The Scranton tribune. [volume] (Scranton, Pa.) 1891-1910, 1898-11-21


finer and more lasting mechanism than
the wax cylinder of the phonograph,
when the mind Of the child receives i'm
presslons from us, in it's early life.
The world Is not pure, and bye and bye
the knowledge of this fact comes in some
dcvilish way 20 the mind of the enid.
The battle of life is beginning I'm the
heart, the issues of which only God
knows. l believe in our public school sys-
TEN, but the attendance there by n child
from the age of six TO twelve is in many
respects a perilous experience. ] believe
strength comes through resistance In The
growth of the moral dud spiritual life.
but II ever there is time when vigilance
upon the part Of the parents is required.
It is at this period of growth in the child
life.
SOCIETY SELFISH
Society Mt large is selfish, inconsiderate.
and even the legal enactments for the
benefit of society are more for punish
meut than fer the prevention of crime,
What a great blessing it would he to this
city should Curfew laws be placed upon
the statute books. IT is no answer. in OBJ
lection to this much tn he desired law,
to say that every parent should be u
"curfcw" law to his own family. There
Is no doubt but that he should be- hut ia :
appalling fact of the criminal negligence
of parents for the welfare of their chill
dren meets US on every street corner. The
object of the Curfew law is not to he
sEcered at, for 1t is excellent.
Curfew law in Scranton would so change
the character Of the young people in ten
years that one would not believe 1t wee
he not to see it. Why should girls and
boys he allowed TO mingle in a promiscu-
Gus way under cover Of darkness as th"v
would not do in the daytime? Why should
the daughter of any home in all this city
be permitted to lounge against a fence
and call by a whistle to q crowd of boys
across the street Just the other night
two young girls just In their teens. went
from the West Side over to TN" central
city between the hours of / and 40
o'clock. without proper escort that they
might have a gay time.
Many daughters III this fair city of ours,
! frOm various homes can be seen on tnH
street late at night, ptrading up amt
down, ogling the boys and hearing qucs-
tionablc remarks giGglinG. Simpeying
| shallow minded dauehtcrs of some father
and mother who are sadly neglcctful Of
their child's welfare. Curfcw law would
be an inestimable boon to this city Whcr-
ever the law has beer enacted. a great
blessing has always followed. In many
western cities it is now in force ana none
would think of going back to til" old way.
MUNICIPAL DUTY.
Let me heH" the answer from the nome s
whore shame ond SORROW have entered il.
If Curfcw will save these dauGhtvrS from
sin and shame should we not have ii IN
this desperately wicked city? | claim tha /
it is the duty of municipalities to prot cCt
citizens from all local nuisances. and It
| is the duty of society to protect every
| child, which it Compels or permits to re-
! side within its proper jurisdiction. from
al tp
vitiate its body and corrupt its mind. Let
| us have Jaws that will prevent sin as well
| as laws that punish the sinner!
] will go still further. 1t Is the moral
| duty of society to protect every child
| from obscenity end profanity. From OBJ
| scCnty as found in the books secretly
! scattered from child to child. IN glaring
pictures of nudity covering the bulletin
! boards throughout our city. In the legion
| of papers and magazines at every book
stal that seem to rival each other IN
/ presenting the human form as IL appeared
! in the garden of Eden before sin scpa-
rated il from God. Indeed some of OuI
most respectable home magazines, uuwlll-
| ing. perhaps, TO allow the pages devoted
| to reading matter to become contaminat-
| Ell with this appeal 10 the sensual through
| the eye, do not hesitate to allow adVer-
| tisinS matter to appear in pictorial form
| which should be prohibited from every
| Christian home.
| Is it not the moral duty of society also
| to protect every child from profanity and
| AL forms of indecent and suggestive Ian
| guage? These are poisonous to the mind
| as much as miasmas are poisonous to the
body. What right has any one to use
| obscene language or other prOfanc oath
| in the presence of my child, or his child
| or any hild?
You sa we have good and wholesome
| laws regulating these evils! Yes per
| haps so, but the moral tone OF society is
such that unless there is some unusually
| tlagrant violation no word of cOndemna-
| tion is heard. If the Christian men and
women who represent the homes in Oul
city. wherein righteousness * loved
! would only arouse themselves to "A con.
| tinued effort and an unCcaSing vigilance
! along all those lines indicated a great
! moral and spiritual reform would SwceI
with Irresistible power throughout this
| city, driving back from the public view
! these agents of Satan.
THEIR BlRTHRIGHT
| Look upon the whirlpool rapids al
| Niagara Falls and see how little chance
there is for life should the current carry
You into it? Look at the moral whirlpool
| in such a city as this and think of tht
daughters caught in the currents of sir
| aAd temptation with so little power Il
| resist. What can We do for them? Re
move, in so far as we can. the tempta
tions upon every side! Let us give these
daughters of ours the birthright which i.
| their own. Let US in the early years Sc
fortify them with instruction by pre-
Ccpt and example. that thus benl
"traincd up i'm the way they should go" il
after years they will rot depart from il.
Let us see to it that laws for the pre-
VcnIi0n of sin are not only placed upon
the statute books but recognized and liVcC
up to in the social life! Thus God viii
bless us ana cause his face to shine upon
US, and unrghteCusi ass shall flee away.