El Paso herald. (El Paso, Tex.) 1901-1931, 1912-04-22

II VEN though the doctrine Of future
r, punishment in the form in which
that doctrine was once held. IS
offensive to people of the present day
yet there are times when. in the race
Of some hideOus crime. it almost seems
as though the criminal ought re be VS.
tied with some retribution seVerer than
any that it is in mans power to inILlet
and that some arrangement ought 70
be made whereby. in some future sLds5
of existence, the villain should meet
his deserts. If for no other reason th@h
that the responsibility of God gov
eminent might be preserved.
In the same way although the oOC-
trine Of depravity, especially lOtal oe-
pravity, is not endorsed with me en-
thusiasm with which IL was enter
tanned some generations ago, yet IneIe
is now and then a person 50 thorougnIy
bad, so essentially mean, that II Is an
ficult to conceive of him as other tn3n
saturated clear to the core with the
pestilential virus.
And one Of the meanest the most
diabOlical features OF human character
is evinced in the disposition 70 give
publicity to the moral delinquencies OF
others and in some instances even TO
ostracize them socially because OF con-
ditions for which the outcast IS not
himself or herself personally respOnsi-
BILE.
Girl Driven Insane By knowledge Of
Lowry Origin.
Such an instance has been recently
brought to rather public attention by
the case Of a respectable girl, Il years
Of age. a resident Of this city, VINO
when 2 year old was picked up as
founding adopted into an nOnOIaD4s
family where she has lived for 20 years
and has just become insane-pernla-
nently so, it is feared-On being IN
formed OF her obscure and probably
-ignoble" origin, by some viciously dis
posed outside party
which is to say that she has been
bereft of reason and made canolQals
for the mad-hOuse because feeling her
self the victim Of public contempt, not
because of any crime of her own. not
because there is any charge alleged
against her of being other than NOR
ally immaculate. but because OF some
presumable offence committed by hst
father and mother.
Now that, 1 dare say, is atrocious,
and PharisaiC society could De OF
finer disposition ana about better bus
mess than TO elbow out OF the world
and brand with ignominy a girl other (
wise honorable, but who, because OF
sin not her own, falls into the class OF {
the ilIegitimate-
We may blame the parents as much I
as we please, but blame should be fixed {
where blame belongs and nowhere else {
Reputability and disreputability are {
matters Of the Individual
ulegitimates have as much inherent I
ried as anybody else.
Society would be in 8 more prOmis- /
ing condition If II took more seriously I
its own iniquitiss and were less I
squeamish about conditions which, I
however unfortunate specifically, are I
Inherently Unimpea enable.
Changes in Social Life Needed
There are certain changes needed J
to be made in our social life, changes I
which are recognized as desirable and /
even necessary, but which involve so 4
wide a departure from what IS at /
present in vogue that IL Is only by a I
continued process OF argume ntatiOn and
education that the public mind can be
brought to the point Of action.
Certificate of Health Before Marriage.
One such change, TO be noticed in
this article, has 10 do with requiring
candidates for marriage to come be-
fore the Officiating clergyman. OF civil
furnished by a reputable physician
testfying to the physical fitness Of the
intending parties and to the fact OF
their sound mentality and their free
dom from incurable or contagious
disease.
culOsis and whatever other malady Is
still more undermining mentally and
more infectious and destructive physi-
cally-
Were this principle formulated into
a statute. and were all clergymen, 9TH
er qualified officials and physicians be-
yOnd the reach OF graft the number OF
marriages would be considerably re-
duced among the higher social classes
as well as among the lower.
1t IS exceedingly unfortunate that
some facts vital To the interests Of So
ciety are unprintlble.
The Episcopal ehu-cn, which is more