Semi-weekly herald., 1911-07-20
rHE cAusE 0r nECENcY.


THE CAUSE or DECENCY.
The vice commission Of Chicago has
made a notable contribution to the
cause of morality and decency-in
other words, it has notably helped
the advance Of good citizenship-by
its study and recommendations sub
mitted under the title Of "The Social
Evil in Chicago"
This volume is a very valuable con-
tribution not merely TO the study but
to the remedy of what are, on the
whole, the most distressing social con-
ditions in our great cities. Such u
book can only be melancholy reading.
. 1t is cowardice not to face
the evil and Try to remedy it; al
though may add that it is loathsome,
under pretense of effacing or destroy
ing the evil, 10 deal with it in any
way that will itself serve merely to
giatify emotions that are foul and
base.
With this word of warning, l ear
nestly recommend serious study of
the volume named above. | know Of
no volume that has recently appeared
which would better repay that kind
OF careful study which is to result
in action, and which the student iu-
tends thus to turn to account. Spe-
cjfc recommendations are made by the
vice commission, with most of which |
more than cordially agree. In par
tieular cordially commend the atti-
tude of the commission in its refusal
TO follow the timeawsrn practice of
treating the woman's offense as inf
nitely degrading, mischievous, and
wicked, and the same act by her part
ner as venial. All right thinking men
cordially agree, for instance, that laws
should be passed putting responsible
ity for the care and support of the
child of an unmarried mother upon
the father until the child's majority
without arbitrarily limiting the
amount he has to pay. We cordially
agree that the ultimate aim should
be not the regulation but the sup
preston of the evil. That the evil
will never be wholly suppressed, just
as murder, theft, and forgery will
never be wholly suppressed, has no
bearing on the question. We cordially
agree with the commissions emphatic
protest against the fining system now
in vogue in the courts as regards the
unfortunate women brought before
them. The commission feels that old
and hardened offenders should be sent
to an industrial farm, with hospital
accommodations on an indeterminato
sentence, while first offenders, instead
Of being fined or imprisoned, should be
placed on probation under the care
Of sympathetic and intelligent women
officially connected with the depart
ment. Finally, we most emphatically
agree with the solemn and indignant
Judgment passed by the commission
OH the men who are responsible for
the fall of the women On the econo-
mic side of the question, a side of vast
Importance, the commission speaks
frankly and demands that the work
ing girl shall be given at least n liv-
ing wage.
The commission asks and answers
the question whether "the manager
Of one of our big department stores
feels justified in paying n high school
girl, who has served nearly one year
as an inspector of sales, the beggarly
wage Of 81 per week? What is the
natural result Of such an Industrial
condition? Dishonesty and immoral
iiy, not from choice, but necessity-in
order to live. We can forgive the hu-
man frailty which yields to temptation
under such conditions, but we cannot
forgive the soulless corporation which
arrests and prosecuts this girl--a first
oifender--when she takes some little
articles for personal adornment"
IL is mistake Of the gravest kind
TO believe that any moral question
can be completely solved along purely
economic lines; but II is an equally