Memphis daily appeal. [volume] (Memphis, Tenn.) 1847-1886, 1882-05-07
SUPPRESSION OF CHILDREN.
Suggestions Concerning q Society fol-
This PurpOse-The slipper and
Mother i'm Contempt.

This PurpOse-The slipper and |
Mother i'm Contempt.
Must Be Done 10 Prevent
the small Boy" Nuisance From
Becoming Epidemic
Everything is done by association nova
daysi Individual effort is at a discount.
Nobody ever thinks of such a thing as going
off quietly and unostentatiously to do what
seems to him best in his own way. No one
hides his light under busheli Wisdom is
sought in multitude of counsel. Everybody
resolves everybody else into committees to
help everybody TO make up his own and
every body else's mind on every conceivable
subject. Result: Societies for this, that and
Pother. Such being the tendency of the
times it has struck an observer of other ten
denotes that occasion calls for a new sort of
society.
We already have societies to coax estrays
back into the way they should go; societies
for taking care of the lame and the halt the
blind and the mute; societies that sew; So
cieties that pray; societies for the prevention
of cruelty to animals. Why has no one ever
thought to start society for the suppression
of children? You have no idea unless you
have given the subject careful and calm study
how much need there is for Just such a
ciety, nor what a perilous pass the social
fabric ia coming to for want of just such
guardianship. 1t might be called, if pre-
ferred, Society for the Protection of Moth
ers." OF course the society would have to
be constructed on the general ground plan OF
all other similar organizations. 1t must have
its president and vice-president, its secretary
and its treasurer, its constitution and its by
laws, and many members as can be re-
cruited from the noble army OF those who
unsurpassed children.
VIOLENT OPPOSITION INFECTED.
At first it is probable lin common with all
reforms OF any magnitude) these suggestions
will meet with violent opposition. No great
social revolution has ever been achieved
without tempests of derision and storms of
indignation. All the same the true reformer
pursues the even tenor of his way undaunted
and determined.
Time was when no such society could have
existed even in the imagination Of the crank
| lest crank; when there was no rational ex-
| cuse for its formation; when it had no cause
detre, for the valid reason that there was In
vogue in the olden time, in the days of Wig
| orous and well-sustained individual effort, an
| all sufficient engine for suppression mot
| oppression, though frequently so misapplied)
| more terrible than battering-ram or KrupI
| gun; engine always ready for use; m
engine that required but one brave volunteer
to work it effectively; an engine that was as
| much part of the household economy az
| the big Bible on the table, or the tall Dutch
clock in the hall corner. And it was called
| a-slipper. But that engine of suppression
| having passed away with the days of indi-
| vidual effort and Sydney Smiths suggestion
| that boys should be reared in barrels and fed
| through the bung-hole thereof until they
were sixteen years old, being Objectionable
| on the score of too great expenditure toi
barrels in popuious city,
| SOCIETY MUST TAKE THE MATTER IN HAM
| IN SELF-DEFENSE.
As this article is only intended for the
| sketchiest of suggestions as to what might te
| done pro bono publico in the matter of sup.
preston, it will be in order to offer only a
| skeleton of advisable rules and regulations
To read something like this, for instance:
Regulation No. requires that when tired
business men or shop girls, who have been
| on their feet all day, enter a street car and
| pay full fare for seat they shall be entitled
| thereto, to the exclusion of children, for
whom nothing has been paid and who are
vastly better able TO stand on their feet than
| their elders OF either sex.
| Regulation No. 2requires that when youths
| of ages varying from six TO ten see proper tC
| take velocipede exercise on the sidewalks al
mad rate of speed, to the great terror and
discomfort of timid pedestrians, if no loca
display of authority shall intervene, this SO
| ciety shall take cognizance thereof, and Geo
that the city ordinance against fast driving
be enforced upon such offenders against tbs
public peace.
Regulation No. 3 requires that when any
member of this society shall be brought fac
to face upon public thoroughfare with al
infant of nine years, who greets said membe
| with a puff of vile tobacco smoke, elected
from vile pipe between that infants viii
lips, said member shall report said infant Il
this society, which shall take immediate anC
vigorous measures to suppress any repetition
of such evidence of total depravity on par
of said infant.
REGULATION No. requires that any aspir
ant for a mustache not yet fairly launches
into his teens, who shall be known TO startl
staid and sober folks just issuing from tn
peaceful portals of church with a blatan
announcement of how he beat an entirel
unmentionable place out OF another boy
shall be SUNNI arily taken in hand by til
Society for the Suppression of Children an
schooled into a knowledge of the fact thu
the use of profane and disgusting words
not lawful nor proper before reaching mar
hoods estate.
Rcqulation No. 5 requires that any yout
who has not yet reached the go-as-you-ple as
privileges of voters shall be ~ fit subject fc
The exercise of authority by this societ
when they shall see fit TO impede the progre'
of pedestrians by turning the sidewalks ini
rings for prize fights.
Regulation No. requires thai, it bein
proven that chewing has become essential {
the well-being of youth of both sexes, "chay
ing classes" shall be instituted under Il
charge of trained pr ofessors, in order tn;
skill in the art may be acquired at very Ii
, tie expenditure of time and money. Instru
: ton to be given at such hours as shall be d
, cided by the Society for the Suppression
, Children in order to relieve them and Il
community of the painful spectacle of un
versal public practice.
Minor offenses, such as shrill whistling
ladies' faces; the reckless use OF SLAM
( swinging on to the rear Of cars with vel
! and whoops like troops OF young Comanci
j Indians; undue assertion of baby supreI
{ acy in all public gatherings, may be dea
with according to the best judgment of al
committee appointed to sit in special sessiC
q upon the offenders.
$ THE SLIPPER AND THE MOTHER IN CONTENT
These suggestions are worthy the consi
4 Grafton of all thoughtful minds. An era
:, baby supremacy is dawning. Infsntile 8
:; sertion of rights is assuming gigantic pr
g portions, before which woman's rights fems
: suffrage, the Indian problem, the ChiHe
3 question, and every other vexed point Of /
e day will pale into insignihcance. The da
:, ger threatens and grows, while we stunt
s on in false and fatal ignorance of it. I
/ slipper has become obsolete. As a pow
e the mother is rapidly sinking into the sar
l contemptuous oblivion. In the prese
:, alarming crisis no better method of wardi
e of the impending danger presents itself tn
d the immediate formation of a society for I
= suppression of children. Who will iuiti'
s. the good work? MOTHER GOOSE
% "Boss'' Shepherd Doing Well.
a Boss" Shepherd, formerly the king
IL Il Il. IL. h. airI