations +in immigration correspond to the economic prosperity of the country, +and, as Professor Commons has shown, are almost identical with the +fluctuations in foreign imports. This shows very conclusively the +prevailing economic character of modern migration. + +During 1905, 1906, and 1907, indeed, the United States received more +immigrants than its total population at the time of the Declaration of +Independence. In 1905 the number was 1,027,000; in 1906, 1,100,000; in +1907, 1,285,000. It seems probable, however, that about twenty-five per +cent will have to be deducted from these immigration statistics in +prosperous years to allow for emigrants returning to their home +countries. In a year of economic depression like 1908 when only 782,000 +immigrants entered the country, the number of emigrants returning was +over one half of the total number who entered. + +Previous to 1890, nearly all of the immigrants who came to us came from +the countries of Northern Europe. It has been claimed that as high as +ninety per cent came from Teutonic and Celtic countries, and were, +accordingly, almost of the same blood as the early settlers; but since +1890 the character of our immigration has changed so that since that +time nearly seventy per cent have come from non-Teutonic countries, such +as Russia, Austria-Hungary, Italy, and Greece. The period of maximum +immigration for the Irish to this country was the forties and fifties; +the period of maximum immigration for the Germans was the fifties and +eighties; and for the English, the seventies and eighties. But the +period of maximum immigration for the Italians can scarcely as yet be +reckoned by decades at all. The Italians first began coming in numbers +exceeding 100,000 only in 1900, but in 1906, 273,000 of our immigrants +were Italians, and in 1907, 285,000. This latter number is larger than +any single European nationality ever sent to us in a single year, unless +we except the 338,000 people of various nationalities sent to us by +Austria-Hungary in the same year. The immigration from Austria-Hungary, +also, to the United States did not exceed 100,000 until the year 1900, +but by 1905 it had reached 275,000, and, as has been said, in 1907 +reached 338,000. The immigration from Russia, consisting largely of +Russian Jews and Poles began to be considerable, if we include Poland in +Russia, by 1892, when it reached 122,000. In 1903, after falling off, it +reached 136,000; in 1906, 215,000; and in 1907, 258,000. + +_Present Sources of our Immigration_. These statistics have been +cited to show the change in the sources from which we are receiving +immigrants. This can be brought out still more clearly by contrasting a +typical year previous to 1890 with one of the latest years. The year +1882 was the year, previous to 1890, of maximum immigration into this +country. During that year we received 788,000 immigrants. Nearly all, as +the table which we are about to give will show, came from countries of +Northern Europe. In order to contrast the sources of our immigration a +quarter of a century ago with the present sources, we will compare the +year 1882 with the year 1907, which thus far has been the year of +maximum immigration into the United States,--the total number of +immigrants for 1907 being 1,285,000: + + + IMMIGRATION, 1882. + Per cent. + +Great Britain and Ireland ................. 179,423 22.8 +Germany ................................... 250,630 31.7 +Scandinavia ............................... 105,326 13.3 +Netherlands, France, Switzerland, etc. .... 27,795 3.5 + +Total Western Europe ...................... 71.3 + +Italy ..................................... 32,159 4.1 +Austria-Hungary ........................... 29,150 3.7 +Russia, etc. .............................. 22,010 2.7 + +Total Southern and Eastern Europe ......... 10.5 + +All other countries ....................... 18.2 +[Footnote: 1. Of the immigration from +"other countries" 98,295 was from British +North America, or 12.4 per cent of the +total. This,added to the 71.3 per cent from +Western Europe, makes a total of 83.7 of +the immigrants in 1882 of West European +stock.] + + 100.0 + + + + IMMIGRATION, 1907. + Per cent. + +Great Britain and Ireland ................. 113,567 8.8 +Scandinavia ............................... 49,965 3.9 +Germany ................................... 37,807 2.9 +Netherlands, France, Switzerland, etc. .... 26,512 2.1 + +Total Western Europe ...................... 17.7 + +Austria-Hungary ........................... 338,452 26.3 +Italy ..................................... 285,731 22.2 +Russia .................................... 258,943 20.1 +Greece, Servia, Roumania, etc. ............ 88,482 6.9 + +Total Southern and Eastern Europe ......... 75.5 + +All other countries ....................... 6.8 + + 100.0 + + +It will be noted that while in 1882, 71.3 per cent of our immigrants +came from the countries of Western Europe, only 10.5 per cent came from +the countries of Southern and Eastern Europe. In 1907 the situation was +very nearly reversed. In 1907 Great Britain and Ireland, and +Scandinavia, Germany, The Netherlands, Belgium, France, and +Switzerland--the countries which had furnished 71.3 per cent of our +immigrants in 1882--furnished only 17.7 per cent, while Austria-Hungary, +Italy, Russia, Greece, Servia, Roumania, and Turkey in Europe--the +countries which had furnished but 10.5 per cent in 1882--furnished 75.5 +per cent. This matter of changed sources from which we receive our +immigrants evidently is one of first importance in any consideration of +the present immigration problem of the United States. + +_The Distribution of Immigrants._ If immigrants would distribute +themselves evenly over the United States, the immigration problem would +be quite different from what it is. Instead of this, there is a massing +of immigrants in some states and communities, and very little evidence +to show that these immigrants ever distribute themselves normally over +the whole country. In 1906, for example, the Commissioner of Immigration +reported that 68.3 per cent of the 1,100,000 immigrants who came that +year went to the North Atlantic states; 22.1 per cent to the North +Central states; 4.4 per cent to the Western states; and 4.2 per cent to +the Southern states. If these figures are at all trustworthy, they +indicate a congestion of our recent immigrants in the North Atlantic +states and in certain states of the Central West. So far as the census +is concerned, it tends to confirm these statistics of the Commissioner +of Immigration. Our last census returns, being for 1900, can show +little, of course, of the distribution of the great number of recent +immigrants that have come from Southern and Eastern Europe. Still the +1900 census contains some interesting facts regarding the distribution +of foreign born, or immigrants, that have been received previous to +1900. According to the census of 1900 the number of foreign born in the +United States was 10,460,000, or 13.7 per cent of the total population. +But these foreign born were confined almost entirely to the Northern +states, that is, the North Atlantic states and North Central states. In +1900 the Southern states (South Atlantic and South Central) contained +but 4.6 per cent of the total foreign born of the country. The reason +why so few of our immigrants have thus far settled in the South is +perhaps chiefly because of the competition which the cheap negro labor +of the South would offer to them, and also because the South is still +largely agricultural, offering few opportunities for the industrial +employments, into which a majority of our immigrants go. In the North +Atlantic states in 1900 nearly one fourth of the population was foreign +born, and 20.7 per cent in the Western states. The following statistics +will show the percentage of foreign born in typical states: North +Dakota, 35.4 per cent; Rhode Island, 31.4 per cent; Massachusetts, 30 +per cent; Minnesota, 28.9 per cent; New York, 26 per cent; Wisconsin, +24.9 per cent; California, 24.7 per cent; Montana, 27.6 per cent; +Indiana, 8.5 per cent; Maryland, 7.9 per cent; Missouri, 7 per cent; +North Carolina, 0.2 per cent; and Mississippi, 0.5 per cent. The +influence of the foreign born in a community, however, is better shown, +perhaps, if we consider the number of those of foreign parentage, that +is, the foreign born and their children, than if we consider the number +of foreign born alone. In a large number of states more than one half of +the population is of foreign parentage. Thus North Dakota had in 1900, +77.5 per cent of its population of foreign parentage; Minnesota, 74.9 +per cent; Wisconsin, 71.2 per cent; Rhode Island, 64.2 per cent; +Massachusetts, 62.3 per cent; South Dakota, 61.1 per cent; Utah, 61.2 +per cent; New York, 59.4 per cent. Connecticut, New Jersey, Illinois, +Michigan, Montana, Nevada, and California all also had more than one +half of their population of foreign parentage in 1900. For the United +States as a whole the number of foreign parentage in 1900 amounted to +34.3 per cent, or 26,000,000 out of a total population of 76,000,000. +Many of our large cities also have a high percentage of foreign born and +of foreign parentage in their population. The percentage of foreign born +in some of our largest cities in 1900 was as follows: + + + Per cent. + +New York........................................... 37 +Chicago............................................ 34.6 +Philadelphia....................................... 22.8 +Saint Louis........................................ 19.4 +Boston............................................. 35.1 +Baltimore.......................................... 13.5 +San Francisco...................................... 34.1 +Cleveland.......................................... 32.6 + + +These same cities had the following percentage of foreign parentage in +their population: + + + Per cent. + +New York........................................... 76.9 +Chicago............................................ 77.4 +Philadelphia....................................... 54.9 +St. Louis.......................................... 61.0 +Boston............................................. 72.2 +Baltimore.......................................... 38.2 +San Francisco...................................... 75.2 +Cleveland.......................................... 75.6 + + +These figures show the tendency of our immigrants to mass together in +certain states and also in our great cities; so that it has come about +that it is said that New York is the largest German city in the world +except Berlin; the largest Italian city except Rome; the largest Polish +city except Warsaw, and by far the largest Jewish city in the world. + +Only one nationality distributes itself relatively evenly over the +country, and that is the British. All other nationalities have certain +favorite sections in which they settle. Thus, the Irish settle mainly in +the North Atlantic states; the Germans have two favorite settlements in +the United States, one of them consisting of New York and Pennsylvania, +and the other of Wisconsin and Illinois, though Michigan, Iowa, and +Missouri also contain a large number of Germans. The Scandinavians +locate chiefly in the Northwest, especially in Minnesota, North and +South Dakota; and the large number of foreign parentage in those states +is due to Scandinavian immigration. All these nationalities, however, +readily assimilate with our population, as they have very largely the +same social and political standards and ideals. But this is not true +regarding some of the more recent immigrants from Southern and Eastern +Europe, whose massing in large communities of their own must be regarded +as a more serious matter. The census does not help us to find out how +far these recent immigrants have massed in certain localities, but the +Commissioner of Immigration has kept statistics of the destination of +these recent immigrants, and they show the following results: In 1907, +of the 294,000 Italian speaking immigrants who came to us in that year, +120,000 settled in the state of New York; 53,000 in Pennsylvania; 19,000 +in Massachusetts; and 17,000 in New Jersey. Three fourths of the Italian +immigrants, in other words, apparently go to these four states. Of the +138,000 Poles who came in 1907, 33,000 were bound to Pennsylvania, +31,000 to New York, 12,000 to New Jersey, and 17,000 to Illinois. These +four states seem to constitute the favorite places of settlement for the +Slavs. Of the 149,000 Russian and Polish Hebrews who came in 1907, +93,000 settled in New York state, 15,000 in Pennsylvania, and 9000 in +Massachusetts, these three states being the favorite places of +settlement for recent Jewish immigrants. + +It seems clear from these figures that the congestion of recent +immigrants is serious, and it is a question whether with such congestion +it will be possible to assimilate these recent comers, so unlike +ourselves in social traditions and ideals, to the American type. It is +claimed by some that there is no serious congestion of immigrants in +this country, and that the immigrants distribute themselves through the +operation of normal economic influences in the places where they are +most needed, and that we need not, therefore, be concerned about the +congestion of foreign born in certain communities. This view, however, +that economic laws or forces will sufficiently attend to this matter of +the distribution of our immigrants, is not borne out by the facts of +ordinary observation and experience. + +_The Distribution of Immigrants in Industry_. It is probably safe +to say that four fifths of our recent immigrants belong to the unskilled +class of laborers, though the percentage of unskilled fluctuates greatly +from year to year and from nationality to nationality. Out of the total +of 1,285,000 immigrants in 1907 only 12,600 were recorded by the +Commissioner of Immigration as belonging to the professional classes; +190,000, or about 15 per cent, were skilled laborers, including all who +had any trade; while 760,000 were unskilled laborers, including farm and +day laborers, 304,000 being persons of no occupation, including women +and children. When we consider the matter by races, the contrast is even +more striking. Of the 242,000 South Italian immigrants in 1907 only 701 +were professional men; 26,000, or 11 per cent, were skilled laborers; +while the number of unskilled amounted to 161,000, or 66 per cent. Of +the 138,000 Poles who came in 1907, only 273 were professional men; +8000, or 6 per cent, were skilled laborers; and 107,000, or 77 per cent, +were unskilled. In the case of the Hebrews, however, there is a much +higher percentage of skilled laborers and professional men. It is +claimed by those who favor the policy of unrestricted immigration that +what this country needs at present is a large supply of unskilled +laborers, and so the fact that the mass of immigrants belong to the +unskilled class of laborers, it is said, is no objection to them. + +Again, the census of 1900 shows a very uneven distribution of the +foreign born among the different classes of occupations. Thus, while the +foreign born constituted about one seventh of the population, over one +third of those engaged in manufacturing were foreign born; one half of +those engaged in mining were foreign born; one fourth of those engaged +in transportation were foreign born; one fourth of those engaged in +domestic service were also foreign born, while only one eighth of those +engaged in agriculture were foreign born. This shows that the tendency +of the foreign born is to mass in such industries as mining, +manufacturing, and transportation. It is undoubtedly in these industries +that there is the greatest demand for cheap labor, and the presence of a +large number of unskilled foreign laborers has made it possible for the +American capitalists to develop these industries under such conditions +probably faster than they would otherwise have been developed. At the +same time, however, all of this has been a hardship to the native-born +American laborer, and the tendency has been to eliminate the native born +from these occupations to which the immigrants have flocked. + +Some Other Social Effects of Immigration.--(1) The influence on the +proportion of the sexes of immigration into this country has without +doubt been considerable. In 1907, out of a total of 1,285,349 +immigrants, 929,976 were males and 355,373 were females. For a long +period of years about two thirds of all the immigrants into the United +States have been males. This has considerably affected the proportion of +the sexes in the United States, making the males about 1,000,000 in +excess in our population. The influence of such a discrepancy in the +proportion of the sexes is difficult to state, but it is obvious, from +all that has previously been said about the importance of the numerical +equality of the sexes in society, that the influence must be a +considerable one, and that not for good. + +(2) The following table shows how far the increase of population in the +United States in the decennial periods since 1800 has been due to +immigration and to reproduction. Until 1840 the increase by immigration +was so small as to be hardly noticeable, and therefore no account of it +is taken. + + + Total Increase By Immigration By Birth +Year Per cent. Per cent. Per cent. + +1800 35.70 +1810 36.38 +1820 34.07 +1830 33.55 +1840 32.67 4.66 28.01 +1850 35.87 10.04 25.83 +1860 35.58 11.12 24.46 +1870 22.63 7.25 15.38 +1880 30.08 7.29 22.79 +1890 24.86 10.40 15.40 +1900 20.73 5.86 14.87 + + +This table shows that it is not certain that immigration has increased +the total population of the United States, as a decrease of the natural +birth rate seems to have accompanied increasing immigration. For this +reason Professor Francis A. Walker held that it was doubtful that +immigration had added anything to the population of the United States. +At any rate, the population of the country was increasing just as +rapidly before the large volume of immigration was received as it +increased at any later time. Again, the Southern states, which have +received practically no immigrants since the Civil War, have increased +their population as rapidly as the Northern states, that is, the +increase of population among the Southern whites has been equal to that +of the Northern assisted by immigration. These two facts suggest that +the immigrants have simply displaced an equal number of native born who +would have been furnished by birth rate if the immigrants had never +come. + +(3) Immigration has very largely aided in maintaining a considerable +amount of illiteracy in the United States in spite of the effects of the +propaganda for popular education which has been carried on now for the +last fifty years or more. In 1900 there were still 6,246,000 illiterates +above the age of ten years in the United States, which was 10.7 per cent +of the population above that age. Of these, about 3,200,000 were whites, +and of this number, again, 1,293,000 were foreign born. Nearly all of +the native white illiterates in the United States are found in the +Southern states, the white illiteracy in the Northern states being +practically confined to the foreign born. Thus, in the state of New York +5.5 per cent are illiterate, but of the native whites only 1.2 per cent +are illiterate, while 14 per cent of the foreign population can neither +read nor write. Again, in Massachusetts 5 per cent of the population are +illiterate, but of the native whites only 0.8 per cent are illiterate, +while 14.6 per cent of the foreign born are illiterate. Statistics of +illiteracy for our cities show the same results. Thus, in the city of +New York 6.8 per cent of the population are illiterate, but only 0.4 per +cent of the native whites are illiterate, while 13.9 per cent of the +foreign born are illiterate. Boston has 5.1 per cent of its total +population illiterate, but only 0.2 per cent of its native white +population are illiterate, while 11.3 per cent of its foreign-born +population are illiterate. Of the total immigration in 1907, 30 per cent +were illiterate. The number of illiterates from different countries +varies greatly. In 1907, 53 per cent of the immigrants from Southern +Italy were illiterate. In the same year 40 per cent of the Poles were +illiterate, 25 per cent of the Slovaks from Austria, 56 per cent of the +Ruthenians from Austria, 29 per cent of the Russian Jews, and 54 per +cent of the Syrians. The bulk of our immigration is now made up of these +people from Southern and Eastern Europe, among whom the illiteracy is +high. It is interesting to contrast the condition of these people with +the immigrants from Northern and Western Europe, whence our immigration +was mainly received a few years ago. The percentage of illiteracy among +the immigrants from Western Europe is very low. Thus, in 1907 among the +French it was only 4 per cent; among the Germans, 4 per cent; Irish, 3 +per cent; English, 2 per cent; and Scandinavians, less than 1 per cent. +Connected more or less with this fact of illiteracy is the number in our +population who cannot speak English. In 1900 the number of persons in +the United States above the age of ten years who could not speak English +was reported by the census to be 1,463,000, but it is probable, owing to +the recent large immigration, that the number is at least twice that at +the present time. + +(4) Crime and Poverty. It is said that crime is apt to accompany +migration. However, down to 1904 our immigrants have not shown any +exaggerated tendency to crime. The special prison census of 1904 showed +that 23.7 per cent of the male white prisoners were foreign born, while +23 per cent of the general male white population above the age of +fifteen years were foreign born. This shows a tendency to crime among +the foreign born not greatly out of proportion to their numbers in the +population. The same census, however, showed that 29.8 per cent of all +white male prisoners committed during 1904 were born of foreign parents, +while this element constituted only 18.8 per cent of the general white +male population. Thus, among the children of the foreign born there +appears to be an exaggerated tendency to crime, while not among the +foreign born themselves. The probable explanation of this is that the +children of the foreign born are often reared in our large cities, and +particularly in the slum districts of those cities. Thus the high +criminality of the children of the foreign born is perhaps largely a +product of urban life, but it may be suggested also that the children of +the foreign born lack adequate parental control in their new American +environment. Certain elements among our immigrants, however, seem +strongly predisposed to crime. This is especially true of the Southern +Italian. For example, the census of 1904 showed that 6.1 per cent of the +foreign-born prisoners committed during 1904 were Italian, while +Italians constituted but 4.7 per cent of the total foreign-born +population. Moreover, if we consider simply serious offenses, the +evidence of the criminality of the Italian immigrant is even still more +striking, for 14.4 per cent of the foreign-born major offenders +committed during 1904 were Italians, while, as was just said, Italians +constituted only 4.7 per cent of the total foreign-born population. + +In the matter of poverty and dependence the foreign born make a more +unfavorable showing. In the special census report on paupers for 1904 +the proportion of foreign born among almshouse paupers was about twice +as great as among the native born. Again, in a special investigation +conducted by the Commissioner of Immigration in the year 1907-1908, out +of 288,395 inmates of charitable institutions there were 60,025 who were +foreign born, or about 21 per cent, and out of 172,185 inmates of insane +hospitals, 50,734, or about 29 per cent, were foreign born. Inasmuch as +the foreign born probably did not constitute in 1907-1908 more than 15 +or 16 per cent of the total population of both sexes, it is seen that +the foreign born contribute out of their proportion both to inmates of +charitable institutions and to the number of the insane. The experience +of Charity Organization Societies in our large cities, especially New +York, confirms these findings. It is not surprising, indeed, that many +of our immigrants should soon need assistance after landing in this +country, inasmuch as a very large proportion of them come to the United +States bringing little or no money with them. Thus, for a number of +years the amount of money brought by immigrants from Russia has varied +from nine to fifteen dollars per head. On account of the difficulties of +economic adjustment in a new country it is not surprising, then, that +many of the immigrants become more or less dependent, some temporarily +and some permanently. + +Immigration into Other Countries.--It has been suggested that with the +opening up of other new countries the immigration problem of the United +States would solve itself, and that so many emigrants from Europe will +soon be going to South America, South Africa, and Australia that this +country will be in no danger of receiving more than its share. Down to +recent years, however, there have been little or no signs of such a +diversion of the stream of immigration from Europe into those countries. +The principal countries which receive immigrants other than the United +States are Brazil, Argentina, Canada, and Australia. While Brazil has +received between 1855 and 1904 a total of 2,096,000 immigrants, the +present number of immigrants into Brazil seems to be comparatively +small, for in 1904 it was only 12,400. Argentina, next to the United +States, receives the most considerable immigration from Europe. From +1857 to 1906 Argentina received 3,639,000 immigrants. In 1906 the number +was 252,000, of whom 127,000 were Italian, 17,000 Russian Hebrews, and +the remainder from various European nationalities. The foreign +immigration into other South American countries is comparatively +insignificant. In 1906 Australia received 148,000 immigrants, most of +whom were British, but the emigration from Australia almost equaled the +immigration into Australia in that year. Again, in 1906 the Dominion of +Canada received 189,000 immigrants, chiefly from Great Britain and the +United States. An unknown number, however, of Canadians migrated across +the border into the United States,--no record being kept of Canadian +immigration into the United States since 1885, except of those who come +by way of seaports. Thus it is certain that the United States receives +more immigration at the present time than all the other countries of the +world combined, and, as we have said, there is as yet little or no +evidence that the stream of European emigration will be diverted for +some years to come to these other countries. The problem of immigration +in the United States is not, therefore, a problem of the past, but is +still a problem of the future. Therefore, the question of reasonable +restrictions upon immigration into this country and of the improvement +of the immigrants that we admit is still a pressing problem of the day. + +Proposed Immigration Restrictions.--There are no good moral or political +grounds to exclude all immigrants from this country. The question is not +one of the prohibition of immigration, but one of reasonable +restrictions upon immigration, or, as Professor Commons has said, of the +_improvement_ of immigration. + +There can be no question as to the moral right of the United States to +restrict immigration. If it is our duty to develop our institutions and +our national life in such a way that they will make the largest possible +contribution to the good of humanity, then it is manifestly our duty to +exclude from membership in American society elements which might prevent +our institutions from reaching their highest and best development. All +restrictions to immigration, it must be admitted, must be based, not +upon national selfishness, but upon the principle of the good of +humanity; and there can be no doubt that the good of humanity demands +that every nation protect its people and its institutions from elements +which may seriously threaten their stability and survival. The arguments +in favor of further restrictions upon the immigration into this country +may be summed up along four lines: + +(1) _The Industrial Argument_. Many of the immigrants work for low +wages, and, as we have already seen, offer such competition that the +native born, in certain lines of industry, are almost entirely +eliminated. This has been, no doubt, a hardship to the native-born +American workingman. While we have been zealous to protect the American +workingman from the unfair competition of European labor by high +protective tariffs, yet inconsistently we have permitted great numbers +of European laborers to compete with the American workingman upon his +own soil. On the other hand, this large supply of cheap labor, as we +have already seen, has enabled American capitalists to develop American +industries very rapidly, to dominate in many cases the markets of the +world, and to add greatly to the wealth of the country. It has been +chiefly the large employers of labor in the United States, together with +the steamship companies, who have opposed any considerable restrictions +upon immigration, and thus far their power with Congress has +successfully prevented the passing of stringent immigration laws. On the +whole, it is probably true that if industrial arguments alone are to be +taken into consideration upon the immigration problem, the weight of the +argument would be on the side of unrestricted immigration. But +industrial arguments are not the only ones to be taken into +consideration in considering the immigration problem, and this has been +hitherto one of the great mistakes of many in discussing the problem. + +(2) _The Social Argument._ Many of our recent immigrants are at +least very difficult of social assimilation. They are clannish, tend to +form colonies of their own race in which their language, customs, and +ideals are preserved. This is especially true of the illiterate +immigrants from Southern and Eastern Europe. As we have already seen, +the rate of illiteracy among certain of our recent immigrants is so high +that they can scarcely be expected to participate in our social life. +Just the social effect of such colonies of different peoples and +nationalities upon our own social life and institutions cannot well be +foreseen, but it can scarcely be a good effect. The public school, it is +true, does much to assimilate to American ideals and standards the +children of even the most unassimilable immigrants. The public school is +not as yet, however, a perfect agency of socialization, and even when +attended by the children of these immigrants they fail to receive from +it, in many cases, the higher elements of our culture and still continue +to remain essentially foreign in their thought and actions. + +(3) _The Political Argument._ Many of these immigrants are, +therefore, incapable of understanding and appreciating our free +institutions. They are not fit to vote intelligently, but are +nevertheless quickly naturalized and form a very large per cent of our +voting population, especially in our large cities. As a rule, they do +not sell their votes, but their votes are often under the control of a +few leaders, and thus they are able to hold, oftentimes, the balance of +power between parties and factions. It is questionable whether free +institutions can work successfully under such conditions. + +(4) _The Racial or Biological Argument._ Undoubtedly the strongest +arguments in favor of further restriction upon immigration into the +United States are of a biological nature. The peoples that are coming to +us at present belong to a different race from ours. They belong to the +Slavic and Mediterranean subraces of the white race. Now, the Slavic and +Mediterranean races have never shown the capacity for self-government +and free institutions which the peoples of Northern and Western Europe +have shown. It is doubtful if they have the same capacity for +self-government. Moreover, the whole history of the social life and +social ideals of these people shows them to have been in their past +development very different from ourselves. Of course, if heredity counts +for nothing it will only be a few generations before the descendants of +these people will be as good Americans as any. But this is the question, +Does heredity count for nothing? or does blood