The Daily Ardmoreite. [volume] (Ardmore, Okla.) 1893-current, 1919-05-23
CITIZEN ARMY IS
NEEDED To FIGHT
SOCIAL DISEASES
I. y. HEALTH SERVICE DIRECTOR
IN OKLAHOMA CALLS FOR
ACTIVE CO.OPERiTION
by DIR. j. {. MAiiR
Director. United States Health Service,
Cooperating with Oklahoma state
Board of Health

4 citizen army Is needed In Okla
homa to battle against the ravage OF
the innocents. The world has shown
its abhorage of the wanton decree OF
iron and steel militarism which starved
and raped the unoffendng noncombat'
ant mothers, harmless children ana
helpless old mon of Europe. But the
ravage of innocents is not ended. Here
in oklahoma in the villages ana towns
there remain dcstroyers of women ana
children whose toll of victims in the long
years of peace is greater and more ter
rible than the victims Of German mad'
ness. These enemies of civilization ana
reconstruction ard socjul uplirt are
venereal diseases-social ills peculiar
10 every community.
Tie United States Health Service
cooperating with the oklahoma state
Board of Health has opened its batter
Lies against the enemy and is now en-
gagged i'm "A warfare for humanity as
great as any war ever wagcd' Ihe
enemy Is as secret and treacherous ana
as heartless as is the submarine, we
do not see the wounded victims of the
venoreal disease, nor do the newspap-
ers display the casualty lists of the dead
from these l'avugers But the casualties
are there, hidden among the death
notices, and many more umrecorded we
Tins destroyed before birth or dead at
birth. The wounded victims fill TO the
doors our institutions for the insane,
the blind, the helpless. These are real
casualties, people dead, bodies wound
ed, minds destroyed-not heroic vic
TINS adorned with gold chevrons, but
victims as innocent as the refugees OF
France and Belgium. In our homes,
hospitals and public institutions this
year ending December 81, 1919. there
viii be more injured and killed
victims of these diseases than the Unit
ed States lost during the entire world
war.
Dangerous Propaganda
There are, among US the human al
lies of Americas civilization. The
quack doctors and vendors of patent
nostrums who prey upon their victims
with quick" cures that do not cure,
the person with one of the diseases
who exposes another, the man or Wo-
man who directly or indirectly profits
by commerciai2ed vice-such persons
are giving aid and comfort to the foes
of American civilization.
So, too, he who whiipcrs to the
youth that one of these diseases is
no worse than a bad cold, or spreads
the lie that personal safety is u neces-
sity for the unmarried youth that must
be gratificd through social intercourse.
is the agent of insidious enemy pro
paganda. And the people who sup
press all publication of the facts ana
warnings of facts regarding the enemy
diseases are inviting dupes. betraying
the cause of healthy manhood and wo-
manhood.
Education Il Public Necessity
In every modern war much attention
has been paid to spreading of informa-
ton about the enemy. Telling the truth
about the venereal enemy to the Okla
homa public will help greatly to win
the war. Social diseases maintain them
selves largely ON public ignorance. The
T.. :. Public Health Service operating
in Oklahoma under the direction of
Dr. j. c. Mahr have prepared pam
phets and newspaper advertisements
through which they are carrying on
an educational campaign. Every ma
ture man and boy in oklahoma must
be taught the truth about social ills
and sexual nature. All parents should
know the facts of sex hygiene and ply
siology necessary for instructing their
own children and for imparting to them
the details u chivalrous spirit, clean
mind and body-a sure protection
against venereal diseases.
Organized Attack
In attacking the European enemy we
brought to bear every possible agency. |
We did mot stop to argue about the
comparative value of ammunition and
hospitals, of gas shipping, airplaneS,
engineering. We needed all and used
all In this health war, too, we can
not profitably stop to argue. We must
use all available means. 1t is emer- F,
gency. 1t is war. All are needed in
the citizens army. civic organizations. /
clubs, physicians, lawyers, ministers,
police chiefs. judges. are needed to fight I
TO make the American family safe for .
future generations. Cooperation is in /
yited.