The Liberal democrat. [volume] (Liberal, Kan.) 1911-1924, 1913-03-07
THE GIRL PART OF THE BOZ
PROBLEM

femhTkdDle way ospOSi"hJ "tA'
the last ten years, So ar as he i
concerned, we may frankly say that
he Is no longer the formidable
.'problem" he was once supposed t.
be.
One of the most significant things
that has been brought home to us
with emphasis is the fact that the
problems of boyhood are intricatell
involved with other relationships
and not the least of these Is the re-
latlonship OF the boy and the girl
II is my privilege to do my think
ing in terms OF thirty Thousand
boys in the teen age, the entire boy
hood of great city. Not that have
relationships with any such number
but along with definitely constructive
duties / am set as a Waterman upon
the wall to sound the alarm wheL
any danger seems to menace the boy.
hood life OF the community. Thit
charge makes me of necessity a stu
dent Of boyhood life in large cities
and have in mind to write with ear
nest frankness concerning a phase OF
the girl element that appears to b.,
new menace-imposslble as 1t hai
been proved to be for anything to be
really new.
! refer to the prevailing manner Of
dress among women, more especially
as seen upon our city streets. }
have no hesitation in saying that II
is not alone immodest, but as wei
immoral; and | greatly fear that We
shall soon see an overwhelming tor
rent Of moral laxity engulf our youth.
Indeed, 1t is here.
have never known time In any
OF our cities when the young man
intent upon picking up acquaintance
with a girl on the street was moi
reasonably sure of accomplishing
this with a small amount of effort II
certain we'll defined sections; ~but
never in all my observation until
lately, have | known a time when
by day or night, thoroughfares de
voted to shopping or business, pro
Cesslon of girls sweep past youne
man in dress so vulgar that he might
fairly-even though mistakenly
assume that they are on parade to
invite his advances. The dress of a
girl OF today causes her to be thrust
upon him, perhaps at times when
his own thoughts are far from the
realm of ungentlemanly conduct,
and perhaps with no desire on he
part to arouse such interest.
The seyenteen-year-ole boy who
sat in my office a few nights ago ant
recounted the struggle of a young
man to keep himself pure, was, IN
fortunately, but type OF many; and
the girl of chance street acquaint-
anee who caused him to lose his fight
is but type, too.
That is sad enough; but one bows
his head in shame when the boy
says. "How did know she wasn't
decent? Hundreds OF girls on the
streets dress and act like she did
A man of considerable experience
recently designated certain country
hotel as low resort" He was
promptly challenged by another, who
happened to be circuit judge;
wherehpon the judge remarked
you're wong. The women who 60
there go with their husbands, and
are the respectable matrons Of the
community. You fail to make al
lowance for the present immodesty
in women's Dress an immodesty
which causes me to be ashamed to
meet some of my most respected wo-
men acquaintance on the streets OF
our city"
Unhappily, the judge was right.
And right here is the crux of the
difficulty. If only immodest women
and girls dressed in vulgar fashion,
the line would be sharply drawn.
But this immodest dress prevails
among all classes.
Those OF us who give our lives to
boys find no harder task than TO help
the boy in his battle to keep pure.
Imagine such boy, lighting such q
terrific battle as only man can APP
preclate, confronted not once but a
hundred times with indecencies In
dress as he walks a few blocks in the
heart of city! viii he win or lose?
/ do not write as fashion critic;
] write as a man who daily faces the
moral issues raised by these things.
But want TO be specific. There are
prevailing styles of dress which are
extensively immodest. Among these
are: The tight-htung waist the