tell? Are habits of +acting and, therefore, social and institutional life, dependent, more or +less, on the biological heredity of peoples, or are they entirely +independent of such biological influence? There is much diversity of +opinion upon this question, but perhaps the most trustworthy opinion +inclines to the view that racial heredity, even between subraces of the +white race, is a factor of great moment and must be taken into account. +It is scarcely probable that a people of so different racial heredity +from ourselves as the Southern Italians, for example, will develop our +institutions and social life exactly as those of the same blood as +ourselves. It is impossible to think that the Latin temperament would +express itself socially in the same ways as the Teutonic temperament. +Certainly the coming to us of the vast numbers of peoples from Southern +and Eastern Europe is destined to change our physical type, and it seems +also probable that if permitted to go on it will change our mental and +social type also. Whether this is desirable or not must be left for each +individual to decide for himself. + +Another phase of this biological argument is the necessity of selection, +if we are to avoid introducing into our national blood the degenerate +strains of the oppressed peoples of Southern and Eastern Europe. If +selection counts in the life of a people, as practically all biologists +agree, then the American people certainly have a great opportunity to +exercise selection on a large scale to determine who shall be the +parents of the future Americans. While it is undesirable, perhaps, to +discriminate among immigrants on the ground of race, it would certainly +be desirable to select from all peoples those elements that we could +most advantageously incorporate into our own life. The biological +argument alone, therefore, seems to necessitate the admission of the +importance of rigid selection in the matter of whom we shall admit into +this country. At present, however, almost nothing is being accomplished +in the way of insuring such a selection of the most fit. All that is +attempted at the present time is to eliminate the very least fit, and +the elimination amounts to only about one per cent of all who come to +us. + +Our present immigration laws debar a number of classes, chiefly, +however, persons suffering from loathsome or dangerous diseases, persons +who are paupers or likely to become public charges, and contract +laborers, besides Chinese laborers. Practically all who are debarred at +the present time come under these heads. Other classes who are debarred, +however, are idiots, imbeciles, epileptics, insane, criminals, assisted +immigrants, polygamists, anarchists, prostitutes, and procurers. Only an +insignificant number, however, of immigrants are debarred upon these +latter grounds. In 1907, with a total immigration of 1,285,000, only +13,064 were debarred as coming under these excluded classes, or a trifle +over one per cent. For a number of years, indeed, since we have had any +restriction laws at all, the number debarred has been a trifle over one +per cent. Of course, this constitutes no adequate selection of +immigrants which would satisfy biological or even high social +requirements. It would seem, therefore, that our immigration laws, from +a biological and sociological standpoint, are extremely deficient and +that some means of more adequate selection among immigrants should +speedily be found. + +It has been suggested that a better selection of immigrants may be +secured by imposing an illiteracy test upon all male immigrants between +the ages of sixteen and fifty years coming to us, excluding those male +immigrants between these ages who cannot read or write in some language. +It is not proposed that this test should take the place of the present +restrictions, but should be in addition to the present restrictions. It +is argued by those who favor this test: (1) that it would exclude those +elements that we desire to exclude, namely, the illiterates from +Southern and Eastern Europe; (2) that it is easy to apply this test; (3) +that immigrants would know before leaving European ports whether they +would be admitted or not; (4) that such a test would have a favorable +educational and, therefore, social effect upon the countries from which +we now draw our largest proportion of illiterate immigrants. + +It would seem, however, that the more important tests should be certain +tests as to biological, social, and economic fitness. It would be no +hardship upon any one for this country to require that all immigrants +come up to a certain biological standard and that this standard should +be a very strict one, say, the same as that required for admission to +the United States army; and that furthermore they should possess enough +money to insure the probability of their economic adjustment in this +country. Such tests, moreover, might be enforced by our government +practically without cost, as the burden of making such tests could be +placed entirely upon the steamship companies that bring immigrants to +the United States. It has been shown that a heavy fine of from one +hundred to five hundred dollars for every person that is brought to the +United States that does not conform to the requirements of our +immigration laws is sufficient to make the steamship companies exercise +a very stringent selection upon all whom they bring to us as immigrants. + +Finally, something may probably be done to secure a better distribution +of our immigrants through the coöperation of the federal government with +state immigration societies, and with various private employment and +philanthropic agencies. In any case the requirement that the immigrant +shall possess beyond his ticket a certain amount of money, say $25.00, +would help to secure a wider distribution of our immigrants. + +Asiatic Immigration.--What has been said regarding there being no good +social or political argument for the prohibition of immigrants does not +apply to Asiatic immigration. Here the importance of the racial factor +becomes so pronounced that it may well be doubted if a policy of +exclusion toward Asiatic immigration would not be the wisest in the long +run for the people of this country. + +It is true that but few Asiatic immigrants have as yet come to this +country, but there are grave reasons for believing that if the policy of +exclusion had not been adopted a quarter of a century ago, Asiatic +immigration would now constitute a very considerable proportion of our +total immigration. It is chiefly the Chinese who are the main element in +Asiatic immigration, and between 1851 and 1900 the Chinese sent us a +total of only 310,000 immigrants; but in 1882, the year before the first +Chinese Exclusion Law was put into effect, 39,000 Chinese immigrants +entered the United States, and if their rate of increase had been kept +up the Chinese would now be sending us from 100,000 to 300,000 +immigrants annually. The Chinese Exclusion Act of 1882, reenacted and +strengthened again in 1892 and in 1902, excluded all Chinese laborers +from the United States. Consequently in 1890 the census showed only a +total of 107,000 Chinese in this country, and in 1900 only 93,283, +exclusive of Hawaii. In Hawaii, however, there were 25,767 Chinese in +1900, most of whom were residents of the islands previous to the +annexation. The Chinese in continental United States were, moreover, +massed in 1900 chiefly in the Pacific Coast states, there being 67,729 +Chinese in the Rocky Mountain and Pacific Coast states, of which number +45,753 were in California alone. + +In judging this question of Asiatic immigration we should accept to a +certain extent the opinion of the people of the Pacific Coast regarding +the problems which these Asiatic immigrants create. At any rate, the +opinion of any group of people who are closest to a social problem +should not be disregarded, as there are probabilities of error on the +part of the distant observer of conditions as well as on the part of +those who stand very close to a social problem. Just as we should accept +the opinion of the Southern people in regard to the negro problem as +worth something, so we should accept the judgment of the people of our +Western states in regard to the Chinese and Japanese also as worth +something. Now, as regards the Chinese, the people of the Pacific Coast +say they would rather have the negro among them than the Chinese. They +have numerous objections to the Chinese, similar to the various lines of +argument which have already been given in favor of the restriction of +immigration. They say, namely, (1) that the Chinese work for wages below +the minimum necessary to maintain life for the white man, and so reduce +the standard of living and crowd out the white working-man. There can +scarcely be any question that the white laboring man is not able to +compete economically with the Chinese laborer. + +(2) Again, they claim that the Chinese make no contribution to the +welfare of the country; that they come here to remain several years, to +attain a competence, and then return to China. + +(3) It is claimed that the Chinese are grossly immoral, that they are +addicted to the opium habit and other vices, and that so few women come +among the Chinese immigrants that Chinese men menace the virtue of white +women. + +(4) The Chinese do not readily assimilate. They keep their language, +religion, and customs. They live largely by themselves, and are even +more completely isolated from American social life than the negro. In +comparison with them, indeed, one is struck with the fact that the negro +has our customs, our religion, our language, and, in so far as he has +been able to attain them, our moral standards, but this is not the case +with the Chinese. It is, moreover, impossible for the Chinese to assume +the white man's standards without losing his own social position among +members of his own race. + +(5) The last and strongest argument in favor of the general exclusion of +Chinese laborers from this country, however, is the racial argument. The +Chinese are just as different in race from us as the negro, and if +racial heredity counts for anything it is fatuous to hope to assimilate +them to the social type of the whites. Moreover, if we should open our +doors to the mass of Chinese laborers China would be able to swamp us +with Chinese immigrants. With its hundreds of millions of population +China could spare to us several hundred thousand immigrants each year +without feeling the loss. If we wish to keep the western third of our +country, therefore, a white man's country it would be well not to open +the doors to Chinese immigrants. It is certain that if we open our doors +to the mass of Chinese immigrants we shall have another racial problem +in the West such as we now have in the South with the negro. Those who +claim upon the basis of sentiment or humanity that we should open our +doors and attempt to civilize and christianize the flood of Chinese who +would come to us, probably do not appreciate fully the social status of +the Chinese or the social status of the American people. The truth is we +are not yet ourselves enough civilized to undertake the work of +civilizing and christianizing a very considerable number of people alien +to ourselves in race, religion and social ideals. Again, those who +advocate the free admission of the Chinese probably do not appreciate +the importance of the element of racial heredity in social problems. The +negro problem should have taught us by this time that this factor of +racial heredity is not to be discounted altogether. + +All that has been said regarding Chinese immigration applies to Asiatic +immigration in general. It is not surprising, therefore, that since the +Japanese laborers have begun to come to us in large numbers the people +of the Pacific Coast should demand the exclusion of the Japanese +immigrants. While Japan has not the immense population of China and +while the Japanese are perhaps a more adaptable people than the Chinese, +still it would seem that in the main the people of the Pacific Coast are +justified in their fears of the results of a large Japanese immigration. +For the peace of both countries and of the world, therefore, it is to be +hoped that the flow of Japanese laborers into the Western states will be +checked without any disruption of the friendship of the United States +and Japan. The same thing can be said regarding the Hindoo immigrants +who are just beginning to come to us. It would appear that the wisest +policy, therefore, regarding, all Asiatic immigration is the exclusion +of Asiatic laborers, and as these would constitute over nine tenths of +all Asiatic immigrants who might come to us, this would assure a +practical solution of the problem. + + +SELECT REFERENCES + + +_For brief reading:_ + +COMMONS, _Races and Immigrants in America_. +HALL, _Immigration and Its Effect upon the United States_. +MAYO-SMITH, _Emigration and Immigration_. + + +_For more extended reading:_ + +GROSE, _The Incoming Millions_. +STEINER, _On the Trail of the Immigrant_. +WHELPLEY, _The Problem of the Immigrant_. +Reports of the United States Commissioner-General of Immigration. + + +_On Chinese Immigration:_ + +COOLIDGE, _Chinese Immigration_. + + + + + + +CHAPTER X + + +THE NEGRO PROBLEM + +Already we have been brought in our study of the immigration problem to +race problems--problems of the relations of races to one another and of +their mutual adjustment. The negro problem is one of many race problems +which the United States has, but because it is the most pressing of all +of our race problems it is frequently spoken of as _the race +problem_. An unsolved factor in all race problems is the biological +influence of racial heredity, and this factor we must seek to understand +and estimate at the very outset of any scientific study of the negro +problem. + +Racial Heredity as a Factor in Social Evolution.--We have already seen +that racial heredity is the most important and at the same time the +least known factor in the problem of immigration. While there is still +much disagreement among scientific men as to the importance of racial +heredity in social problems, it can be said that the weight of opinion +inclines to the view that racial heredity is a very real factor, and one +which cannot be left altogether out of account in studying social +problems. The view of Buckle that racial heredity counted for nothing in +explaining the social life of various peoples is not upheld by modern +biologists. On the contrary the biological view would emphasize the +importance of species and racial heredity in all problems connected with +life; thus no one denies that between different species of animals +heredity counts for everything in explaining their life activities, and, +as between the different breeds or races of a single species, no other +position is possible from the biological point of view. Nevertheless it +may be admitted that man no longer lives a purely animal life and that +racial heredity as a factor in his social life may be easily +exaggerated. On the whole, it is a safe rule to follow that racial +heredity should not be invoked to explain the social condition of a +people until practically all other factors have been exhausted. +Nevertheless as between the different races or great varieties of +mankind there must be a great difference in racial heredity. It could +not, indeed, be otherwise, since these different races were developed in +different geographical environments or "areas of characterization." +Natural selection has developed in each race of mankind an innate +character fitted to cope with the environment in which it was evolved. +This is clearly perceptible in regard to their bodily traits, and all +modern research seems to show that their native reactions to different +stimuli also vary greatly, that is, heredity affects their thoughts, +feelings and mode of conduct as well as the color of skin, texture of +hair, and shape of head. In other words, the instincts or native +reactions of the different races of man vary considerably in degree if +not in quality, and from this it follows that their feelings, ideas, and +modes of conduct must also vary considerably. + +It may be noted, however, that taking racial heredity into full account +by no means leads to an attitude of fatalism as regards racial problems. +On the contrary modern biology clearly teaches that racial heredity is +modifiable both in the individual and in the race. It is modifiable in +the individual through education or training; it is modifiable in the +race through selection. Therefore racial heredity does not foredoom any +people to remain in a low status of culture; only it must be taken into +account in explaining the cultural conditions of all peoples, and +especially in planning for a people's social amelioration. + +The Racial Heredity of the Negro.--It is generally agreed by +anthropologists and biologists that mankind constitutes but a single +species, developed from a single pre-human anthropoid stock. The various +races of mankind have had, therefore, a common origin, but having +developed in different geographical areas they each present certain +peculiar racial traits adapting each to the environment in which it was +developed. Now, the negro race is that part of mankind which was +developed in the tropics. In all the negro's physical and mental make-up +he shows complete adaptation to a tropical environment. The dark color +of his skin, for example, was developed by natural selection to exclude +the injurious actinic rays of the sun. The various ways in which the +negro's tropical environment influenced the development of his mind, +particularly of his instincts, cannot be here entered into in detail. +Suffice to say that the African environment of the ancestors of the +present negroes in the United States deeply stamped itself upon the +mental traits and tendencies of the race. For example, the tropical +environment is generally unfavorable to severe bodily labor. Persons who +work hard in the tropics are, in other words, apt to be eliminated by +natural selection. On the other hand, nature furnishes a bountiful +supply of food without much labor. Hence, the tropical environment of +the negro failed to develop in him any instinct to work, but favored the +survival of those naturally shiftless and lazy. Again, the extremely +high death rate in Africa necessitated a correspondingly high birth rate +in order that any race living there might survive; hence, nature fixed +in the negro strong sexual propensities in order to secure such a high +birth rate. + +It is not claimed that the shiftlessness and sensuality of the masses of +the American negroes to-day can be wholly attributed to hereditary +influences, but it would be a great mistake to suppose that the African +environment did not have something to do with these two dominant +characteristics of the present American negro. So we might go through +the whole list of the conspicuous traits and tendencies of the American +negro, and in practically every case we would find good reason for +believing that these racial traits and tendencies are at least in part +instinctive, that is, due to the influence of racial heredity. + +The question is frequently raised whether the negro is inferior by +nature to the white man or not. It is obvious from what has been said +that the negro may, on the side of his instinctive or hereditary +equipment, be inferior to the white man in his natural adaptiveness to a +complex civilization existing under very different climatic conditions +from those in which he was evolved. This does not mean, however, that +the negro is in any sense a degenerate. On the contrary, from the point +of view of a tropical environment, as we have already made plain, the +negro may be regarded as the white man's superior. It is only in +countries out of his own natural environment, under strange conditions +of life to which he has not yet become biologically adapted, that the +negro is inferior to the white man. In Africa he is the white man's +superior if we adopt survival as the test of superiority. + +Influence of Slavery on the Negro.--There is no longer any doubt that +the influence of slavery on the negro, as a form of industry, was both +beneficent and maleficent. The negroes brought to America by the slave +traders were subject to a very severe artificial selection, which, +perhaps, secured a better type of negro physically on the whole, and a +more docile type mentally; but the chief beneficent influence of slavery +on the negro was that it taught him to work, to some extent at least. +Moreover, it gave the negro the Anglo-Saxon tongue and the rudiments of +our morality, religion, and civilization. + +On the other hand, slavery did not fit the individual or the race for a +life of freedom, and did not raise moral standards much above those of +Africa. The monogamic form of the family was, to be sure, enforced upon +the slaves, but the family life was often broken up; for even when the +owner of the slaves was kind-hearted and humane, on his death his +property would be sold and the families of his slaves scattered. Under +such conditions it is not surprising that the negro learned little of +family morality. Again, being property himself, the negro could not be +taught properly to appreciate the rights of property. Finally slavery +failed to develop in the slave that self-mastery and self-control which +are necessary for free social life. Admirable as slavery was in some +ways as a school for an uncultivated people, it failed utterly in other +ways; and it surely should not be difficult to devise methods of +training at the present time which are superior to anything that slavery +as a school for the industrial training of the negro could possibly have +accomplished. + +Statistics of the Negro Problem in the United States. The following +table will show the percentage of negroes in the population of the +United States at different decades (Negro, in census terminology, +includes all persons of negro descent): + + + Per cent. + +1790 ................................... 19.37 +1800 ................................... 18.88 +1810 ................................... 19.03 +1830 ................................... 18.10 +1840 ................................... 16.84 +1850 ................................... 15.69 +1860 ................................... 14.13 +1870 ................................... 12.60 +1880 ................................... 13.12 +1890 ................................... 11.93 +1900 ................................... 11.63 + + +In 1860 the total number of negroes in the population of the United +States was 4,441,000. Forty years later, in 1900, the number had just +doubled, having reached 8,840,000. Nevertheless, it will be seen from +the above table that the percentage of negroes in the total population +has steadily diminished, although the negro population doubled between +1860 and 1900. Between 1890 and 1900 the comparative rates of increase +for the whites and negroes were: whites, 21.49 Per cent; negroes, 18.10 +per cent. + +Geographical Distribution of the Negroes. The negro problem would not be +so acute in certain sections of the country if negroes were distributed +evenly over the country instead of being massed as they are in certain +sections. Ninety per cent of the total number of negroes in the country +live in the South Atlantic and South Central states. Moreover, over +eighty per cent live in the so-called "Black Belt" states,--the "Black +Belt" being a chain of counties stretching from Virginia to Texas in +which over half of the population are negroes. The following table shows +the percentage of negro population in these states of the "Black Belt": + + + Per cent. + +Alabama............................................. 45.2 +Arkansas............................................ 28.0 +Florida............................................. 43.6 +Georgia............................................. 46.7 +Louisiana........................................... 47.1 +Mississippi......................................... 58.5 +North Carolina...................................... 33.0 +South Carolina...................................... 58.4 +Tennessee........................................... 23.8 +Texas............................................... 20.4 +Virginia............................................ 35.7 + + +While in only two of these states there is an absolute preponderance of +negroes, yet these statistics give no idea of the massing of negroes in +certain localities. In Washington County, Mississippi, for example, the +negroes number 44,143, the whites 5002; in Beaufort County, South +Carolina, the negroes number 32,137, the whites 3349. In many counties +in the "Black Belt" more than three fourths of the population are +negroes. It is in these states that the negro population is rapidly +increasing. + +_Increase of Negro in States since 1860_. The following table will +show the percentage of negroes in the population in former slave-holding +states in 1860 and in 1900: + + +States 1860 1900 + Per cent Per cent + +Alabama .................. 45.4 45.2 +Arkansas ................. 25.6 28 +Florida .................. 44.6 43.6 +Georgia .................. 44 40.7 +Kentucky ................. 20.4 13.3 +Louisiana ................ 49.5 47.1 +Maryland ................. 24.9 19.8 +Mississippi .............. 55.3 58.5 +Missouri ................. 10 5.2 +North Carolina ........... 30.4 33 +South Carolina ........... 58.6 58.4 +Tennessee ................ 25.5 23.8 +Texas .................... 30.3 20.4 +Virginia ................. 42 35.7 + + +It will be noted that the states whose relative negro population has +increased since the war are Arkansas, Mississippi, and Georgia, while in +South Carolina and Alabama, the relative proportion of negroes has stood +stationary. + +In the decade from 1890 to 1900, Florida, Alabama, Mississippi, and +Arkansas of the above states showed a more rapid increase of their negro +population than of their white population. In other Southern states, +however, the white population increased more rapidly than the negro +population, although in Georgia both races increased about equally. + +In certain Northern states the census of 1900 shows the negro population +to be increasing much more rapidly than the white population. In New +York, Pennsylvania, Illinois, Indiana, and Massachusetts, for example, +the negro population increased about twice as fast as the white +population, but the number of negroes in these states was still in 1900 +comparatively small, New York having 99,000; Pennsylvania, 156,000, +Illinois, 85,000, Indiana, 57,000; and Massachusetts, 31,000. This +increase of negro population in certain Northern states is, of course, +due to the immigration of the negro into those states, and may be +regarded on the whole as a fortunate movement, serving to distribute the +negro population more evenly over the whole country, were it not that +the negro death rate in these Northern states is so very high that the +negroes who go to these states do not as a rule maintain their numbers. + +_The Urban Negro Population._--Seventeen per cent of the total +negro population in 1900 lived in cities of over 8000 population while +the remainder lived in small towns and country districts. The following +great cities had a high percentage of negroes: + + + Per cent. + +Memphis ............................... 48.8 +Washington ............................ 31.1 +New Orleans ........................... 27.1 +Louisville ............................ 19.1 +St. Louis ............................. 6.2 +Philadelphia .......................... 4.8 +Baltimore ............................. 15.6 + + +Some smaller Southern cities have, of course, a much higher percentage +of negroes in their population, such as Jacksonville, Florida, 57.1 per +cent; Charleston, South Carolina, 56.5 per cent; Savannah, Georgia, 51.8 +per cent. On the whole, however, it will be seen that the mass of the +negroes in the United States still live in rural districts, although +directly after the Civil War and again within recent years there has +been a considerable movement of the negroes to the cities. This is +extremely significant for the social conditions of the race, because the +negro, while not adapted in general to the environment of civilization, +is still less adapted to the environment which the modern city affords +him. + +The Social Condition of the Negroes in the United States.