Evening capital and Maryland gazette. (Annapolis, Md.) 1910-1922, 1918-03-01
The Girl And The Man In Uniform

1t is one OF the sorriest sights i'm
aginable in these days of anxiety TO |
walk any evening along the main
streets OF a large town or city ADA
cent TO a military camp or naval yard
and see the hundreds of young girls,
until late hours. idly paTading up and
down. giggling and striving by every
known feminine artifce to attract the
attention Of the young men in uniform
vino are on leave" These young
girls hover around moving picture
houses and railroad stations, even
the solitary tent of the boy guarding
a bridge not being free Of two or
three girls passing and repassing his
tent until his attention is attracted
These girls are not vicious; they are
thoughuess The lure of uniform is
strong TO the romantic and emotional
nature Of a young girl.
But what of the parents OF these
girls? What are they thinking about
that they allow their young daugh-
tiers deliberately to firt with danger
and do what they can to break down
the gentleman's code which we are so
anxious that our young men shall OBJ
serve? Life must have taught these
parents some lessons that their daugh-
tcrs have not learned Are they in
sensible to them? or have they no
idea-and this is probably closer 10
the truth where their daughters are,
or what they are dOing2 I'VE trust
the boys" they say That is a very
comfortable theory. but have we the
right 10 place all the responsibility on
the boy? Shall there be no division
Of the load2 Shall we say 10 the boy
Thou shalt not forget" and not l.
the girl Thou shall not tempt? We
decry the unfairness of the double
moral standard that absolyes the man
and penalties the woman. But is it
any fairer TO expect our boys to hold
fast 10 their standards when every ar
tihce is used by these girls to break
down those standards?
There are sad hours ahead for
thousands of homes in this country, If
parents permit the present unlicensed
actions of their daughters with re-
gard TO our boys in uniform 1t Will
avail us little if we win in war abroad
only TO lose i'm morals at home Al
ready the sad stories are coming in by
the hundreds from the cities and
towns near our camps ! do not, for
one moment, condone our boys, but
not for one moment, on the other
hand, IS the blame TO be placed en-
tirely on their shoulders. Nor on
those of the girls It belongs square
~ on those OF the parents who are
criminally permitting this unwise
freedom where ordinary precaution
should be observed. 1t is perfectly
right that our girls should have the
opportunity to satisfy their desire to
se3 and meet the boys in uniform,
but not on the streets in the evenings,
or in the moving picture houses or
other public places, with the Older
hand of restraint or the voice of coun-
sci absent The boy in uniform, too,
wants to meet girls, and he should.
If there is ever a time when we have
a right to ask of a man that he shall
he a gentlemen. It is when he puts on
the uniform of his country. For then
he Immediately represents not only
his own standards, but those of his
nation But il remains, nevertheless,
deplorable fact that n time of war
generally means a laXity of moral
standards. A boy, or man, suddenly
finds himself separated from home in
huences: he becomes lonesome; and
times of great mental and physical
depression come to him To the up
standing man all conditions are alike;
a gentleman is a gentleman always.
But that is an ideal not reached by
all.
We have been fearfully lax in this
country about the freedom that we
give our girls We have fooled our
selves with the belief that the Ameri-
can girl can take care of herself any
where. But responsible reports that
are pouring in to recognized agencies
do not prove this to be a fact. When
il comes to the attractions of sex, the
American girl is no different from any
other girl in the world. We might as
well get il into our heads that these
are days traught with the gravest
natural dangers for thousands of our
young girls, and the sooner their
parents awake to this indisputable
fact. the better it will he, not only for
our country, our boys and our girls,
but for the peace of mind of parents
and our domestic protection. The
proper parental caution now will
save after regrets and the keenest
lamentations that can come to thou
sands of homes. An ounce of pre-
vention now is worth pounds of cure,
not forgetting that there are some
things which cannot be cured!-
Ladies Home Journal