The Richmond Virginian. (Richmond, Va.) 1910-1920, 1912-09-16
questionable. receptive. initiative.

/ questionable. receptive initiative.
confidential
At this critical tina what ideals are
you giving your child?
How often In the last twelve
months have you read Gods word and
knelt In prayer with your child?
How have you lived before the
child? Have you lived God
What has been the investment OF
your home in the child! The child
, goes on the streets at first with moth
! Ing else than the home influence
is that influence for the safety Of
your child?
Pleasures.
Children must have plea ires. We
ought to recognize this fact. We
ought to provide for the best pleas
ures and the best entertainments.
There are harmful influences In the
pleasure resorts for children. / want
10 mention one thing that has become
| a great.ahing for children. ! mention
| the moving picture shows. l do not
| say that they are evil In themselves.
| They have come to stay. They are
! wonderful. But they bring a big prob
! lem to a community. They may be
made educational, they may be made
! great forces fer morality -------
( All our senses lead to the minds
| consciousness We gain our percep-
| ton through them, Feeling, tasting.
| smelling, hearing and seeing are the
| great highways to the soul OF these.
seeing Is probably the greatest. The
! teacher who puts on the board word
! spelled incorrectly, trying to teach the
| pupils that that is the wrong way
! To spell, Is somewhat Anticipated.
| Somehow the child can't get away
I from that wrong spelling The right
! way Is to put the word spelled cor
rectly before the children. Now this
| In reference to the moving pictures.
| If good pictures are put before the
| children there can be no reasonable
| condemnation of this form of amnse-
meut. But with questionable pictures,
| pictures of fast living, OF too muen
| show of person. with firtattons, with
| ubberies. with murders, with hugging
| and kissing, then We are face TO race
with one of the greatest evils OF our
| day. BY such things youth Is poi
! luted.
Two attitudes we should have. We
| should positively refuse to let our
I children go TO those moving picture
! houses of an unsavory reputation--a
| reputation for loose pictures and the
\ Indecent vaudeville. We should Ie-
mand the strictest sort OF censorship
| over these places We should demand
that The appointment of censors
| that only men of character be APP
| pointed When the pleasure places
| of our children are not what tney
| should be, then there Is danger TO
| childhood.
| Victor Hugo said Show me the
4 hall tc E1y "a
I,amount Of protection with which
| these two feeble creatures are sur
rounded that the degree OF civilization
/ is TO be measured. 'sse a.r-'
| There liz q character on our streets,
| He hangs around the most advantage
Gus places He is in front of the NOV
| ing picture show to take advantage
+ of ny-opportunity to- do evil. Ana
tthecsattsa coming from II QUESTIONABLE
| moving picture show with all che I'M
| pressions OF the sinful pictures, and
! where. therefore. the powers OF re-
sistance are the weakest, Is the. OBJECT
| of his fiirtations, his words his pur-
| poses This character lures the child
| to take an automobile ride. and, I'M
| der the spell of the pleasure, makes
| advances Such a character mas got
te he dealt with and can be dealt with
4 a
| protection to the child.
We ought to demand that the age
of consent be raised from fourteen to
eighteen. No child only fourteen
| years of age can get marriage IL
| cense in our State unless by the APP
| provaf OF parent or guardian. why
| 4 suppose because at that age she Is
| incapab bic of taking such momen-
! tous step. If that be true. then al
that age she IL incapable of Knowing
/ the seriousness OF the step that many
hAv,e been lured to take.
We nee better protection.
Then, too. we are to lend our aio'
our prayers, our sympathy in the en-
| forcement Of law. That was an awful
| tragedy in Carroll county when Jaw
I Iessuess .'silot up the court" We were
| appaIled We feared 1t was an at
tack upon the very foundation OF our
| government Now we need not rear
that law will be done away by sucn
methods. There is greater danger
| There are greater enemies OF law. IL
/ Is the man who knows man Is guilty
| by every sign and token and clrcum-
stance is guilty. yet who In some way
gets around the law and get the Grim
| inal free A man who frees the man
he knows TO be guilty allies himself
| criminal. Such man is a menace 10
| society.
| Do we want to make our children
safe In Richmond? There is but enc
answer think that along these three
| lines safety can be assured. We can
answer the question in the light of
| home influence. in the light OF the
| pleasures for children. in the light of
! the legal protection OF children. This
trinity will insure Gibralta for the
child.
! | can bur pray in agony Of soul that
| the day will soon come when the
| child in Richmond will be safe, when
the unsuspecting girl wifi be protected
! from sin. so that the charm of nui-
sance WIN never vanish from her
| face, when the lily of purity Will never
be torn and trampled under foot in
| the nire of the streets. when she Will
| be as safe on the streets as at home.
| when in the complete sense the proph-
ecy will BE fulfilled In our city--and
| the streets OF the city shall he full of
boys and girls playing IN the streets
/ thereof.