The Portland daily press., 1873-03-20
Obscene I.itaratuIe.

Obscene Literature.
Most intelligent people are aware in a gen.
eral way, that large amount of pernicious
literature is circulating throughout the coun-
try; yet the rarity of any protest on the part
OF society's teachers against so great an eVll
and the general sense of security that gooo
people evince on this subject, leads one 10
conclude that very few have any conception
of the extent and perfection of the orgahiza-
ton publishing and selling this literature oi
of It's utterly depraved and pestilen.lai char,
acter. Cool people see cr1wds OF boys anu
girls who have lust learned to read, purchas-
ing the fiashy and trashy paper@ OF the day
and sbudder to think that they will grow up
empty headed and hollow-hearted. They
NAV possibly think that the young are SUBJ
: iected to no more corrupting influences in
the way of literature than the sickly senti-
mentalism of dozen papers and periodicals
that might be mentioned at the risk of a
libel suit, and the hideous wood cuts to ad-
vertise them that disfgure the most conspic-
uous places on the streets. They little think
that more than sic thousand persons are
daily employed in carefully organized bus
mess, stimulated to activity by all the incen-
tives of avarice, to place in the schools and
homes of the nation by every possible device,
books, pictures and immoral appliances of so
low and debasing character that the moral
sense revolts at the contemplation.
Congressman Merriam of New York in his
remarks in support of a bill for the sappres-
sion of trade in and circulation of obscene
literature, made statements of the most
startling character. He declares that it has
recently been discovered that the bad men
engaged in this nefarious business had M
nutely organized plan to put their product ons
into all the larger schools Of the land. An
thony Comstock, young man in New York
has been giving his time and efforts to the
breaking up of this business. He shows
more than fifteen thousand letters seized
from the dealers and publishers in New York
alone, written by students of both sexes in
the best known seminaries of the land order
ing obscene literature. He finds by this con-
fiscated correspondence that the New York
dealers have organized circulating libraries in
acter who is paid fer his wicked work, who
regularly hire any of the one hundred and
fifty vile books published by New York
house at ten cents a volume. He says that
this pernicious literature has been traced 20
nearly every State and territory and is known
to have resulted in the positive destruction
of promising boys. He makes the startling
assertion that among recent seizures in New
York were fond twenty separate orders
from the librarian of one of the largt st
schools in Western State. L is further
stated as an evidence of the extent of the
business that one dealer In New York has
accumulated fortune of half million dol
lars in the business.
Aided by the advertisements of papers sold
everywhere, Mr.. Comstock has broken up
several establishments in the past two years
causing fifty publishers and dealers to be ar
rested, several of whom are now in prison,
and sei7i' and destroying 1872 ,0O0.of obscene
pictures, five tons of obscene books and PAM
phlets and the plates of about one hundred
and fifty books, with much other printing
material and other devices of wickedness that
forbid mention.
These pestitential publications have been
circulated by various agencies. Thousands
of newspapers under contract without an
idea of the purport, have published advertise
ments that have been SO cunningy worded as
to lead young persons through curiosity to
send for the article advertised which proves
to be catalogue of obscene works for sale.
A year or more since musical album was adj
vertised at cost of fifty cents In return a
catalogue of these works was sent with a
note that the fifty cents would be deducted
from the price of any of the books or articles
ordered. This business has been broken up
and the parties interested now stand for trial.
Another means of disseminating these bad
works is to obtain catalogues of schools on
the pretence of making up directory of all
the institutions ofthe country or by getting
parties to send lists of unmarried and young
persons professedly for the purpose of pub
fishing census, promising to pay five cents
name when received. Of course the pay is
never RENTED but to such names are sent va
rious catalogues and circulars designed to
lead to the sale of their diabolical literature
which makes war more blighting than pes
thence upon the youth of the nation, trans
forming innocence and virtue into shame and
brutality. 1t Is not necessary to detail fur
ther the methods by which this infamous
traffic is carried on.
OF late it has not unfrequently happened
that in virtuous and refined communities, the
public has been shocked and bewildered by
the sudden outbreak of crime and brutality
that gives painful evidence that the trains
leading to it were laid long before the explo
sion occurred. Does not the startling dsclos-
rlres of this traffic in an accursed Literature
afford key to the hitherto hidden mystery?
These results are not the work of an hour or
day. The young are not debauched and
brutalized in a moment or by an occasional
contact with the vicious. Their degradation
is the result of the study and contemplation
of bad books, which are infinitely worse than
bao men. The results Of this pernicious traf-
fc are wildly set forth as the result Of the ex-
perlence of the Prison Association of New
York, which says in recent report:
GOOQ Iueu nave ever ldtueuttu blc peEuictOuS
influence of depraved and perverted litera-
ture; but such literature has never been so
systematically and widely diffused as at the
present time. This is owing to two causes:
its cheapness, and the facility of conveyance
by steamboat ana rail-car. A very large pro-
Portion of the works thus put in circulation are
OF tne worst character, tending to corrupt the
principles, to infiame the passions, to excite
t shh,pure desire, aad to read blight over all
frop powers OF the SOUL Brothels are recruited
cris ,H VINO search the trunks of the convicted
or mnrs 81 arg re almost sure to find in them one
can read a. 'n mes works; and few prisoners who
can.es 49, as az iail to enumerate among the
st;u n ns ied them into crime the nnbs.1tbv
ture. eu anu pernlcious liter
Congress in view of the traffic Of ;ts ,o.. o
sion' enacted very stringent act hoth '''ss 'ss-
lates to the use of the mails for the he. 49, 80 l
nation OF these works and for the n,n;a,
OF the sordid wretches who make tho Di ;n
cence and purity of the nation an artio,n
merchandise. In view of the few facts 49,. "
above, 1t would seem that there is snt4i ss
cause for alarm and for general moyement
on the part of all good mon owl