The Catholic bulletin. [volume] (St. Paul, Minn.) 1911-1995, 1917-09-29

hepuDllc. 90 great is the 6utiluSI
assn, that the wave seems i'll dan
ger of running into shallow places
and dying away in the distance
with a piffling sound. Everything
that is good for the soldier should
be done for the soldier. He it is
who has shouldered manfully and
intrepidly the burdens which lie
upon the nation as whole. Like
Atlas of old, he valiantly places
his shoulder under the world OF
troubles that has fallen upon us
and with his might and grit sus
tains the fabric Of government
In many quarters effervescent and
adle-pated females have turned
their brains topsy, turvy in the
hope of finding a new idea that
will strikingly illustrate their par.
ticular form of patriotism.
The women of America, as g
body, are level-headed, sane, prac.
teal and independent. But some
of their misguided sisters, chiefly
the younger ones, have formed
themselves into groups called, cor.
respondence clubs for soldiers.
From time immemorial, even
from the natural viewpoint, the
browning virtue of womanhood
has been modesty. This priceless
jewel appears in various forms
under different degrees of civil
zation: but everywhere, even
among savages, modesty accord
ing to their own notions, is the
peculiar privilege and duty OF
womanhood. No self-respectine
woman, especially Catholic
woman, will speak indiscriminate
ly to strangers: much less viii
she write to them. Granted that
the common cause Of war knits al
Americans into one large family
there are still certain lines beyond
which propriety and modesty are
always violated.
= In the first place, soldiers are
not in need of the frothy, gush
ing, and mawkish sentimentality
that characterize the usual run OF
letters from these un-met female
correspondents. The fact that
these daintily scented epistles
usually are composed of such art
less cooling at the evanescent
moon is shown by the fact thai
many soldiers in the various en-
campments, who have been the
bashful recipients of such per
fumed nonsense, have made pub
lie the contents Of these un-maid
emily effusions.
Another abuse that is creeping
in under the misguided view oil
patriotism is the desire of certain
women to go to the front to pre-
side at the canteens which are tC
be found in the rear of the armies
While our American soldiers
stand head and shoulder over
many nations for morality anC
reverence for womankind, i
should not be forgotten, as an ex
change notes, that they are moi
all saints. A woman who is de
sirous Of acting in such a position
shows that she is actuated either
by cloudy motives or the most in
fantile innocence. There are
some countries in which the bar
maid seems to be a national fix
ture, but the American army has
no use for the canteen woman
The spheres of usefulness open te
earnest women are many and varl
Gus. Every American woman
young or old, of whatever station
or condition, has ample opportuni
ties for doing useful and meritori
Gus work in aid of our revered
and beloved soldiers. No soldier
however, is anxious to see fe-
male relative Of his own expose
herself in the slightest degree to
the charge Of immodesty in any
form.
In a word, indiscriminate visit.
ing on the part Of women at the
army encampments, singing fol
soldiers, = with the resultant lax,
ity of conduct that frequently en-
sues, and all other such dangerous
pastimes should be carefully
avoided. The experience Of the
past, nay, even of the present
shows us that thoughtless trans
gression of the rules of propriety
frequently brings about the de
struction, or at least the dimming
of that priceless heritage Of faith
and civilization, the modesty OF
women. Ii it be true that the
most glorious thing on earth is &
woman perfected, it is also true
that woman's most glorious pos
session is maidenly modesty.
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