The united opinion. [volume] (Bradford, Vt.) 1881-1970, 1891-03-13

enough to carry the beastliness and TIN
puWefaction which have been gathered
up in bad books and newspapers o.
this land In the last twenty years Thu
literature of a nation decides the fat<
of nation. Good books, good morals
Bad books, bad morals
begin with the lowest OF all the lit
erature, that which does not even pre-
tend to be respectable-from cover tt
cover a blotch of ieprosy. There are
many whose entire business it is to dis
pose of that kind of literature. They
display it before the schoolboy on hi
way home. They get the catalogues
of schools and colleges, take the names
and postofflce addresses and send theil
advertisements, and their circulars, and
their pamphlets, and their books tc
every one of them.
SENDING OUT BAD BOOKS.
In the possession of these dealers in
bad literature were found nine hun
dred thousand names and postofiice
addresses, to whom it was thought il
might be profitable to send these cor
rupt things. In the year 1873 there
were one hundred and sixty-f1ve estab-
lishments 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 incensed God.
In the year 1868 the evil had become
SO great in this country that the con-
gress of the United States passed law
forbidding the transmission of bad lit
erature through the United States
mails; but there were large loops in
that law through which criminals might
crawl out, and the law was dead fail
ure-that law of 1868. But in 1873 an
other law was passed by the congress
of the United States against the trans
mission of corrupt literature through
the nails-a grand law, a potent law,
a Christian law-and under that law
multitudes of these scoundrels have
been arrested, their property conf1s-
Gated and they themselves thrown into
the penitentiaries, where they belonged.
HOW CAN 1T BE FOUGHT2
Now, my friends, how are we to war
against this corrupt literature, and how
are the frogs of this Egyptian plague to
be slain9 First of all, by the prompt
and inexorable execution of the law.
Let all good postmasters and United
States district attorneys and detectives
and reformers 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 postodice to all honest
business and to all messages of charity
and kindness and affection, for all
healthful intercol1dnunication, he did
not mean 70 make vice easy or to INT
the mail bags of the United States with
the scabs of such leprosy.
1t ought not to be in the power of
every bad man who can raise one
cent stamp for circular, or two cent
stamp for letter, to blast a man or
destroy home. The 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 are 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 intelli-
gence for purposes revengeful, sala-
cious and diabolic. Wake up the law.
Wake up all it's penalties. Let every
court room on this subject be Sinai
and atiame. 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
gone into business less obnoxious.
What has thrown of, 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
great change in the last few months
and the last year or two. Why have
nearly all those vile periodicals been
kept off the rail trains for some time
back? Who effected it2 These So
cieties for the publication of railroad
literature gave warning to the publish
ers and warning to railroad companies
and warning to conductors and warn
ing to newsboys to keep the internal
stuff off the trains.
PURIFYING THE NEWS STANDS.
Many of the cities have successfully
prohibited the most of that literature