THE FUTURE EVOLUTION OF MAN 267 
this way, provide very largely the materials on 
which they are fed. How this problem shall work 
out, time only can decide. With it once worked out, 
there is no doubt that the level of humanity will be 
distinctly raised. No other one feature in the pro- 
gram of eugenics seems more absolutely hopeful than 
this. 
In several of the states of the Union it has re- 
cently become the practice to remove the possibili- 
ties of parenthood from certain classes of criminals. 
The purpose of this is clear and benevolent. Society 
has a right to prevent the oncoming of new genera- 
tions of foreordained criminals. Underlying the 
practice is the theory that the children of criminals 
are born criminals. It is far from likely that this 
is the case. Criminality may be due to a wide range 
of causes. If the criminal is one of those actual 
born degenerates whose whole mental and physical 
make-up is so defective that nothing but criminality 
can be expected of him, then we have a case in which 
it is clear that society may, and should, remove the 
possibility of having more generations of the same 
kind. Probably only a moderate proportion of the 
criminals in our jails and penitentiaries belong to 
this class. Doubtless a distinct majority are crim- 
inals more through environment than through hered- 
ity. Born of average ability, or more, these people 
