Daily inter mountain. [volume] (Butte, Mont.) 1881-1901, 1899-09-14
GENDER nv CRIME,

In words of burning eloquence last
night Rev. Father p. J. McCorry, in his
famous lecture on the story of Christ,
denounced the sentiment that %condones
in man the offences which are condemn
ed in woman. His majestic ~arraignment
of a popular injustice thrilled the audi
ence and called forth spontaneous APP
plause from all who listened to his words.
He concluded his remarks on that point
by p~ropounding the query of the ages:
"Is there any gender in crime:'
In one form or another his question
has been before the world from the pas
toral days of the ancient patriarchs to
the present time, and insofar as the prac-
tical affairs of life go it remains I'M
solved. There never has been a time
when civilized man did not recognize the
equity of the arguments advanced by
the lecturer last night, and there never
has been a time when civilized man ap-
piled that equity to the concerns Of life.
INV HeH lHe correctness OF d pflnclple is
universally recognized IN theory and
universally ignored in practice, there
must be behind the situation a cause, or
a series Of causes, into which the intelli-
gence Of mankind should probe.
The distinctions that are made between
the moral offences Of the man and the
woman are not founded On the selfish
ness Of sex, or on the belief tina a man
can arrOgate TO himself moral lights To
which a woman is not entitled. 1t is due
rather to the idealization, of womanhood
On the theory that a black spot shows
more cOnspicuously on a white garment
thar on one of a neutral tint, the mis-
step of a woman is looked upon by the
world as a longer step in the direction OF
ruin thar if taken by a man.
In the eyes of civilization a woman is
regarded as the custodian of the mora
ideals of the race, as the representative
in flesh and blood of the aspirations OF
humanity for a higher and better life on
earth. In her lie the elementals of all
that purity and love can do for man: in
her rests the holy mission of motherhood
of the race. For such an ideal to fall
from the pedestal of purity to which she
has been assigned by the enlightened
sentiment of the ages, is a scene that
angels may weep over and the very
heavens be clothed in the somber gar
ments of sorrow.
Man is regarded as the representative
of the practical side of life. rather than
the ideal. An offence on his part is none
the less an offence because he is a man
from the standpoint of a crime, as such,
there is no distinction-but measured in
the light Of the results that follow in the
unmaking of human character, in the
generating of forces for evil, the mis-
step Of the male represents a fall from
a lower altitude than does the misstep
OF the female.
Right or wrong humanity has drawn
these distinctions between the sexes in
all ages and in all climes, where the prin-
ciples of morality have "a habitation and
a name.' To destroy them in the social
life of the world, man must be elevated
to a consciousness Of higher ideals with
i'm himself-he must aspire to reach that
plane of purity in thought and action
upon which ideal ~omanhoo now rests
Or he must witness the destruction OF
those ideals and the degradation of the
race.
While immoralities on the part of man
cannot be too vigorously condemned, it
would be dangerous for the idea to be-
come rooted in the hearts of the people
that the misstep of a woman should be
as carelessly regarded as that of a man
now seems to be-not because the divine
law has made any distinction between
the perpetrators OF a crime, but because
the fixed sentiment of the ages must be
met by a rational method of procedure,
In bringing the sexes to the same plane
of public judgment, care should be taken
that the ideal qualities of womanhood
are not surrendered for the practical e,e-
ments of the masculine mind, but let It
be said that he energies of the Christian
world are dedicated to the work of max