Springfield globe-republic. (Springfield, Ohio) 1884-1887, 1885-10-11

and torn by the Pail Mall Gazette's dis
closures and denunciations of the horrible
wickedness it had found in London high
society
The defenders Of the purity of Journal
ism were especially clamorous in hound
ing society on the man who had thus
dared to infect the winds with the scent of
its decay. They bayed him in full pack
and all the faithful watchdogs of newspa-
perdom on both sides OF the ocean that
jump up and bark in the English Ian
guage every time the smell of a new
thought passes them in the air (for this
sort do their thinking epidemically and by
cCntagion) caught up the cry and sent it,
like the British drum.beat, round the
world. 1t was a prostitution of the press !
it was contamination Of the public NOR
ais and all such rot
One writer, the phosphorescence Of
whose rhetoric seems generally to proceed
from the putrsscence OF his convictions
on this occasion flew into passion at long
cinnati, L. s., and London, Eug-and
berated the Pall.Mal editor with such
emphasis Of vocabulary as an angry man
sometimes uses IN resenting personal
insult. This writer conveyed the impress
sion that the perfume Of his own virtue
was bestenched by these emanations from
across the Atlantic. He declared that such
things as disclosed by this London publ.
cation were "A necessary evil" but that
any reference to them among refined and
good people like himself. for exampe)
was an evil not necessary, and tended to
corrupt them (and him)
The man who has the efirontery to put
it to print over his own initials that lech-
cry is "a necessary evil would seem to
need some such rigorous quarantine for
his morals as he advocates But there are
people in England and America I'VE trust
there are millions OF them) whose morals
are not so liable to con,agion These peo-
pie do not know wjthoW being told, as
the aforesaid writer implies that he does,
that this vice is so prevalent and rampant
in the great cities of the world as to be
recognized by gentlemen like him
as "a Hcressdrg evil" They do
not know it, but they must
be told it must be declared to them as
plainly as language dare print it, and
proved to them as clearly as facts can
evidence it, or else they will not believe.
But, if it is so, they must be made to
know it, must be made to believe. The
human race cannot be reformed by ignor-
ing the evil in it, or by covering it out OF
sight If the good people of the world
are so dalntily good that they must not be
told of its wickedness, for fear their good
ness may be sullied by the information.
and must not be brought into contact with
the wicked, for fear the wicked NAV CON
taminate them, why then this poor old
world is in very sad plight indeed The
good are said to be the salt Of the earth:
but the earth is in pretty bad pickle if
the salt hath lost its SAVIOR to that degree.
Men and women who have so little conf
dence as that in their own goodness should
pray to be translated ss young as possible.
They are not wanted on earth and we
would advise them to be afraid that they
might not be wanted in heaven.
On the scheme of leaving the bad to
their badness and keeping the good inno-
cent by keeping them ignorant of evil,
Christianity would have no mission and
civilization would rot and drop to pieces.
Why, if the Devil should conclude
to 90 into virtuous journalism, he
would doubtless do his prettiest in
glttering rhetoric to show all evil
to be necessary eviI," and would be
too beastly refined to hear of the men
ton of any sin whatever among the po-
liter classes of mankind. For be is said
to be perfect gentleman.
1t is that kind Of perfect gentleman the
Pall-Mail Gazette showed up--my lords
and gentlemen. The world is swarming
with them; and, il there were no other
kind, We should be ready to say, remove
the women and children and bring on the
everlasting bonfire. These are they who
are so fearful that the shocking pubica.
tions OF that paper will hurt pubic virtue.
Wherever particularly frantic squeal of
that shape is heard, there is a concealed
beast in the bushes, that it would be an
act of p:ety to destroy.
Those publications have not hurt and
will not hurt any virtue that is thicker
than one coat of whitewash. On the con-
trary they have done and will do a great
deal of good. They have forced through
parliament an act for the better protection
OF young girls they have stirred up all
the genuine virtue Of England to indigna.
ton against the immoraiities they exposed !
and they have enlightened and aroused
the moral sense of the people in the great
cities Of both continents as TO the necessity
of measures for correcting and suppress
ng forms OF wickedness that they do not
admit to be "a necessary evil"
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