The Washington times., 1914-02-26

Letters to The tunes ana W
md the subjects Nth which they d.
srs. former inmates of "the dipis'
Barrett will give a resume OF the
articles.
By KATE WA.
Tho "nrice he paid, is we'll illus
trated in the story Of the frouiha'
Son who came back home pennlless.
after having wasted some Of the pest
vears of his life, and lost that which
is dearer than life itself to any one
his self-respect and his ideals
God pity the man who has lost
his ideals and who can no longer
dream dreams.
To have ones belief in woman low
cred. and to feel that one mas sun
fered by the work Of a scoundfei. is
OF itself sufficient to put the
brakes" on any man.
That the woman must pay inc
heavier penalty, II does not iha,'
waat the circumstances may oe' th"'
all his willingness and devotion can
not protect the woman. shouio i"ahe
MON realize how careful he should
he not to profit by woman I'm
seifishness.
Magnitude of the Evil.
The effects of this evil are found
in every department of lie Henry
L, Stimson. late Secretary or war;
caIls attention TO the ravages of this
evil in the army. and says:
The ultimate causes which make
the record of our army In this re-
spect shameful! beyond that OF the
army OF any other civilized natlon'
are inherent in our own shortcon-
ings, as a nation, in dealing with thls
matter. So long as in our civil
communities, and particularly our
larger cities. we continue to close
our eyes 10 the magnitude and ex-
tent of the evil and refrain from at
lacking il with all the weapons
which modern scientific knowledge
Dlaces in our hands, it cannot but
he expected that the younger men
in on army. leading the abnormal
life OF the soldier. will show the ef-
feet of the evil to a marked degree"
Surgeon Generals Report.
The report of the surgeon general
OF the physical effects Of immortality
on the enlisted man is sufficient to
make any thinking person gasp. out
of a total number OF 72.1S, there
were I3,4S7 admissions to the hos
pitals for social diseases. The larger
number, Of course, being in the Phil
ipp!nes.
Very stringent methods are being
used by the authorities TO eradicate
or minimize this evil.
In many of the posts the men have
social instruction monthly; in the
depaTtments in the East examina-
tions are made twice month, and
in some posts men have been pun
ished by courts-maartial for con-
tracing such diseases There is
very strong feeling among the off
GERS that men should be punished.
ana DuIIlDtT VI pidhS oiC bNih5
considered. One which Is believed to
be efficacious is the stoppage OF pay
for men who are incapable of doing
their duty because of such diseases.
Improvement Shown.
The National Government has gone
SO far as to say that ANY officer or
enlisted man, in active service. who
shall be absent from duty on ac-
count of diseases resulting from his
own Incorporate use of drups or
alcoholic liquors OF other miscon-
duct, shall not receive pay for the
period Of such absences"
Much of this evil in the army and
navy is caused by the dives which
are always to be found surrounding
places where enlisted men are and
over which the power of the National
Government has no authority. This
is entirely beyond the National Gov
ernment to alter, and the blame
rests entirely upon the State and
local authorities. That a State cares
so little for the welfare Of its sol.