The Mankato free press. [volume] (Mankato, Blue Earth County, Minn.) 1879-1924, 1915-11-26
Arthur Poisssnt Delivered An Address
On the Great Work Of His
Organization
From tuesdays Daily.

1 III,
dressed by Secretary Arthur Poissant
of the National Purity Federation on
the matter of purity work among the
young people. This was decided
after hearing Mr.. Poissant's talk at
| the meeting held at the library of DR..
J. w. Andrews last night under the
auspices of the Blue Earth Equal SUI
frage association, Mrs. ID. G.. Willard,
chairman OF the meeting. appointed
Mrs. NJ. ID. Fritz and Mrs. +. ID.
| Sleight a committee to arrange for
| the womens' meeting, and w. ID.
| Willard and J. s. Hotaling COM
mittee to arrange for the mems
meeting. The time and place of the
meetings will be announced as soon
as decided upon.
Mrs. ID. G.. willard introduced the
speaker OF the evening, the presi-
dent of the association being absent,
and Mr.. Poissant immediately paid a
graceful tribute to woman's cause In
his opening words.
AS hail from state that has equal
suffrage, esteem II privilege to
appear under the auspices of the Blue
Earth County Equal Suffrage associa-
ton. You may have heard that equal
suffrage in California is not a success.
Those who give out such reports are
enemies TO the cause. ] remember
conditions before that state had
equal suffrage. Men would gather in
political meetings, in some saloon,
and pass the beer Since equal suf
frage has come those conditions have
been completely changed. Political
meetings are held in refined places.
Formerly they voted in the rear OF
saloons. Now magnificent booths for
voting have been built on the streets.
There is no bad language, and the
moral influence has risen. Politics
are much cleaner than before when
equal suffrage came to us. Equal
suffrage means single standard, when
men and women go together. The
Worlds Purity Federation has al
ways stood for a single standard in
morals. Single standard means that
the day viii come when men and
women will meet together, and get
the same views on subject. The
allies have on their board three
Englishmen. three Frenchmen, and
three Italians. and any move to be
made is known and discussed by all,
so when they strike they will strike
the blow together. Men and women
should meet on an equal basis and
solve their problems"
Need Of policewomen.
II want to speak of the need OF
policewomen. and of Mrs. Alice Steb-
bens Wells OF Los Angeles. California,
chairman OF that committee in the
Worlds Purity Federation called the
International Association of Police
women. formed the seventeenth day
OF last May. In her last report Mrs.
Wells stated that thirty-two cities I'm
America now have policewomen.
sixty-six women being engaged in
this occupation. Chicago has six
policewomen, Los Angeles Seattle,
and Baltimore each have five. The
work is spreading rapidly from tho
movement started five years ago. The
work OF a pollcewoman is on the pre-
tentative side, and on the construc-
tive line" He then described the
work of a policewoman in Belling-
ham, Washington. whose aim was to
save the girls, and kept many from
being sent to the reformatory.
Policemen should be on the job"
stated Mr.. Poissant. They should be
on the Job to keep things from hap
pening. We need police sytem on a
constructive line. Instead of standing
around i'm saloons, waiting for some
thing to happen, they should be on
/, ;nI, IN x-tl In har
pening."
The Purity Work.
Mr.. Poissant then took up the sub
ject of purity work among the young
people and strongly advocated the
necessity of supervised Fairgrounds.
He told of the beautiful supervised
Fairgrounds in California. where the
young people were kept busy at
healthful play, and thus kept from
getting into bad habits. He then told
of his work I'm Chicago slums, and i'm
the hospital operating room, and OF
his discovery that of ninety per cent
of fallen women the man was to
blame. He told OF his determination
after these experiences to champion
the cause OF women. He then spent
six years i'm California studying the
boys. and after completing his oh
servations he decided that the boy
was not to blame either. Now he
stated, he does not condemn either
boy or girl, but rather the lack of
truthfulness I'm the world.
''The mind is keener today than II
was twenty years ago." said Mr..
Poissant. Boys learn the wrong at
six or eight years OF age, and no one
tells them the right How do you ex-
pect the boys to live right?" He told
Of experiences i'm the homes of peo-
pie where he had met boys and won
their confidence. and been thanked by
them for telling them what was right,
and of work I'm the Chicago Sums
among the girls. where he had never
found one girl whose mother had told
her the right.
Education Solves Problem.
at Is better TO build a fence at the
top Of the precipice, than penitentiar-
les. insane asylums. and hospitals at
the bottom" said Mr.. Poissant. Ed
ucation is the only way in which we
can solve the problem" He explained
the plan of the federation which has
been related by The Free Press.
Conditions In Mankato.
Following Mr.. Poissant's talk a
general discussion was joined In by
those present. Mrs. NJ. ID. Fritz called