THE PURITY MOVEMENT
BY B. S. STEADWELL
President of the World’s Purity Federation and Editor of “The Light.”
=The greatest evil.=--Wonder is often expressed these days at the very
rapid growth and rise of the movement known as “The Social Purity
Movement,” or as stated from its negative side, as is done most
frequently, as the movement for the “Suppression of the White Slave
Traffic and Public Vice.” The real wonder is that the world has not
risen long before this in one mighty, well-directed effort to stamp out
forever and annihilate its one worst enemy; for impurity is and always
has been the greatest enemy and most relentless foe of mankind. In its
modern and commercialized aspects it embodies in itself every evil in
the category of sin and crime. It has brought more direct loss to the
world and more acute suffering to human hearts than all other evils
combined. Whether it is dealing with an individual, a community, a state
or a nation, its finished product is always a wreck. It has literally
filled the world with disease, with despair and with death.
=Its only excuse.=--Impurity or immorality finds expression in a public
sense in the Social Evil or prostitution, the only known excuse for
which is the plea that it has always existed, is a necessary evil and
hence cannot be suppressed but must remain, under such regulatory
measures as may be adopted. There are those of us, however, who believe
that this is a false theory, not well founded in fact, and that as other
great evils, in favor of which the same suave arguments were made, have
from time to time been wiped out, even so can this ogre of public vice
be suppressed. It is not claimed that all private or clandestine vice
can be entirely annihilated, but its public phase can be and must be
up-rooted if civilization is to advance. There are those who even now
prophesy that America in licentiousness and graft is going the way of
ancient nations long since dead, and that her days are numbered if these
evils are not speedily checked.
=Two colossal blunders.=--The scope of this article will not permit going
into the history of the Social Evil, or, indeed, taking up the history
of the movement that has risen to combat it, but in order to form a
foundation for the discussion we must call attention to the two colossal
blunders which have perpetuated this evil throughout past centuries and
enabled it to
[Illustration: B. S. STEADWELL.--President World’s Federation of Purity,
and Editor of “The Light.”]
attain to its present proportions. These questions may be discussed with
even greater fullness in other pages of this book, but it is fitting
that attention be directed to them here.
=False modesty.=--The first mistake which was made in dealing with this
particular evil was to place a ban of silence upon it, upon everything
that could refer to it, and upon our whole sexual relations, nature and
life. The results were not happy. Nothing could have been done more
conducive to the growth of the evil. It brought in and developed the
reign of false modesty, of prudery. Concealment is not cure. This evil
craves darkness rather than light, and thrives upon silence and secrecy.
A Turkish missionary wrote me some years ago that in his country where
women must appear with their faces completely covered, the grossest
immoralities were practiced by wives, undetected, in the very presence
of their own husbands. Many of our present-day customs in pleasures and
dress which form strong temptations for our young men and young women,
are a direct result of this “conspiracy of silence.” Here is a
foundation stone upon which the whole miserable system of immorality
rests.
=The double standard of morals.=--The second great error which has
fostered the evil is that known as the “double standard of morals,”
making the world act as though it believed that what was very wrong and
unforgivable in a woman, was not only permissible but a necessity in a
man. Undoubtedly the originator of this very logical line of reasoning
was a man. Woman, if one false step is taken, one breath of scandal
uttered against her, must forever wear the scarlet letter, or else she
must be sacrificed to perpetuate the very evil that has overtaken her;
while man may live in lust and if this alone be his sin, retain his
highest social privileges and standing. Without question this double
standard of morals has been the most stupendous outrage ever foisted
upon any part of the human race. It was accomplished at a time when “man
was king” and so slowly, and carefully and cunningly did he plan it,
that it has not only withstood the test of time and continued to thrive,
but it has not too infrequently gained woman as its advocate, until we
often hear, and sometimes not without cause, that “woman is the worst
enemy of ‘fallen’ girls.” With these two weapons, the conspiracy of
silence and the double standard of morals, licentiousness has marched
steadily onward until it has conquered the civilized world so far as
asserting its right to life is concerned.
=The commercialization of the social evil.=--But to these two errors which
have formed so strong a fortress to the Social Evil, must be added in
more recent times a third support, one which many students of the
question believe is the leading factor at present in the whole accursed
business,--_commercialization_. The Social Evil to-day is raised to the
standard of a business. It is conducted in all of its ramifications for
gain. It has simply taken on the spirit of this money-getting age. Its
real motive is gain, greed, gold. It is very largely a man’s business,
too, run by men for the profit there is in it, and in our country those
who are directly connected with the traffic are in the main foreigners.
