Watertown republican. [volume] (Watertown, Wis.) 1860-1906, 1875-10-13
NOT CONVINCED.

column her antltheSlS to our Opln-
ion concerning the Chicago Times,
published some weeks since. Now
that both sides of the question are
before the people, it may be well to
consider a moment Mrs. Griswold
thinks little s'healthy ignorance is
greatly to be preferred to the her
aiding of hideous Details Very
true; but the question is not one of
preference, but what is best for hui
mainly? Not only little, but
great deal Of unhealthy ignorance
has overbrooded the land until NOR
al pestilence stalks abroad at noon
tide, and the whole air is becoming
tainted and despoiled of it's oxygen.
There is no doubt but all prefer to
know only the better and higher side
Of this world. Crime and disease
and suffering are not pleasant to
contemplate or reflect upon; for this
reason, because men and women In
the higher walks of lite, resolutely
turn away from what offends the
taste, this lower stratum of moral
malaria has been ignored until its
baleful influence upon all social con-
ditions makes some exemplary peo-
pie even cry out for s'relapse to
heathenism." The world has been
SO busy in adjoining its parlors and
guest chambers, that it has forgotten
the cellars. From them the subtle,
insidious poison rises through every
crevice Of the gilded social struc-
lures. Silently, unseen, it spreads
its corrosive dampness over costly
upholstery and furnishes the frescoes
with its exuberance of fungus. We
claim that before purity can be per-
manently restored, these polluted
cellars must be cleansed. Varnish and
fresh gliding may restore the ap-
pearance temporarily, but SO long as
the miasmatic rubbish is allowed to
remain below, the dome of the loft
lest edifice will suffer.
If the best society insists upon re-
naming ignorant of these cellars
and their contents, they will never
be cleansed. Delicately cultured
women and highbrcd men must be
willing to know of them. That is
the first step toward reform. Then
the work will begin. The vicious
can not reform the vicious; the low
can not uplift the low. The pure
and the wise must reverently conse-
crate their purity and their wisdom
-.<>-.l-.~-,..a..L---Ie +i,ey-- yf1U rrrrrot
open the close-barred windows and
let the fetid gases escape to the dis
injecting influence of sun and wind;
and it is they who must pour in the
quick lime and strong acids which
social chemistry provides for social
publication. No ignorance can be
s'healthy" which declines to know
the existence of any reality. To
send child forth into the world
guiltless of the sin Of lying is a
noble duty, but to send him forth
unknowing that such crime
ahounds in life, renders him the
helpless victim Of every false tongue
that gains his ear. Not ignorance
Of evil, but discrimination between
good and evil and strength to en-
brace the one and abandon, while
endeavoring to reform the other is
the highest character.
A gentleman writes to the Chi
cago Tribune as though fully ap-
preciating the vast moral degen-
eracy of the day and he evidently
feels that society must be sifted to
the uttermost depths; that iniquity
in pulpit, in parlor, in workshop and
in cellars must be exposed before
there can be peace or safety. He
says:
'Your stirring editorial on the dark
wave of sin and crime that is sweeping
over these United States, and your call
for some moral means to cope with it,
will be read with interest by all parents,
who are beginning to feel that their chill
dren are not safe, even in broad daylight,
going to school. And you come to the
question at once when you ask how shall
this crime be stayed. Ignorance cannot
save us from It. This is the means used
in some Panal countries in Europe. for it