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sexes requires the concentration of the entire sexual energy on a single person; and continued trifling with the sex attraction prevents such concentration of the personality. Exclusiveness in the sex relation, rather than restriction to one legal wife, is the fundamental characteristic of monogamy and is the basis of its superiority over polygamy.

All forms of sexual irregularity are detrimental to permanent family relations. Unfaithfulness after marriage indicates not the beginnings of rupture in the family but rather its completion. Irregular relations resulting in illegitimacy are obviously a wrong against the child, depriving him of a fair start in life. Sexual excesses in themselves belong primarily to the group of personal immoralities, but they may also interfere with the interests of the race. Usually there is harmony between personal and racial morality, for the superior man is usually the superior parent; but occasionally a real inconsistency does arise between them. When marriage is entered into between persons temperamentally unsuited, a continuance of the relation may impede favorable development, or even stimulate objectionable traits.

Then a choice must be made between two evils. But it should be noted that such a dilemma arises out of mistakes or immoralities occurring previous to marriage. If the two requisites of sexual morality, both chastity and care in sexual mating, are observed, the marriage union will be permanent and happy, though neither by itself will be sufficient to ensure this.

Conditions Favorable to Sex Morality. Sex morality is one of the virtues most difficult to maintain, because it calls for the restraint of a strong instinct; and a combination of favorable circumstances is essential to its accomplishment. In the individual it requires personal morality of a high order, a strong ideal, and an active life; for sexual immorality may result either from a lack of self-control or of self-respect, or from the absence of a sense of responsibility, or from idleness and the consequent pursuit of pleasure; and all social conditions which produce such characteristics in the individual will therefore be dangerous to the welfare of the race.

Decline in sex virtue and in the stability of the family is most noticeable in old or disintegrating civilizations. The cause is twofold: accumulated wealth stimulates the pursuit of pleasure, and the lack of any strong ideal leaves little incentive for the perpetuation of the family. The continuance of the family requires individual sacrifice; and it will not be earnestly undertaken unless the future is promising. A declining society offers no attractive prospects and their absence is soon apparent in the disintegration of the family. Excessive concentration of wealth may have an unwholesome influence in any society, but in societies which lack a definite purpose its influence is particularly demoralizing. Wealth is merely a means to an end, and, when sought for a worthy purpose, its accumulation is wholly advantageous; but when amassed for its own sake, or for the purpose of obtaining ease and pleasure, it is likely to result in moral relaxation. The assumption that wealth should bring pleasure without responsibility is a serious menace to family virtue.

On the other hand, social conditions which offer serious obstacles to the acquisition of wealth, or which make economic life difficult for a considerable part of the population, are also unfavorable to the stability of the family. The maintenance of a family requires an income and the prudent will not undertake the responsibility if the necessary means seem unattainable. They will refrain from marriage, or postpone it, or avoid the burden of children.

Sexual morality is most fully attained in that part of the population which is forced to labor, but which is able thereby to maintain a family according to accustomed standards. Such persons find proper outlet for their energies and are also enabled to satisfy their sexual instincts normally. Lecky says that sensuality is the vice of young men and of old nations, but fortunately the first at least is not necessarily true. Rather it may be said that vice is favored by a lack of economic sufficiency or by the attainment of economic competence; and that the decadence of society, rather than its age, fosters sensuality. Not every mature civilization is decadent.

The conditions outlined above include the primary factors influencing family morality, but others of secondary importance deserve mention. The status of women is said to have considerable effect on morality. A stable society will evolve conventions

for the preservation of requisite moral standards whatever the position of women may be, but when women are in the situation of changing from one recognized status to another, new safeguards cannot be immediately formed and moral standards may suffer on their account. As long as woman remains in a state of dependence, protection is afforded by social customs, but as she obtains greater independence she herself must begin to provide the new defences. And until her new consciousness of freedom is paralleled by a sense of her responsibility to society in preserving the institution of the family, morality may decline with her increasing independence.

Sexual immorality is increased also by any condition which facilitates the practice of vice. The system of slavery, extremes of wealth and poverty, a military system, or any form of enforced celibacy, all promote sensuality and afford means for its indulgence. Inequality in the numbers of the sexes also promotes vice, and even climate and food have their effects upon the strength of the instinct itself.

