The Richmond Virginian. (Richmond, Va.) 1910-1920, 1913-10-24
HYPOCRISY AND HYPOCRISY.

HYPOCRISY AND HYPOCRISY.
latter dav students Of relations and the
facts of sex life look with seorn upon those oio'
4ash,oned folk who recoil from too open dis
..,ss,on of the questions and with sublime con-
tempt upon those who refuse even 10 thlhk
cver and to study the problems presented a
ronsparacy OF silence" they call the custom
which has decreed that there are some SUD
sects which are best discussed by physicians ana
~onoIogtsts and even by them only at certain
fines. in certain ways and under certain condl-
t,ons Members OF that conspiracy and others
who are neither Pur1tans nor hypocrites might
we'll retort that "a conspiracy OF garrulity is
inst IS Injurious and infinitely more annoying.
Our fathers probably pushed the subject too
much in the background and leaned too strongly
upon the theory that the way to combat eVl
In To ignore it. They may have been too prone
u mistake ignorance for innocence and that
mistake NAV have been and probably is still
the cause of much OF the social evil of the day.
but at least that extreme wore the cloak OF
responsibility and at least, the advocates of the
docrine made no profit out of It, The other
extreme have with us today. They are those
who scorn propriety and refinement and delicacy
and seek 10 make over the world by crying from
the housetops Of It's evils and by exposing the
sacred laws of nature Ia the good and the evil,
the young and old. the male and female, the
mature and the immature. Among them also
are the brazen and unprincipled and the greedy,
who seek to make capital out of the new ideas
and who care not what harm they may do so
long els the gold comes Gathering into their
Golfers
Hypocrisy 10 not confined to the puritan; it
Ia not even found among them In It's worst form
The broad-minded. self-styled. are worse hypo-
critics when that Observation-Disclosures" casts off
NIL restraint in thinking and. finally. in act
ing, and roams the field of thought without any
guide to keep IT from straying into the marshes
end the wallows. And the worst of all hypocrites
are those who, in cheap magazines, best sellers
or on the stage coin their liberalism into dol
lars, the meanwhile, doing irreparable damage
to the innocent whom they profess to serve by
placing on their guard.
Certain plays running in New York now and
TO take the road when pruiency in New YORK
is glutted are instances. Certain best sellers
by men once holding a high place In literature
and certain magazines seeking circulation among
the morbid are other instances, The laudation
heaped upon such plays as Damaged Goods
10 an instance of one extreme just as absolute
refusal to give their children the slightest know
ledge OF the greater law Of the universe is an
illustration of the other Damaged Goods"
undoubtedly teachers a great lesson, but as
undoubtedly it may be made to do harm by
making the repulsive an ordinary thing to be
seen, pitied, endured and then embraced. The
book read In retirement by those whose minds
are developed to the proper points, is a source
OF good. The play given before similar au-
dience ia a source Of good. But the play given
before mixed audience, many knowing little OF
the real meaning and significance and too many
seeking only to crafty morbid curiosity and
a few probably sincerely wishing enlightenment.
does little good.
Honesty OF thought is one Of the rarest things
in the world and one of the most desirable.
The truth is Of inestnable value and the search
of the intellectually honest man FOR 1t one OF
the most inspiring things in the world, but the
intellectually honest and the money-gruhber and
notoriety seeker do not go together. Nor is 1t
necessary always to tell the truth. Silence at
times is not only desirable but compulsory If the
best results To be obtained There Is a
time for everything and place for everything
and always there is right way 10 do things
instruction in the fundamental facts Of sex
should be given everyone. but it should be
given by the right people in the right way and
when given It should. above all things be given
trnthfully
With II all, save us from the hypocrtes. whose
one continuous cry rs against the hypocrisy OF
others.
BFLATED APOLOGIES.