El Paso daily herald. (El Paso, Tex.) 1881-1901, 1900-12-01

ed. IL is in human nature. and IL Is
rooted deep. But he sees also that ev-
cry element of self protection requires
that the community. the decent part
OF the community. which is numerical
ly the majority. shall regulate vice
and fight IL down at every opportunity.
resisting its encroachments and pre-
ing position to which it is not entitled.
II is a war for supremacy that is on.
all the time. AS in the individual. so
in the community and the state. there
is a constant struggle between the
forces of good and those of not-good.
In the case of the individual. con-
science. and what is often more potent.
convention. keep guard over the baser
appetites and prevent their assertion.
Just SO. there is a community con-
self. will assist convention in maintain
ing a standard of decency in the COM
munity that shall not shock the av-
erage citizen.
II is this community conscience that
we need to arouse here in FL Paso.
What is demanded by those in Ell
Paso and in other cities VINO honestly
are working for the right in the best
way. is not the abolition of vice. for
that is impossible. What is demand
ed is the abolition OF the system of Off
cial protection of vice. the turning ov-
er of whole governments and public
bodies and officials to the element of
the community that is not only strik-
ingly in the minority. numerically
considered. but has not the slightest
shred of right to exist and to ply its
lecherous. vile. demoralizing. man-rot-
ting trade. to the incalculable injury
and loss to the community as whole.
AS Lord Rosebery said at a recent
public meeting. held in London on the
night before the troops returned from
victory in Africa: There are battle
fields here as well as in South Africa
War here in London is more strenuous
because IL is eternal. Foreign wars will
end. A peace treaty will be signed.
Your enemy becomes your friend. But
in London you have a war which will
not end in your lives. for your enc
mics are longer lived than you are.
You have to fight the ignorance. the
apathy. the vice. the corruption. aye.
and the crime of London. Are those
battles not worth winning"
Elimination of vice is impossible.
But the effort can and should be made.
to remove vice from the bright lighted
places. where il fiaunts itself in the
faces of self respecting and decent peo-
pie. where youth of both sexes are ex-
posed constantly TO it's allurements.
and where the weak are approached
and blandished. to their ruin
IL is the duty OF the community to
protect it's weaker members against
themselves. Men who have never
gambled or INDUCED in any other of
the ruinous vices of the day may per-
haps fail at first to comprehend the
menace OF the situation. Then il is
their duty to acquaint themselves with
the situation. since il is but a sign of
ignorance or depravity to refuse to give
ear to the cry of denunciation and ap-
peal that rises from those who look
for better things.
There can be no doubt that enforce
ment of existing laws is the first step.
Laws are presumably made to be en-
forced. II those who made them and
those who have sworn to enforce them.
both fiout them. to the ridicule and de-
rision of the lawless. where are true
law abiding citizens. who wish to be
protected in their pursuit of happiness.
to look for redress? Again. il is to the
people themselves. through the arous-
ing of an enlightened public sentiment.
that we must look for the first upward
movement.
The professional gamblers are hardly
more to blame than are those
people who are presumably more en-