Chapter IV
Reading edition
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