Decorah public opinion. (Decorah, Winneshiek County [Iowa]) 1895-1928, 1907-03-06
THE PUBLIC MORALE.

NE fUDLI WUhhLE.
President Roosevelt and the postal
department are taking measures to
suppress the publication of the details
of evidence in the Thaw case, ,proposi
ing 20 deny the mails TO those news
papers which publish it. The evil
dence in detail of Mrs. Thaw, while
it was tragic and heartrendering, was
vet disgusting, and il is "a question
whether its publication has been
fruitful of good or harm. 1t exposes
a.phase of city life and social condi-
tions which have been instinctively
suspected but scarcely realized by the
people ON the outside.
The daily newspapers have shown
business sagacity in giving the his.
tory of the crime and the facts lead
ing up to it in all its nauseating de-
tails The public has shown a NOR
bid appetite for ii and has eagerly di-
gested every atom of the evidence
produced. The pure and impure,
moral and immoral, have read the
proceedings. If it has the effect OF
exciting and arousing social reform
movement that will attempt to root
ont the social evils that have been
exposed. then it has been productive
of good. If ii had the effect, as many
good men and women believe, of
L., i,,r, 500 M m n m T.
ed with the under world, new ideas
for debauching virtue, then the harm
cannot be estimated.
(. But if the government is going to
deny the mails to publications pre-
tending TO give revelations of i'm
moral social conditions in higher So
'ciety, then it must not stop at the
printing of evidence in court trials.
There are sensational books mas
iquerading under gold leaf titles and
fine bindings and lurid captions
(which are every bit as suggestive and
pretend just as much to reveal the
lewdness" and dark side of the social
whirl as does Ellen Nesbit Thaw' s
Heart story. The popularity of these
sale. They go into the homes and are
1devoured by young men and women
ffwhOse moral senses are Just Ill the
fprocess Of formation: How much OF
the moral wickedness this class OF
4, literature is responsible for is IA ques-
4, tion beyond estimation.
Is The question of what to print and
what 10 suppress is one that is con
:, 'stantly in a newspaper Office Witt
the daily newspaper the commercial
value of the news is mainly con
sidered. With the weekly newspaper
its mortal tone and the effect OF
- exposing the local community is the
first care of the publisher Seldom
does an item appear in the weekly
every member OF the family without
q blush. Seldom is there an issue OF
4 the daily paper which does not con
4 tain sensational matters which,
though they may be read by every
member of the family from children
TO parents. yet are never permitted tC
be mentioned by word or discussion
in the family circle And vet the
weekly paper has the material at hand
for every bit as disgusting and sensa.
. tional news as the daily Every week
there are facts pouring into the pub
/. lisher's Office touching the shortcdm-
ings of some man or woman, some
J young girl or young man But they
are suppressed because the publisher
being nearer in heart and sympathy
and interest to his community than
is the dollars and cents publisher o,
the daily, refuses to besmirch his
neighbors or cast reflection upon
the good repute of his town The
scale of difference is matter Of OPP
portunity The underground world il
operating in the town and illag'
: Just the same as in the city.
The preachment is this: We shv a
{ the moral expose Of the city IA
distant and call for suppression o
vice and all mention of it, We toler
ate the debauchery of morals unde
our very eyes ami virtually conniv
at il. After all. the heads Of families
the preachers and the newspapers art