rules governing them are the same. The second group, with respect to
numbers, grows from the relations of men and women. Wives kill husbands
and husbands kill wives; sweethearts kill each other. Jealousy and
revenge are commonly mixed with sex life and sex association. Many
socialists have argued that under an equal distribution of property,
where women were freed from fear of want, these crimes would disappear.
But this argument does not take human nature into account. Jealousy is
inevitably associated with sex relations. The close contact of men and
women over long periods of time inevitably causes friction and
misunderstanding. These conditions often grow chronic, and in marriage
are aggravated by the necessity of close association regardless of the
real feelings that may exist. Certain claims are made by husbands and
by wives, which are probably inherent in the relationship; sometimes
they flow from habit and custom, but, from whatever cause, such claims
are so exacting that either the husband or wife finds them hard to meet.

Because of the fact that the feelings of men and women for each other
are deeper and more fundamental than those of any other relation, they
are more subject to misfortune and tragedy. The hatreds born from the
deepest affection are most beyond control. Then the desire of possession
is overwhelming. It would be strange if more killings did not result
from the relations of men and women than from any other cause. It is
easy to understand why this is true. It is likewise easy to understand
how laws, reason and judgment are powerless to prevent. Juries seem to
understand this when women kill husbands and lovers, but a
long-established code of chivalry and a cultivated attitude toward
women, which is partly right and partly wrong, make it impossible to see
that men are just as helpless under strong feelings as women. No doubt a
public opinion that would favor divorces on a greater number of grounds
and make them easily obtainable would prevent large numbers of such