Omaha daily bee. (Omaha [Neb.]) 187?-1922, 1915-08-08

part Of II on the sands, where The sexOo
mlnule with a degree Of freedom that
would not be tolerated on the street or
even In q ballroom. Il 10 time to cry out
In protest
"The spectacle Of haIf-naI<ed women
and men lying about the beaches, and,
often In each others arms, should not be
tolsrated'in any civilized community.
Canon Liddon has passage which we
may well read and ponder:
When Greek thought was keenest, and
Greek art most triumphantly creative,
and Greek political life so organized as
to favor in degree elsewhere unknown
among men. the play OF mans highest
natural energies, Greek society was pen
etrated through and through by an in.
visible enemy, more fatal in It's ravage
to thought, to art to freedom, than the
sword OF any Persian or Macedonian foe.
And already In the age of the early
Caesars Rome carried In her bosom tha
secret OF her impending decline and fall
In the coming centuries.
st. Paul detected and exposed n IN
terms which are mere explicit than those
nfe-blood or q race may be drained awav
less nobly than on the battlefield. Every
capacity Tor high and generous exerrion.
or Tor the cheerful endurance OF suffering
at the bidding OF duty, all the stock of
moral force on which a country can relv
In Its hour OF trial, may be Slapped, de.
stroyed, annihilated by domestic traitor.
SO II Jared with imperial Rome. The
rate or the great empire was not really
-
Before the barbarians had as yet begun
to muster their savage hordes along the
frontiers OF ancient civilization. their
work had well-nigh been completed. their
victory had been won, in the cities. the
palaces, nay in the very temples OF the
empire.
And upon what resources could the
OLD Pagan society fall back in its alarm
az and struggle with this formidable foe?
II could not depend upon the State. The
Emperor was the State by Hmpersona.
ton; and not unfrequently It happened
that the Emperor was the public friend
and patron of the States worst enemy.
Nor could any reliance by placed upon
philosophy.
Doubtless philosophy means wen in
some OF its phases, in some of its repre-
sentatives. But philosophy is much too
feeble a thing to enter the lists success
fully with animal passion; and, as a mat
ter OF fact, philosophy has more than
once been compelled or cajoled into plac.
ing her intellectual weapons at the dis
posal Of the sensualist.
This enemy is our enemy. II is not
imaginary. II is real. II is at our doors.
II stalks abroad without disguise. It's
agents are legion. Its power grows
apace. Never was II so bold, so strong,
so impudent as it is here and now. Nor
are these manners confined to the vulgar
East Siders.
Under the flag OF the Knights OF Colum-
bus some OF our own young men and wo-
men spend Sundays and holidays In bun
galows and tents at Coney Island and
Rockaway in this less than half dress,
dancing and amusing themselves on the
sands.
Let others do what they will, we who
have the light to know evil and the power
TO overcome II should do all we
~ can 10 limit it.
~ EVIL is not to be trifed with.
60 There Is only one way to handle
II. That is to avoid the places
where II prevails and the persons
who practice IT,"