--(1) +_Intermixture of Races._ Ever since the negro came to this country +he has been having his racial characteristics modified by the infusion +of white blood. The census of 1890 attempted to make an estimate of the +number of negroes of mixed blood in the United States. The number +returned as being of mixed blood was 1,132,000, but all authorities +agree that this number understates the actual number. The census +officials themselves repudiated these figures as being entirely +misleading. Experts in ethnology have estimated that from one third to +one half of the negroes in the United States show traces of white +intermixture. The lower estimate, that one third of the negroes of the +United States have more or less white blood, is quite generally accepted +by those who have carefully investigated the matter. Of course the +proportion of negroes of mixed blood varies greatly in different +localities. In communities in the border states frequently more than one +half of the negroes show marked traces of white intermixture. But in the +isolated rural regions of the South, where the negroes predominate, the +full-blood negro is by far the more common type. + +This infusion of white blood into a portion of the negro population is +significant sociologically. It is the negroes of mixed blood who are +ambitious socially and who present some of the most acute phases of the +negro problem. It is from the mixed bloods that the leaders of the race +in this country have come. The pure negro without intermixture has +hitherto seemed incapable of leadership. Such men as Booker T. +Washington, Professor Du Bois, and most other negro leaders have a +considerable mixture of white blood. A list of 2200 negro authors was +once compiled by the Librarian of Congress, and investigation showed +that with very few exceptions these negro authors came from the mixed +stock. Indeed, practically all of the negroes who have been eminent in +literature, science, art, or statesmanship have come from this class of +mixed bloods. + +But the infusion of white blood has also in some ways been a detriment +to the negro. The illegitimate offspring resulting from the unions of +white fathers and negro mothers are frequently the product of conditions +of vice. The consequence is that the child of mixed origin frequently +has a degenerate heredity and, coming into the world as a bastard, is +more or less in disfavor with both races; hence the social environment +of the mulatto as well as his heredity is oftentimes peculiarly +unfavorable. It is not surprising, therefore, to find among the +mulattoes a great amount of constitutional diseases and a great tendency +to crime and immorality. Again mulatto women are more frequently +debauched by white men than the pure blood negro women, and for this +reason negro women of mixed blood are more apt to be immoral. So we see +that while the mixed bloods have furnished the leaders of their race, +they have also furnished an undue proportion of its vice and crime. This +is exactly what we should expect when we understand the social +conditions existing between the races and the origin and social +environment of the mulatto. + +The crime and vice and constitutional diseases of the mulatto do not +prove that degeneracy results from the intermixture of the two races, as +was once supposed. On the contrary, as we have already seen, all of +these things result from the fact that the crossing of the races takes +place under socially abnormal conditions, that is, under conditions of +vice. This is not, however, true in all cases and particularly it was +not true of all intermixture that took place under the regime of +slavery. Rather intermixture under such circumstances approached not +vice, as we understand the word, but polygyny. Consequently some of the +best blood of the South runs in the veins of some of the mulattoes. +Again, we have examples from other countries of the crossing of the two +races, negro and white, without physical degeneracy. In the West Indies +and in Brazil this crossing is frequently taking place, and many of the +best families of those countries have a slight amount of negro blood in +their veins. From instances like this, gathered from all over the world, +it has generally been concluded by anthropologists that no evil +physiological results necessarily follow the intermixture of races, even +the most diverse, but that all supposed physiological evils coming from +the intermixture of races really come from social rather than from +physiological causes. + +From the point of view of the white race and from the point of view of +the negro race such racial intermixture, outside of the bounds of law, +may be for many reasons undesirable. But we are here concerned with +noting only the social effect of the intermixture that has gone on in +the past; and we see that on the one hand it has resulted in creating a +class of so-called negroes in whom white blood and the ambitions and +energy of the white race predominate, and on the other hand it has also +resulted in creating a degenerate mixed stock who furnish the majority +of criminals and vicious persons belonging to the so-called negro race. + +(2) _Criminality of the Negro._ One of the most important features +of the negro problem in the United States is the strong tendency among +the negroes toward crime; and this, as we have just seen, is especially +manifest in those of mixed origin. Professor Willcox has shown that in +1890 there were in the South six white prisoners to every ten thousand +whites, but twenty-nine negro prisoners to every ten thousand negroes, +while in the North there were twelve white prisoners to every ten +thousand whites, but sixty-nine negro prisoners to every ten thousand +negroes. These statistics show that the negro is everywhere more +criminal than the white, and that his tendency toward crime increases as +we go North, doubtless largely because in the North he is in a strange +and more complex environment and finds greater difficulty in making +social adjustments. Moreover, negro crime is increasing. From 1880 to +1890 the negro prisoners of the United States increased 29 per cent, +while the white prisoners only increased 8 per cent. Later statistics +show the same result. As yet there has been no check to the steady +increase of negro crime in this country since the Civil War. In some +Northern cities, like Chicago, in some years the number of arrests of +negroes has equaled one third of the total negro population of those +cities. The criminality of the negro is doubtless in part a matter of +social environment, because we see that negro crime increases in cities +and in the more complex Northern communities; but it is also to some +extent a matter of the negro's heredity. + +Of course vice accompanies crime among the American negroes. The +statistics of illegitimacy in Washington cited by Hoffman in his _Race +Traits and Tendencies of the American Negro_ show that in fifteen +years in Washington, from 1879 to 1894, the percentage of illegitimate +births among the whites was 2.9 per cent, while the percentage among the +negroes was 22.5. In other words, from one fifth to one fourth of all +the negro births in Washington during that fifteen-year period were +illegitimate. Statistics collected in other cities show approximately +the same result. Of course statistics of illegitimacy are not exactly +the same thing as statistics of vice, but they, at any rate, throw a +light upon the moral condition of the negro in this regard, and +particularly show the demoralization of his family life. + +(3) _Negro Pauperism._ We have no good statistics on negro +pauperism, but such as we have seem to indicate that the state of +dependence of the negro is very great. In the city of Washington, where +30 per cent of the population is made up of negroes, 84 per cent of the +pauper burials are those of negroes; and in Charleston, where 57 per +cent of the population are negroes, 96.7 per cent of the pauper burials +are those of negroes. In nearly all communities where organized +charities exist the negroes contribute to the dependent population far +out of proportion to their numbers. It is safe to say that from 50 to 75 +per cent of the total negro population of the United States live in +poverty as distinguished from pauperism, that is, live under such +conditions that physical and mental efficiency cannot be maintained. + +(4) _Negro Vital Statistics_. The negro death and birth rates are +both very high. No definite statistics of negro death and birth rates +have been kept except in cities and in a few rural districts. In Alabama +in a few registered districts the negro birth rate has been found to be +equal to about twice the death rate. On the other hand it is a curious +fact that in the North the negro fails to reproduce sufficiently to keep +up his numbers, consequently the negro population in Northern states +would die out if it were not for immigration. In Massachusetts in 1888, +for example, there were 511 negro births and 579 negro deaths. +Statistics from other Northern communities tell the same story. + +The vital statistics of Southern cities show that the negro death rate +is very much higher than the white death rate. In ten Southern cities, +for example, Hoffman gives the average death rate for the whites as 20 +per thousand for the white population, and for the negroes as 32.6 per +thousand of the negro population. These same cities in 1901-1905 showed +an annual average death rate for the whites of 17.5 and for the negroes +of 28.4. In several cities the negro death rate is nearly twice that of +the whites. When these mortality statistics are analyzed, moreover, +while they show that negro mortality at all ages is greater than white +mortality, it is greatest among negro children under fifteen years of +age. This is of course largely because of the ignorant manner in which +negroes care for their children, but it also indicates that natural +selection is at work among the American negroes rapidly eliminating the +biologically unfit. + +_Conclusions from Negro Vital Statistics._ Three important +conclusions may be drawn from the negro vital and population statistics +which are well worth emphasizing. (1) The negro population is not +increasing so fast as the white, owing largely to its high death rate, +yet it is increasing, and there is no indication as yet that the negro +population will decrease. It is probable, indeed, that at the end of the +twentieth century the negro population of the United States will be +between twenty and thirty millions. The view of some students of the +negro problem that the negro is destined to an early extinction in this +country is merely a speculative hypothesis, and as yet is not +substantiated by any statistical facts. + +(2) While the negro is destined to be with us always, so far as we can +see, yet owing to the fact of intermixture of races he will be less and +less a pure negro, so that at the end of the twentieth century the +negroes in the United States will be much nearer the white type than at +the present time. + +(3) The high death rate among the negroes indicates that a rapid process +of natural selection is going on among them. Now, natural selection +means the elimination of the unfit,--the dying out of those who cannot +adapt themselves to their environment. This selective process will tend +toward the survival of the more fit elements among the negroes, and, +therefore, towards bringing the negro up to the standard of the whites. +The misery and vice which we see among the present American negroes are +simply in a large degree the expression of the working of a process of +natural selection among them. It would be preferable, however, if the +white race could by education and other means substitute to some degree +at least artificial selection for the miseries and brutality of the +natural process of eliminating the unfit. This the superior race should +do to protect itself as well as to raise the negro. + +Industrial Conditions Among the Negroes.--Recently a committee of the +American Economic Association estimated that all of the taxable property +in the United States owned by negroes amounted to $300,000,000, or about +$33.00 per head,--this estimate being based upon the 1900 census +returns. Thirty-three dollars per head of the negro population seems of +course very small when compared to the $1,000.00 per capita owned by the +whites; but we must remember that the negro at his emancipation was in +no way equipped to acquire property, and, with the exception of a few +freedmen, the negro at the close of the war had no property whatsoever. +In a few cases their old masters set up the emancipated negroes with +small farms. In 1900 there were 746,715 farms occupied by negroes either +as tenants or owners. Twenty-five per cent of these farms were owned by +negroes and about ten per cent were owned unencumbered. + +There are, of course, two ways of looking at these statistics. They are +discouraging if we care to look at them in that way, but on the other +hand, if we consider the disadvantageous position in which the negro was +placed at the close of the Civil War, the statistics may be taken as +showing a marked advance. + +It must be said here that, as Booker Washington has urged, the negro +problem is largely of an industrial nature. It is the unsatisfactoriness +of the negro as a worker, as a producing agent, that gives rise largely +to the friction between the two races. The negro has not yet become +adapted to a system of free contract and is frequently unreliable as a +laborer. This breeds continued antagonism between the races. It is only +necessary here to remark that when the negro becomes an efficient +producer and a property owner the negro problem will be practically +solved. + +Educational Progress Among the Negroes.--The educational progress among +the negroes has been more satisfactory than their industrial progress. +At the time of the emancipation 95 per cent of all the negroes in the +United States were illiterate, since nearly all the slave states had +laws forbidding the education of negroes. Since the emancipation there +has been a rapid decrease of illiteracy. In 1880 seventy per cent of the +negroes above the age of ten years were still reported as illiterate. In +1890, 56.8 per cent; and in 1900, 44.6 per cent. The number of +illiterate negro voters in the United States in 1900 was 47.3 per cent +of the total number of negro males above the age of twenty-one. The per +cent of illiterate negro voters ranged all the way in former +slave-holding states from 61.3 per cent in Louisiana to 31.9 per cent in +Missouri, while in Massachusetts the percentage of negro illiteracy was +only 10 per cent. + +In the school year 1907-08, in the sixteen Southern states there were +1,665,000 negro children enrolled in the public schools, this number +being 54.36 per cent of the negro population of the school age (five to +eighteen). The number of white children enrolled was 4,692,000, or 70.34 +per cent of the white population of school age. But these statistics +fail to indicate the utter inadequacy of many provisions for the +education of the negro children. In many districts of the South the +negro schools are open only from three to five months in a year,--the +equipment of the school being very inadequate and the teacher poorly +trained. Nevertheless the sixteen Southern states have spent, since the +emancipation, over $175,000,000 to maintain separate schools for +negroes, a much larger sum than all that has been given by Northern +philanthropy. In addition to the common schools for negroes there were +in 1907-08 one hundred and thirty-five institutions for the higher +education of the negro with an annual income of over $2,800,000. In +these there were 4185 negro students receiving collegiate or +professional training, 17,279 were receiving a high school course, and +23,160 industrial training. The latter figure is important because it +indicates that in 1907-08 a little more than one per cent of the total +number of negro children in school were receiving industrial training. +The percentage is increasing, through the fact that industrial training +is being introduced into a number of the city schools for negroes, both +North and South; but at present not much over one per cent of the negro +children are receiving industrial training. + +Political Conditions.--Not much need be said concerning the political +condition of the negro. The movement to disfranchise the negro by legal +means came in 1890 when the new Mississippi constitution adopted in that +year provided that every voter should be able to read or interpret a +clause in the constitution of the United States. Since then a majority +of the Southern states and practically all of the states of the "Black +Belt" have embodied either in their constitutions or laws provisions for +disfranchising the negro voter. Louisiana made the provision that a +person must be able to read and write or be a lineal descendant of some +person who voted prior to 1860. This is the famous "Grandfather Clause," +which has since proved popular in a number of Southern states. While +these laws and constitutional provisions have evidently been designed to +disfranchise the negro voter, the Federal Supreme Court has upheld them +in spite of the Fourteenth Amendment to the Federal Constitution. + +Regarding all of this legislation it may be said that it has had perhaps +both good and bad effects. In so far as it has tended to eliminate the +negro from politics this has been a good effect, but it has oftentimes +rather succeeded in keeping the negro question in politics; and the +evident injustice and inequality of some of the laws must, it would +seem, react to lower the whole tone of political morality in the South. +Again, the very provision of these laws to insure the disfranchisement +of the illiterate negro has tended in some instances, at least, to +discourage negro education, because the promoters of these laws in most +cases did not aim to exclude simply the illiterate negro vote, but +practically the entire negro vote. It is evident that a party designing +to disfranchise the negro through this means would not be very zealous +for the negro's education. + +Proposed Solutions of the Negro Problem.--Among the various solutions +proposed from time to time for the negro problem, more or less +seriously, are: (1) admission at once of the negroes to full social +equality with the whites; (2) deportation to Africa or South America; +(3) colonization in some state or in territory adjacent to the United +States; (4) extinction by natural selection; (5) popular education. +Regarding all these solutions it must be said at once that they are +either impossible or fatuous. They may be dismissed, then, without +further discussion. Mr. Booker T. Washington has said that the negro is +bound to become adjusted to our civilization because he is surrounded by +the white man's civilization on every hand. This optimistic view, which +seems to dismiss the negro problem as requiring no solution, is, +however, not well supported by many facts, as we have just seen. +Everywhere we have evidence that the negro when left to himself, reverts +to a condition approximating his African barbarism, and the statistics +of increasing vice and crime which we have just given show quite +conclusively that the negro is not becoming adjusted to the white man's +civilization in many cases in spite of considerable efforts which are +being put forth in his behalf. While we are very far from taking a +pessimistic view toward this or any other social problem, we believe +that most of the solutions that have thus far been tried or urged are +failures, and that more radical methods need to be adopted if the negro +becomes a useful social and industrial element in our society. + +As we have already seen, the negro is still essentially unadjusted to +our civilization, and it would not be too much to say that the masses of +negroes in this country are still not far removed from barbarism, though +living in the midst of civilization. Slavery failed, as we have already +seen, to render the mass of negroes capable of participating in our +culture, and all that has been done for the negro since emancipation has +likewise failed to adjust the mass of the race to the social conditions +in which they find themselves. We may say, then, roughly, without any +injustice to the negro, that the negro masses of this country are still +essentially an uncultivated or a "nature" people living in the midst of +civilization. The negro problem, in other words, is not greatly +different from what it would be if the present negroes were descendants +of savage aborigines that had peopled this country before the white man +came. The problem of the negro and of the Indian, and of all the +uncivilized races, is essentially the same. The problem is, how a +relatively large mass of people, inferior in culture and perhaps also +inferior in nature, can be adjusted relatively to the civilization of a +people much their superior in culture; how the industrially inefficient +nature man can be made over into the industrially efficient civilized +man. + +Undoubtedly the primary adjustment to be made by the American negro is +the adjustment on the economic side. Only when the negro becomes +adjusted to the economic side of his life will there be a solid +foundation for the development of something higher. People must be +taught how to be efficient, self-sustaining, productive members of +society economically before they can be taught to be good citizens. The +American negro in other words must be taught to be "good for something" +as well as to be good. The failure of common-school education with the +negro has been largely for the reason that it has failed to help him in +any efficient way to adjust himself industrially. Oftentimes indeed it +has had the contrary effect and the slightly educated negro has been the +one who has been least valuable as a producer. The common-school +education has not been such a failure with the white child, for the +reason that the white child has been taught industry and morality at +home, but these the negro frequently fails to get in his home life. +Moreover, the common-school education of the white child has usually +been simply the foundation upon which after school days he, as a +citizen, has built up a wider culture. But the negro, on account of his +environment, if not naturally, has proved incapable of going on with his +education and building on it after getting out of school. Moreover, as +we have already noted, under the present complex conditions of our +social life the common school is no longer an efficient socializing +agent, even for the white children. The present school system is a +failure, not only for the negro race, but also, though not in the same +degree, for the white race. Popular education on the old lines can never +do very much to solve the negro problem. + +This does not lead, however, to the conclusion that all training and +education for the negro race is foredoomed to failure. On the contrary +all the experiments of missionaries in dealing with uncivilized races +has led to the conclusion that an all-round education in which +industrial and moral training are made prominent can relatively adjust +to our civilization even the most backward of human races. Wherever the +missionaries have introduced industrial education and adjusted their +converts to what is perhaps the fundamental side of our civilization, +the economic, they have met with the largest degree of success. This +success of missionary endeavors along this line has led to the +establishment of similar industrial training schools for the negro in +this country, and it must be said regarding such schools for the negro +as Hampton and Tuskegee that they have proved an even more unqualified +success than their predecessors originated by the missionaries. But +these schools are as yet very far from solving the negro problem in this +country, for the reason, as we have already seen, that they affect such +a relatively small proportion of the negro population. Only about one +per cent of negro children at the present time are probably receiving +industrial training. + +It should be remarked that this industrial training in no way precludes +an all-round education. It is not meant that industrial education shall +replace all other forms of education, but rather that it shall be added +to literary education in order to enrich the educational process; and it +may be remarked also that industrial training, while of itself having a +strong uplifting moral influence, is not sufficient to socialize without +explicit moral teaching being also added thereto. Schools that attempted +to give such an all-round education to negro children would, of course, +in no way cut off the possibility of higher and professional education +for the small number who are especially fitted, and who should be +encouraged to go on with such studies. + +Accepting, then, without qualification the now widespread view that +industrial training coupled with an all-round education is the best +possible solution of the negro problem, let us look into the practical +difficulties which confront any attempt to apply such a solution at the +present time. These difficulties may be summed up under three heads: (1) +The difficulty of securing adequately equipped schools to give such +training; (2) the difficulty of obtaining teachers who are qualified to +give this training, and who have the right spirit; (3) the present lack +of intelligent coöperation by the members of both races. + +As regards the first of these difficulties, it must be said that it is +under our present system of school administration practically +insuperable. Adequately equipped schools for industrial education will +cost a great deal of money,--money which the whites of the South will +probably not be willing to give for many years to come, and which we +think they should not be asked to give. As we have already seen, there +are more illiterate native whites in the South than in any other section +of the Union. This is due in part to the effects of the war which left a +majority of the Southern communities poverty-stricken, and in many +communities there is still not yet sufficient money to maintain proper +school facilities, even on the old lines; much less can it be expected +that such communities can start at once industrial schools for the +training of negro children. + +As regards the difficulty of obtaining properly trained teachers with a +proper spirit to do this work, it must be said that as yet these +teachers could not be found, and certainly they could not within the +negro race. The mass of negro teachers are still so far below even the +low standards of the white schools that not one half of them would be +licensed to teach if the same standards were applied to them as to the +whites. Moreover, through the increase of race friction white teachers +have gradually, since the Civil War, been excluded from negro schools. +This has been brought about largely also by the negroes demanding these +positions for themselves. But it is an old adage that "if the blind lead +the blind both will fall into the ditch," and it would seem that a +majority of negro teachers are unqualified for their task of civilizing +and socializing their race; hence one reason for the failure of the +negro common school. It would seem also that, while competent negro +teachers should be encouraged in every way, white teachers should not be +absolutely excluded from negro schools; and particularly that white +teachers would be necessary if industrial and moral training were to be +emphasized in the education of the negro. This brings us to the third +difficulty,--the lack of intelligent coöperation by the members of both +races. Unfortunately the negroes do not care for the newer education, +the education which emphasizes industrial training. Most of them, misled +by unwise leaders, prefer the education of the older type and think that +industrial training will only fit them to be "hewers of wood and drawers +of water" to the whites. On the other hand, the masses of uneducated +Southern people also do not wish the new education for the negro, +because they believe that it will give him superior advantages over the +white children. They fail to see that anything that is done for a +depressed element in society, like the negro, will ultimately benefit +all society. They are, therefore, not willing to tax themselves to bring +about, even gradually, the new education for the negro. While educated +Southern people have supported Booker T. Washington in his propaganda +for the industrial training of the negro, it is notorious that +Washington's ideas have met with as much opposition from the uneducated +whites as from the negroes themselves. + +On the whole, however, while the situation is a difficult one, it is +not, as we have already seen, one which justifies pessimism. Time is the +great element in the solution of all problems, and it must be especially +an element in the solution of this negro problem. A beginning has been +made toward the training and the education of the negro in the right +way, and it may be hoped that from centers like Hampton and Tuskegee the +influence will gradually radiate which will in time bring about the +popularization of industrial education. What is needed, perhaps, most of +all is sufficient funds to carry on wider and wider experiments along +these lines. The Southern states should not be expected to furnish these +funds. They have already done their full share in attempting to educate +the negro. The negro problem is a national problem, and as a national +problem it should be dealt with by the Federal Government. The burden of +educating the negro for citizenship should rest primarily upon the whole +nation and not upon any section or community, since the whole nation is +responsible for the negro's present condition. The trouble is, however, +again, that the mass of the Southern people would at the present time +undoubtedly resent any attempt on the part of the Federal Government to +aid in the education of the negro. The question, therefore, ultimately +becomes a question of educating the whites and forming a proper public +sentiment regarding the education of the negro. When the leaders of both +races once become united on a plan of training the negro for efficient +citizenship, undoubtedly the funds will be forthcoming. While the negro +question is, therefore, from one point of view primarily a question of +the industrial training and adjustment of the negro, from another point +of view it is a moral question which can never be solved until the +superior race comes to take a right attitude toward the inferior race, +namely, the attitude of service. + + +SELECT REFERENCES + + +_For brief reading:_ + +HOFFMAN, _Race Traits and Tendencies of the American Negro,_ Vol. + XI of Pub. of Am. Economic Ass'n. +STONE, _Studies in the American Race Problem._ +BAKER, _Following the Color Line._ + + +_For more extended reading:_ + +DOWD, _The Negro Races._ +DU BOIS, _The Negroes of Philadelphia._ +DU BOIS, editor, _The Atlanta University Publications._ +KEANE, _Ethnology._ +KEANE, _Man, Past and Present._ +MERRIAM, _The Negro and the Nation._ +PAGE, _The Negro: the Southerner's Problem._ +SMITH, _The Color Line._ +TILLINGHAST, _The Negro in Africa and America,_ Pub. Am. Economic + Ass'n, 3d series, Vol. III. +WASHINGTON, _The Future of the American Negro._ + + + + + + +CHAPTER XI + + +THE PROBLEM OF THE CITY + +Professor J.S. McKenzie says "The growth of large cities constitutes +perhaps the greatest of all the problems of modern civilization." While +the city is a problem in itself, creating certain biological and +psychological conditions which are new to the race, the city is perhaps +even more an intensification of all our other social problems, such as +crime, vice, poverty, and degeneracy. + +The city is in a certain sense a relatively modern problem, due to +modern industrial development. While great cities were known in ancient +times, the number was so few that the total population affected by city +living conditions was comparatively small. Moreover, the populations of +ancient cities have often been exaggerated. Probably at the height of +its power, the population of Athens did not exceed 100,000; Carthage, +700,000; Rome, 500,000; Alexandria, 500,000; Nineveh and Babylon, +1,000,000. All the great cities of the ancient world practically +disappeared with the fall of Rome. After Rome's fall, Constantinople was +the only large city with over 100,000 population in all Europe for +centuries. Down to 1600 A.D., indeed, there were only fourteen cities in +all Europe with a population of over 100,000; and even in 1800, at the +beginning of the nineteenth century, there were only twenty-two such +cities. But at the end of the nineteenth century, in 1900, there were +one hundred and thirty-six such cities in Europe, representing twelve +per cent of the entire population. Moreover, while in 1800 less than +three per cent of the total population of Europe lived in cities, in +1900 the total urban population was twenty-five per cent. Again, all of +the great European capitals developed their present enormous population +almost wholly within the nineteenth century. Thus, the population of +London in 1800 was 864,000, while in 1901 it had reached 4,536,000, or +in the total area policed, 6,581,000; the population of Paris in 1800 +was 547,000, in 1901 it was 2,714,000; the population of Berlin in 1800 +was only 172,000, in 1901 it was 1,888,000; the population of Vienna in +1800 was 232,000, in 1901 it was 1,674,000. These figures are cited to +show that from four fifths to nine tenths of the growth of the greatest +cities of the world has taken place within the nineteenth century. + +Dr. Weber in his _Growth of Cities in the Nineteenth Century_ +illustrates the striking difference between the urban development of the +nineteenth century and that of the eighteenth century by comparing the +population of Australia in 1890 with the population of the United States +in 1790. Australia in 1890, out of a population of 3,809,000 had +1,264,000, or 33.2 per cent, living in cities of 10,000 or over; while +the United States in 1790, out of a population of 3,929,000 had only +123,000, or 3.14 per cent living in cities. Both countries, it will be +noticed, had about the same total population at the two periods and the +same area, but Australia in 1890 represented in its population the +industrial development of the nineteenth century with its tendency +toward urbanization, while the United States in 1790 represented the +civilization of the eighteenth century with its predominating rural +life. + +The Growth of Cities in the United States.