Peninsula enterprise. [volume] (Accomac, Va.) 1881-1965, 1891-03-14

advertisements, and their circulars and
their pamphlets, and their books to
every one Of them.
SENDING OUT BAD BOOKS.
In the possession of these dealers in
bad literature were found nine hun
drcd thousand names and postofice
addresses to whom it was thought it
might be profitable to send these cor
rupt things. In the year 1873 there
were one hundred and sixty-flve estab-
lishlnents engaged in publishing cheap,
corrupt literature. From one publish
ing house there went out twenty differ
ent styles Of corrupt books. Although
over thirty tons of vile literature have
been destroyed by the Society for the
Suppression of Vice, still there is
enough of it left in this country to
bring down upon us the thunderbolts
of an inccnsed God.
In the year ] 1868 the evil had become
sso5great il this country that the con
! 7gress Of the United States passed .a:law
forbiddins the transmission Of bad lit,
erature through the United States
mails; but there wcro largo sloops in
that law through which criminals might
crawl out, and tho law: was dead fail
ure-that law of 1865. Butin 1873 an
other law was passed by tho congress
of the United States against the trans
mission of corrupt literature through
the mails-n grand law, a potent law,
Christian law-and under that law
multitudcs of these scoundrels lave
been arrested, their property con0s-
Gated and they themselves thrown into
the penitentiarics, where they belonged.
HOW CAN IT BE FoUGnrl
Now, my friends, how are We to war
against this corrupt literature, and how
are the frogs of this Egyptian plague to
be slain7 First of all, by the prompt
and memorable execution of the law
Let all good postmastcrs and United
States district attorneys and detectives
md reforners concert in their action to
stop this plague When Sir Rowland
Hill spent his life in trying to secure
cheap postage, not only for England
but for all the world, and to open the
blessings of the postoflice to all honest
business and to all messages of charity
and kindness and affection, for all
healtllful REORGANIZATION, he did
not mean to make vice easy or to fill
The mail bags of the United States with
the scabs of such q leprosy.
1t ought not to be in tho power of
every bad imam who can raise one
cent stamp for circular, or q two cent
stamp for a letter, to blast man or
destroy home. Tho postal service of
this country must be clean, and We
must all understand that the swift ret
ributions of the United States govern
ment hover over every violation of the
letter box.
There arc thousands of men and
women in this country, some for per-
sonal gain, some through innate de-
pravity, some through spirit of re-
venge, who wish to use this great
avenue of convenience and intcllt
gcnce for purposes revengeful, sala-
cious and diabolic Wake up the law.
Wake up all its penalties. Let every
court room on this subject DO Sinai
thunderous and aflalne. Let the con
victed offenders be sent for the full
term to Sing Sing or Harrisburg.
am not talking about what cannot
be done. l am talking now about
what is being done. A great many of
the printing presses that gave them
selves entirely to the publication of vile
literature have been stopped or have
gono into business less obnoxious.
What has thrown off, what has kept
off the rail trains of this country for
some time back nearly all the leprous
periodicals. Those of us who have
been on the rail trains have noticed a
great change in tho last few months
and the last year or two. Why have
nearly oil those vile periodicals been
kept off the rail trains for some time
back2 Who effected it2 These So
cieties for the publication of railroad
literature gave warning to the publish
CTS and warning to railroad companies
and warning to conductors and warn
ing to newsboys to keep the Internal
stuff off the trains.
PURIFYING TIE NEWS STANDS.
Many of the cities have successfully
prohibited the most of that literature
even from going on the ncws stands.
Terror has seized upon the publishers
and dealers in impure literature, from
the fact that over thousand arrests
have been made, and the aggregate
time for which the convicted have been
sentenced to tho prison is over one hun
bred and ninety years, and from the
fact that about two million of their cir
culars have been destroyed, and the
business is not Us profitable as it used
to be.
How have so many of the news stands
of our great cities been purifeda How
has so much of this iniquity been
balked2 By'moral suasion7 Oh, no.
You might as well go into jungle Of
the East Indies and pat cobra OH
the neck, and with profound argument
try to persuade it that it is morally
wrong to bite and to sting and to poi
son anything. The only answer to
your argument would be an uplifted
head and hiss, and sharp, reeking
tooth stuck into your arteries. The
only argument for q cobra is shotgun,
and the only argument for these deal
ers in impure literature is the clutch OF
the police aud. bean soup in the peni-
l~z4;ov, Tho 1o1uI Tho 1o1ui in