Ottumwa tri-weekly courier. [volume] (Ottumwa, Iowa) 1903-1916, 1908-09-10

eOuS living seem tame anu lnane.
The freedom of divorces, the hasty
marriage at some GretDa Green, MAX /.
the road to the house of designation
an easy one. Where you find as be-
tween two periods in the history of
state that the latter period has fewer
marriages proportionate to the popula-
ton and more divorces proDortionate
to the marriages, one cannot help but
say that There is something rotten in
Denmark Too many Of our marriages
today are legalized prostitution and as
such are put on or off at at the will of
the wearer With some more or less
close connection with the idea of the
lax marriage vow, there are doubtless
a few who find their way into this ar
my of fallen women because of a too
conhding nature and because some
one betrayed them in an hour Of mis-
guided confidence. And yet it would
seem that such a number must be
small.
Present Day Novel Wrong.
"In connection with the idea stated
above let me also add the great injury
wrought by the present day novel
Not Unfortunately do I speak. But
am weary nigh unto death with the
book of today which presents its
problems And that problem is moth
ing but a great bit of indispntable mas
tiness. There Is nc problem so devil
ish in its intents as is presented to
the mass Of unthinking and thinking
readers in the average book for sale
on the counters Of our stor Why
caV it problem when g man plays
with all the sarCtities Of womanhooG
and in the name Of new thought and
freedom of right to low, debauclles
all the institutions of marriage and
society. And the simpering. slobber-
ing, sensual sentimentalism, rioting
through the current reading Of the day
is enough to turn the social order up
side down were it not for the fact!
that our stomachs are strors and the
ysst majority know that the stuff is
a lie and that there is IN the sight of
God and a mans own sn,l vision
that sees clearly the -otScnncss OF
such puerile thinking. | speak strong
ly Of this phase of the life of today
because | find men and women every
where reading everything and cXcus-
ing themselves on the ground that it
teaches q good moral. If they wish to
have a good moral taught them they
do not need to go down through The
nutrid slime and intellectual sensual
| it, Of these writer's 10 see It. The pa
thos of life is altogether too apparent
and the history of those who became
mixed in the immoral mazes of their
own natures too easily read. In this
so-called literature we need to see n
source Of the moral breaking down
of so many people and the family
idea. We cannot play with fire in our
reading any more than in our acts.
Our mental associates determine what
we are and what we are 10 become,
as we'll as our physical associates.
| Peril of Social Evil.
Having noted some of the springs
Of it's peril. We take first the indi-
all the order of life so completely par
alyzing to the moral sense and so alb
solutely9 reprehensible in it's far
reaching effects as this betrayal of
mans highest nature to the lower ap-
petites. More hope Is there for tho
drunkard, the thief the murderer
than for kiu. who puts inferior vaiua-
ton upon these deep ethical forces of
his being. Having yielded himself
slave to these inferior things bis own
nature rises in revolt and he is hence
forth a marked man. All things that
were Of value now die from him Be
| lieving once in the integrity and the
moral beauty Of womanhood he now
| finds that there are flaws in the Wis
ion, and looking upon these ne finds
| that for him all that was beautiful
and promising with glory has be-
come furnished For him now faith
dies and hooking leer is born in
| it's place. For him once God lived, but
now he hates the III light Of God anc
his soul beats itself against Gods
righteous judgments. He knows him
self to be an enemy Of society and as
such comes to disbelieve in the fund
amental laws governing society.
Watching him now you will see that
more and more he seeks the company
of like spirits.
"In all literature there is nothing to
compare Wit, the sorrow, the bitter
ness Of heart of those poor unfortu-
| nate girls and women who in one way
and another have given up the beauty
and glory of their lives. Man may re-
form and come back to his place in
society, but his victim is seen wander
ing in the lanes and byways, poor
scoffed.at and unloved person For
her the way to decency is as rough as
the brutal hearts of men can make 1t.
II is a straight way and few there are
that find it. not because God makes it
hard, but because society puts all
sorts Of distractions in the way
There is nothing else in the wide
world an homeless as this section of