The Saint Paul globe. (St. Paul, Minn.) 1896-1905, 1897-01-25
Curfew Law.

To the Editor of the Globe.
Permit me to call Mr.. H. G. Phelps atten-
ton to some fallacies in his argument against
the curfew law proposed for ST. Paul. He
protests against going ito borrow laws from
the dark history of the still darker past.
The modern curfew has little, If any, re-
semblance, except in name, to the old law
and must we conclude that all laws of the
past were wrong, viz, the ten command
mentS?
He also falls into the common error in sup
posing that the modern curfew law proposes
ito make men moral by law" Now, if all
the boys and girls were devils and we were
trying to make them saints, there may be
some force in the argument, but as most of
us don't believe in total depravity, but in the
purity of children, and that ''the chief func-
tion of government is to protect the innocent
from the sins of the SINFUL and believing
that If these innocent children can be so
protected until they reach an age so as to
care for themselves, that but few of them
will ever go aStray; therefore, we are willing
to do all we can by law and persuasion to
reach that end. The argument of Mr.. Phelps
about tie power of the Gospel, etc., would, if
carried out to its logical end, open all our
prisons, and repeal all our criminal laws and
trust only the Gospel to save us from the
would like to know, did the Gospel ever
have such power as to protect the young
from the evil influences Astounding in our
cities after 8 O'Clock at night? Would Mr..
the sale of liquors to minors? Why not?
Would he do away with the laws regulating
the employment OF ChllQren, ana the time they
must attend school? Would he repeal the law
forbidding children to be in places of amuse-
ment such as saloons and dance halls?
Look at that poor woman with her five
children to support by making pants for II
cents a pair, who labors from in the morn
ing until after 10 at night, living, working,
and often sleeping in the same room, and
cannot make to exceed 81 a week, and then
ask her to be a proper mother to her chill
dren. The hours she ought to devote to their
proper training she is compelled to give to
keep the wolf from the door, Another class
have no about their chidren's welfare,
and so the state must step in and care for
them. Many people like Mr.. Phelps, it seems
to me, fail to understand the purpose of the
curfew. 1t only proposes to prohibit the use
of the streets and alleys as a play ground
loa1ng place after 9 p. m. to children, and
in no way interfere with the proper use of
them by any person at any age or at any
time. The philanthropists who giving
their lives to rescue the boys and girls who
have gone astray are almost a unit in favor
of such laws, and their opinion, which is
backed with such good results, where the
curfew has been tried, should be accepted as
worth something in this discussion. And
when we remember that careful study of
the children in our reform schools and re-
formatories reveals the fact that two thirds
commenced their downward course in the
streets of our cities after night, 1t is not sur
prising that such true friends of such chill
dren are willing to go anywhere or to any
age to secure a remedy that may possibly
save some. David Morgan.