CONCERNING A FORM OF DEGENERACY.
I.
THE CONDITION AND INCREASE OF THE FEEBLE-MINDED.
The fact that degeneracy is the source of some of the most serious of the evils which afflict society, and that many of these evils are clearly preventible, has not, hitherto, received much public attention. It is true that a few among the more advanced students of penology have suggested that many of the habitual criminals, who display evil mental or physical traits which apparently cannot be corrected, are degenerates ; that, hence, they are unfit for free, social life, and should be debarred from pleasures and opportunities which they cannot or will not enjoy without injury to themselves and others ; and that they should, by all means, be prevented leaving offspring who would prob- ably inherit the evil tendencies of their parents. But the general public, even many educated and thoughtful citizens, do not know these facts, and look upon those who would apply the results of scientific reasoning to the control of the lives of even the lowest members of society as enthusiasts or worse. Yet a comparatively brief consideration of those whose needs or mis- deeds furnish philanthropists and penologists with their reason for existence, and give the tax assessor his chief claim upon our property, will convince a candid student that many of them may be clearly differentiated as degenerates ; that some of them are so far below the normal that their unhindered increase is a serious menace to the well-being of the race ; that their number tends to increase more rapidly than that of normal citizens, since they are infinitely less prudent ; that they cause an increas- ing drain upon the resources of the tax-payer; and, most serious of all, that, unless the tendencies they disclose shall be checked or offset, the average standard of manhood and womanhood, both physical and mental, must inevitably be lowered.
Unfortunately we have no trustworthy national statistics
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