The Topeka state journal. [volume] (Topeka, Kansas) 1892-1980, 1917-08-27
Society, Justice, Virtue-An
Gone Awry, 1t Says.
Family Life Endangered; Ma
ton Slipping to Paganism.
100000 DIVORCES A YEAR
"MOvies and Magazines Have
COrrupting influence"
Advocates Posting OF Marriage
Bans as Part Remedy.

Kansas City. Mo-. Aug. 27.-Pagan-
ism. with all its accompanying vices
is the shoal towards Which the United
States is rapidly drifting. according TO
the report of the morals committee OF
the convention of the American Con-
federation of Catholic societies. given
this afternoon.
Society, the report reads. shows a
startling decline Justice no longer
rules. The family life of the nation
is endangered, virtue. public and pri-
waite is decadent
Continuing, the committee report
says in part:
1T is the American boast today
that we have progressed in all direc-
lions to a place of rrst and highest
development. In spite of the claim.
society shows evident and startling
situations. Right no longer rules;
justice is fast declining; order is up
set: the family is endangered; the
home is disrupted virtue, public and
private. is decadent: matcrin liSm is in
the ascendancy; vicious propaganda
run riot, and religious indifference
dominates.
Nation Drifting to Paganism.
''In some directions it may be a
startling statement. yet it is neverthe-
less a fact, that the rapid drift of this
country at present is towards pagan
ism. The basis for such contention is
the Protestant compilation of statis-
tics contained in the 1916 year book
of the federal council of churches of
Christ, which informs US that the
number of church communicates at
the time indicated was 40.016,70e.
Quite evidently more than sixty mill
lion have no church connections what
ever. How many of the latter are
merely religious indifferentists? How
many are infidels? How many have a
; knowledge of the fundamental laws
of God %
- Sixty. million Americans have no
church affiliations, according to the
report.
100000 Divorces IA Year.
/ "A largely contributing factor in
this paganizing of the nation is di-
! vorce. 1t has been recently estimat-
/ ed that up to the present more than
million divorces have been granted
I in this country. and the expectant
number for the current year will be
greatly in excess of one hundred thou
sand. 1t would be wholly useless to
/ devote any consideration to the vi
4 ciousness of this evil and what it
means to the nation.
! To combat the rapidly growing di-
! vorce evil the committee recommends:
Enactment of state laws requiring no
/ tees of impending marriage to be
posted several days before issuance of
! license: abolition of common law mar
rage wherever recognized, and final
ly. in states where only absolute di-
vorces are granted. provisions for le-
gal separation be made.
0 Modern pictorial reviews and the
movies also come in for their share of
condemnation.
+ zone of the most serious assaults
4 upon morality of the country today
] is manifested in indecent illustrations
in some publications and filthy stories
! in debauching magazines says the
report.
/ Photo Play Corrupter.
/ Then there is the esta blished fact
( that high percentage of photo play
production deals with crime. There
/ is the fact that of the $4,000 900 daily
attendance at picture shows from 65
/ to so per cent of this attendance is
/ made up children. There is the fact
/ that Juvenile court records show a
linking of offenders with screen pro-
auctions.
The photo play is today corrup-
ter of Juvenile morals. Yet the max
ers of our laws are so busy with ma
terIalities and personalities that time
cannot be found to provide greater
moral protection for the young from
this morally corroding source of evil"