--A word about census +terminology will be helpful before discussing the growth of cities in +the United States. According to the United States census, a city is a +place with a population of 8000 or over; a _small_ city is a place +with a population of 8000 to 25,000; a _large_ city is a place with +a population of from 25,000 to 100,000, and a _great_ city is a +place with a population above 100,000. These distinctions are necessary +in discussing the problems of the city, because the problems of cities +change rapidly when the population goes above 100,000. It is mainly the +problem of the great city which we shall discuss in this chapter. + +In 1800 there were only six cities in the United States with over 8000 +population. Philadelphia was the largest of these, with 69,000, and New +York second with 60,000. These cities contained a fraction less than +four per cent of the population of the United States. In 1900, on the +other hand, there were 546 cities in the United States with a population +of over 8000. Moreover, over thirty-three per cent of the total +population of the United States lived in cities of 8000 and over, while +nearly one fifth of the total population lived in the thirty-eight great +cities. Between 1890 and 1900 the gain in the urban population of the +country was sixty per cent, while the gain in the rural population was +only fifteen per cent. During that decade, in other words, the cities +grew four times as fast as the country districts in population. +Moreover, for that particular decade, the great cities grew faster than +the smaller ones, but since 1900 certain state census statistics seem to +show that the cities from 25,000 to 100,000 population are growing +faster than those above 100,000. + +_Distribution of the Urban Population of the United States._ If the +urban population of the United States were distributed relatively +uniformly among the several States, perhaps the problem of the city +would not be so pressing as it is, but the urban population is largely +concentrated in a very few states. Over fifty per cent of the urban +population is found in the North Atlantic states alone. The five states +of New York, Pennsylvania, Massachusetts, Illinois, and Ohio contain +also more than half of the urban population of the whole country. If we +add to these five states New Jersey and Missouri, then these seven +states contain nearly two thirds of the urban population of the United +States. + +It will be noticed that these states with a large urban population are +the great manufacturing states of the Union. The proportion of urban to +rural population indeed is a good index to industrial progress. The +states with over half their population urban in 1900 were, Rhode Island, +81 per cent; Massachusetts, 76 per cent; New York, 68.5 per cent; New +Jersey, 61.2 per cent; Connecticut, 53.2 per cent. States with more than +one fourth of their population urban were, Illinois, 47.1 per cent; +Maryland, 46.9 per cent; Pennsylvania, 45.5 per cent; California, 43.7 +per cent; Delaware, 41.4 per cent; New Hampshire, 38.6 per cent; Ohio, +38.5 per cent; Colorado, 38.1 per cent; Washington, 31.9 per cent; +Michigan, 30.9 per cent; Missouri, 30.8 per cent; Wisconsin, 30.7 per +cent; Louisiana, 29.3 per cent; Montana, 27 per cent; Minnesota, 26.8 +per cent; Utah, 25.2 per cent. It will be noticed that only one of these +states with the population more than one fourth urban is distinctively +southern, namely, Louisiana. This is due to the fact that heretofore the +South has been largely agricultural in its industries, consequently only +a few of the great cities of the country are found within its borders. + +There are but few countries in Europe that come up with the most urban +of our American states. Certain countries of Western Europe, however, +equal the most urban of our states, and the following countries have at +least one quarter of their population urban: England and Wales, +Scotland, Belgium, Saxony, Holland, Prussia, and France. The most urban +of our states, however, such as Massachusetts, Rhode Island, and New +York, surpass all European countries in the number of their population +living in cities, with the exception of England and Wales. This again is +due to the fact that certain of our states have specialized in +manufacturing industries more than any European country, with the +exception of England and Wales. + +Before leaving the statistics of the growth of cities, it is worth our +while to note that certain great urban centers are developing in this +country which promise to show, even in the near future, the most +extensive urbanization of population known to the world; for example, a +line of cities and suburban communities is now developing which will in +the near future connect New York and Boston on the one hand and New +York, Philadelphia, and Washington on the other hand. Thus in a few +years, stretching from Washington to Boston, a distance of five hundred +miles, there promises to be a continuous chain of urban communities with +practically no rural districts between them. In a sense, this will +constitute one great city with a population of twenty millions or +upwards. Other urban centers, though not so extensive, are also +developing at other points in the United States. At the end of the +twentieth century it is safe to say that this country will have at least +a dozen cities with a population of over one million. Moreover, so far +as we can see at the present time, there is no end in the near future to +this growth of the urbanization of our population; for the causes of +this great growth of cities seem inherent in our civilization. Let us +see what these causes are. + +Causes of the Growth of Great Cities.--There may be distinguished two +classes of causes of the growth of cities: (1) general or social causes, +and (2) minor or individual causes. It is the social causes, the causes +inherent in our civilization, which are of particular interest to us. +Among these social causes we shall place: + +1. _The Diminishing Importance of Agriculture in the Life of Man._ +Once agriculture was the all-embracing occupation. Practically all goods +were produced upon the farm. Now, however, man's wants have so greatly +increased that the primitive industries of the farm can no longer +satisfy these wants, and in order to satisfy them men have developed +large manufacturing industries. Moreover, fewer men are needed on the +farms to produce the same amount of raw material as was produced +formerly by the labor of many. This has come about mostly through +labor-saving machines. The invention and application of labor-saving +machines to the industries of the farm has made it possible to dispense +with a great number of men. It is estimated that fifty men with modern +farm machinery can do the work of five hundred European peasants without +such machinery. Consequently, the four hundred and fifty who have been +displaced by farm machinery must find other work, and they find it +mainly in manufacturing industries. Again, the scientific and +capitalistic agriculture of the present has much the same effect as +labor-saving machines. They have greatly increased agricultural +production and at the same time lessened the amount of labor. The +opening up also of new and fertile regions which were very productive in +the nineteenth century had a similar effect. + +Every improvement in agricultural industry instead of keeping men on the +farm has tended to drive them from it. Scientific agriculture carried on +with modern machinery necessarily lessens the need of a great proportion +of the population being employed to produce the foodstuff and other raw +materials which the world needs. Hence it has tended to free men from +the soil and to make it possible for a larger and larger number to go to +the city. Therefore the relatively diminishing importance of agriculture +has been one of the prime causes of the growth of the cities in the +nineteenth century; and so far as we can see this cause will continue to +operate for some time to come. + +2. _The Growth and Centralization of Manufacturing Industries._ +This is perhaps the most vital cause of the growth of cities. The great +city, as we have already said, is very largely the product of modern +industrialism. Improved machinery, improved transportation, and enlarged +markets, together with the increased wants of men, not only have made +possible a great growth of manufacturing industries, but also these same +factors have tended to centralize manufacturing industries in the +cities. Let us note briefly why it is that manufacturing industries are +grouped together in great cities rather than scattered throughout the +rural communities. In centralizing manufacturing plants in cities, +certain industrial economies are secured, such as: (1) economy in motor +power, whether it be water or coal; (2) economy in machinery--it is not +necessary to duplicate machines; (3) economy in wages--one +superintendent, for example, can oversee a large plant; (4) utilization +of by-products--when many factories are grouped together by-products, +which are sometimes more valuable than the main products, can be better +utilized. (5) There is economy in buying raw material and in selling +finished products when many factories are grouped together. For all +these reasons, along with the further reason that those who labor in +factories must live close to them, manufacturing has been a prime cause +of the modern city, and, so far as we can see, will continue to further +urbanize our population in the future. + +3. _The Increase of Trade and Commerce._ Between different +communities there developed during the nineteenth century, upon the +growth of better transportation, a great increase of trade and commerce, +for along with the better transportation went a specialization in +industry, on the part of both communities and classes. The modern city +is often largely a product of modern transportation. We find all the +great cities located at natural breaks in transportation. The cities of +the Middle Ages were largely centers of trade and commerce where goods +were distributed to various minor centers. The modern city has not lost +this characteristic through developing into an industrial center. On the +contrary, the status of the city in trade and commerce makes it at the +same time a valuable center for the development of manufacturing +industries. The break between land and water transportation is +particularly favorable to the development of large cities. Thus, we find +New York located where goods shipped to Europe must be transferred from +land to water transportation; Chicago, located at the head of the water +transportation of the Great Lakes; St. Louis, at the head of the +navigation of the Mississippi River. Only Denver and Indianapolis among +the great cities of the United States in 1910 are not located on a river +or some other navigable water. + +_Minor Causes._ These are the chief social causes of the growth of +cities, and, as we have seen, they are wholly industrial in their +nature. Undoubtedly the modern city is a product of modern industry. +Certain non-economic factors may also enter into the growth of cities, +but these are of but slight importance; such are the greater +intellectual and educational advantages which the city offers, the great +opportunities for pleasure and amusement in the city and the like. Such +minor and individual causes have had but little part in the growth of +the great cities of the present. + +Social And Moral Conditions Of City Life.--Certain social conditions in +our cities are worthy of attention in order that we may understand the +effect of the city upon social and racial evolution. + +1. _City Populations have a Larger per Cent of Females than Rural +Populations._ All of our fifteen largest cities, except three, +contain a larger per cent of females than the states in which they are +located. Thus New York state has 50.37 per cent of its population +female; New York city, 50.56 per cent; Pennsylvania, 49.29 per cent of +its population female; Philadelphia, 51.18 per cent; Missouri, 48.38 per +cent of its population female; St. Louis, 49.51 per cent. In towns of +the United States of more than 2500 population the per cent of females +is 50.03, while the rural districts of the United States have only 48.08 +per cent of their population female. The cause of this is perhaps to be +found in the fact that in cities there is always a larger infantile +mortality among males than among females, and that in towns there is a +larger proportion of female children born than in the rural districts. + +2. _People in the Active Period of Life, from Fifteen to Sixty-five +Years of Age, predominate in the City_. According to Dr. Weber, out +of every 1000 individuals in the United States as a whole there are 355 +under fifteen years of age, 603 between fifteen and sixty-five, and 29 +above sixty-five years of age. But in the great cities there are only +299 under fifteen years of age, and only 29 above sixty-five years of +age, while 668 are of the age between fifteen and sixty-five years. (In +both cases the age of three in a thousand was unknown.) The cause of the +predominance of those in the active period of life is undoubtedly due to +the immigration into the cities from the country districts. This makes +the life of cities more energetic and active, more strenuous than it +would otherwise be. + +3. _The Great Cities in the United States have over twice as many +Foreign-born in their Population as the United States as a whole_. +This has been sufficiently discussed under the head of immigration. + +4. _The Birth Rate is higher in the Cities than in the Rural +Districts._ This is primarily due to there being more women of +child-bearing age in the cities. In the United States it is also due to +the presence of so many foreign-born in the cities. The marriage rate is +also higher in the cities than in the rural districts. The following +statistics based on a thousand population show the relative difference +between the cities and the rural districts of the New England States in +marriage rate, birth rate, and death rate for 1894-95: + + + Marriage Rate Birth Rate Death Rate + +Boston........................ 23.10 31.24 23.23 +Cities over 50,000............ 18.89 29.72 19.49 +Rural Districts............... 13.77 21.76 17.38 + + +5. _The Death Rate in Cities is also higher than in the Rural +Districts_, as the above table has just shown. This is undoubtedly +due to the poor sanitary and living conditions of large cities. + +6. _The Physical Condition of City Populations_. Measurements by +Dr. Beddoe and others show that the stature and other measurements of +men of the great cities of Great Britain are far below those of the +rural population. The latest English commission to investigate the +conditions of city life also reports that the population of the British +cities at least shows marked signs of physical deterioration. + +7. _Mental and Moral Degeneracy in our Cities_. (1) A larger number +of insane are found in our cities than in the rural districts. In the +United States as a whole there were in 1890 seventeen hundred insane per +million of population, while in the cities of over 50,000 there were +2429 insane per million. + +(2) The suicide rate is much higher in the cities than in other +districts. In general the suicide rate in the United States seems to be +two or three times as high in our large cities as in the rest of the +country. + +(3) Poverty and pauperism are much more common in our cities than in +rural districts. About one third of the population of great cities may +safely be said to live below the poverty line, while in such cities as +New York and Boston from ten to twenty per cent of the population +require more or less charitable assistance during the year. + +(4) The amount of crime in the cities is about twice as great as in the +rural districts. + +(5) Illegitimacy in the cities is from two to three times as great as in +rural districts, and it is well known that vice centers very largely in +our cities. + +All these facts show that mental and moral degeneracy is much more +common in our urban population than in our rural populations, and that +the biological and moral aspects of our city life present pressing +problems. + +8. _Educational and Religious Conditions in Cities._ We have +already seen that illiteracy for the native white population is much +less in our cities than in the rural districts. This is undoubtedly due +in the main to the better facilities for education in our cities, and it +is here chiefly that we find the bright side of city life; for the +cities are not only centers of the evil tendencies of our civilization +but are also the centers of all that is best and uplifting. The urban +schools in general are open much longer than the rural school, the +attendance in them is better, and the teaching is much more efficient. +In 1890 the urban schools held 190 days in the year, while the rural +schools held only 115 days. The attendance in the urban schools was +seventy per cent of the enrollment, while in the rural schools it was +only sixty-two per cent. Besides the schools, of course, must be +mentioned many other educational facilities to be found in our cities, +such as in connection with social settlements, lecture and concert +halls, theaters, libraries, art galleries, and museums,--all of which +the city has practically exclusively. + +The census of 1890 included a religious census, and it seemed to show +that on the whole religious conditions were better in our cities than in +the country districts. In cities above 25,000 the church membership was +37.9 per cent of the population, while it was only 32.85 per cent of the +total population. Again, in cities above 100,000 it was 39.1 per cent of +their total population, although in the four largest cities--New York, +Chicago, Philadelphia, and St. Louis--it was only 35.6 per cent of the +total population. [Footnote: The special religious census of 1906, the +results of which are not yet fully published, shows an even greater +preponderance of church membership in cities.] Some recent studies, +however, while not extensive enough to justify a conclusion, seem to +indicate that in some of the largest cities the church is losing its +hold, and that more and more the population of our largest urban centers +is becoming churchless, if not without religion. Even if this is so, +however, it also remains a fact that the various religious denominations +put forth their best efforts in these largest urban centers, and that +more is being done for the people religiously and morally in these +centers than perhaps for any other portion of the world's population. + +Proposed Remedies for the Evils of City Life.--The proposed remedies for +the evils of city life are well worth attention, not only that we may +understand the problem of the city better, but also that we may +understand social conditions in general better. Of the remedies which we +shall discuss it may be said that four are foolish and two are wise. The +foolish ones are those that try to check the growth of the cities; the +wise ones are those that recognize that the cities are here to stay and +must be dealt with as permanent and even increasingly important factors +in our civilization. + +(1) The first remedy is to make agriculture more attractive and +remunerative. This is a good thing in itself, but, as we have seen, it +will not check the growth of the cities; rather, every improvement in +the conditions of agriculture in the way of making it more productive +and remunerative will drive more to the cities. + +(2) A second remedy, akin to the first, is to make village life more +attractive. Like the first remedy, this is good in itself, but it is +hardly probable that it will stop the growth of cities; rather, it might +be urged that village improvement will give people a taste of the higher +comforts and conveniences to be found in cities and will tend to send +them to the city. + +(3) The third proposed remedy is to colonize the poor of the cities in +the country. This has been especially advocated by General Booth and +other leaders of the Salvation Army. This plan, however, cannot do much +toward helping solve the problem of the city. It is a difficult thing to +get the poor in the city adjusted again to rural life, and the +probability is that in many cases they would be worse off in the country +than in the city. Moreover, the vacant places they left would soon be +filled by others, and in general the whole plan seems to be against +man's instincts as well as against the social forces of the time. + +(4) Administrative decentralization may be mentioned as a plan adopted +by some state legislatures to prevent the growth of cities, that is, to +scatter the state institutions through the rural sections of the state +instead of locating them in the cities. On the whole, this is a foolish +plan. The cities will not be checked in their growth by this, while on +the other hand it is the cities which most need the presence of the +state institutions. + +(5) The most important remedy for the cure of the evils of the cities, +and one which meets these evils on their own ground, is what has been +called "improved municipal housekeeping"; that is, the supervision and +control by the city of all those things which are used in common by the +people. The idea is that the city is not in its social conditions +comparable to the rural community; rather it is more like one big +household, and it is necessary, therefore, that there be collective +housekeeping, so to speak, in order to keep those things which the +people use in common at least in good order. This has also been called +"municipal socialism." It is not socialism, however, in the strict +sense, for it does not advocate the ownership in common of all capital, +but rather municipal control of public utilities. We cannot enter into +this large subject, upon which many books have been written; to a few of +these the student will find references at the end of this chapter. Here +it is only necessary to say that all of this civic improvement implies +that the city must own or control adequately its sewer system, its water +supply, its streets; that it must control the housing of the people, the +disposal of garbage, the smoke nuisance, general sanitary and living +conditions; that it must provide adequate protection against fire, an +adequate park system, an adequate free school system, with public +playgrounds for children, free libraries, free art galleries and +museums, municipal theaters, public baths, and gymnasiums. + +All of this is of course a species of socialism in the sense that it is +collective control of the conditions of living together. It advocates, +however, that the city should take over only those things that are used +in common. The trouble with this so-called municipal socialism is that +it presupposes a pretty high degree of intelligence on the part of +people. Whether or not a municipality shall own and operate its own +street railways, electric light and gas plants, is largely a question of +the development of the social consciousness and intelligence in that +particular community. In some communities such municipal undertakings +have been made a success; in others they have failed. But it is evident +that with a large mass of people living together the common conditions +of living must be subject to intelligent collective control if human +life and character are to have a proper environment in which to develop. + +(6) The last remedy proposed for the evils of the city is the +development of the suburbs through rapid transit. This is already being +rapidly accomplished in many of our larger cities. The solution of the +mechanical problem of rapid transit will probably, in other words, tend +greatly to relieve automatically the present congestion which we find in +many of our large cities. Probably the best form of such rapid transit +is underground electric roads, or subways. Transportation upon these +roads must be made cheap enough to enable workingmen to live at a +distance from their labor. With the solution of the problem of rapid +transit it should be possible to scatter a city's population anywhere +within a radius of thirty miles. But it would be a mistake to think that +rapid transit alone will solve the problems of city communities. +Stringent regulation by law of sanitary and housing conditions and, as +has just been said, of all the things used in common, is necessary to +put order and healthfulness into that vast household which we call a +modern great city. + +In conclusion we would emphasize again that the era of the city is just +beginning; that a larger and larger proportion of our population must +come to live in the cities, and that, therefore, the city will dominate +the society of the future. Hence, humanity must solve the problem of the +city if social progress is to continue. And the problem is by no means +insoluble. Man is not yet adjusted to city life. The city is so new even +to civilized man that he has carried into it the habits which he +practiced in isolated rural communities. These are the sources of +trouble in our cities, and, as we have already seen, new adjustments +have to be made by individuals in order to secure harmonious social +relationships under the crowded conditions of the city. The city +requires, therefore, a higher degree of intelligence on the part of the +individual than the rural social life, and a great part of the solution +of the problem of the city must come through the development of such +higher intelligence and morality by means of education. At any rate, it +is foolish to decry the city or to attempt to stop its growth. That is +impossible and, we think, undesirable. The ideal social life of man has +never been the isolated life of the rural community. The city has always +been in a sense man's ideal, as is shown by the fact that nearly all +attempts to depict a perfect human society have been pictures of cities. +Man's ideal, as Dr. Weber says, is not the city or the country, but the +city and the country blended, and this is what the city of the future +should become. No doubt the time will come when present cities will be +looked back upon with horror, as we look back on eighteenth-century +cities. The city of the future need not present any of the hideous, +disagreeable, and unwholesome aspects of our present cities. The city +can be made, through science and morality, a place in which human beings +may find their ideal society. + + +SELECT REFERENCES + + +_For brief reading:_ + +WEBER, _Growth of Cities in the Nineteenth Century_. +WILCOX, _The American City_. +ZUEBLIN, _American Municipal Progress_. + + +_For more extended reading:_ + +FAIRLIE, _Municipal Administration_. +HOWE, _The City: the Hope of Democracy_. +PARSONS, _The City for the People_. +ROWE, _Problems of City Government_. +STRONG, _The Challenge of the City_. + + + + + + +CHAPTER XII + + +POVERTY AND PAUPERISM + +While the many social problems arising from the presence in society of +abnormal or socially unadjusted classes, namely, the dependent, +defective, and delinquent classes, cannot be discussed in this book +adequately, yet they must be briefly noticed in order to correlate them +with other social problems, and even more in order to call the attention +of the student to the vast literature which exists concerning these +problems. + +Definitions of Poverty and Pauperism.--Poverty is a relative term, +difficult to define, but as generally employed in sociological writings +at the present it means that economic and social state in which persons +have not sufficient income to maintain health and physical efficiency. +All who do not receive a sufficient income to maintain the minimum +standard of living necessary for efficiency are known as the "poor," or +are said to live below the poverty line. + +Pauperism, on the other hand, is the state of legal dependence in which +a person who is unable or unwilling to support himself receives relief +from public sources. This is, however, legal pauperism. The word as +popularly used has come to mean a degraded state of willing dependence. +A pauper in this popular sense is a person unwilling to support himself +and who becomes a social parasite. + +Poverty is closely related to dependence or pauperism, because it is +frequently the anteroom, so to speak, to pauperism, although only a +small proportion of those who live in poverty actually become dependent +in any one year. + +The Extent of Poverty and Pauperism in the United States.--The census +reports showed that in the year 1904 there were about 500,000 dependents +in institutions in the United States. While the number who received +relief outside of institutions from public and private sources is not +known, it is certain that it is many times the total of those in +institutions. It is generally estimated that about five per cent of our +population are recipients of some sort of charitable relief in a single +year. In our large cities the number who receive relief from public and +private sources, even in average years, is very much higher. In New +York apparently the number who receive relief in an average year reaches +fourteen per cent, while in Boston the number who receive relief has +reached as high as twenty per cent in a single year. It seems probable, +therefore, that taking the country as a whole nearly five per cent of +our population have to have some sort of help every year. That would +make the number who received relief in 1904 about 4,000,000, and +probably this is not an excessive estimate. Upon the basis of these and +other known facts Mr. Robert Hunter has estimated that the number of +people in the United States living below the poverty line is about +10,000,000 in years of average prosperity. If negroes are included in +this estimate of those below the poverty line, it is certainly not +excessive. Probably 10,000,000, or fourteen per cent of our population, +understates rather than overstates the number of persons in the United +States who live upon such a low standard that they fail to maintain +physical and mental efficiency. + +Moreover, investigations in the countries of Europe show that the +estimate of fourteen per cent of our population living in poverty is far +from excessive. Mr. Charles Booth, in his _Life and Labor of the +People of London_, says that about thirty per cent of the population +of London live below the poverty line, and Mr. B.S. Rowntree found in +the English City of York about the same proportion. While poverty is +more prevalent in the old world than in the United States, it would seem +that in view of our large negro population it is evidently not excessive +to estimate the proportion of our people living in poverty at about +fifteen per cent. + +Moreover, when we extend our view in history we find that poverty has +been oftentimes in the past even much more prevalent than it is at +present. This question of poverty is, in other words, a world-old +question and is intimately bound up with the question of material +civilization--that is, man's conquest of nature--and with social +organization,--the relations of men to one another. At certain times in +history certain institutions like slavery have either obviated or +concealed poverty, and particularly its extreme expressions, in +dependence and legal pauperism. Nevertheless we can regard these +questions of poverty and pauperism as practically existing in all +civilizations and in all ages. This is not saying, however, that modern +poverty and pauperism may not have certain peculiar foundations in +modern social and industrial conditions. It is only saying that it is +useless to search wholly for the causes of poverty in conditions that +are peculiar to the modern world, because poverty and pauperism are not +peculiarly modern problems. + +The Genesis of the Depressed Classes.--So complex a problem, it might be +said at once, cannot manifestly have a simple explanation, yet this has +been the mistake of many social thinkers of the past. They have sought +some single simple explanation of human misery, and particularly in its +form of economic distress or poverty. Malthus, as we have already seen, +attributed all human misery to the fact that population tends to +increase more rapidly than food supply, and that it is the pressure of +population upon food which sufficiently explains poverty in human +society. Karl Marx offered an equally sweeping explanation when he +attributed all poverty to the fact that labor is not paid a sufficient +wage; that the capitalist appropriates an unjust share of the product of +labor, leaving to the laborer just enough to maintain existence and +reproduce. Henry George in the same spirit, in his _Progress and +Poverty_, attributed all poverty to one cause,--the landlord's +appropriation of the unearned increment in land values. There is, of +course, some truth in all of these sweeping generalizations, but it must +be said that there is not sufficient in any of them to stand the test of +concrete investigation; rather these men have made the mistake of +attempting to explain a very complex social phenomenon in terms of a +single set of causes, which, as we have already seen, has been the bane +of social science in the past. Even the theory of evolution itself +fails to explain, as ordinarily stated, the genesis of the depressed +classes in human society. It may explain it in part, however. As we +have already seen, biological variations are always found in +individuals, making some naturally superior, some naturally inferior, +and in the struggle for existence we know that the inferior are more +liable to go down; they are less apt to maintain a place in society, and +hence more readily fall into the depressed classes. Many well-endowed +persons, however, also fall into the dependent classes through accidents +and causes inherent in our social organization but in no way natural. +Thus, owing to our industrial system and to our laws of property, +inheritance, and the like, it often happens that a superior person +through sickness or other accident gets caught in a mesh of causes which +bring him down to the dependent classes, and on the other hand inferior +individuals, through inheritance or "social pull," oftentimes enjoy a +very large economic surplus all their lives. It may be admitted, +however, that slight defects in personal character or ability enter into +practically all cases of dependence. This is more apt to be the case +also in a progressive society like our own, where rising standards of +efficiency make the economic struggle more severe all the time. +Formerly, for example, any employee could drink and retain his position, +but now the drinker quickly loses his position in many industries and +gives place to the sober man. Oftentimes, however, such defects that +give rise to dependence are not inherent but are produced by social +conditions themselves, like faulty education, bad surroundings, and the +like. Through the improvement of social conditions, therefore, there is +no doubt that much of the present poverty of the civilized world can be +wiped out. This is not saying, however, that poverty and dependence will +ever be wholly eliminated. Probably, no matter how ideal social +conditions might be, even under the most just social organization, there +would be some accidents and variations in individuals which would +produce a condition of dependence. Moreover, the elimination of poverty +and pauperism is not so simple as some suppose. It is not wholly a +question of the improvement of social conditions; it also involves the +control of physical heredity, because many of the principal defects that +give rise to dependence are inherent in heredity. But man can control to +some extent even the birth of the inferior or unfit classes. This may +seem, however, so far in the future that it is idle to discuss it, +although, as we shall see, society is undoubtedly taking steps to +prevent the propagation of the unfit. In the meantime, however, so long +as humanity progresses through natural selection we shall have poverty, +to some extent at least, no matter how much industrial and social +conditions may be improved. Yet without the control of physical heredity +or the substitution of artificial for natural selection, poverty can be +undoubtedly greatly lessened, and it is the rational aim of applied +social science to discover how this may be done. It would seem that the +existence of 10,000,000 persons in the United States living below the +poverty line cannot be justified upon either moral or economic grounds; +that it represents a great waste of human life and human resources, and +that much of the social maladjustment which this poverty is an +expression of might easily yield to wisely instituted remedial measures. +If the social maladjustment which is undoubtedly the cause of the bulk +of modern poverty were done away with, it is safe to say that it would +be reduced to less than one third of its present dimensions. + +The Concrete Causes of Poverty.