The White Slave Traffic, about which we hear so much these days, is a
direct result of this commercialization. Girls are actually sold into
dens of vice. Only recently have these terrible facts been substantiated
and the methods of the traffickers known, and until the past few years
the charges that there was a traffic in women and girls for immoral
purposes, have not been credited or believed by the great majority of
people. During the past few weeks under the direction of the United
States Department for the Suppression of the White Slave Traffic, more
than fifty men and women have been convicted and imprisoned for this
very crime, and scores of indictments have been found against others.
This scatters all doubt about there being such a trade. During the past
few years evidence of the traffic has been so complete through the
investigations of individuals, grand juries, vice commissions, and
congressional investigating
[Illustration: T. ALBERT MOORE, D.D.--Secretary Moral and Social Reform
Council of Canada, and Second Vice-President, World’s Federation of
Purity.]
committees, that there is no longer any question as to the traffic or
its extent. The problem now is, how to suppress it the most effectively
and speedily. It is asserted by a United States official that fully
50,000 men in the United States are living off the earnings of women of
shame and in selling girls into vice.
=Others who profit from the traffic in virtue.=--But the buying and
selling of women for immoral purposes is not the only way that financial
profit is made from it. It was discovered in a certain city recently
that an old house that would rent for ordinary purposes for $12.00 per
month, was bringing $165.00 as a house of ill-fame. Landlords profit
from the traffic. Liquor dealers profit from the traffic. In the same
way but possibly to a lesser degree certain merchants, druggists,
lawyers, doctors, professional bondsmen, gamblers and divers criminals
profit financially from the nefarious traffic in virtue.
=The extent of the evil.=--The extent of the Social Evil in the United
States is not definitely known. Surveys of cities have been very
carefully made at times, and at the present time our Federal Department
for the suppression of the traffic is conducting a very careful census
of the women in houses of shame throughout the United States. When this
is completed we may know more certainly as to statistics. The writer
after a most careful and thorough investigation in 1898, estimated the
number of girls and women in houses of shame in our country at 300,000.
This figure has been very generally accepted and used, and from recent
investigations it is evident that the number has not decreased. The
lives of women in houses of shame averages five years. They do not all
die within this time, though many of them do succumb to the horrors of
the life and accompanying disease, drugs and drink in much less time.
Some leave the life for honorable work or return home, a few are
married, some are rescued, but whatever the cause of their departure
from the miserable life, this one thing is sure,--for every one that
gets out a fresh victim is required to take her place. Accepting these
estimates as correct, we see 60,000 girls and women are required each
year to provide for the constant demand of the public houses of shame.
More than 2,000,000 men and boys are the patrons and consorts of these
women, ruining morals, health and happiness, and this is one of the most
deplorable phases of the whole system. The profits from vice in the
United States are beyond estimate, but are known to run up into the
billions of dollars annually. The Chicago Vice Commission estimated the
profits from vice in Chicago alone as $15,000,000 yearly.
=Why past movements have failed.=--This is the Social Evil as we have
found it in the past and as it is to-day, together with the fundamental
causes that are back of it. Movements have sprung up during past
centuries to stamp it out or at least to limit and control it. Rulers
from Moses to Charlemagne have attempted to deal with the problems which
it presents. These efforts in the past have failed largely because they
sought reform through dealing with the women of shame only and thus was
recognized and fostered one of the principal causes of the evil itself.
=Why the modern movement is more effective.=--During the past sixty years
there has developed the modern purity movement which has sought relief
from the ravages of vice through a careful study of the evil and the
application of such principles and remedies as would meet the situation
effectively. This movement has been very rapid in growth not only in
Europe and America but in all civilized countries. Even Japan has its
book, “The Social Evil in Japan,” which not only reveals conditions
there but also gives an account of the various organizations that are
endeavoring to suppress public vice, and appeals for such legislation
and education as will forever make the old régime impossible. While
space will not permit us to treat historically of the origin of this
movement or even to mention briefly those who founded it, we desire here
to record our profound admiration for the early workers in this great
cause. The “conspiracy of silence” was then in full operation. The
faithful men and women who first stepped out from the beaten paths and
espoused the cause of the “fallen” girl, were far more brave than he who
faces midst the excitement of battle the cannon’s mouth. These pioneer
men and women whose hearts had been wrung by the atrocities practiced
upon the victims of vice, the utter despair in homes disrupted, and the
agony of lives diseased and ruined, were socially ostracized, they were
brought before courts, churches were closed to them, friends deserted
them, mobs awaited them, all because they chose to set the slaves of
vice free and to proclaim the truth. But still they were true, laboring
faithfully on until to-day no movement for the uplift of society has a
more general following and devoted leaders. All honor to the pioneers in
the purity movement!