Nature of the Humanitarian Virtues. The humanitarian and social virtues promote harmony between individuals and smooth out complex social relations. If the theory is correct that individual development is the primary ideal, and that society exists as a means of promoting individual growth, then social morality is subordinate and auxiliary to individual morality. That it has commonly been raised to a position of primary importance is due to the fact that it affects the rights of others. A person who ignores the rights of others is more certain of condemnation by society than one who fails to develop his own talents.

By humanitarian virtues, as distinct from social virtues, is meant those qualities of morality which involve consideration for others, a consideration including both their persons and their possessions. Although all the humanitarian virtues may be comprehended in this single definition, they may advantageously be divided into those which respect the individual and his property, and those which attempt to facilitate social relations. The former are negative, implying the avoidance of injury; the latter are positive, promoting better relations between indi

viduals. One of the highest of all the social virtues is truthfulness; and they gradually shade off in value to mere conventions, which can hardly be classed as morals but which do nevertheless facilitate social relations and are therefore virtues in the broad sense of the term.

Conditions Favorable to Humanitarian Morality. The negative type of humanitarian morality is the natural accompaniment of superior personal development. Recognition of the value of human life in general begins for the individual with the consciousness of the value of his own life. His normal development then through association with others conduces to a high regard for human life and respect for the rights of others. Respect for property evolves in a similar way, for it rises out of an individual's own sense of ownership. Respect for the individual is greatest where association is most intense and the individual is most highly developed; and respect for property is found where ownership is most widely diffused. These two conditions should advantageously accompany and supplement each other, for the possession of wealth contributes to a sense of individual importance; but under modern conditions they do not always exist together and sometimes they are conflicting forces. Humanitarian virtues would normally be more fully developed in cities than in rural districts, if property were more equally distributed; and they are actually more pronounced among the propertied classes in the cities.

On the other hand, respect of one individual for others is affected unfavorably by keenness of competition which is strongest in large centers. Excessive competition, whether economic or social, is especially demoralizing where any members of a society are repressed or are for any reason unprogressive. Then the inferior members are likely to attempt to displace those in superior stations by underhanded means. A superior may be permitted to go physically unharmed through fear of law, but his character and good name may be assailed through malicious gossip. This form of malice, arising through envy and jealousy, is the resort of the inefficient. It is the attempt of an inferior to raise his relative position by debasing others instead of improving himself. This form of injury is frequent whenever competition for position is strong, and it is even more common among women than among men, for women compete more intensely for social position, which is a relative rather than an absolute attainment. Acts of this insidious nature are most convincing evidence of the rudimentary state of the humanitarian virtues. They imply not merely a lack of charity but also an

. apathy towards justice and truth, and without these qualities the humanitarian virtues are mere superficialities controlled only by the force of public opinion. Theft of property may be prompted by extreme poverty, but the stealing of a good name is prompted only by envy and hatred.

Humanitarian virtues of the positive type arise partly out of the negative forms of normal respect for others, and partly out of economic requirements. On the whole honesty and truthfulness have developed most conspicuously in industrial nations. Systems of industry, such as banking and credit, are so dependent upon honesty that they have necessarily stimulated trustworthy habits. On the other hand trade offers opportunity for exploitation; and wherever probity does not seem essential to success, or especially where dealings are unaccompanied by personal interest, cheating is common. Honesty appears again among those who have few dealings with others and who have not learned the possibilities for gain at the expense of others. Truthfulness is partly a matter of intent and partly a matter of mental discipline. On the whole it finds its highest expression among superior industrial classes. Indeed, positive humanitarian virtues as a whole are stimulated by intense social relationships.

Social Morality Distinguished from Humanitarian. Social morality may advantageously be distinguished from humanitarian morality, though it is for the most part merely an extension of the same personal attributes. It concerns the relationship of individuals to associations and of associations to one another, or to society as a whole, rather than the relationships of individuals to one another. The significant characteristic is that the personal element in the former relationship is removed. The effect of an act upon

group is more indirect and often more obscure, and therefore public opinion does not ente as such a strong deterrent force. Humanitarian virtues are based

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