The Saint Paul globe. (St. Paul, Minn.) 1896-1905, 1901-02-06
/, no. It would only have been some

oh, no! 1t would only have been some
other girl
We may all add: IF the fathers Of
these young men kept tab on Their sons,
SET them good example, and saw that
thclr leisure time was spent in innocent
ana legitimate amusement it might all
nave peen aVerted, and they would not
pe ooIlged 10 spend virtually the remain
Ger OF their lives behind prison bars
Such crimes are excused, first, by
AdaH-Hke laying the blame on the WON
an; secondly, by moralizing on "the
temptations to which young men are snb-
Jected. Who first tenpts them? Their
own fathers There lies the blame The
women do not knowingly create ths
double standard to as great an extent az
IL exists. They do not regard such men
as heroes They simply do not believe
When woman loses all faith in man
what can she have faith in? Can She
have none in all other men, and still be-
lieye in her father and brothers? If her
faith In man is totally DESTROYED. can
she still believe even in Cod?
In the country, at least in large Sec
tons of it, there is no double standard
His virtue is as dear to the young man
as hers Is to the young woman The
young man who falls is treated equally.
The country girl who locks bad young
man straight in the face when he asks
to be her partner at a party, and tells
him to go look for his partner among
such as he keeps company with at other
times, might not be thought mice" by
her city cousin. But the city girl who
would honor him by her company wouIl
receive contempt for contempt
The country young man is not good
because he is green as so many city
men and city girls, too, say. He is vir-
tuous because it was instilled into him
by word and example from his earliest
infancy Because a horror for vice has
been created within him. He is not al
lowed to go to places where he may not
take his sister. He has the me.tempta-
tons from outside influence Unfortunate
women come again and again to the
small towns, and travel through the
country trying all their nefarious arts
to drag him down to the level to which
they have themselves been brought, but
unsuccessful: they return to the CITY
again.
Though they love women and gold in
store
Sir Knight, they love honor and virtue
more"
The double standard of morals is not
the worst enemy of poor young girls in
cities, but the double standard of wealth
If factory girl drinks too much beer,
she is jolly drunk; if her employers
daughters drinks too much wine, she is
animated, nice amiable girl. If fac
tory girl shows q natural preference for
rich, handsome young man, she is a
vile girl, who should know better; if her
employers daughter shows preference for
the same man, she is sensible. If the
factory girl has a half dozen beaux, she
is brazen strumpet; If her employers
daughter has the same number, she is
a popular young lady. If the factory
girl does not like work, she is a lazy,
worthless thing. Her employers daugh-
ter would be a lovely society girl, one
of the swell set, you know Working
girls are looked on by far too many of
their wealthy brothers and sisters as but
grade above women of the town. If
they are dragged, drugged, carried, re-
duced in any way, by any means, to the
lower level, what matter? That the
agony, the torture they undergo is as
great as would be experienced by the
finest lady in the land is not to be adj
mitted. And why? Who would there be
to look down upon then? Why, they
would be almost our equals!
It is so short since the carrying off of
the beautiful young bride, on her way
to her lover, to the bells in the Wiscon-
sin woods was graphically described that
it's horror is yet fresh in the mind Yet
it is long enough for something to have
been done toward capturing the agent OF
Satan who accomplished the ruin that
ended in death. Especially since it is adj
mitted that it is not at all uncommon
for girls to be lured away from their
homes by false advertisements for cham
bermaids. waiting girls and other works.
1t would seem to a common person that
rewards sufficient to bring such men and
women to justice and dire punishment
would be offered. 1t would seem that
newspapers should be required to inquire
into the truthfulness of what they adver~
tise Two hundred dollars is the usual
reward for a horse thief. A man who
steals load of grain is sent to the peni-
tertiary for five years. Men have been
sent there for ten years for stealing a
few postage stamps. But we are politely
told that girls should be careful; they
should "look a leetle oudt;" they should
trust no man. and the men we hire for
officers Wa laugh at them and tell them
they won't mind 1t after a while.
But, if a millionaire's daughter was
kidnaped and taken to lead such a life,
the torture of which to pure woman, is
far greater and, oh, God! lasts so much
longer than that of the negro at the
stake-then, ah, then every representa-
tive and senator would sit up nights
framing laws that would show conclu-
siyely that men could and would be
obliged to regulate their unboly desires,
that miserable, unfortunate women to
minister to equally miserable. unfor-
tunate men is not a necessity that must
be provided at any cost, by any means,
and cite the lives of hundreds of thou