The progressive farmer. [volume] (Winston, N.C.) 1886-1904, 1891-02-24

been put forth there to suppress the
vice of these centers of the world.
COmstock, himself, in the first fifteen
years of his work in New York, has
secured among others the following
wonderful s:-1331 criminals have
been brought to justice, and penalties
secured amounting to 27S years i'm
prisOnment; a grand total of $16S, SO3
has been paid in fines and forfeited
bail bonds into the State Treasury.
Among the criminal goods seized and
destroyed are 45, 600 pounds of books
and sheets, 26, 500 pounds of book
plates, 700 pounds of lead mOulds,
81, 900 articles for immoral use, 500, 280
obscene pictures, 1 ,495, 557 obscene circu-
lars &c, 4,949 negatives for making OBJ
scene photographs, 29S, 456 lottery tick
cts, 1874, 4O1 lottery circulars, 1889, 903
pool tickets, "A, 962 chips for gambling,
and 982, $40 names and addresses of peO-
pie to whom circulars were to be sent by
dealers. When he began his work,
165 of the vilest books were being pub
lished in New York and Brooklyn.
These books are now suppressed. The
total number of obscene books formerly
published In this country, but now
suppressed through his instrument
tality, reached In 1889 as highas 2O9.
What magnificent results in so short
a time! Governments sometimes offer
highrewards for the heads of tigers and
venomous snakes. This is doubtless a
wise policy. What should be the
reward of a man who has slain a mil
lion obscene pictures crawling around
among the young and pure and foolish,
poisoning the hearts and lives of count
less thousands A snake only lives a
few years. An obscene book will live
for centuries. The reptile and the
beast have their seasons of venom
The vile print does it's silent, deadly
work, day and night, in season, out OF
season, year after year, generation
after generation, until century piles on
century the CHASTITY results. COmstock's
name is a terror to the criminal pOpu-
latiOn of this city and county. 1t is
about the only name that is a terror to
thousands who long to freely enter the
forbidden paths of a certain class of
crimes. New York is a safer city be
cause he is with us. Every mother
and father whose children walk our
streets should thank God for him and
his work. His is a hard, thankless,
dirty work. 1t is a work we know
ought to be dOne-must be done. We
see that-we say SO. But it is a work
we do not want to do. In the complex
life of this age, what is everybody's
business comes at last to be nObody'a
business. This man is ~fearlessly doing
a God-given task. He is not doing it
for money or glory. He does it because
he must. He is called to it. He loved
his fellow men, and God laid the
burden of this work upon his soul.
What an example of what one man can
do, when he makes up his mind to do
it! See him as he stands practically
single handed and alone amid a horde
of cunning enemies, traducers and
slanderers! Grim, unique, personality
is that! His reward is hatred and
curses and scars but he never grows
weary, never falters. Bold as a lion
he stands among those who would tear
him to pieces, the champion of purity
and innocence, the friend of the weak
and the friendless. May God give him
strength of heart and body and greater
results than even the victories of the
past. Let the Church of Christ give
him her earnest prayers--her moral and
financial support, remembering the
words of the Master, Il come to de-
stroy the works of the devil"-"Aa
the Father hath sent me even so send
7 WOMB