=Men are as guilty as women.=--The purposes of the present purity movement
have been strongly hinted at in the statement of the causes which have
produced the commercialized Social Evil of to-day. Workers now realize
that if the dangers and evils of prostitution and public vice are to be
reduced to a minimum, that vicious men must be dealt with as well as the
women and that spasmodic raids and clean-ups and sensational methods and
literature must have no part in the program. The methods employed must
be both safe and sane and systematically continued for an indefinite
time. The “conspiracy of silence” must be broken, but not by going to
the opposite extreme; the “double standard of morals” must be banished
forever, not by lowering the standard for women, but by raising the
standard for men; and through legislation and the strict enforcement of
law, the commercialization of the Social Evil must be made impossible.
This programme is sure to result in success if the movement can attract
leaders who are sincere, religiously normal and sound, and who will
follow methods that are safe and sane. Great evils must be met with
great movement if success is really desired, and therefore this movement
must not be exclusive but should be large enough to reach and influence
the great mass of our people. These remedies will effectively suppress
the Social Evil if systematically applied, not instantaneously, evils
are not up-rooted in that way, but by a gradual process of elimination
that in the end will mean annihilation. The remedies proposed may be
briefly outlined under the following heads: Education, Legislation, and
Rescue Work.
=Education.=--We believe that every child should receive all possible
knowledge, imparted in a pure and wholesome manner at proper periods,
concerning the purposes, problems and perils of sex. The ideal place
[Illustration: AMERICAN PURITY CONFERENCE.--Touring Party at New
Orleans]
to give this instruction being the home and the ideal instructor the
parent, but where this is impracticable, as it is in most homes of
to-day because most parents are ignorant of these subjects, the church,
the school, and special instructors should be utilized. Most
high-charactered physicians are fully able to impart such knowledge
wisely. Normal schools should prepare teachers generally for teaching
the subject of sexology. Through parents’ meetings, fathers and mothers
can be prepared so they may at least answer the questions of their
children pertaining to these subjects. The Church and Sunday School with
their strong religious and spiritual atmosphere, furnish almost an ideal
setting for teaching this subject to best advantage to the young. The
instruction should fully set forth the dangers and perils in impurity
and thus give the needed warnings, as well as portray the beauty,
healthfulness and happiness of the pure life. Falsehoods or deception as
to where the baby came from, or any other fact pertaining to the sex
nature or function, should never be tolerated for a moment. The public
should be made acquainted with the nature and dangers of the diseases of
vice, venereal plagues, and told that much of our physical suffering is
due to these loathsome maladies. Ignorance is largely responsible in
permitting the Social Evil to exist. It must be displaced with
knowledge. The double standard of morals must be fought, and men who
are impure given to know that they cannot continue in sin without losing
their social standing.
=Methods of education.=--There are hundreds of organizations in the world
to-day, a part of this great purity movement, engaged in promoting sex
education. Some of them possibly may not be working in the wisest way,
but as the work is yet in its pioneer days the only way to learn is
through trying, and as the public conscience is being thoroughly stirred
and countless numbers of our best men and women are studying the
problem, we can rest assured that in time ideal methods will be evolved.
Physicians who but a few years back were almost a unit in teaching the
necessity doctrine for men, to-day are organizing and promoting the very
highest and best education. Many denominational churches are
establishing purity departments, while Sunday Schools are entering
heartily into the great work. Many Normal schools and colleges and
private institutions of learning are adopting special instruction in
sexology. Parents’ meetings are being held everywhere to promote the
cause. Many who have felt a special call to the work are devoting their
whole time to lecturing and the preparations of books on these subjects.
