The evening herald. (Klamath Falls, Or.) 1906-1942, 1922-12-07
STOP THIS POISON!

- oRTLAND's Parent Teacher
council should have the back
,ng of every father. mother and
ed sea,or-and every deeent-minded
ci,isen--ln their campaign to elm
inato from the news stands the So
called spicy" magazines. The term
itself is a ,nisnomer. for the spice
OF life does not lie in suggestive
ness and REQ king prurieuee.
- The reai plce OF living. the true
10y comes from the clouds and no,
from the gutter.
But the term Identifies the class
Of modern periodicals that we arc
discussing nv well as any available
~ we Identified them further. In
Language that actually describes
them. the result would prob5aly be
the barring I Tho Herald from
the mails.
And. by the way. the mails are
elosed 10 most Of the putrid stuff
We arc talking about. One OF tho
frs. n cps to stop the fetid flow.
which is constantly increasing In
volume. might bo an appeal to the
iuterxta.e commerce commission for
n rulinty TO prohibit the transpor-
tation a. indecent reading matter
by any carrier.
There is a law defining indecent
literature and pcnalizing It's sale.
II was eccntly invoked in sacra-
nento an the proprietors OF half
q dozen news stands. doing
brisk bus mess in contraband "lit-
srature" With high school boys and
girls. paid stiff fines and had their
spicy ware confiscated.
But as the district attorney OF
Muitnomah county advised the Par
ent-Teachens in their campaign.
perhaps mo re good can be accom-
piished by cooperation with the
news deaierii than by immediate
prosecutions. T
We verify believe that few of
the news vef,dors know the pols-
ouous nature Of the stuff they are
handing out. They have no time
10 read all magazines. Most OF
them handle the magazines that
there Is q demand for. and un-
fortunately Their, scenes 20 be the
same sort OF demand for the spicy
magazine that there Is for bootleg
liquor.
Had we a child and were forced
70 choose. we honestly believe that
we would let the youngster exper-
iment with the bootlegger's poison.
rather than with pornosraphic poi
son enclosed between the covers OF
the "racy." "saucy." "snappy" and
"true" story types. Mark these
adjectives well. Wherever you see
them on q magazine cover you are
gazing mt a grinning skull and
crossbones.
Pornographic writing for porne-
cTubtiC TcautiS. ihae e'' ""
your boy and girl do not. belong
In that classs ~ :. s.
We detest prudery and are bor-
ed to distraction by the prudish. We
think that young people are en-
titled to frank explanations in al
things.
But the wise parent does not
entrust the elementary elucldation
of life's mysteries to any other
mind than his or her own. This
is portion of the child's eduea-
tion that must begin in the home,
and be followed by judicious cours-
es In the schools.
The Herald has never advocated
with more heartfelt earnestness or
sincere desire not TO be misunder-
stood, any movement than this
movement started by the Portland
Parent-Teacher association. The
cleanup should not be confined to
Portland. II should be statewide]
and nationwide.
The, yellzsprlngs OF life are een-
taminated. and society is suffer
Ing untold harm from this source,
We submit as our share in Ma
tionsi Educational Week to the
parents and teachers OF klamath
Falls. that here is chance to some
very necessary and very important
educational work, by summarily re-
moving from the reach of Inform
cd minds q dangerous detriment
10 their unfolding to their fullest
flower of development.