New-York tribune., 1882-03-01
CORRUPTERS OF YOUTH.
nnppSs Ry ANTHONY coMsToCK.

.Tbs Corrupters of our Yo nth" was the subJecto
nm address delivered at Association Hail. last even
sna by Anthony Comstock, secretary OF the Ne"ioih
Society for the Suppression Of Vice. The occasion
xras the close of Mr.. Comstocks hrst ten years
work with the society. In that time oo1 a'ioS'S
have been made 251 persons have been sentehceu
"a .ho fnes ;mposed amount to $63,9 OF books
.ra sheet stock Mr. Comstock has seized ana de-
.troved 27 5s4 pounds and of obscene pictures ana
photographs 2O3, ,23S pounds. Mr.. Comstock's ad-
.,ress was in part recital of the work of the So
c;atv with spirited defence of its methods, and an
attack upon the existing evils of " flash literature
policy ships and the opponents OF the society.
Samuel Colgate president of the society, occupied
the chair. and the Rev. Dr. Howard Crosby John
Patton and W. F. Lee also sat upon the platform
After PRAYER by DR.. Crosby, Mr.. Colgate In intro
ducing Mr. Comstock to the large audience SAID IN
part
sooas store and was panied and shocked by the i'm,
sSs a ss sspp1sss It 1 n
Of the Christian 5000 raised and
asroVed se and the society has worked until this class is
completely destroyed. Mr.. Comstock Is an eminenny Ky
%drs ana afGl ali Se ooers 90 to aid him
such as M Says se Seep pS'h at hs Work
Subject subject ''N ~
Mr.. Comstock then spoke, in substance asfolows:
Iwishst to deal with evil reading of which there are
many grades look at facts as they are and
70 ans nna a ses Of
You smile; but these affect the mind of the child capt.
sssncg Gsee % nnSs make ann Inn grade
which homes ia the sickenng details OF an
psuched by these details he is helped to be ormi
2 ARnn's me- ESf5 Sss asr @ 3 h
listen for hour to the Great American aeG na Rnt
rs he the Sssss Ssss w sSfn&s al lis
every home and who can tel he Secas ON rD
through through the su%s petrrGg IN tna ALL
that sss C 1s spd hHTnsS s m Of the Worst
that nearly sSenng gdrsn N ms pspe as bary So from
SS%e to school without being debauched by the sight Of
these things. which sold at every I'm Iasy
Canada All evils here reached by law or public
sentiment although, l THINK common Law "ouiu fo"oN
some.
EVILS OF "YLAsHn ILTERATURE.
Take the weekly papers for boys and girls filed with
stories Of reekng crime and sold everywhere Ihrough
reading them boys and girls are ruined ana become
criminals and vagrants, and have documents here to
prove It, On January IL two girls, one age Ten anu
the other eleven. ran away from home TO become
eypses and were away nightthe result OF reading
yellowcovered literature. few days ago our
energetic Inspector Byrnes, second in ability 10
none, arrested young man. age nineteen Tor muraei,
whose first remark was I'm q tough now amt y
HIS Imagination had been fired by reading Of his disre
a ssaos SS psSa IN
Hast four boys not over Hsteen were Them
,snss c Of
SsIs, Sa1S seng ont he siisst KIND of
s SAID es pointing e wa pe bpous Sf SG' snS
Get robng 9s employers safe meaning S to seek
crazed by reading had led his younger brothers on
TIM they had robbed their mother Of over twenty-five
thunder literature here to-day, and they advertise go
S Sssa s he
like and tied log on the track while zen ne lay lay
train killing the engineer This literature transfers
knife and budgeon from our hardened criminals 10
Last Year gathered the accounts Of boy and girl Grim
the ages of eight and twenty guilty of larceny; 25
ns and az nns anS guilty
d d nnes 5ns csss a%sn See we're aresed for
bling, and two boys and girls committed suicide
sc ns sas IN one 10r hSnd @ and schooDey
Il the ilS Oner The dgures February this present
the saef S He SS@ onT f
seen and one girl shot father and four suicides
under eighteen. And these are not al poor boys put
wealthy Judge who away, stabbed an adversary and
aferwards died IN prison c3nfessng that lie USED 10
There dangers children and Of the chief
whh lust When boy name
pears in the catalogue of school it becomes so much
ssr aGd death II Is the ned mails
owl cannot be oyerestimated The head Of female
seminary told that had surreptiti0usly OBJ
tsned ifteen or twenty catalogues tracked them to
adealer in addressed envelopes. and when demanded
names ns &c Of thousands Of boys and girls wrote
to all & the @ Ra ,e tba e esse
had been introduced there and before the year
closed evil circulars and advertisements were sent back
Does pay have this society Isay It does and all
suffered abuse in silence for so long When began, l63
Of the vest books were published, and while child
heyed In deeds not words ana to-ay tnese puDcaons
/, 5peTs we could Gs
by talk but by enforcing Z, IdE1,oinMs the law
literature @ have been destroyed In our possession
time we had ten tons OF books ana pte th9 a,ef
tae former being torn up ana oonVerteqq: tSq:
into pulp in paper mil h IN my aSS to S,v t1 hs
charges for their conveyance.
LOTTERY AND POLICY GAMBLING.
Another evil exists here with the permission OF the
police, and that is lottery and policy gambling. |
These twin evils have beggared women ana
made young men dishonest, and there are |
meu before me who know the truth of what say |
On February 2 mother who had been investing Large
sums hoping TO help her boy pay of mortgage, was |
ruined. A young married woman with babe was |
recently convicted of burglary committed In order to get
SHS Ssa peHt J in this Sa gambling % and nd recently
consulted by a wife whose husband, employed In well,
n'"e s Child house ssa ssF pssds al
lotteries dstaasI 70 La the amSaR Of $4,000
gambling hell which was kept open year oferwaFd
and 9 Y I had Sesn
ting it for six weeks All these dangers are not alone to
I n d S in TIN the on
fessor who taught in Of the best Schools and some
before s' a Congressional o9mnitIoe. 81, man man
s hada seeS any such vile and
MED s de n f. here DafSs %e tonight ana
The extent OF the gambling business here is not under