--It is necessary to inquire somewhat +more minutely into the concrete conditions, social and individual, which +give rise to poverty and dependence. Manifestly the poor do not +constitute any single class in society. All classes, in a sense, are +represented among the poor, and the causes of poverty which are manifest +will depend very greatly upon the class of the poor that is studied. +If, for example, we should study the causes of dependence among +defective classes, naturally personal defects of various sorts would be +emphasized. Again, if we should study almshouse paupers, we should +expect to find the causes of their dependence different from the causes +of the temporary dependence of those who are dealt with outside of +institutions and largely by private societies, especially the charity +organization societies of large cities. It is especially, however, this +latter class of temporary dependents that we are most interested in, +because they show most clearly the forces operating to produce the +various classes of permanent dependents. + +There are two great classes of causes of poverty: objective causes, or +causes outside of the individual, that is, in the environment; and +subjective causes, or causes within the individual. We shall take up +first the objective causes. + +_The Objective Causes of Poverty_. The objective causes of poverty +may be again divided into causes in the physical environment and causes +in the social environment. The causes in the physical environment +should not be overlooked, even though to a great extent they may not be +amenable to social control. Much poverty in certain regions is caused +simply by the unpropitious physical environment, such as unproductive +soil, bad climate, and the like. Added to these unpropitious factors in +the environment we have also great natural calamities, such as +tornadoes, floods, earthquakes, and volcanic eruptions. Every one is +familiar with the great amount of misery which is caused, temporarily at +least, by such calamities. Again, certain things in the organic +environment, particularly in the way of disease-producing bacteria, are +also productive of much poverty. Certain bacteria exist, we now know, +plentifully in nature, such as the malaria germ, to which rightfully has +been ascribed the physical degeneracy of people living in certain +sections of the earth. + +But the most important objective causes of poverty are undoubtedly those +found in the social environment,--those which spring from certain social +conditions or faults in social organization. Among these we may mention: + +(1) _Economic Causes_. Defective industrial organization and +economic evils of various sorts are thought by many persons to be the +main productive causes of poverty and dependence in modern society, and +there can be no doubt that a very large per cent of poverty may be +traced directly to economic evils. This is shown by the fact that in the +schedules of all charity organization societies "lack of employment" +figures as the first or second most conspicuous cause of distress in the +cases with which such societies deal. It is usually estimated that from +twenty to forty per cent of all such cases of dependence may be +attributed to lack of employment, not due to the employee. It is well +known that in periods of industrial depression the number of applicants +for aid in our large cities increases enormously, and local strikes and +lockouts frequently have the same effect. Again, changes in methods of +production through the introduction of new machinery frequently displace +large numbers of workingmen, who, on account of age or other reasons, +fail to get employment along new lines. Changes in trade brought about +through changes in fashions have to some extent at least a similar +effect. Again, fluctuations in the value of money may undoubtedly +depress a debtor class to the point of dependence. Unwise methods of +taxation, such as levying heavy taxes on the necessaries of life, +produce a great deal of poverty and economic distress. Systems of land +tenure such as prevail in England and even to some extent in the United +States, may also be another economic cause of poverty. The free land +which has up to the present time existed in this country has been a +great aid against poverty. The employment of women and children in +factories is another cause of poverty which needs to be mentioned under +this head. As we have already seen, this breaks up the home, and in the +case of the employment of children stops the development of the child. +Still another economic cause of poverty is unhealthful and dangerous +occupations. The disease-begetting occupations in modern industry are +very numerous, such as hat making, glass blowing, the grinding of tools, +and the like--any work in which there is a great deal of dust. Among +dangerous occupations must also be included those in which there are +numerous accidents, such as mining and railway occupations. The +accidents in mines and on railways in the United States each year cause +as many deaths and serious injuries as have often resulted in many a +petty war. Thus, on the railways of the United States in 1904 there was +a total of 10,046 persons killed and 84,155 injured, about three fourths +of those injured being employees,--one employee being killed in every +three hundred and fifty-seven and one injured in every seventeen. While +it is improbable that our great industries can be carried on without +some sacrifice of health and life, it seems reasonable to believe that +the number of those who are sacrificed at present is far greater than is +necessary, and that reasonable precautions in industry might greatly +increase the healthfulness of the occupations and diminish the number of +accidents to employees. + +On the whole, it is probable that these economic causes of poverty +figure in from 50 to 80 per cent of all cases, not operating alone, to +be sure, but often in connection with faults of character or physical or +mental defects in the individual; for it is always to be remembered in +discussing the causes of poverty that one never finds a case which can +be fairly attributed to a single cause. The complexity of causes +operating in the case of a single dependent family frequently makes it +impossible for any one to say with certainty what is the chief and what +are the contributing causes. Oftentimes what appears to be the chief +cause, such as lack of employment, has back of it defects in individual +character which are not apparent to the investigator. Researches along +this line have shown that the number of cases of distress which may be +attributed to lack of employment, for example, may be very greatly +reduced when all individual defects are taken into consideration. This, +however, is not an argument for regarding the economic causes of poverty +as any less important than has been indicated. + +(2) Unsanitary conditions of living are frequent causes of poverty. +Among these unsanitary conditions may be mentioned especially the +housing of the poor. The housing of the poor in badly ventilated, poorly +lighted, and unsanitary dwellings greatly increases sickness and death +and undoubtedly contributes greatly to their economic depression. Thus +in New York city in the first ward, where there is only one house on +each lot, the death rate is 29 per 1000 of the population, but where +rear tenements have been erected it is 62 per 1000 of the population. +The importance of public sanitation, and especially of the prevention of +overcrowding and the securing of properly lighted and ventilated +dwellings for the people, is so great that we need not enlarge upon it. + +(3) Defects in our educational system are certainly productive of +poverty. Ignorant and illiterate persons are much more liable to become +dependent. In particular the lack of industrial training in our public +schools is a prolific cause of dependence in our complex industrial +civilization. + +(4) Defects in government, permitting corruption on the one hand, or +failing to check economic or sanitary evils on the other hand, are +manifest causes of poverty. Indeed, inasmuch as government exists to +regulate the whole social order, wherever it fails to perform this work +properly some economic distress must ensue. + +(5) Corruption in social institutions and customs is certainly a cause +of poverty: such, for example, is the custom of social drinking, and +such also the unwise and indiscriminate charity which has so often +existed in the past. + +(6) Unrestricted immigration, especially in our Eastern states and +cities, is, as we have already seen, a prolific cause of dependence. + +_The Subjective Causes of Poverty_ are the causes within the +individual. Among these must be enumerated: (1) Physical and mental +defects of all sorts, especially those arising from sickness and +accidents. Sickness causing temporary or permanent disability figures in +from 25 to 40 per cent of all cases applying for relief in our large +cities. Probably it is the most common and most important single cause +of poverty with which charity workers have to deal. Back of sickness, +however, are often remote causes in the environment or in personal +character. We have already spoken of accident as a cause of poverty in +connection with dangerous occupations. It is only necessary to add that +good authorities estimate that there are over 1,000,000 serious +accidents in the United States every year, in order to see that +disabilities resulting from accident are prolific as causes of poverty, +especially in our large industrial centers. The physical and mental +defects which manifest themselves in the defective classes proper, such +as the feeble-minded, the insane, the epileptics, the deaf-mutes, and +the blind, do not need to be dwelt upon as causes of dependence. + +(2) Next after sickness in the list of subjective causes of poverty +comes intemperance. While the effect of intemperance in producing +poverty has often been exaggerated, there can be no doubt that +intemperance is one of the most important causes with which we have to +deal. Back of intemperance, of course, may often be again causes in the +social environment, or other remote causes, but these do not detract +from the fact that practically one fourth of all the cases of distress +with which charity organization societies have to deal are attributable, +more or less, to intemperance. The Committee of Fifty who investigated +this subject found that, in thirty-three cities, out of thirty thousand +cases dependence was due to personal intemperance in 18.46 per cent, and +due to the intemperance of others in 9.36 per cent, making a total of +27.82 per cent of cases in which intemperance can be traced as a cause +of poverty. Other investigations conducted in American cities give +substantially the same results, although certain other investigations in +English cities give higher percentages. It is noteworthy also that in +an investigation conducted by the Massachusetts Bureau of Labor 39 per +cent of the cases of poverty were attributed directly or indirectly to +drink. Again the Committee of Fifty found that in the case of +alms-house paupers a considerably higher per cent owed their condition +to the influence of drink either directly or indirectly, the percentage +being 41.55. + +(3) Sexual vice is undoubtedly a prolific cause of poverty, although it +is very hard to trace concretely in the study of specific cases. Dr. +Dugdale, however, in his study of the Jukes family places sexual vice +even ahead of intemperance as a cause of their degradation, and other +similar studies of similar families have reached substantially the same +results. + +(4) Shiftlessness and laziness are frequently found in the lists of +causes of dependence used by charity organization societies, from 10 to +15 per cent of the cases of distress being attributed more or less to +these causes. It is now generally agreed, however, that in most cases +these causes may be resolved into more remote causes, laziness being +oftentimes attributable to a degenerate or at least undervitalized +physical condition. + +(5) Old age, which has not been rendered destitute by vice, drink, or +other faults of character, is frequently in itself a cause of +dependence. Old age seems to figure more largely as a cause of +dependence in the European statistics than in American; nevertheless, +even in America we frequently find old persons who have worked hard all +their lives and yet come to poverty in their old age through no fault of +their own. It is for this reason that many are urging old-age pensions +as a means of preventing dependence among the aged. + +(6) Neglect and desertion by relatives, or the disregard of family ties, +in America at least, may be put down as one of the important causes of +dependence. From five to ten per cent of all the cases of distress, for +example, which charity organization societies in our large cities deal +with are those of deserted wives. Again, it is particularly common in +America for children to fail to support aged parents and even the +desertion of children by parents is of frequent occurrence. + +(7) Death of main support must also be mentioned as an important cause +of dependence. Widows and their children always figure largely among +those helped by charitable societies and institutions. Probably from 10 +to 20 per cent of all cases dealt with by societies for relieving +temporary distress are cases in which the death of the breadwinner has +temporarily rendered the family dependent. + +(8) Crime, dishonesty, ignorance, and the like are manifest frequent +causes of dependence, and as such need no discussion. + +We have enumerated in detail some of the more important objective and +subjective causes of poverty and dependence in order that the student +may see that such causes are very complex, and, as we have already said, +there rarely exists a dependent family in which three or more of these +causes are not found to be active. Certain questions arise from such a +brief presentation as this which we may mention but cannot hope +adequately to deal with. Such, for example, is the question whether the +subjective causes of poverty can all be reduced to objective causes. In +our opinion this cannot be done, because the subjective causes have +their roots in biological and psychological conditions, which cannot be +attributed directly to causes in the environment. No doubt, however, +many of the subjective causes of poverty are characteristics which have +been acquired by individuals from the influence of their environment. +When we attribute a certain per cent of poverty to intemperance, for +example, it is probable that that particular personal defect may be +ascribed almost wholly to the environment. On the other hand, there are +other personal defects, such as sickness, vice, and mental deficiency, +that cannot always with certainty be traced to environmental factors. It +is safest to conclude that while personality is built up largely out of +social influences, society is, on the other hand, also rooted in human +nature, so that both objective and subjective causes combine to produce +practically all social phenomena, and especially the phenomena of +poverty and dependence. It is unscientific, therefore, to disregard +either the subjective or the objective causes of poverty. + +Another question which is frequently raised in connection with poverty +or dependence is, whether it is due to misconduct or misfortune. This +question really has not much meaning in it when it is analyzed. As we +have already seen in practically every case of poverty, personal defects +and bad environment combine. Only a few of these personal defects, +however, can by any proper use of language be regarded as misconduct. +The great mass of poverty, therefore, seems attributable to misfortune +rather than to misconduct,--using these words in their popular sense. +But such a conclusion as this necessarily rests upon a somewhat +superficial examination of the causes of distress which does not enter +into the remote springs of personal character and development. On the +whole, it seems unwise to attempt to divide the poor into the "worthy" +and "unworthy" poor, as has often been done, for no one can say who is +the worthy and who is the unworthy in a moral sense. The only sense in +which these words may be used scientifically in charitable work is to +mean "needy" and "not needy." + +_Pauperism and Degeneracy._ In order to see more clearly the +biological roots of dependence we must notice briefly the relation of +habitual pauperism to degeneracy. Studies like that made by Dr. Dugdale +of the Jukes family show that unquestionably there is in many instances +a close relation between habitual pauperism of various types and +degeneracy. Out of 709 in the Jukes family studied by Dugdale 500 had +been aided. Pauperism was 7 1_2 times as common among the Jukes as in +the ordinary population. Along with the pauperism of the Jukes went +prostitution, illegitimacy, crime, and physical disease and defects. +Many other studies have shown the same intimate relation between +physical degeneracy and habitual dependence or pauperism. There can be +no doubt, therefore, that general physical degeneracy, or biological +unfitness, is, as we have already asserted in the beginning, a +conspicuous factor in the worst cases of chronic pauperism. + +_The Influence of Heredity upon Pauperism_. Similar studies to +those already mentioned have shown that dependence is often times +hereditary in families from generation to generation. This is doubtless +based upon the inheritance of physical and mental defects. Indirectly, +therefore, there is such a thing as hereditary pauperism. Now we know +from the labors of Weismann that acquired characteristics are not +inherited, but only congenital, or inborn characteristics. It is not +the characteristics, in other words, which are acquired from the +influence of environment that are transmitted to offspring, but the +characteristics that arise through variations in the germ, caused by +forces which are not yet well understood. Defects that are acquired by +the individual in his lifetime, in other words, will not be transmitted; +but the defects that arise through accident or other means in the germ +are transmitted. This being so, it follows that acquired pauperism or +dependence is not transmitted but only the pauperism which rests upon +congenital defects. This is illustrated by the case of the deaf. +Deaf-mutes are of two sorts: persons who are born deaf, or the +congenital deaf-mutes, and persons who become deaf-mutes through +diseases affecting the ear in early childhood. These latter are styled +adventitious deaf-mutes. Now when congenital deaf-mutes marry, they show +a strong tendency to transmit their defect to offspring, but the +children of adventitious deaf-mutes are always normal. Dr. Fay, in his +investigations into the marriages of the deaf in the United States shows +that only 0.3 per cent of the children born from the marriages of +persons adventitiously deaf and having no deaf relatives are born deaf; +while on the other hand, 30.3 per cent of the children born from the +marriages of persons congenitally deaf, both parents having deaf +relatives, are born deaf. In other words, the number of deaf-mutes born +where both parents are congenitally deaf and have deaf relatives is one +hundred times greater than where both parents are adventitiously deaf +and have no deaf relatives. This is pretty conclusive proof that it is +only the congenital defects which are transmissible, but these are so +highly transmissible that they may express themselves in pauperism from +generation to generation. + +The marriage of all persons in whom there is an hereditary taint of +feeble-mindedness, insanity, epilepsy, and the like ought, therefore, to +be forbidden by law. But unless these defective classes were segregated +in institutions, the only result of this might be to increase +illegitimacy; therefore, any step in eradicating degeneracy and +pauperism must look to the isolation and custodial care through life of +the hopelessly defective classes. All this gives point to our conclusion +that poverty and pauperism have roots which are quite independent of +defects in economic conditions, and that, until heredity itself can be +controlled, we cannot expect to eliminate poverty entirely. + +Proposed Remedies for Poverty and Pauperism.--The scientific remedies +for poverty and pauperism, that is, the scientific methods of dealing +with the various dependent classes and of preventing their existence, +now form the subject-matter of a great independent science, the science +of philanthropy, which, as we have already seen, may be considered a +branch of applied sociology. We have not room in this book to discuss +adequately these remedies, but we may call the attention of the student +again to the vast literature existing upon the subject, and may point +out the trend of modern scientific philanthropy in developing scientific +methods for removing the causes of dependence and of preventing the +existence of the various dependent classes. + +As we have already seen, poverty is an economic expression of biological +or psychological defects of the individual on the one hand, and of a +faulty social and industrial organization on the other hand. This +implies that the remedies must be along the lines of the biological and +psychological adjustment of the individual and of the correction of the +faults in social organization. + +Where biological defects of the individual are the cause of dependence, +we have just implied that, unless these defects are relatively +superficial, the scientific policy for treating these classes of +defective individuals would be that of segregation in institutions. The +feeble-minded, the chronic insane, the chronic epileptic, and other +hopelessly defective persons, in other words, should be permanently kept +in institutions where tender and humane care should be provided, but in +such a way that they will not reproduce their kind and burden future +generations. The policy of segregating the hopelessly defective is one +of the most scientifically approved policies of modern philanthropy. In +this way, to a certain extent, the reproduction of unfit elements in +society might be lessened, and the spread of degeneracy checked. In the +case of slightly defective adults, such as the congenitally deaf and the +congenitally blind, it is difficult to say exactly what the policy +should be. It would seem that many of these persons may be relatively +adjusted to free social life, although if they marry and have offspring +we know, if their defect is congenital, that a certain proportion of the +offspring, according to Mendel's law, will inherit the defect. + +In the case of those individuals whose dependence is due to +psychological defects, or defective character, it is evident that we +have a different problem. Here, in general, the wise policy would seem +to be, not to segregate, but to overcome the defective character. +Psychological defects, we know, are much more frequently acquired than +biological defects and much more easily remedied. The work of scientific +philanthropy in dealing with this class of individuals must be, +therefore, a work of remedying defects in individual character. This is, +perhaps, best done through personal relations between the dependent +person and those who may help him. Defective character is, on the whole, +therefore, best remedied by such means as education, religious +influences, friendly visiting, and the like. The class of dependents +whose condition is due to defective character may be on the whole, +therefore, best treated outside of institutions, and probably better +through voluntary private charity than through public relief systems. + +There remains another class of dependents whose condition is not due +either to biological nor to psychological defects in themselves, but to +faulty social and industrial conditions. For these, the best method of +treatment consists in remedying the faulty conditions or in removing +them, if possible, from them. This means that, in many cases, society +must provide pensions, insurance against accident and sickness, +legislation to check social abuses, and, above all, proper facilities +for education. Here comes in the need of child-labor legislation, of +better housing, of industrial insurance, of industrial education, and +the like. + +In the light of these principles, let us review very briefly the +different methods of dealing with dependent classes at the present time. + +_Public and Private Outdoor Relief_. By outdoor relief we mean +relief given to the poor outside of an institution. Usually, outdoor +relief refers simply to the public relief of dependents outside of +institutions, but we shall use the phrase to cover both public and +private relief. It is evident from what has already been said that the +class of persons to whom this form of relief is appropriate are those in +temporary distress, whose condition of dependence is not a permanent one +and, therefore, usually those whose condition is due either to defective +personal character or to faulty social organization. If the temporary +dependence is due to defective personal character, it is evident that +the aid may be so given, if given wisely, as to stimulate the overcoming +of the moral defect. Hence the need of carefully planned measures of +relief in all such cases. Hence, also, the need of the friendly +visitor, who by personal contact with such a family will help them to +become socially adjusted. If, on the other hand, the temporarily +dependent person is simply a victim of circumstances, there is, then, +also, the need of wise charity in order to overcome those adverse +circumstances without impairing the character of the individual who is +helped by destroying his self-respect and the like. + +It is evident that the task of relieving temporarily dependent persons +outside of institutions is a delicate and difficult one, and requires +carefully trained workers to do it successfully. For this reason, many +have argued that outdoor relief should not be undertaken by the state in +any of its branches, such as the city or county. In general, it must be +admitted that the private society is, in many cases, naturally better +fitted to accomplish this delicate and difficult task of restoring the +temporarily dependent person. But, on the other hand, it must be said +that the whole matter is simply a question of administration. Private +societies may be quite as lax and unscientific in their charity as the +state, and it is conceivable that the state can develop a system of +outdoor relief which will be administered by experts quite as carefully +as any private organization could administer it. Indeed, this is what +has been practically done in Germany under the _Elberfeldt System_, +which is a state system for dispensing outdoor relief to the temporarily +indigent. In the United States, however, this work of relieving the +temporarily dependent in their own homes has been, in our large cities, +undertaken with great success by the charity organization societies, +which, in general, do the work with such thoroughness as to obviate the +necessity for public outdoor relief in our large cities. + +_State Charitable Institutions._ Indoor relief, or relief within +institutions, for the permanently dependent classes is probably best +undertaken by the state. Originally, the only institution of this sort +was the almshouse or the poor house; but with the development of our +complex civilization many of the permanently dependent have been +provided for in other institutions than the almshouse, and it would seem +that ultimately all the permanently dependent would be cared for in +specialized state institutions. Thus, the permanently dependent, +through various sorts of defects, such as the feeble-minded, chronic +epileptic, chronic insane, and the like, are properly cared for in +institutions especially provided for the purpose by the state and manned +by experts. Into the details of public care of the unfit and defective +of various types it is not necessary to go further than to say that such +public care should be of the most scientific character, and with the +double aim of reclaiming all those that can be reclaimed, and of +providing permanently tender and humane care for those who cannot be +fitted for free social life. State institutions then, should be manned +by experts, and their activities should be coördinated by some central +board. In accordance with this principle, it would seem that the best +state policy would be to provide expert commissions for the care of +different classes, such as the insane, and the like, and a supervisory +board to watch over the work of these commissions and the institutions. + +_Dependent Children_. The care of dependent children is manifestly +one of the most important forms of remedial philanthropic work, for it +is manifest that the dependent child will make a dependent adult unless +proper measures are taken to secure his adjustment to the social life. +The dependent child is rarely biologically defective. The problem is, +usually, in his case, the development of character under proper social +conditions. For this reason, both the state and private societies have +claimed the field of care of dependent children. While private +societies have accomplished in this respect some of the most notable +work, it would seem, however, that the work is one which properly +belongs to the state in its capacity of legal guardian of all dependent +children. The state, through a properly organized system of child +helping, could conceivably guarantee that every neglected and dependent +child should have normal opportunities to become adjusted to the social +life. The system in the state of Michigan, with its Public School for +Dependent Children at Coldwater, and its plan of placing these children, +after a few months, in good homes, is a system which cannot receive too +high commendation. In general, it is practically agreed by experts that +the dependent child cannot be well adjusted to the social life by being +reared in an institution, but that the better plan is to find suitable +homes in which these children can be placed and reared under state +supervision. In this way, practically every dependent child can be +guaranteed a good chance in life. In the United States, private +societies called "Childrens' Home Societies" are also doing this work +with great success. + +_Public and Private Charity._ As has already been indicated, the +ordinary line to be observed between private charity and public relief +is that to private charity should be given the more delicate and +difficult tasks, such as readjusting the temporarily dependent persons, +the care of, in some cases, dependent children and the like, while to +public charity should be given the cases which need permanent relief in +institutions. This is only a conventional line, however, between private +charity and public relief. As has already been pointed out, the state +can conceivably, also, undertake the more delicate and difficult tasks +of charitable aid, and probably it should do so as rapidly as it +demonstrates its fitness to undertake this work, as the state, when once +it has achieved certain standards, is a more certain and reliable agency +than private institutions or societies. But there is in philanthropic +work, a large place for the private society or institution. There will +probably always be debatable cases which may better be looked after by +private agencies than by public. There is, therefore, in every +well-developed community, room for both public and private agencies, +although there should be close coöperation where both exist one with the +other. The church, through all its history, has undertaken philanthropic +work with notable success, and it would be regrettable if the +philanthropic activities of the church were to cease at this time, when +they are needed as never before, in spite of the large development of +public philanthropy. Church charity should, however, be made as +scientific as any other form of charity, and should be carefully +coördinated with the work of the state and other secular agencies. Among +the secular agencies we have already mentioned the charity organization +society as typifying in many ways the highest type of philanthropic +activity of the present. It would seem that this society, organizing as +it does all the philanthropic forces and agencies of the community, +could scarcely be displaced by state activity; and that there would +remain to this society, as well as many other private philanthropic +societies, a very large field of activity in the future. State activity +in the field of charity is, therefore, to be encouraged, but it must not +be supposed that such activity can take the place of private charity. + +_Preventive Agencies_. A very large task for both private societies +and the state is to be found in the field of prevention. This field is +so broad, however, that we cannot attempt to even mention the many +different movements alone which characterize our present social +development. Such are the movements for better housing, for better +sanitation, for purer food, for juster economic conditions, for the +prevention of disease, and the like. The main thing to be said with +respect to these movements is that they need to be guided by the larger +social view, they need synthesis in order that they may work toward a +common goal, and in harmony, also, with the activities of the state. In +the field of prevention the state has much to do, especially in +forwarding education along lines of social need and in creating juster +economic conditions. + +We may, perhaps, sum up this chapter by saying that it is evident that +the cure of poverty is not to be sought merely in certain economic +rearrangements, but in scientific control of the whole life process of +human society. This means that, in order to get rid of poverty, the +defects in education, in government, in religion and morality, in +philanthropy, and even in physical heredity, must be got rid of. Of +course, this can only be done when there is a scientific understanding +of the conditions necessary for normal human social life. What some of +these requirements for a normal life are will be seen in a subsequent +chapter, and it is only necessary to say in conclusion that the wisest +measures for removing pauperism will be directed toward the prevention +of its causes rather than toward the reclaiming of those who have +already been caught in its meshes. + + +SELECT REFERENCES + + +_For brief reading:_ + +WARNER, _American Charities,_ Revised Edition. +DEVINE, _Misery and Its Causes._ +HUNTER, _Poverty._ + + +_For more extended reading:_ + +DUGDALE, _The Jukes._ +DEVINE, _Principles of Relief._ +HENDERSON, _Dependent, Defective and Delinquent Classes._ +RUS, _How the Other Half Lives._ +ROWNTREE, _Poverty: a Study of Town Life._ +_Proceedings of the National Conference of Charities and Correction._ +_The Survey_ (formerly _Charities and the Commons_). + + + + + + +CHAPTER XIII + + +CRIME + +The problem of crime is one of the great problems of social pathology. +There have been developed, in order to deal with this problem +scientifically, a number of subsidiary sciences, especially Criminology +and Penology, which are sciences dealing with the causes, nature, and +treatment of crime. We cannot therefore deal with this problem +adequately in this chapter, but again must refer the student to the +literature on the subject. + +The Definition of Crime.--The best definition of crime and the simplest +is that it is a violation of law. It is evident from this definition +that crime is primarily a legal matter; and as laws vary from age to age +and from country to country, so too the definition of crime varies. +Nevertheless, because crime is a variable quantity that does not make it +impossible of scientific treatment; for law itself is only one aspect or +phase of the social life, namely, that which has to do with the control +of conduct through organized social authority. Therefore, while crime is +primarily a legal matter, it is also a social matter and has at the same +time psychological and biological implications. While crime is an +expression of social maladjustment defined by the law differently under +different circumstances, it nevertheless has psychological and +biological roots; and these we must take into account in a scientific +study of crime. + +The simplest and best definition of the criminal accordingly is a +violator of the law. However, because the criminal lacks social +adjustment the causes of this lack of adjustment are very often in +certain psychological and biological conditions of the individual. While +the criminal is defined by the law differently from age to age, he is +nevertheless under all circumstances the socially peculiar and sometimes +the psychologically and biologically peculiar person. Under all +circumstances he is a variation from his group; and whether the causes +of his variation are psychological or biological is the problem that +concerns us. + +But in the group of socially maladjusted persons whom we call criminals +are many classes and it is necessary to note the chief of these classes +before we can understand the many causes of crime. + +_The classification of criminals_. The legal classification of +criminals according to the nature of their crime is manifestly of no use +for scientific purposes. What we need is a classification of criminals +according to their own peculiar nature. Inasmuch as the nature and +conduct of a criminal person is largely a matter of his psychology the +most scientific classification of criminals must be upon a psychological +basis; and a simple psychological classification can be made upon the +basis of habit, that is, as to whether the habit of crime is inborn, +acquired, or not yet formed. According to this classification then there +are three main classes of criminals: (i) The instinctive or born +criminal. This is a person in whom the tendency to crime is inborn, and +this inborn tendency is always due to some congenital defect. The most +common type of the instinctive or born criminal is the moral imbecile, a +person only slightly mentally defective who cannot distinguish right +from wrong. It is evident that in the instinctive or born criminal +biological causes of crime predominate. This class is however relatively +small among the general criminal class, and it is estimated by experts +that it constitutes not more than from 10 per cent to 15 per cent of our +prison population. (2) The habitual criminal. The habitual criminal is a +normal person who has acquired the tendency to crime from his +environment. The most marked type of the habitual criminal is the +professional criminal, who is frequently a person above the average in +ability and who deliberately chooses a career of crime, taking the risks +of his calling. It is evident that the professional criminal class is +the most dangerous class of criminals with whom society has to deal. A +more common type of habitual criminal, however, is the occasional +habitual criminal, a weak person who drifts into crime through +temptation and who has not strength of character enough to throw off the +habit. It is estimated that habitual criminals of both types mentioned +constitute from 40 per cent to 50 per cent of our prison population. (3) +The single offender. The single offender is a normal person who commits +only a single crime through some sudden stress or temptation, but lives +ever after a law-abiding life. The two types of the single offender are +the criminal by passion and the accidental criminal. The criminal by +passion is a moral, and oftentimes a conscientious, person who commits a +crime through some sudden stress of passion, under great provocation. +The accidental criminal, on the other hand, is the weak type of moral +person who yields once through some sudden temptation, but who regrets +it ever afterward. It is estimated that single offenders constitute from +40 per cent to 50 per cent of our prison population. Strictly speaking, +they are only legal criminals, and not criminals in the sociological +sense, being relatively moral and law-abiding citizens whose variation +from the normal is confined to some single offense. Nevertheless, single +offenders constitute, as we have already seen, a very considerable +proportion of our prison population. + +If this classification of criminals is correct, it is evident that it is +very important both in studying the causes of crime and in devising +practical measures for dealing with the criminal class; for the +instinctive criminal, the habitual criminal, and the single offender +manifestly need very different methods of treatment. One of the gravest +faults of the criminal law and of penal institutions hitherto is that +they have not provided for the different treatment of different classes +of criminals. + +The Extent of Crime in the United States.--According to the United +States census there were in prisons on June 30, 1904, a total of 81,772 +prisoners above the age of five years serving sentences. Of this number +77,269 were males and 4503 were females; again, 55,111 were whites, and +26,661 were colored. Classified according to the prisons in which they +were found, 53,292 were in state penitentiaries, 7261 were in state +reformatories, 18,544 were in county jails, and 2675 were in city +prisons. These were only the persons serving prison sentences. An +unknown number were in county and city jails awaiting trial and serving +out fines. Again, it must be remembered that this was simply the prison +population on a single day, June 30, 1904. During 1904 there were, +according to the census, 149,691 persons committed to prisons to serve +sentences. To all of the above we must add also the 23,034 juvenile +delinquents who were found, on June 30, 1904, in the juvenile +reformatories of the United States. + +Unfortunately we have no figures from previous censuses with which we +can compare the above, as the census of 1890 and previous censuses +included prisoners awaiting trial. In 1890, however, there were, +deducting the 15,526 awaiting trial and serving out fines, 66,803 +persons above the age of five years serving sentences. + +These prison statistics, however, give us little idea of the actual +amount of crime in the United States, because they include only the +persons committed to prison to serve sentences, and do not include the +vast number who escape the meshes of the law or who simply receive +fines, or whose sentences are suspended. It is estimated by competent +authorities, basing their estimate upon the number of known convictions +of crime in certain large cities, that there are not less than 1,000,000 +convictions for crime, annually, in the United States--including, of +course, convictions for both felonies and misdemeanors. That this is not +an excessive estimate may be indicated by the fact that in the state of +New York alone in 1900, a year before the custom of suspending sentence +on probation came so largely into vogue, there were nearly 100,000 +commitments to prison. + +All these figures, however, fail to give us any very correct idea of the +amount of serious crime in the United States--the prison statistics, +because they understate the matter, the statistics of convictions, +because they overstate. A peculiarity about serious crime in the United +States, it must be remembered, is that so many persons escape through +the meshes of the law, and this is particularly true in the case of the +characteristic American crime of homicide. An enterprising newspaper, +_The Chicago Tribune_, has for years, with the help of the +Associated Press, collected statistics of homicide and suicide in the +United States. While these statistics seem relatively incomplete and +inaccurate for the earlier years, since 1892 they present every +appearance of great accuracy, and have not been seriously impugned. +According to these statistics the United States has had for the last +dozen years from six to ten thousand cases of homicide annually, +including all cases where one person has killed another. In 1896 the +number was 10,652, in 1899, 6225; in 1900, 8275; in 1904, 8482; in 1906, +9350; in 1908, 8592. The census of 1904 showed only 2444 persons +committed to prison for homicide in that year, but these figures are not +in conflict with those of _The Chicago Tribune_, because the census +statistics omit the vast number of persons who committed homicide but +who escaped, were not convicted, were killed, or for some other reason +failed to show up in the statistics of commitment. Accepting _The +Chicago Tribune's_ figures as relatively accurate, it may be remarked +at this point that the number of homicides is far greater in the United +States than in other civilized countries, with the exception of Italy, +Spain, and some other countries of the Mediterranean region. England, +for example, has only between three and four hundred cases of homicide +annually as compared with our six to ten thousand, although England's +population is about 30,000,000 as against over 80,000,000 for the United +States. The greatest number of these homicides take place in the +Southern and Western states, Texas leading, according to the statistics, +with about one thousand homicides annually. This suggests that to some +extent our high homicide rate is due to the survival of frontier +conditions in a large number of the states, although it is probably even +more due to American individualism and lawlessness, the tendency of +every man to take the law into his own hands. + +There can be no doubt that the amount of serious crime in the United +States is relatively high, although there is no reason to believe that +the serious crimes against property are proportionate to the serious +crimes against persons. + +_The Cost of Crime in the United States_. The Hon. Eugene Smith, a +lawyer of New York city, in a paper read before the National Prison +Association in 1900, estimated that the criminal population of the +United States costs not less than $600,000,000 annually. He based his +estimate upon the cost of crime in New York city and other large cities +of the country. He found that the probable expenses of government in the +United States attributable to crime, that is, the cost of police, +criminal courts, prisons, and other institutions connected with the +prevention and repression of crime, amounted to about $200,000,000 per +year. This is the amount paid by the taxpayers for the repression and +extirpation of crime annually. In addition there is the cost of the +criminal class through the destruction of property, their plunder, and +the like. Mr. Smith estimated that there were no less than 250,000 +dangerous criminals in the United States and that each such criminal +cost the people of the United States, on the average $1600 annually. +Accordingly, the 250,000 criminals would cost a total of $400,000,000 +annually, which, added to the $200,000,000 paid out in taxes for the +repression of the criminal class and protection against crime, makes a +total of $600,000,000 paid out every year by the people of the United +States as the cost of supporting the criminal class. While this figure +seems enormous, careful students of the matter consider that it is an +underestimate rather than an overestimate of the total cost of crime. We +may compare the amount with certain other figures. The cost of public +education in the United States is about $350,000,000 annually; the +annual value of our wheat crop is about $600,000,000, and of our cotton +crop about the same. It is evident that the problem of crime is worthy +of serious study even from a financial standpoint alone. + +_Is Crime Increasing?_ How we answer this question will, of course, +depend upon the length of time considered. We have no statistics going +back further than fifty years in this country. Moreover, it is entirely +possible to hold that while crime has decreased during the historic era +among civilized peoples, it has increased during the last twenty-five or +fifty years. All statistics of crime in the United States seem to show +that it has increased. In 1850 for example, the number of prisoners was +6737 which was one prisoner to every 3442 of the population. But the +census of 1850 was seriously defective, and we would better take the +census of 1860 as the basis of our comparison. In 1860 the census showed +a total prison population of 19,086, which was one prisoner to every +1647 of the population. In 1890 the census showed 82,329 prisoners in +the total population, which was one in every 757. In other words, +between 1860 and 1890 the total population of the country just doubled, +while the number of prisoners quadrupled. Inasmuch as the census of 1904 +was taken upon an entirely different basis, we cannot bring the +comparison down to that year. + +The value of these statistics has often been questioned, but it has been +questioned chiefly by people who have not taken other corroborative +evidence into account. The chief corroborating evidence is to be found +in the statistics of prisoners in our state prisons from 1880 to 1904. +Now only those are sent to state prisons who are guilty of felonies, and +the length of term of sentence in our state prisons has steadily +shortened during the last twenty-five years, while within the last few +years the practice of suspending sentence on probation for first felons +has been largely introduced. We should expect, therefore, a decrease in +the state prison population in proportion to the general population. But +we find that the number in state prisons rose from 30,659 in 1880, to +45,233 in 1890, an increase of 47.5 per cent, while the general +population increased only 24.86 per cent. Again the number rose in 1904 +to 60,553, an increase of 33 per cent, while the general population +increased about 30 per cent. Apparently, therefore, the amount of +serious crime in the United States is increasing more rapidly than the +population. Corroborating evidence is also found from Massachusetts +statistics, which indicate that between 1850 and 1880 the prison +population increased twice as rapidly as the general population. Other +evidence could be cited, but the statistics of our state penitentiaries +may be considered conclusive when all facts are taken into +consideration. There is apparently no escape from the conclusion that +serious crime between 1880 and 1904 increased more rapidly than the +population. + +The amount of minor offenses, every one admits, has increased. The +statistics of all European countries show this, and there is no reason +to suppose that the United States is an exception in this regard. +England is the only country of the civilized world in which there has +been apparently a decrease in proportion to population of both serious +crimes and minor offenses. This decrease of crime in England may be +attributed largely to England's excellent prison system, and also to the +swiftness and certainty of English courts of justice. + +The Causes of Crime.--The causes of crime may be classified best, as we +classified the causes of poverty, into objective and subjective. +Objective causes are those outside of the individual, in the +environment; subjective causes are causes in the individual, whether in +his bodily make-up or his mental peculiarities. + +_The Objective Causes of Crime_. The objective causes of crime may +be divided into causes in the physical environment and causes in the +social environment. The causes in the physical environment are +relatively unimportant, but are worthy of note as showing how many +various factors enter into this social phenomenon of crime. Climate and +season seem to be the two chief physical factors that influence crime; +and in connection with these we have two general rules, abundantly +verified by statistics; namely, crimes against the person are more +numerous in southern climates than crimes against property; and again +crimes against the person are more numerous in summer than in winter, +while crimes against property are more numerous in winter than in +summer. All this is of course simply an outcome of the effect of climate +and season upon general living conditions. + +The causes of crime in the social environment are of course much the +most important objective causes of crime, and, many students think, +altogether the most important causes of crime in general. Let us briefly +note some of the more important social conditions that give rise to +crime. + +(1) Conditions connected with the family life have a great influence on +crime; indeed, inasmuch as the family is the chief agency in society for +socializing the young, perhaps domestic conditions are more important in +the production of crime than any other set of causes. We cannot enter +into the discussion of the matter fully, but we have already seen in +former chapters that demoralized homes contribute an undue proportion of +criminals. It is estimated by those in charge of reform schools for +delinquent children that from 85 to 90 per cent of the children in those +institutions come from more or less demoralized or disrupted families. +Illegitimate children notoriously drift into the criminal classes, while +dependent children who grow up in charitable institutions are prone also +to take the same course. Domestic conditions have of course an influence +on the criminality or non-criminality of adults. This is best shown +perhaps by the fact that the great proportion of criminals in our +prisons are unmarried persons. Thus the United States prison census of +1904 showed that 64 per cent of all prisoners were single persons. +Statistics from other countries are practically the same. This means +that, on the one hand, the family life is a preventive of crime, and on +the other that the socially abnormal classes who drift into crime are +not apt to marry. + +(2) Industrial conditions also have a profound influence upon criminal +statistics. Economic crises, hard times, strikes, lockouts, are all +productive of crime. Quetelet, the Belgian statistician, thought that +the general rule could be laid down that, as the price of food +increases, crimes against property increase, while crimes against +persons decrease. At any rate, increase in the cost of the necessities +of life is very apt to increase crimes of certain sorts. + +The various industrial classes show a different ratio of criminality. In +general among industrial classes the least crime is committed by the +agricultural classes, while the most crime is committed by the +unemployed or those with no occupation. The census of 1904 showed that +50 per cent of all prisoners that year were non-agricultural laborers or +servants. + +(3) The demographical conditions, conditions concerning the distribution +and density of the population, have an influence upon crime. In general +there is more crime in the cities than in the country districts. The +statistics of all civilized countries seem to show about twice as great +a percentage of crime in their large cities as in the rural districts. + +(4) The influence of race and nationality seems to be marked in criminal +statistics. We have already noted that the ratio of criminality among +the negroes in the United States is from four to five times higher than +among the whites. We have also seen that among our recent immigrants the +Southern Italians have a pronounced tendency to crime, especially +serious crime. Among our older immigrants the Irish on the other hand, +owing largely to their love of liquor, have a pronounced tendency toward +minor offenses. Even in 1904, 36.2 per cent of the foreign-born +prisoners were Irish, while the Irish constituted but 15.6 per cent of +the total foreign-born population. + +(5) Defects in government and law are among the most potent causes of +crime. These are so numerous that we cannot attempt even to mention all. +It is obvious that such things as too great leniency on the part of our +judges and shortness of sentence if convicted; difficulty or uncertainty +in securing justice in criminal courts; costliness of obtaining justice +in our civil courts; bad prison systems in which first offenders and +hardened criminals mingle; lack of police surveillance of habitual +criminals; corrupt methods of appointing the police; partisanship in the +administration of government, and the like, all conduce to crime. And +many of these things, we may add, have been especially in evidence in +America. + +(6) Educational conditions have undoubtedly a great influence upon +crime. While education in the sense of school education could never in +itself stamp out crime, still defective educational conditions greatly +increase crime. This is shown sufficiently by the fact that illiterates +are much more liable to commit crime than those who have a fair +education. The prison census of 1904 showed that 12.6 per cent of the +prisoners were illiterate, while only 10.7 per cent of the general +population were illiterate; and of the major offenders not less than 20 +per cent were illiterate. + +The defects in our educational conditions which especially favor the +development of crime in certain classes are chiefly: lack of facilities +for industrial education, lack of physical education, and lack of +specific moral instruction. The need of these three things in a +socialized school system need not here be more than emphasized. + +The influence of the press as a popular educator must here be mentioned +as one of the important stimuli to crime under modern conditions. The +excessive exploitation of crimes in the modern sensational press no +doubt conduces to increase criminality in certain classes, for it has +been demonstrated that crime is often a matter of suggestion or +imitation. When 75 per cent of the space in our daily newspapers is +taken up with reports of crime and immorality, as it is in some cases, +it is not to be wondered at that the contagion of crime is sown +broadcast in society. + +(7) The influence of certain social institutions in producing crime must +be mentioned. Here comes in especially the lack of opportunity for +wholesome social amusements among our poorer classes, particularly in +our large cities. Lacking these, the masses resort to the saloon, +gambling-houses, cheap music and dance halls, and vulgar theatrical +entertainments. The influence of all of these institutions is +undoubtedly to spread the contagion of vice and crime among their +patrons. + +(8) The influence of manners and customs upon crime cannot be +overlooked. The custom in certain communities, for example, of carrying +concealed weapons undoubtedly has much to do with the swollen homicide +statistics of the United States. Vicious and corrupting customs, such as +compulsory social drinking, and the like, undoubtedly greatly influence +crime. Even the luxury and extravagance of the rich might easily be +shown to have a demoralizing effect, both upon the upper and the lower +classes of society. + +The list of causes of crime in the social environment might be +indefinitely extended until the student would perhaps think that +practically everything was a cause of crime in one way or another; and +it is true that everything that depresses men in society is a cause of +crime. However, if the student has gained an impression of the great +complexity of the causes of crime, that is the main thing. + +A question may here be raised whether it is possible to reduce all the +causes of crime to causes in the social environment--that is, all +subjective causes to objective. Many writers have contended that this is +possible, but we shall see that there are causes in heredity and causes +in psychological conditions, to say nothing of some possible free will +in individuals, which cannot be derived from social conditions and which +would produce crime quite independent of objective social conditions, +unless these subjective factors were also controlled. There is no reason +to believe that a perfectly just social organization which did not +attempt to control heredity and the moral character of individuals would +succeed in eliminating crime. On the contrary, biological variation +alone arising from influences independent of the environment would +produce a certain amount of crime. Crime, in other words, is, to a +certain extent, like pauperism, an expression of the elimination of the +inferior variants in society, and will continue to exist as long as we +allow the process of evolution by natural selection to go on. + +Nevertheless, it is true in a certain sense, as Lacassagne says, that +"every society has the criminals it deserves;" that is, every society +could, by taking proper means, practically eliminate crime and the +criminal class. This would have to be done, however, by something more +radical than a mere reorganization of human society in an industrial +way. Three things are necessary for society practically to eliminate +crime: first, the correction of defects in social conditions, +particularly of economic evils in society; second, the proper control of +physical heredity by a rational system of eugenics; third, the proper +education and training of every child for social life from infancy up. + +_The Subjective Causes of Crime._ In order to see all that is +involved in the above program let us study somewhat the subjective +causes of crime. These may be divided into biological and psychological. +Among the biological causes of crime, and one which certainly cannot be +reduced to the environment, is sex. As we have already seen, crime is a +social phenomenon which is chiefly confined to the male sex. In 1904, +for example, 94.5 per cent of the prison population in the United States +were males, and in the statistics of convictions it is estimated that +ninety-one men are convicted for every nine women. The statistics for +all civilized countries show practically the same conditions, although +in most European countries the proportion of female prisoners is +somewhat higher, owing, undoubtedly, to certain influences in the social +environment. + +Another subjective factor in crime, which again cannot be reduced to +environment, is age. Practically all crime falls in the active period of +life, and the bulk of it between the ages of twenty-one and forty years. +The average of men in our state penitentiaries is frequently not above +twenty-seven or twenty-eight years. + +Other subjective biological conditions that cause crime may be summed up +under the word "degeneracy." These abnormal conditions, however, we +shall examine later. + +Among the psychological conditions of the individual that give rise to +crime the most common are habits, aims, and ideals. Of peculiar interest +among personal habits that have an influence upon crime is intemperance, +and this is such an important cause of crime that we must stop to +examine it in some detail. It is often said that 95 per cent of the +crime of our country results from this cause alone. The Committee of +Fifty, however, investigated the cases of 13,402 convicts with reference +to this matter, and found that intemperance was a cause of crime in the +cases of 49.95 per cent. It was a chief cause of crime, however, only in +the cases of 31.18 per cent. In the remaining cases the intemperance was +that of ancestors or associates. Other investigators have found that +intemperance figures as a cause of crime in from 60 to 80 per cent of +the cases, but these investigations were not so full as that of the +Committee of Fifty, and it is safer to conclude, for the present at +least, that intemperance figures as a cause in about fifty per cent in +the cases of serious crime. The wonder is that any one cause could +figure in so many cases when there are so many varied influences in +society depressing men. Of course intemperance can, as has already been +said, in large part be ascribed to the influence of external stimuli in +the environment, but it has also causes in the biological and +psychological make-up of certain individuals that cannot be easily +reduced to environmental factors. + +_Influence of Physical Degeneracy upon Crime_. By degeneracy we +mean, to use Morel's definition, "a morbid deviation from the normal +type." That is, degeneracy is such an alteration of organic structures +and functions that the organism becomes incapable of adapting itself to +more or less complex conditions. Ordinary forms of degeneracy that are +well recognized are feeble-mindedness, chronic insanity, chronic +epilepsy, congenital deaf-mutism, habitual pauperism, and the like. Now +there can be no doubt that criminality in some of its forms is related +to these functional forms of degeneracy. Even ordinary people have +noticed its similarity to insanity, while Lombroso has traced an +elaborate parallel between criminality and epilepsy. Without accepting +extreme views, it may be claimed that criminality is, in some cases, a +form of biological degeneracy for the following reasons: + +(1) The investigations of criminal anthropologists have established the +fact that criminals as a class present a much larger number of +structural and functional abnormalities than does the average man. The +prisoners in our state prisons, for example, with few exceptions, could +not measure up to the requirements laid down by the United States Army +authorities for the enlistment of soldiers. + +(2) Investigations, like that of the Jukes family by Dr. Dugdale, have +established the fact that criminals, paupers, imbeciles, drunkards, +prostitutes, and other degenerates frequently spring from the same +family stock. A very large percentage of the prisoners in our prisons +have come from more or less degenerate family stocks. + +(3) Criminals more often show other forms of degeneracy than criminality +than does the average population; that is, criminals often belong to one +of the well-recognized degenerate classes, such as imbeciles, +epileptics, and insane. + +These three arguments may be considered to be conclusive proof that +criminality is in some cases a manifestation of physiological +degeneracy; but they do not show that the bulk of criminals come from +physiologically degenerate stocks. On the contrary it is highly probable +that the marks of physiological degeneracy are not to be seen in from +more than 25 to 30 per cent of our criminal class. These marks of +degeneracy are of course especially common among the instinctive or born +criminals, and to some extent they are found among the habitual +criminals also. + +_The Influence of Heredity on Crime_. A word must be said about the +influence of heredity on crime. The student will remember that, +according to the modern theory of heredity, acquired characters, or +characteristics, are not transmissible. Accordingly, when we find crime +running in a family for generations, as in the Jukes or Zero families, +we must assume either that the criminal tendency is transmitted by the +social environment or that it is due to some congenital variation in +some ancestor. In other words, if a person is a criminal by hereditary +defect, if the criminal tendency is born in him, as it is in the +instinctive criminal, he will transmit the tendency toward crime to his +offspring; but if a normal person becomes a criminal by acquired habit +he will transmit no tendency toward crime to his children, although his +children may of course acquire the tendency from their social +environment. + +This is not saying, however, that in such cases as habitual drunkenness +and habitual vice an impaired constitution may not be transmitted to +offspring. But this, strictly speaking, is not the transmission of any +specific acquired characteristic, but only a general transmission of +impaired vitality which may show itself in crime and in various forms of +degeneracy. The germ cells are of course a part of the body, and +anything that profoundly impairs the nutrition of the body generally, +such as alcoholism and constitutional diseases, would also impair the +nutrition of the germ cells, and result in a weakened constitution in +offspring. + +_Lombroso's Theory of Crime_. Lombroso, and the Italian school of +criminologists generally, attribute crime chiefly to atavism, that is, +reversion to primitive types. They claim that the criminal in modern +society is merely a biological reversion to the savage type of man; that +the criminal constitutes therefore a distinct "anthropological variety"; +and that there is a marked "criminal type" which can be made out even +before a person has committed a crime. They say further that the +criminal type is marked physically by having five or more of the +stigmata of degeneration, and that it is marked mentally by having the +characteristics of the savage or nature man. We cannot stop to criticize +in full this completely biological theory of crime which is offered by +Lombroso and his followers. Undoubtedly crime has biological roots, and +these we have attempted to point out in discussing the influence of +degeneracy upon crime. But to claim that the criminal constitutes a +well-marked "anthropological variety" of the human species, as Lombroso +argues, is to set up a claim for which there is no foundation. What +Lombroso thinks are the marks of the criminal are simply the marks +belonging to the degenerate classes in general. That is, they are found +among the insane and feeble-minded, for example, as well as in some +classes of criminals. There is then no criminal type which clearly +separates the criminal from other classes of degenerates, and which will +mark a man out as belonging to the criminal class even before he has +committed a crime. Lombroso and some of his school have altogether +overemphasized the physical and anatomical side of the study of the +criminal, and slighted the sociological side of such study. Moreover, +Lombroso's statements, which he makes in very general terms, apply, if +they apply at all, not to criminals as a class, but only to instinctive +criminals, as indeed he himself has acknowledged. + +Remedies for Crime.--The remedies for crime are dealt with by the +subsidiary science of penology, which may be regarded as a branch of +scientific philanthropy. We can only direct the student's attention here +to the vast literature on the subject and remark that the cure for crime +consists not in some social panacea or in social revolution, but in +dealing with the causes of crime so as to prevent the existence of the +criminal class. In a general way, we have already indicated in +discussing the remedies for poverty and pauperism what the steps must be +to eradicate crime. In order practically to wipe out crime in society, +as we have already said, three things are necessary. First, every +individual must have a good birth; that is, heredity must be controlled +so that only those who are physically and mentally sound are allowed to +marry and reproduce. The difficulties of doing this we have already +noted. Second, every individual must have a good training, both at home +and at school, so as to adjust him properly to the social life. His +education must fit him to take his place among other men, make him able +to take care of himself, and to help others; and make him, in every +possible way, acquainted with the social inheritance of the race. Last +but not least, just social conditions must be provided. Everything in +the social environment must be carefully looked after in order to insure +the best development of the individual and to prevent his environment +from being in any way a drawback to him. + +These things, if it were possible to bring them about, would wipe out +crime, or, at least, minimize it to the lowest terms. Of course, this +cannot be done in a generation, perhaps not in many generations, but it +is evident that the problem of crime is in no way an insoluble problem +in human society. With time and care and scientific knowledge, crime, as +well as poverty and pauperism, could be wiped out. + +But curative measures are important, also, in dealing with the criminal, +and each distinct class must be dealt with differently. We noted in the +beginning of the chapter the three great character types in the criminal +class: the instinctive criminal, in whom the tendency toward a life of +crime is inborn; the habitual criminal, who acquires the habit of crime +from his surroundings; and the single offender, who, while committing a +single offense, never becomes a criminal in the strictest sense. These +three distinct classes of criminals, whom we might style the +degenerates, the derelicts, and the accidental offenders, need to be +recognized in our criminal law and to be dealt with differently by our +criminal courts and correctional institutions. The instinctive criminal +can scarcely be adjusted to normal social life. He is, as we have +already seen, essentially a defective, usually more or less +feeble-minded. Reformation in the fullest sense of the word is almost +out of the question in his case. The proper policy for society with +reference to the instinctive criminal class, which constitutes but a +small portion of our total criminal population, would be segregation for +life. Practically, of course, this may have its difficulties until we +perfect our means of discovering slight mental defects in individuals +which make them incapable of social adjustment, but practically, also, +we have found means of recognizing this type by such marks as +incorrigibility, recidivism, and the stigmata of degeneracy. + +The habitual criminal, who originally was a normal person, can be, at +least in the early part of his career, fully reformed. Children and +adolescents, even though habitual offenders, are easily susceptible of +reformation, but this is difficult with the adult habitual offender past +thirty years of age who has a long criminal record behind him. Like the +instinctive criminal, he is scarcely capable of reformation. Hardened +habitual offenders, and especially professional criminals, should, +therefore, be sentenced upon indeterminate sentences, terminable only +when adequate evidence of their reformation has been secured. This can +best be accomplished by what is known as the "habitual criminal act," +providing that persons guilty of three or four felonies shall be sent to +prison for life, to be released only upon satisfactory evidence of +reformation. + +The single offender, who is usually a reputable citizen who commits +crime through passion or through great temptation, can usually best be +dealt with outside of prison walls. The young single offender, if not +properly handled, may be easily transformed into an habitual criminal. +On the whole, a young single offender who has had no criminal record is, +perhaps, best dealt with by the system of probation which we will note +later. On the other hand, certain single offenders past thirty years of +age, such as bribe-givers and bribe-takers, society may have to punish +in order to make an example of. Exemplary punishment is, undoubtedly, +still necessary in some cases, and in the main it should be reserved for +this class of mature offenders in society who have otherwise lived +reputable lives. Just how far exemplary punishment should be used in +society as a deterrent to crime is a disputed question among +penologists. Whether, as in cases of homicide, it should ever go to the +extent of capital punishment or not depends very much upon the +civilization of the group. In a civilization like ours, where blood +vengeance is so often demanded by mobs, it is probably unwise, for the +present at least, to seek the abolition of capital punishment for murder +in the first degree. + +_The Prison System._ Every state should have at least six distinct +sets of institutions to deal with the criminal class. + +1. County and city jails for the detention of offenders awaiting trial. + +2. Reform schools for delinquent children under sixteen years of age who +require institutional treatment. + +3. Industrial reformatories for adult first offenders between sixteen +and thirty years of age who require institutional treatment. + +4. Special reformatories for vagrants, inebriates, and prostitutes. + +5. A hospital prison for the criminal insane. + +6. County and state penitentiaries for incorrigible, hardened criminals. + +If any one of these sets of institutions is lacking in a state, it is +impossible for the state to deal properly in a remedial way with the +problem of crime. All these institutions, of course, need to be manned +by experts and equipped in the best possible way. The present condition +of our jails, of our penitentiaries, and to some extent of our reform +schools, frequently makes them schools of crime. Nothing is more +demoralizing in any community than a bad jail where criminals of all +classes are herded together in idleness. Again, the administration of +some of our state penitentiaries with an eye to profit only, makes them +places for the deformation of character rather than for its reformation. +Again, the lack of special institutions to deal with habitual vagrants, +drunkards, and prostitutes, is one of the great reasons why we find it +so difficult to stamp out crime. Into the details of the organization, +construction, and management of these institutions we cannot go in this +book. It is sufficient to say that all these institutions should furnish +specialized scientific treatment for the various delinquent classes with +which they deal, and to do this they should aim to reproduce the +conditions and discipline of free life as far as possible. These +institutions, in other words, with the exception of the penitentiaries +and other institutions for segregation, should aim at overcoming +defective character in individuals. Their work is mainly, therefore, a +work of remedying psychical defects in the individual which prevent his +proper adjustment to society. In the case of penitentiaries, however, +the work is one mainly of segregation, of providing humane care under +such conditions as least to burden society, and at the same time give +such opportunity as there may be for reformation. + +_Substitutes for Imprisonment._ We have already noted that some +classes of offenders may be reformed outside of prison walls. This is +especially true of children, of the younger misdemeanants, and of those +who have committed their first felony. It has been found that by +suspending sentences in such cases, giving the person liberty upon +certain conditions, and placing him under the surveillance of an officer +of the court who will stand in the relation of friend and quasi-guardian +to him, that reformation can, in many cases, be easily accomplished. +This is known as the probation system. It has been characterized as "a +reformatory without walls." Originating in Massachusetts, it has been +increasingly put into practice of recent years in many states with much +success. The system, however, will not work well without trained +probation officers to watch over those who are given conditional +liberty. The practice of placing upon probation without probation +officers is a questionable one and is liable to bring in disrepute the +whole system. Probation is not mere leniency, as some suppose, but is +rather a system of reformation in line with the most scientific approved +methods. + +Coupled with probation should often go fines and restitution to injured +parties. In such cases, when the person is placed upon probation, the +fine or restitution may often be paid in installments, and it has been +found to have a decidedly reformatory effect upon the character of the +offender. Fines without probation are, however, but little more than +retribution, or exemplary punishment. + +_Delinquent Children._ The treatment of delinquent children +constitutes a special problem in itself. It has recently come to be well +recognized that criminal tendencies nearly always appear in childhood, +and that if we can overcome these tendencies in the delinquent child, we +shall largely prevent the existence of an habitual criminal class. +Strictly speaking, of course, the child is a presumptive rather than a +real criminal. The delinquent child is socially maladjusted and is +scarcely ever to be considered an enemy of organized society. Delinquent +children should be dealt with, therefore, as presumptive rather than as +genuine criminals. In general, therefore, they should not be arrested, +should not be put in jail with older offenders, and should be tried by a +special court in which the judge representing the state plays the role +of a parent. For the most part, delinquent children may be dealt with, +as we have already seen by putting them upon probation under the care of +proper probation officers. When the home surroundings are not good, such +children may often be placed in families and their reformation more +easily secured than if placed in institutions. In any case, they should +never be sent to the reform school except as a last resort. The parent +or guardian, also, should be held responsible for the delinquency of the +child if he is contributory thereto by his negligence or otherwise. + +We may sum up this chapter, then, by repeating that the problem of crime +is in no way an insoluble problem in human society, though, perhaps, a +certain amount of occasional and accidental crime will always exist. +The solution of the problem, as we have seen, only demands that man +should secure the same mastery over his social environment and over +human nature that he has already practically achieved over physical +nature; and the gradual development of the social sciences will +certainly make this possible some time in the future. + + +SELECT REFERENCES + + +_For brief reading:_ + +ELLIS, _The Criminal._ +WINES, _Punishment and Reformation._ +BOIES, _The Science of Penology._ + + +_For more extended reading:_ + +BARROWS, _The Reformatory System in the United States._ +BARROWS, _Children's Courts in the United States._ +DRAHMS, _The Criminal._ +FERRI, _Criminal Sociology._ +MORRISON, _Crime and Its Causes._ +MORRISON, _Our Juvenile Offenders._ +PARMELEE, _Anthropology and Sociology in Relation to Criminal Procedure._ +TRAVIS, _The Young Malefactor._ + + + + + + +CHAPTER XIV + + +SOCIALISM IN THE LIGHT OF SOCIOLOGY + +There have been many "short-cuts" proposed to the solution of social +problems. Among these the various schemes for reorganizing human society +and industry, brought together under the general name of "socialism," +have attracted most attention and deserve most serious consideration. +In criticizing the most conspicuous of these schemes of social +reconstruction, the so-called "scientific socialism," it should be +understood at the outset that there is no intention of questioning the +general aims of the socialists. Those aims, as voiced by their best +representatives, are in entire accord with sound science, religion, and +ethics. That humanity should gain collective control over the conditions +of its existence is the ultimate and highest aim of all science, all +education, and all government. No student of sociology doubts that +human society has steadily moved, though with interruptions, toward a +larger control over its own processes; and no sane man doubts that such +collective control over the conditions of existence is desirable. These +general aims, which the socialists share with all workers for humanity, +are not in question. What is in question are the specific means or +methods by which the socialists propose to reconstruct human society--to +gain collective control over the means of existence. In order to +criticize socialism we must see a little more narrowly what socialism is +and what it proposes to do. + +Socialism Defined.--As a recent socialist writer has declared, +socialism, like Christianity, is a term which has come to have no +definite meaning. It is used by all sorts of people to cover all sorts +of vague and indefinite schemes to improve or revolutionize society. +[Footnote: It has been said that the word "socialism," as currently +used, has four distinct meanings: (1) Utopian socialism, i.e., schemes +like More's Utopia; (2) the socialist party and its program, i.e., "the +socialization of the instruments of production;" (3) The Marxist +doctrine of social evolution, i.e., "the materialistic conception of +history;" (4) a vague body of beliefs of the working classes, more or +less derived from (2) and (3). It is of course only socialism in the +second and third senses which is discussed in this chapter.] Such a +vague conception would, of course, be impossible of scientific +criticism. But fortunately the word historically has come to have a +fairly clear and definite meaning. It has come to stand for the social +and political program of a party, the Social-Democratic party of Germany +and other European states. Karl Marx and his associates were the +founders of this party, hence historical socialism is synonymous with +Marxian socialism, and we shall so use the word. The cardinal tenet or +principle of the socialist party is the public ownership of all capital, +that is, of the means of production. Certain other things are, however, +involved in this, and we may define the full program of Marxian +socialism by saying that it proposes: (1) the common ownership of the +means of production (abolition of private property in capital); (2) +common management of the means of production (industry) by +democratically selected authorities; (3) distribution of the product by +these common authorities in accordance with some democratically approved +principle; (4) private property in incomes (consumption goods) to be +retained. + +It is evident from this outline of "orthodox" or Marxian socialism that +it is primarily and dominantly an economic program. It is true that it +emphasizes democratic forms of government, but this is only incidental +to its main purpose of securing a just distribution of economic goods. +Strictly speaking, in a correct use of scientific terms, Marxian +socialism should be called "economic socialism." + +The Theoretical Basis of Marxian Socialism.--Marx's socialism is +frequently called scientific socialism, because its followers believe +that it rests upon a scientific theory of social evolution. This theory +is best stated in Marx's own words, as he gives it in his _Critique of +Political Economy_, namely, that "the method of the production of +material life determines the social, political, and spiritual life +process in general." We find it stated in other words, though in +substance the same, by Engels, Marx's friend and coworker. Engels says, +"In every historical epoch, the prevailing mode of economic production +and exchange, and the social organization _necessarily_ following +from it, form the basis upon which is built up, and from which alone can +be explained, the political and intellectual history of that epoch." In +other words, according to Marx and his followers, the economic element +in human society determines all other elements; if the other elements +cannot be fully derived from the economic, their form and expression is +at least determined by the economic. This is the so-called +"materialistic conception of history" upon which Marxian socialists +believe their program to have a firm scientific foundation. [Footnote: +In several utterances of his later years Marx qualified considerably his +"materialistic conception of history," but the more radical or +revolutionary wing of his followers have always adhered to the extreme +form of the theory.] The followers of Marx, indeed, declare that with +this principle Marx explains social evolution quite as fully as Darwin +explained organic evolution through natural selection; and they do not +hesitate to compare Marx's work in the social sciences with Darwin's +work in the biological sciences. + +It may certainly be agreed that this social philosophy which we have +already said is best characterized as "economic determinism," is the +logically necessary foundation of economic socialism. If the change of +the economic or industrial order of human society is going to work such +wonders as the socialists claim, then it must follow that the economic +element is the fundamental and determining element in the social life. +If what is wrong with human society is chiefly wrong economic +conditions, then the changing of those conditions should, of course, +change the whole social superstructure. It would seem, therefore, that +the dominantly economic program of Marxian socialists must stand or fall +with the economic interpretation of social organization and evolution +which Marx proposed. If it can be shown that Marx's philosophy of human +society is essentially unsound, then the proposition to regenerate human +society simply by economic reorganization is also unsound. Let us see +whether the positions of the economic socialists are tenable in the +light of the sociological principles which have been emphasized in the +previous chapters of this book. + +Criticism of Marxian Socialism.--The student has already been told that +human society is a complex of living organisms, responding now this way, +now that, to external stimuli in the environment. These stimuli in the +environment we have roughly, but inaccurately, spoken of as causes, +though they are not causes in a mechanical sense. The responses which +are given to these stimuli by individuals and groups vary greatly +according to heredity, instincts, and habits,--the inner nature, in +other words, of the organisms composing society. Now, the stimuli in +the environment which give rise to the activities of individuals and +societies, though not in any mechanical way, may be classified into +several great groups, such as the economic, the reproductive, the +political, the religious, and so on. The economic stimuli would be +those that have to do with the processes of production, distribution, +and consumption of wealth; that is, the economic stimuli are those which +are concerned with economic values. Now, while the student has not been +even introduced to the psychological theory of human society, he perhaps +knows enough of individual human nature to see that there is no reason +in the nature of things why one's responses to economic stimuli, those +connected with economic values, should determine his response to all +other stimuli; and this is what scientific sociology and scientific +psychology exactly find; namely, that there is no reason for believing +that economic stimuli determine in any exact way or to any such extent, +as Marx thought, responses to other stimuli. It is true that our habits +of response to a certain class of stimuli affect to a certain extent our +habits of response to all other classes. Thus it follows that the +economic phase of human society affects to a very great degree all other +phases of human society. But this is simply the doctrine of the unity of +personality and the interdependence of all phases of the social life, +and it is very different from Marx's theory that the economic determines +all the other phases; for under the doctrine of social interdependence +we can see it is quite as reasonable to state that the religious and +political phases of the social life determine the economic as it is to +state that the economic determines the political and religious. + +Let us bring the discussion down to more concrete terms. The student has +seen that in every social problem there are a multitude of factors or +stimuli (causes) at work, and that in no problem is the economic factor +so all important that it may be said that the other factors are simply +subsidiary. On the contrary, in such a problem as crime the methods of +production and distribution of material goods, while important factors +in the problem of crime, in no way determine that problem; and ideal +conditions of the production and distribution of wealth would in no way +solve the problem of crime. So, too, the negro problem is hardly touched +by the question of the forms of industry or the economic organization of +society. We might go on with a whole list of social problems and show +that in every case the economic factor is no more important than many +other factors, and that the economic reorganization of society would in +some cases scarcely affect these problems at all. _The social problem, +therefore,--the problem of the relations of men to one another,--is not +simply nor fundamentally an economic problem; rather it is fundamentally +a biological and psychological problem,_--if you please, a moral +problem. + +This brings us to a second criticism of socialism, namely, that it +proposes to reorganize human society upon an economic basis, not upon a +biological basis. The program of the socialist looks forward to the +satisfaction of economic needs, but it has failed to take into account +the biological requirements for existence. It would be far more +scientific to reorganize society upon the basis of the needs of the +family than to reorganize it simply upon the basis of industry. The +reproductive process which the economic socialists ignore, or leave +unregulated almost entirely, is far more important for the continued +existence of human society than all its economic processes,--if by the +reproductive process we mean the rearing as well as the birth of +offspring; and if by the economic process we mean merely the forms and +methods of the production and distribution of material goods. + +In other words, the socialistic program leaves the future out of +account, and aims simply to satisfy the present generation with a just +distribution of material goods. If it could be shown that a just +distribution of material goods would insure the future of the race and +of civilization, then, of course, the socialist plea would be made good. + But this is just what is doubtful. On the whole, it must be said that +the socialist program is based upon the wishes and desires of the adult, +not upon the needs of the child or of the race. + +The extreme emphasis which Marxian socialism throws upon economic and +industrial conditions in human society is, therefore, not justified by +the scientific facts which we know about collective human life. Rather +it must be said that this is the vital weakness of Marxian +socialism,--that it over-emphasizes the economic element. Of course, we +are not saying that control over economic conditions is not necessary to +collective control over the general conditions of existence, which +society is undoubtedly aiming at, but it is saying that conceivably +collective control over the social life process might be upon some other +basis than the economic. It might emphasize, for example, the health +and continuity of the race, or individual moral character, far more than +the distribution of economic values. Modern economic socialism proposes +simply to carry a step further our already predominatingly economic +social organization by frankly recognizing the economic as the basis of +all things in the social life. Modern economic socialism is, therefore, +rightfully judged as materialistic. It is really an expression of the +industrial and commercial spirit of the present age. When the +perspective of life becomes shifted again to the more important +biological and spiritual elements in life, socialism will lose its +prevailingly economic character, or it will cease to exist. + +It must be emphasized here