Memphis daily appeal. [volume] (Memphis, Tenn.) 1847-1886, 1871-01-27
LITERARY LEWDNEss.
The Law against Obscene Pub llCatlons...
Why ls 1t not EafOroed2

It Is related OF the P~OmpadOur, that az
ter having exhausted all her personal
charms n destinations upon the wretch
ed Louis XIV, and feeling that her in
famous reign was drawing to its close.
she resOrted to the expedient of firing his
dotard imagination by obscene plays
aud exhibitions given at the Palace of
Versailles, in which she herself perform
Cd, summoning all the ingenuity of art
TO restore her fading beauty and to rouse
The stagnant s~ensualism of the imbecile
Monarch. 1t was to be hoped that the
intamy of such an example was sufficient
to deter others from adopting it, but the
ADatGnchs Of yesterday shows how well
Il Is prepared TO FLOW such a~sprecedent,
for IL devOtes two columns and q half to
the interview" of its reporter with an
abandoned Oma and ali the disgusting
details Of her Illicit commerce. The bu-
siness Of interviewing" has been over
done IN other cities, but in Memphis the
trade has been disgraced. Since the art Of
printing was first invented, aud much as
u has been abused and prostitutsd, never
has there been so much filth crammed
into the same space as was contained in
the VI columns anda half of "interviewD
in yesterdays AVdLdnche. Into how
many family circles the foul slime was
poured; by how many fresides its venom
was eXuded, We have no accurate means
Of knowing, but it would only be charity
to think that there was not a father or
brother in Memphis who purchased the
AUGLaHebs yesterday morning that would
permit the thing TO cross the family
Threshold. We know they spurned it as
q contagiOn whose very touch was death.
II considerations of a declining circula-
ton, or Of a diminishing influence.
can justify q journal protesting ~respecta-
bllity in so fragrant an outrage alike upon
the honor Of journalism and the moral
sense Of a reading community, with what
reason can the press claim 70 discharge
the exalted functions Of a great public
teacher? There are circumstances under
which popular vice may be sought to be
cured by a full exposure Of its enormity,
but there can be no excuse where such
publicity is clearly given for the delecta-
ton Of the depraVed and vicious minded,
and the newspaper which debases itself to
become the sewer for such filth,
has no title to encouragement save in the
from which such iniQuity flows.
Memphis is stepped in crime. Men NAV be
d6OauChed; but, thank God, our wives
and mothers are too pure to read them
or to permit their lovely and in
n0cenJ daughters to perus6 the sCandg- |
revelations Of the fallen and the de-
based. The separation between the re-
porter OF the AUGLGnche and the creature
from whose lips he drank such thrilling ]
was most affecting. He says: 4
Miss Georgia smiled sadly, said not a
word in reply, put out her hand and said, |
pleasantly, goodbye when the inter
view closed" And there it ought to have
closed forever; confined alone to the con-
genial tastes Of two filthy minds, instead
Of being scattered over a community
which yet makes some professions to
iecency, and which still T6volts at licen-
.iOUs publications.