The commonwealth. (Scotland Neck, N.C.) 1896-1929, 1909-05-06
The ionic Supplement.

reproduce It's closing para
graphs and send them on. say
ING of them what the little boy
said of the prayer tackled up at
the head of his bed, "Them's
my sentiments
"There is no class in the
community whose moral and
intellectual life ought to be
more carefully guarded than
the children: and It is in the
hands of the children that we
are placing these comic supple
ments. This is the material
with which. in the most sus-
ceptible years, we are making
their eyes familiar; this is the
Interpretation Of life which, III
their most sensitive period, we
are constantly putting before
them. To call the whole sup
ple1nent business a vulgar mess
is to characterize it with exact
ness. The root evil OF America
from the beginning has been
lawlessness. There is nothing
that American children need
so much for their future hap
piness and for the safety Of the
country as education in re-
spect for law and authority.
Now, the chief function of the
comic supplement, as evil
denced by its pictures and it's
text, is to destroy all respect
/ for law and authority. Its
standard joke is the joke about
! the old man who either de-
ceives the child or is deceived
by him; it is the joke about
the parent who is being hood
winked, or the joke about the
wife who is playing some sort OF
game on her husband. When
children are introduced as fig
Ilros they are Of the kind that
one would expect to find on
the stage of the most vulgar
vaudeville. They are shape
less, wane caricatureS; and
their mischief is crude, cheap.
and obvious. There is none of
the fun, the touch of inven-
ton, the real humor, which be-
/ longs to the mischief of the
wholesome boys and girls.
"The Outlook regards this
outrage on children as one of
the greatest perils in the life of
the country to-day. We are
permitting the vulgarization Of
our children on a great scale.
| We are allowing their eyes to
! become accustomed to the
/ cheapest and crudest use of
color and form, and we are
saturating their minds with
vulgar images. We are teach
ING them lawlessness we are
cultivating the lack Of rever-
ence in them: we are doing
everything we can, by cheap
ening life, to destroy the
American homes Of the future
At a time when the interests
of children are attracting more
and more attention, when State
and National measures are be-
ing taken to protect them from
overwork, it is high time that
organized effort should be
made to protect them from
contamination from base ideals
of life, from mean conceptions
of home and parents. Here is
work in which every woman's
club in he country ought tC
take a hand; for women, even
more than men, are the guar
dams Of the purity of children
| In their hand rests the great
trust of keeping the American
home clean and wholesome
Certain things every man an(
woman can do at once: The
door can be bolted against the
intrusion of the comic supple
ments: no copy of these supple
mcnts ought to lie on the cable
in q decent american home
Every man and woman cai
register an individual protes
in the office OF the newspape
which sends this supplement t,
the house. Every man ant
woman can call attention t.
this National inundation O
vulgarity. If the public con
science can be aroused, effec
tive methods of dealing will
, this evil will be found on al