that all the material and economic progress +of the modern world has not added greatly to the happiness or betterment +of man. It is true that material progress is important, yes, necessary +for spiritual progress. But material progress alone does not lead to +spiritual progress, and therefore mere material progress can never add +anything to the real happiness and social betterment of the race. On +the contrary, it is possible to conceive of a society in which every one +has an economic surplus,--a society rolling in wealth, approximately +equally divided, and yet one in which human misery in its worst forms of +vice and crime, pessimism and self-destruction, prevail. It is an old +truth that making men "better-off" does not necessarily make them +"better," and one which cannot be too often emphasized, but one which +the modern socialist gets angry at when it is mentioned to him. It is +therefore a matter of comparative indifference, from the standpoint of +the happiness and ultimate survival of the race, whether economic goods +are distributed relatively evenly in human society or not. We say +comparative indifference, because, of course, no one can be indifferent +to the material needs of life, inasmuch as they are the basis of its +higher development. But after a certain minimum is assured it is +extremely doubtful whether a surplus will be of benefit or not, and this +minimum necessary for the higher spiritual development of the social +life can be secured through the reform of present society without trying +the doubtful social revolution which the socialists advocate. + +This brings us to a third criticism of Marxian socialism. Traditionally +Marxian socialism has been revolutionary socialism. The vast mass of the +socialist party to-day look forward to some revolution which will, as +they say, "socialize the instruments of production," that is, transfer +capital from private ownership and management to public ownership and +management. Probably rightly, many socialists hold that such a wholesale +transfer from private to public ownership would be the only way in which +a socialistic regime could be successfully inaugurated. But if this +revolution were accomplished it is evident that it is highly uncertain +whether its results would be permanent. For all that we have learned +concerning human society leads us to say that social organization at any +particular time is very largely a matter of habit. Now collective +habits are less easily changed than individual habits, because any +change in collective habits practically necessitates the consent of all +the individuals who make up the social group. We know also that even in +individual life old habits are not easily supplanted by new ones and +that there is always a tendency to revert to the old. All historical +evidence shows that revolutions are always followed by periods of +reaction, and that this reaction is usually proportionate to the extent +and suddenness of change in social organization. + +Some modern socialists have argued from de Vries's mutation theory in +biology that in social evolution we must expect mutations also, and +that, therefore, the great changes in human society are normally +accomplished by means of revolution. But this argument rests wholly on +analogy, and arguments from analogy in science are practically +worthless. It may be asserted, on the other hand, that all the great +changes in human society which have been desirable have come about only +after prolonged preparation and after a series of gradual steps which +led up to the final change. The Greco-Roman world, for example, was +becoming ripe for Christianity before Christianity finally appeared and +became triumphant. The centuries from the fourteenth to the sixteenth +had prepared for the protestant reformation in the countries of modern +Europe before the reformation became an established fact. + +Thus, radical reconstruction of the social life by means of revolution +is scarcely possible. The instincts and habits of individual human +nature upon which the social order rests cannot be easily changed by +revolutionary programs in legislation or in institutions. The only +probable result of such an attempt would be the collapse of the new +social order, because it would have insufficient foundations in +individual character upon which to rest. The idea of ushering in the +social millennium through some vast social revolution is therefore +chimerical. + +It is not the place in this book to take up the practical objections to +economic socialism. These practical objections are for the most part of +a political and economic nature, and they accordingly can be better +dealt with in treatises on politics and economics than in one on +sociology. It is perhaps sufficient to say that the political and +economic objections to socialism are not less weighty than the +sociological objections. Government, for example, exists in human +society to regulate, and not to carry on directly, all social +activities. If the state were in its various forms called upon to own +and manage all productive wealth in society, it is extremely probable +that such an experiment would break down of its own weight, since the +state would be attempting that which, in the nature of things, as the +chief regulative institution of society, it is not fitted to do. But it +is not our purpose, as has just been said, to go into the political and +economic objections to economic or Marxian socialism. To understand +these the student must consult the leading works on economic and +political science. + +Substitutes for Economic Socialism.--Certain steps sociology and all +social sciences already indicate as necessary for larger collective +control over the conditions of social existence. These steps, however, +aim not at instituting a new social order, but at removing certain +demonstrated causes of social maladjustment which exist in present +society; and as in the solution of special social problems we have seen +reason to reject "short-cuts" and "cure-alls," so in a scientific +reconstruction of human society we have good reason to reject the social +revolution which the followers of Marx advocate, and to offer as a +substitute in its stead some social reforms which will make more nearly +possible a normal social life. + +Perhaps the necessary steps for bringing about such a normal social life +have never been better summed up than by Professor Devine in his book on +_Misery and its Causes_. Rather than offer a program of our own we +shall, therefore, give a brief resume of the conditions which Professor +Devine names as essential to normal social life, believing that these +offer a program upon which all sane social workers and reformers can +unite. Professor Devine names ten conditions essential to a normal +social life: (1) the securing of a sound physical heredity, that is, a +good birth for every child, by a rational system of eugenics; (2) the +securing of a protected childhood, which will assure the normal +development of the child, and of a protected motherhood, which will +assure the proper care of the child; (3) a system of education which +shall be adapted to social needs, inspired by the ideals of rational +living and social service; (4) the securing of freedom from preventable +disease; (5) the elimination of professional vice and crime; (6) the +securing of a prolonged working period for both men and women; (7) a +general system of insurance against the ordinary contingencies of life +which now cause poverty or dependence; (8) a liberal relief system which +will meet the material needs of those who become accidentally dependent; +(9) a standard of living sufficiently high to insure full nourishment, +reasonable recreation, proper housing, and the other elementary +necessities of life; (10) a social religion which shall make the service +of humanity the highest aim of all individuals. + +It is sufficient to say, in closing this chapter, that if these ten +essentials of a normal social life could be realized--and there is no +reason why they cannot be--there would be no need to try the social +revolution which Marxian socialism advocates. + +There can be no question that the ultimate aim of the social sciences is +to provide society with the knowledge necessary for collective control +over its own life processes. Sociology and the special social sciences +are aiming, therefore, in an indirect way to accomplish the same thing +which political socialism aims at accomplishing through economic +revolution. There would seem to be no danger in trusting science to +work out this problem of collective control over the conditions of +existence. There are no risks to run by the scientific method, for it +proceeds step by step, adequately testing theories by facts as it goes +along. The thing to do, therefore, for those who wish to see "a +humanity adjusted to the requirements of its existence" is to encourage +scientific social research along all lines. With a fuller knowledge of +human nature and human society it will be possible to indicate sane and +safe reconstructions in the social order, so that ultimately humanity +will control its social environment and its own human nature even more +completely than it now controls the forces of physical nature. But the +ultimate reliance in all such reconstruction, as we will try to show in +the next chapter, must be, not revolution, nor even legislation, but +education. + + +SELECT REFERENCES + + +_For brief reading:_ + +ELY, _Socialism and Social Reform._ +SPARGO, _Socialism._ Revised edition. +GILMAN, _Socialism and the American Spirit._ + + +_For more extended reading_: + +HUNTER, _Socialists at Work._ +KIRKUP, _History of Socialism._ +SCHAEFFLE, _Quintessence of Socialism._ +WELLS, _New Worlds for Old._ + + + + + + +CHAPTER XV + + +EDUCATION AND SOCIAL PROGRESS + +As has just been said, the ultimate reliance in all social reform or +social reconstruction must be upon the education of the individual. +Social organization can never be more complex or of a higher type than +the individual character and intelligence of the members of the group +warrants. At any given stage of society, therefore, the intelligence and +moral character of its individual members limits social organization. +Only by raising the intelligence and character of the individual members +of society can a higher type of social life permanently result. + +Another fact to which the student needs his attention called is that all +progress in human society, it follows, from what has just been said, +depends upon the relation between one generation and its successor. Only +as new life comes into society is there opportunity to improve the +character of that life. If at any given time intelligence and character +limit the possibilities of social organization, then it is equally +manifest that only in the new individuals of society can that +intelligence and character be greatly improved. + +There are, of course, two possible ways of bringing about such +improvement:--first, through the selection of the hereditary elements in +society, eliminating the unfit and preserving the more fit; but, as we +have repeatedly pointed out, such a scheme of artificial selection is +far in the future, and in any case its inauguration would have to depend +upon the _second_ method of improving individual character, which +is through education and training. As we have insisted, not only may the +natural instincts and tendencies of individuals be greatly modified by +training but through education the habits and hence the character of +individuals can be controlled. Therefore the main reliance of society in +all forward movements must be upon education, that is, upon artificial +means of controlling the formation of character and habit in +individuals. + +The finality of education in social betterment can be, perhaps, further +illustrated by reconsidering for a moment some of the social problems +which we have just studied. Take for example the problem of crime. There +are only three possible means, as we have already seen, of eliminating +crime from human society:--first, through changes in individual human +nature, brought about by biological selection, that is, through a system +of selective breeding, eliminating all who show any criminal tendencies. +This method would, perhaps, eliminate certain types of criminals as we +have already seen, namely, those in whom the hereditary tendency to +crime is dominant. A second means of attacking the problem of crime +would be by improving social and economic conditions by means of the +interference of the organized authority of society in the form of the +state. Legislation and administration directed to social ends might +accomplish much in reducing the temptations and opportunities for crime +in any group. The correction of evils in social and industrial +organization would, no doubt, again greatly lessen crime but it is +entirely conceivable, from all that we know of human nature and human +society, that crime might still persist under a just social and +industrial organization. Crime could be completely eliminated only +through a third means, namely, the careful training of each new +individual in society as he came on the stage of life, so that he would +be moral and law-abiding, respecting the rights of others and the +institutions of society. Moreover, neither selective breeding nor +governmental interference in social conditions could accomplish very +much in eliminating crime unless these were backed by a wise system of +social education. + +Now what is true of crime is equally true of all social problems. They +may be approached from either of three sides:--first, from the +biological side, or the side of physical heredity; second, from the side +of social organization, or the improvement of the social environment; +third, from the side of individual character, or the psychical +adjustment of the individual to society. As Professor Ward and many +other sociologists have emphasized, it is this latter side which is the +most available point of attack on all social problems; for when we have +secured a right attitude of the individual toward society all social +problems will be more than half solved. Thus, as we said at the +beginning of this book, education has a bearing upon every social +problem, and every social problem also has a bearing upon education. +Just how important this reciprocal relationship between education and +social life is, we can appreciate only when we have considered somewhat +more fully the nature of social progress. + +The Nature of Social Progress.--Social progress has been defined in many +ways by the social thinkers of the past. Without entering into any +formal definition of social progress, we believe that it will be evident +to the reader of this book that social progress consists, for one thing, +in the more complete adaptation of society to the conditions of life. We +regard those changes as progressive whether they be moral, intellectual, +or material, which bring about a better adaptation of individuals to one +another in society, and of social groups to the requirements of their +existence. Social progress means, in other words, the adaptation of +society to a wider and more universal environment. The ideal of human +progress is apparently adaptation to a perfectly universal environment, +such an adaptation as shall harmonize all factors whether internal or +external, present or remote, in the life of humanity. Social progress +means, therefore, greater harmony among the members of a group. It means +also greater efficiency of those members in performing their work. +Finally, it means greater ability on the part of the group to survive. +Social progress includes, therefore, the ideals of social harmony, +social efficiency, and social survival. Things which do not ultimately +conduce to these ends can scarcely be called progressive. + +Now it is evident that adaptation on the part of individuals and groups +to the requirements of life may be in part accomplished by biological +selection, that is, by eliminating the least adapted. But selection is, +after all, a very clumsy and imperfect instrument for securing the +highest type of adaptation. Again, it is evident that a certain degree +of adaptation can be secured through the constraint of government and +law; but only a relatively low type of adaptation can be secured in such +an external way. It is finally evident, therefore, that the highest +type of adaptation in either individual or social life can be secured +only by training the intelligence and moral character of individuals so +that they will be sufficient to meet the requirements of existence. + +Another feature of social progress which we have not yet mentioned in +this chapter, though we have noted it repeatedly in earlier chapters, is +the increased complexity of social organization. This increased +complexity is in part due to the mere increase in numbers. It is also +due to the various processes themselves by which wider and more +universal adaptation is brought about in society. Thus, while every +useful mechanical invention aids man to conquer nature, it at the same +time increases the complexity of social life. Now in a more complex +society there is more opportunity for conflicts of habit between +individuals, more opportunity for social maladjustment, and therefore +more opportunity for the failure of some part or all of the group in +achieving a social life characterized by harmony, efficiency, and +capacity for survival. Hence, the adaptation of individuals in the +large and complex groups of modern civilized societies becomes a greater +and greater problem. The regulative institutions of society, such as +government, law, religion, and education, have to grapple with this +problem of adjusting individuals to the requirements of an increasingly +complex social life. No doubt religion, government, and law have a great +function to perform in increasing social regulation, but they can only +perform it effectively after they enlist education on their side. + +The Social Function of Education.--We are now prepared to understand the +meaning of educational systems in civilized society and to see what the +true function of education is. Education exists to adapt individuals to +their social life. It is for the purpose of fitting the individual to +take his place in the social group and to add something to the life of +the group. Educational systems exist not to train the individual to +develop his powers and capacity simply as an individual unit, but rather +to fit him effectively to carry on the social life before he actively +participates in it. In other words, the social function of education is +to guide and control the formation of habit and character on the part of +the individual, as well as to develop his capacity and powers, so that +he shall become an efficient member of society. This work is not, at +least in complex civilizations like our own, one which we carry on +simply in order to achieve social perfection, but it is rather something +which is necessary for the survival of large and complex groups. +Otherwise, as we have pointed out, the conflicts in the acquirement of +habit and character on the part of individuals would be so great that +there would be no possibility of their working together harmoniously in +a common social life. Just so far as the system of education is +defective, is insufficient to meet social needs, in so far may we expect +the production of individuals who are socially maladjusted, as shown in +pauperism, defectiveness, and crime. + +Education is, then, the great means of controlling habit and character +in complex social groups, and as such it is the chief means to which +society must look for all substantial social progress. It is the +instrument by which human nature may be apparently indefinitely +modified, and hence, also, the instrument by which society may be +perfected. The task of social regeneration is essentially a task of +education. + +Education as a Factor in Past Social Evolution.--Does past social +history justify these large claims for education as a factor in social +development? It must be replied that the history of human society +undoubtedly substantiates this position, but even if it did not, we +should still have good ground for claiming that education can be such an +all-powerful factor in the social future. The sociological study of past +civilizations, however, shows quite conclusively that all of them have +depended in one way or another upon educational processes, not only for +continuity, but largely, also, for their development. As we have already +seen, the life history of a culture or a civilization is frequently the +life history of a religion. But religious beliefs, together with the +moral and social beliefs, which become attached to them, were +effectively transmitted only through the instruction of the young. The +religious element did scarcely more than afford a powerful sanction for +the moral and social beliefs upon which the social organization of the +past rested; hence, when we ascribe great importance to the religious +factor in social evolution, we also ascribe, at the same time, great +importance to education, because it was essentially the educational +process, together with religious sanction, which made possible most of +the civilizations and social progress of the past. + +Indeed, we have no record of any people of any very considerable culture +that did not employ educational processes to the largest degree to +preserve and transmit that culture from generation to generation. +Culture has been passed down in human history, therefore, essentially by +educational processes. These educational processes have controlled the +formation of habits and character, of ways of thinking and ways of +acting, in successive generations of individuals. The educational +processes have had much more to do, therefore, with the civilizations +and social organization of the past than industrial conditions. +Industrial conditions have been rather relatively external factors in +the social environment to which society has had to adapt itself more or +less. In the same way, political authority has rested on, and been +derived from, the social traditions rather than the reverse. It is +therefore not too much for the sociologist to say, agreeing with Thomas +Davidson, that education is the last and highest method of social +evolution. The lowest method of evolution was by selection, and +_that_, as we have already emphasized, cannot be neglected. The +next method of social evolution apparently to develop was the method of +adaptation by organized authority, and, as we have already seen, +organized authority in society, or social regulation by means of +authority, must indefinitely persist and perhaps increase, rather than +diminish; but the latest and highest method of social evolution is not +through biological selection nor through the exercise of despotic +authority, but through the education of the individual, so that he shall +become adjusted to the social life in habits and character before he +participates in it. Human society may be modified, we now see, best +through modifying the nature of the individual, and the most direct +method to do this is through education. + +The Socialized Education of the Future.--If what has been said is +substantially correct, then education should become conscious of its +social mission and purpose. The educator should conserve education as +the chief means of social progress, and education should be directed to +producing efficient members of society. The education of the future must +aim, in other words, not at producing lawyers, physicians, engineers, +but at producing citizens. Education for citizenship means that there +must be radical reconstruction in the educational processes of the +present. The education of the nineteenth century aimed at developing +largely power and capacity in the individual as such. Its implicit, and +oftentimes its avowed, aim was individual success. The popularity of +higher education in the nineteenth century especially rested upon the +cult of individual success. It became, therefore, largely +commercialized, and emphasized chiefly the professions and occupations +which best assured the individual a successful career among a commercial +and industrial people. + +It is needless to say that the individualistic, commercialized education +of the latter years of the nineteenth century very often failed to +produce the good citizen. On the contrary, with its ideal of individual +power and success, it frequently produced the cultured freebooter, which +our modern industry has so often afforded examples of. Education, +instead of being a socializing agency and the chief instrument of social +regeneration, became an individualizing agency dissolving the social +order itself. + +Very slowly our educators are becoming conscious of the fact that this +type of education is a social menace, and that our educational system +needs reformation from bottom to top in order to become again equal to +the social task imposed upon it by the more complex social conditions of +the twentieth century. Hence the demand for a socialized education, +which is proceeding, not only from sociologists and social workers, but +from the progressive leaders of education itself. What this socialized +education of the future shall be is not the province of this book to +discuss, but a few of its essential characteristics may be noted. As +has already been said, such education will aim, first of all, at +producing the citizen before it aims at producing the lawyer, the +engineer, the physician, or any other professional or occupational type. + No doubt, this means, for one thing, that all individuals shall be +taught to be good fathers and mothers, good neighbors and members of +communities, even more than they are taught the accomplishments of life. + No doubt, also, the socialized education of the future will emphasize +the adjustment of the individual to the industrial order of society, +because it is necessary that individuals shall be producers if they are +to be efficient citizens. The necessity and value of industrial +training in our system of education has already been emphasized in +discussing other social problems. Such training has its place and that +place, as we have already seen, is a very important and fundamental one; +but it must not be forgotten that the relations of men to one another +are more important than the relations of men to nature. In industrial +training, the element which is apt to be emphasized is the relations of +the individual to the physical facts and forces of nature; but this is +only a beginning of the training for citizenship, because good +citizenship consists essentially in harmonious and efficient functioning +in the social group. Therefore, the study of the relationships of men to +one another must be the final and crowning element in a system of social +education. Such studies as history, government, economics, ethics, and +sociology must occupy a larger and larger place in the education of the +future if we are to secure a humanity adjusted to the requirements of +its existence. Historical and sociological instruction should lead up, +moreover, to direct ethical instruction. If the industrial element in +the social life is important, the moral element is even more so, since +it is, as we have already said, the ideal aspect of the social. In some +way or another, our public schools, from the kindergarten up, must make +a place for social and ethical instruction of a direct and explicit +character. + +In the higher education, the social sciences must be especially +emphasized, because it is those who receive higher education who become +the leaders of society, and it is important, no matter what occupation +or profession they may serve society in, that they understand the +bearings of their work upon social welfare. They must know their duties +as citizens and understand how society may best be served. In other +words, our higher education should put to the front the ideal, not of +individual power and success, but of social service; and this means +that, in addition to the technical or professional education which the +more highly educated are giving, there must be a sufficient knowledge of +social conditions and of the laws and principles of social progress +given them to enable them to serve society rightly. Intelligent social +service cannot exist without social knowledge. + +All this implies that the older idea that education can be given +regardless of content is, from the social point of view, a great +mistake. Social knowledge is necessary, as we have just said, for +efficient social service, and a socialized education can have no other +end than social service. Therefore, sociological knowledge in the +broadest sense should be required in the education of every citizen, and +particularly those who are to become social leaders. Professor Ward has +ably argued that if sufficient information of the facts, conditions, and +laws of human society could be given to all, that alone would bring +about in the highest degree social progress. Whether we agree or not +that the mere giving of information will of itself lead to progressive +or dynamic action in society, it must be admitted that right social +information is indispensable for right social action. As Professor +Cooley has said, "We live in a system, and to achieve right ends, or any +rational ends whatever, we must learn to understand that system." +Hence, the commanding place which sociology and the social sciences +should occupy in the education of all classes, and especially in the +training of the teacher himself. + +It is not unreasonable to believe that the development of the social +sciences will show us the way to remove many, if not all, social evils; +and it is also not unreasonable to believe that the knowledge which +these sciences will furnish will stimulate in the vast mass of +individuals an impetus to remove these evils. Moreover, training in the +social sciences will check many of the most menacing tendencies of our +present civilization. For one thing, training in the social sciences +will lessen the practical materialism of modern civilization, for it +will throw the emphasis on the relations of men to one another rather +than on the relations of man to nature. The social sciences, aiming at +the control of the social conditions and of social progress, necessarily +emphasize the higher life of man, and they therefore set before the +student as the goal, not material achievement or individual success, but +the service of man. Again, training in the social sciences will check +the exaggerated individualism, which, as we have already seen, is one of +the most menacing tendencies of our time; for the social sciences show +the solidarity of the society and the interdependence of its parts. They +show that no individual lives to himself, and that his acts evidently +affect the whole of society. Finally, training in the social sciences +will insure the development of true moral freedom in our social life, +for these sciences involve a searching but impersonal criticism of +social institutions and public policies. Now the very breath of life of +a free society is intelligent public criticism of its institutions and +policies. Without this, there can be no change, no progress. But +intelligent criticism implies scientific criticism, that is, criticism +based upon adequate scientific knowledge and without personal bias. This +means the scientific study of institutions and social organization. If +the American people are to perfect their institutions, they must +maintain and develop their moral freedom; and to maintain true moral +freedom, they must encourage the scientific study of social conditions +and institutions. To secure an unbiased attitude toward social and +political problems, to train every citizen for social service, to +reconstruct social organization along scientific lines, it is necessary, +therefore, to give the social sciences an honored place in the education +of all classes and professions. + + +SELECT REFERENCES + + +_For brief reading_: + +WARD, _Applied Sociology_, Chaps. VIII-XII. +WARD, _Dynamic Sociology_, Vol. II, Chap. XIV. +HORNE, _The Philosophy of Education_, Chaps. IV and V. +DEWEY, _The School and Society_. + + +_For more extended reading_: + +DAVIDSON, _History of Education_. +GRAVES, _History of Education_. +MONROE, _History of Education_. + + + + + + +End of the Project Gutenberg EBook of Sociology and Modern Social Problems +by Charles A. 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