CHAPTER IV.
CAUSES OF CRIME—WEAKNESS OF MARRIAGE-TIE.
Reasons why Second Marriage is Productive of Crime among the Poor—Force
of Public Opinion in Preserving Marriage-bond—Weakening of it by
Emigration—Fruits of Free Love among the Poor—INHERITANCE—Power of
Transmitted Tendencies in Producing Crime—Hopeful Feature in New
York—Few Continued Families of Paupers and Criminals—Action of Natural
Selection in Favor of Virtue—Vicious Organizations Die Out—Explanation
of Extraordinary Improvement in Children under Reformatory
Influences—The Immediate Influences of Bad Parents Overcome by the
Transmitted Tendencies of Virtuous Ancestors, and by New
Circumstances—The Incessant Change of our People Favorable to
Virtue—Villages more Exposed to Criminal Families than
Cities—Causes…………………………………………pp. 39-50