Prof. T. W. Shannon, of Missouri, the author of this book, is one of the
best known of these specialists. Such societies as the White Cross for
young men and the White Shield for young women, and departments in
women’s clubs, temperance organizations, Christian associations, and
church federations, are aiding splendidly in the furthering of this
cause.
=Legislation.=--Much has been done and very much more can be done to
lessen the evils of vice through the enactment of suitable laws and the
strict enforcement of law. Those who make a business of vice must be
adequately punished whether they are engaged in buying and selling
girls, living off the blood-money of vicious women, renting property at
exorbitant prices, or securing an income and support from the detestable
business in any other way. The stage, the press and the street must be
purified. Amusements, excursions, and playgrounds should be properly
supervised. Immoral literature and obscene pictures must be banished.
Social and economic life must be improved. The hours of labor must be
shortened, wages must be raised, a minimum wage insisted upon, sanitary
conditions in factories and shops must be improved, employment must be
assured to all. The Age of Consent should be at least eighteen years in
every State. Segregated and tolerated vice districts should be
abolished. Those who decoy either girls or boys into disorderly houses,
or seek to initiate them into lives of sin, should be severely punished.
Every possible protecting measure in law should be thrown about our
boys and girls, our young men and young women to shield them from the
temptations of vice.
=Law enactment and law enforcement.=--It is encouraging to note the many
good laws that have been passed by our several States and by our
National Government during the past few years in line with the above
suggestions. Our Federal White Slave Traffic Act, together with the
Department that has been established for the suppression of the white
slave traffic, is an exceedingly strong piece of legislation, and in
conjunction with various State laws against pandering, will suppress in
time this awful trade in girls. Age of Consent legislation, ordinances
against immoral shows, regulation of public dances and other amusements,
and hundreds of other measures, are good laws. It is stated by many
reformers that we now have sufficient law to suppress these evils
entirely, but that our failure to do so is due to the fact that the laws
are not enforced. To remedy this very serious defect law enforcement
campaigns are now on in many of the leading cities, and these efforts
are rapidly spreading to smaller places. Such campaigns sincerely
conducted, will in time lead to the strict enforcement of law in
America. It has recently been suggested that every State should organize
a bureau or commission for the suppression of public vice and the
enforcement of laws against the crimes of vice. If this can be
accomplished, it is quite certain to lead to a better enforcement of
these particular laws.
=Rescue work.=--Purity work had its very inception in the rescue of girls
and women from houses of shame. It was in connection with this work that
the facts pertaining to the methods of organized vice were first
uncovered. There are in the United States at the present time probably
two hundred and fifty rescue homes for erring girls and women. Unmarried
mothers are cared for in many of these homes while the girl who has gone
wrong may find shelter and protection in them if she is repentant and
sincerely desires to return to a virtuous life. Where houses of shame
are closed or segregated districts abolished, it is but humane that the
inmates of these resorts be cared for until they can be taught some
trade or work that will give them support. Many workers believe that the
State should erect model homes for the reception and care of all such
girls. Many of the rescue homes now running are under the direction of
the Church, or other Christian or religious society. We should remember
that in the redemption of every erring girl, we not only gain her but
accomplish much in the prevention and destruction of public vice if we
can prevent another girl from taking her place in the underworld. It is
thus largely a preventive work. Every purity worker who is sincere,
believes heartily in rescue work that is wisely and carefully
prosecuted.
=A personal invitation--Come and battle with us.=--This in brief is the
purity movement as it has developed and as we find it to-day battling
for all that makes for a higher standard of purity in the life of the
individual and in social and civic relations, creating a sentiment, a
purity literature and an army of well-equipped workers that will make it
forever impossible to return to the days of ignorance and prudery that
have always existed on matters of self and sex. It proclaims the right
of every child to be well born and the right to be followed through life
with such an environment and training as will assure the very best
development and highest attainment. This is all it asks. Is it too much
to strive for? Surely we could not be content with less and be true to
the intelligence and soul-life that is ours! No cause since time began
has had more to offer to those who enter its ranks than this. It appeals
to every true man and woman to help carry its standards to victory, and
then when ignorance shall have been abolished by knowledge, vice
eradicated by virtue, disease displaced by health, and _darkness_
dispelled by _light_, there shall be ushered in that Day of Days when
man shall be supremely happy because he is pure.
