Page:American Journal of Sociology Volume 5.djvu/110

 96 THE AMERICAN JOURNAL OF SOCIOLOGY

elimination of causes is the only prophylactic measure. Mental maladies are continually increasing with the advance of civiliza- tion, because this contributes much to the debilitation of the nervous system.

Unhappily it is not possible to the familie's of the predis- posed and to educators to react with sufficient intensity against all the debilitating causes. We have seen in the course of this paper that a good part of the victory must belong to govern- ment ; it is to those who are responsible for the making of laws for the solution of social questions that we look for the amelio- ration and happiness of the people. The egoistic interests of political parties ought to give place to social interests, and with- out wise and devoted protectors governments will continue to expend millions without profit to the people.

Governments neglect too much the light of the arts and, above all, of those who understand the moral hygiene of the masses. Let them abandon their egoistic aims ; let them cease to cling to mere personal views ; let them _go to learn of those who understand the unhappy situation of millions of men who, from not having met in their way benefactors and truly honest guides, finish by falling into physical and moral misery, ending in insanity.

Here we terminate our work. We did not start out to treat the problem of prophylaxy of insanity in a complete manner. We have attacked it only on one side, the social side. Even in this aspect we might mention various gaps, but we are restricted by the length of our article. Yet the reader can see that we have touched the more important points of a social view which ought to be familiar to all who have at heart the progress of society. Perhaps some day each one of these aspects may be studied in this Journal in more ample extension. Society would gain much by giving more active attention to these questions, whose solution would contribute to the amelioration of the human species and to its preservation from many miseries. Pre- vention is better than cure, and if there should ever come a day for the extinction of the greater part of the causes which engen- der mental disease and degeneration, the medical alienist would