The Bismarck tribune. [volume] (Bismarck, N.D.) 1916-current, 1931-03-11
A DANGEROUS Apl

n DANGEROUS age
News stories which come over the wires from all parts
Of the nation bring home to every parent the fact that
this is a dangerous age in which we live.
From San Diego, Calf, comes information that the
body of a 10-year-old school girl is found, horribly
mutlated. She disappeared q month ago while on her
way to school and was never heard from again.
Also from San Diego comes the first bits Of informa-
ton Of what may be q national scandal. The case has
not been fully developed but when the facts become
known they may be too shocking to justify their presenta-
ton in a family newspaper.
Already, however, several wealthy men are being ques-
toned to determine what they know about the opera
tions OF a "love market" In which young girls were paired
off with wealthy pleasure seekers. One official, &C
cording to the always conservative Associated Press.
and beauty"
Down in Indiana a youth on trial for his life, charged
with the murder of a girl following unspeakable de-
hatchery and degradation, Is convicted.
The evidence presented to that jury might make even
the most hardened sinner quail.
Altogether, these incidents form as dark q picture as
one would care to look upon. At first glance they
might be taken as indisputable evidence that vice and
immortality are rampant In the land and that morality
and decency are only fables to modern youth.
The picture is dark enough, to be sure, but even though
we should take due heed, there is no cause for unrea-
soning alarm.
Fiends such as the one who murdered and mutilated
little Virginia Brooks have existed in every age and in
every land. That one should exist now is more lamen-
table than remarkable. Numerous such incidents might
have occurred not so many years ago and the world
never know of them, for means Of spreading the news are
better now than they were then.
Love markets such as that which is suspected OF
existing in California are not new to the world. 1t Is an
advance for civilization that they have been forced to
operate secretly, rather than publicly, as once was the
case.
The hair rises on the backs of our necks with horror
and resentment as we read Of the matter and each of us
hopes that stern and unrelenting justice will be meted
out to the offenders. This, too, marks an advance for
civilization, for callousness once was more common than
now.
We cannot gainsay the facts Of history. Such markets
have existed in other places and in other times and
were much more bold than this one in California ap-
pears to have been.
The Indiana case is something apart. It seems to
have within itself the essence Of all that Is bad and
against which decent people have fought through the
ages. But there have been similar occurrences In nearly
every land and in nearly every age.
All Of the crimes mentioned have been against young
womanhood and they are enough to make any father
sick at the thought OF what his own daughter must face
as she journeys through the world. Hardly a parent
reads of these occurrences without raising up a silent
prayer that his own flesh and blood will be spared such
tragic experiences. And because one never knows what
the next day will bring forth, they are among the most
sincere prayers which rise toward the great white throne.
But the fact that these outrageous occurrences are
front page news is encouraging. That they are uncom-
mon occurrences only serves to emphasize the fact that
there are millions of clean and decent boys and girls in
the American we know. The percentage of those who are
otherwise is very small.
Events such as these are still rare enough to be sen
sational. We should give thanks for that.
Truly, this is an age in which the dangers to youth
have multiplied but the opportunities Of youth to do
worthwhile things have multiplied also. Now as always,
much depends upon the individual boy and girl-and
upon their parents.