The Daily Ardmoreite. [volume] (Ardmore, Okla.) 1893-current, 1920-12-17
Editorial
OF the Day
THE WAGES OF SIN IS DEATH

edith johnson in Daily Oklahoman)
Every heart knoweth its own Bit
terness and only God may judge the
life of the late Jake l.. Hamon or
that Of Clara Smith. There is one
phase of their tragedy, however, on
which we will have right to pass
judgment, and that is the result OF
their careers. In this result and in
the diary of Clara Smith, there is
tremendous warning for both men
and women, and particularly young
girls.
Except for women who marry very
young and whose lives are serene
and uneventful careers of married hap
piness and security, very few escape
temptation similar to that of Clara
Smith. AT some time in Their lives
they are going 10 be offered love
without marriage, and the greater and
more powerful and wealthier the man.
the keener is the temptation, for wo-
men worship the conquering hero
whether in war. politics or finance.
Aside from any personal characteristics
that may have endeared him 30 her,
Clara Smith worsl. pped the big man
in the colonel" a weakness il you
want 10 call 1t that, which is char
acteristic Of all feminine women.
When an Illicit love has its be-
ginning it is bright with glamour and
roseate with promise OF future de-
lights Conscience. the still small
voice" is stifled by passion. The man
will promise his beloved anything,
everything, so great is her power over
him. He will let her believe that
sooner or later he will secure his
freedom and marry her, though at
that very time he knows deep down
In his heart that such a thing will be
impossible. She knows ito 100. but as
Clara Smith says in her diary, she
cannot think; she will not let her
self think.
why does not woman who has
committed herself 10 a shameful bar
gain quii II, where there il yet timer"
scores Of men and women have asked
during the past week. The answer
il that she can't quit it. In quitting
OF her own volition, she has everything
to lose and nothing to gain. The die
Is cast and woman who has placed
herself in such a terrible situation
lives on hope-just rs Clara Smith
lived on hope. Always she is expect
ing q miracle and miracles do not
often happen. particularly TO those
STEPPED in sin.
In all the gamut OF human emotion,
life holds no agony comparable TO
that which such women as Clara
Smith suffer. Nothing 10 them is a
compensation - money. opportunity.
pleasure or even love. itself. A love
that overleaps all bounds and all
bonds, brings In its train inevitable
torment. The knowledge that she has
broken the law of God and man, that
an innocent woman and her children
have been made 10 suffer-kecnly
enough IL there is no difficulty about
money, thousand times more II
means poverty for the first woman.
involves untold anguish for the in
triguing woman, the anguish OF re-
morse. Then she must suffer the NOR
tiflcations and humiliations OF a wo-
man in her position. Worse yet, as
with the passing years, she struggles
to draw the man closer and closer
to her, he inevitably moves away: He
grows weary, or his work and his
career claim him. Then she becomes
absurdly jealous and her love can
not bo satisfied. At least, her stu
alton becomes so hateful, - painful
to her, that she is beside herself.
seif-disgust IL eating into her soul
like corrosive acid, and half the
time she IL made % wonder whether