Evening capital and Maryland gazette. (Annapolis, Md.) 1910-1922, 1916-02-14
MORAL DECENERACY
THREATENS COUNTRY
A Menace to Society and the Home
"A Moral Cancer Requiring
Radical Treatment.
MORAL STANDARD DETERIORATE
The Dress Of Women Today Not Fit for
Polite Society---Fashions Appeal
TO the Sensuous---Is Woman
hood to Blame for Moral
Decline

Decline
Contributed
Part |.
Is the moral standard of America
| deteriorating
This is a question which at this time
is occupying a foremost place in the
minds OF those who have the welfare
of their country at heart. and one
which is the cause for much exhaust
i've research by State governments and
sociological organizations.
1t is a question which threatens the
very life of American civilization. and
it's many different phases daily find ex-
preston in some of the most vital is
sues Of the day which are even nov
being discussed and contested on the
floors of our State assemblies. and in
the Congress Of the United States.
Is this tremendous interest which is
now centering in this question justif-
ed by its Importance? Has the dan
ger of moral degeneration become so
great as to constitute a menace to es-
tablished society and to the very life
of the country? Both of these ques
tions can be answered unhesitatingly
in. the affirmative. Yes. The question
of degenerating morally has not been
exaggerated one iota
This question that we face is not
one of abstract morals 10 be depre-
Gated and spoken against in p,atitu-
dinous language, but it is a live, con
crete. tangible evil. which is slowly
unfolding and sinking its tentacles
deeper into the heart OF our civiliza-
tiOn, and undermining and running the
lives of those about us day after day.
1t is one that calls on us for energetic
action and for the active cooperation
of every clear-thinking and clean
minded individual to meet and defeat
We can never do this until the people
fully realize the threatening danger of
this evil so let us analyze the question
and examine some of its many diff
ferent phases.
IN writing on a subject OF this ma
ture we must ignore some OF the petty
conventional standards of everyday
conversation aud write plain, irrefut-
able facts.which the nature of the sub
ject necessitates to be clearly under
stood with perfect candor and with
out the least hesitancy. So if at any
place in this article the language
used seems plain and unconventional.
must remind YOU that it has to be
used TO perfectly illustrate the sub
iect. which. being of the kind ii is,
must be handled vigorously and not TO
use everyday vernacular with kid
gloves on" Radical questions re
quire radical treatment
But to return to the analyzation OF
our subject In the first place, does
the moral degeneration of the indiyid-
uals composing a nation mean the ma
tional degeneration of the nation
which becomes so depraved? Are
moral and national degeneration syn
chronical? This is most easily an
swered We have but to cast our
minds over the pages of history for
precedent after precedent to prove it,
The extensive empire OF Ancient
Greece. the worldwide dominion of
Alexander the Great. the tremendous
possessions and the high civilization
OF Imperial Rome, fell and disinter-
grated when the moral standard OF
their inhabitants became low We
have later examples, the Kingdom OF
| France, which reached the lowest de
gree Of depravity and debauchery dur
ing the reigns of Louis XIV and Ky.
eliminated in the terrible French Rev
olution and was shattered. These eX-
| ampies are surely sufficient to show
conclusively that moral degeneration
and national degeneration are cOinci-
dent Is the Importance of this ques-
tion of morals then exaggerated
Now let us bring the subject down
to the present moment and make a
more personal application of it. Let
us see if our moral standards are de-
terioting? To do this we must apply
the sociological test to this country
and see how we measure up TO it.
This test is a simple one. we simply
ascertain the number of our divorces.
the number of our illegitimate chill
dren. the number, frequently and ma
ture Of our crimes, and examine the
thought of the nation. reflected in its
literature. its amusements and the
moral safe of mind of the average in
dividual Now let US ascertain our
moral status as contrasted with that OF
years gone by, and see how We stand.
We viii take the different points in the
! test and discuss them singly. and see
( how we comply to each point. then we
can easily draw our conclusions as
I to the whole.
Let US take divorce. / viii not
weary you by reciting column after
column of dry statictics. for they do
not convey a very intelligent impress
! sion TO the average mind at best. The
great majority Of us-do not possess the
requisite mental quality necessary to
APPRECIATE the mathematical abstract
ness of statistics. but demand concrete
and proven facts. One case in point
/ the details Of which are graphically
told. makes q greater impression on
! the average mind than statistics read
! inr into the thousands. So I viii lei