Evening capital and Maryland gazette. (Annapolis, Md.) 1910-1922, 1916-02-18
MORAL DEGENERACY
THREATENS COUNTRY
A Menace to Society and the Home
"A Moral Cancer Requiring
Radical Treatment.
MORALS DETERIORATE?
The Dress Of Women Today Not Fit for
Polite Society---Fashions Appeal
to the Sensuous- Woman
hood to Blame for Moral
Decline
by r. Hammond Elliott
PART ".

Now let us make an even more per-
sonal examination of our subject and
apply 10 the social amusements of the
day Start with the dance. We are
not making a castigation against the
dance or any other established social
institution, but are dispassionately
analyzing them to ascertain the con-
dition of the national morals which
find expression indirectly through
them The dance has evoluted from
the stately minuet of colonial days,
through the square dance, the waltz
and two-step and now to the turkey
trot, the tango, the fox trot and var
ious other gymnastic feats, which
would look more in place with the con-
tortionist on the vaudeville stage, than
with men and women at social gath
ering. The cabaret show, but recently
introduced in this country, due to the
dance craze and represents but the i'm
portation OF phase of the immortality
of Paris. Berlin and other continental
cities, where they have long been a
social question. Does this show an
elevation of national morality?
day. OF late years dress has been
introduced into polite society in this
country and has become established as
the proper costume for evening wear,
which originated among the feminine
habitues OF the cafes of Paris. 1t
would be broad statement TO say that
all who wear it have descended TO the
plane of the originators. but this fact
appears on a superficial examination.
Even of late years some of the fash
ions have been direct appeal to
sensualness. Does this show moral
rise or decline?
How does the observance of the
Sabbath compare with the manner in
which it was observed in days gone
by? AT that time the sanctification of
the Sabbath was rigidly adhered to.
Now we have Sunday baseball, Sunday
sports. stores and saloons in some
sections are wide open, work goes on
as usual, and the day has hardly more
significance than any other day of the
week. Does this show moral uplift
or moral descent?
SO we could go on through the COM
plete list OF moral rejoicing amuse-
ments and in each we could trace how
their standard has steadily deterior-
ated year after year.
We have discussed the literature
and the amusements and found undis-
puted evidence of moral decline, there
fore, it follows that the thought of the
country and the moral state of mind
OF the average individual has declined.
Now let us summarize our conclusions
reached by this dissection of our sub
iect and compare them with the moral
ity test, and we will see Immediately
the condition of our national morals.
On the first point, that of the num-
her of divorces, we find that the num-
Der steadily increases year after year !:
no the second, the basic social crime,
we find that our status has declined
astoundingly fast in recent years; on
the third, the number and nature of
our crimes, we hardly hold our own
with other countries with great ex-
cess in the crime of self-destruction !;
on the fourth and last point, the eX-
animation of the thought of the coun-
try and the individual moral state OF
mind, we have found a steady decline
from the moral standard of by-gone
days. With this aggregation of proven
facts in view, the only logical conclus-
ion which can possibly be drawn is
that the moral standard of America is
deterioating.
How. then, are we to meet this
emergency? This is tremendously
broad question. Some of the phases
of it must be handled by intelligent
national state and city laws, compiled
by the trained sociologists, others now
or will be directly within the voting
power of the people and some of its
branches must be met by an intelligent
system of moral education. But it lies
within the power of every individual to
reform himself and to help the cause
of reform directly.
Every magazine or book of low NOR
al standard you buy or read; every
opera, play or moving picture of like
nature you attend, in fact everything
which tends to the immoral to which
you give your sanction by your patron
dEC. uudACAdAlS VI SOCAaI.s 10 a I'll tNA
blow TO moral reform. So. if the indi-
viduaIs composing our higher plane of
society realize the condition of our
national morals, will only think and
cooperate together towards the end of
moral reform, this reform will be facil-
itated immensely and some of the les
ser ramifications of it would be direct
~ carried out.
You see. then, how much depends
upon you. so it to he hoped that you
VIII do all in your power to combat
this evil and viii. at last, with the as
sistance of your friends and country
men, be able to raise our moral stand
ard to higher plane than it has ever
realized before.
(Conclusion.)