Watertown republican. [volume] (Watertown, Wis.) 1860-1906, 1875-10-13

SoiASSI IllIlS IllC ""|co
inspires me to give expression to the
long pent up rage of woman
against the great Satanic sheet of
the Northwest.
Unfortunately what you say of its
enterprise and it's success, is all true,
but it seems to me to be all the more
reason, why every person of morali-
ty and intelligence should protest
against it, than why anybody should
apologize for it, or seriously assert
its own ironical claims to be the
great religious paper of the land.
That the great success of the New
York Herald was source of infnS
ite evil, and vital and positive ele-
ment Of decentralization to the whole
country, in its effect upon the gen
eral journalism Of the land, think
there can be no question. And
even greater than the New York
Herald is here; in all that is under,
mining to the foundations of decency
and stability in society. l am old
fogyish enough to question the good,
even, of a vast deal of its enterprise
so-called. When it employs scaven-
gers, throughout the length and
breadth of the land, to unearth
every purifying corpse of scandal,
and telegraph to its columns, all the
details OF every disgusting episode of
social life; when it sends it's report
ers into every slum of the cities,A
prying for garbage for its columns,
it seems to me that its lauded enter
prize, might well be little less
active. It may be true as you say,
that it does not create the evils of
social life which it exposes, but [
contend that little healthy ignor-
ance concerning all this social rot
tenness, is infinitely to be preferred,
to the heralding of all the hideous
details throughout the land. Do the
suggestions Of evil, which every
days columns of this paper contain,
bear no fruit, in idle or unhealthy
minds? Do not the constant recitals
Of revolving crimes plant the fresh
seeds of a fruitful crop Of other
crimes throughout the land? [
cannot doubt it. In this respect
alone [ cannot doubt, that the evil
done is incalculable. But even this
is not the worst feature of it's in
fiuence. The general Satanic tone
Of the whole paper is an evil Of more
enormous magnitude still. One can
read the paper for its markets or it's
news, entirely skipping the columns
Of crime and dirt. and yet feel the
influence of the spirit of the paper,
with its utter lack of faith in God
or man. One n see its hideous
grin of incred t any sugges-
ton of the gin human ma
ture; one can feel its questioning of
any lofty motive in man or women;
one cannot help shuddering at the
fendish manner in which it gloats
over any new revelation of the
weakness and wickedness of the
world; one cannot overlook the
sneering, sardonic spirit of every
line wherein the name of Woman
occurs.
In undermining the faith of man
in woman, and of woman in man,
I consider it the greatest power of
the age. In undermining the foun-
dation of social and domestic order,I
consider it equally as powerful. In
bringing religion into disrepute, and
morality into question, it is equally
strong. In gradually weakening the
moral sense of all its habitual read
ers, it is potent for evil.
In regard to its enterprise in pub
fishing reports of sermons and other
religious intelligence there is this to
be said, that other papers do this al
SO, without being open to the OBJ
jections / have stated. But even if
it were not so, | consider that the
evil which the other columns Of the
Times contain, more than offsets the
good which all the preachers in
Chicago can do, even though they
are published all over the land.
Where one person reads a sermon