INDEX
PAGE
Abortion, a mother’s testimony, 473
Adolescence, early, 143
Adolescent, period of boy, 204
Age, a sad old, 45
Air, effects of foul, 284
Alcoholic, effects of fathers, 480
Animals, baby, 108
Ant and Bee, devoid of love, 105
Asylum, a visit to, 487
Atavism, 442;
examples of, 442
B
BABY animals, 108;
birds, 105;
fish, 100;
oysters, 99;
let alone, 55
BATH, air, 285;
air for men, 372;
cold and warm, 279;
cold, easy inure one’s self to, 280;
the friction, 281;
effects on beauty, 279
BEAUTY, architects of, 276;
and sex nature, 162;
building through bath, 279;
hair, face and teeth, 289;
relation of air to, 283;
some musts and must nots, 164;
substitute for physical, 164;
two kinds of, 162
Bible and Heredity, 400
BIRDS, baby, 105;
beginning of love, 104
Birth, 263
BIRTH MARKS, 494;
only nervous mothers, 494;
materialistic puzzle, 495;
an experience with government, 495;
an explanation of, 496;
effect of constant mental repetition, 497;
how to prevent, 497;
example of crawfish, 498;
example of mole, 498;
example of amusing case, 502;
example of sympathy, 501;
example of anger, 499;
example of discussed, 500;
a sad case, 502;
child marked twice, 503
Blind children, 326
Books, advice concerning, 230
BOY, the problem of, 34;
should be treated differently than sister, 34;
should be taught to work, 34;
enjoys making money, 34;
future vocation, 36;
moral training should be same as sister, 37;
should play with girls, 38;
companions of, 38;
going to college, 40;
how one tried to be a man, 174;
adolescent period, 204;
struck girl, 159
BOYS, should protect girls, 214;
may injure themselves, 195;
can live pure, 205;
who make men, 181;
why tempted, 179;
a class of dangerous, 161;
true and pure, 161;
need training, 173;
want to be men, 174;
do not know effects of secret sin, 198
BOYS and GIRLS should play together, 157;
social nature, 157;
similar information needed, 122
BOYS and MEN sap their life, 198
Bravery, the truest, 213
Breasts, the, 135
C
Caponized male bird, 219
Change in life, man or woman, 542
Change in reproductive system, 538
CHANGE of LIFE, age when occurs, 534;
other names for, 535;
duration of, 535;
evidence of, 536;
nature of, 535;
some precautions, 537;
some physical disorders, 537;
minor indications of, 544;
positive indications of, 544;
two advantages of, 545;
in man, not unfortunate, 544;
in woman, mysteries made clear, 534
CHASTITY, basis of genuine love, 443;
value of in marriage, 438
CHILD, first born, 20;
the training of, 47;
each must be studied, 48;
give something to do, 56;
first idea of wrongdoing, 56;
vital parts of education neglected, 67;
scolding and threatening, 59;
praised for asking about self, 87;
told gradually regarding self, 88;
not exact duplicate of either parent, 426;
resembles both parents, 426;
when moral training should begin, 429;
how to prevent marking, 497
CHILDREN, study of disposition, 50;
importance of early training, 49;
one million adrift, 78;
new way to instruct, 81;
differ in the same home, 417;
why some are alike and others differ, 419;
products of blind chance, 429;
robbed of birthright, 430;
clear bill of health to, 435;
inheriting low vitality, 436;
few well born, 446;
rights should come first, 546;
of senile men defective, 546
CHILDHOOD, importance of physical training in, 52;
importance of mental training in, 53;
importance of moral training in, 54;
social conditions change, 63;
knowledge of self important, 63;
confidence of, 64;
the inquisitiveness of, 65;
the unsatisfied mind of, 66
Christ, need of, 411
Cigarette, habit, 180
Colds, prevented, 373
Company, bad, 214
Conception, need of rest before, 450
Condiments, use of, 53
CONFIDENCE, of boys, destroyed by parents, 76;
of girl, destroyed by mother, 76
Confidential social advice, 160
Consumption, 436
Consumption and cancer, 436
CONTINENCE, sexual necessity theory of, 314;
biological law of, 315;
views of unreliable doctors, 315;
does not destroy virility, 315
Cousins, marriage of, 438
CREATIVE LIFE, nature and value of, 189;
how to direct and conserve, 238
Criminal, a born, 461
Curiosity, how to satisfy morbid, 122
D
DANCE, why attractive, 232;
secret of hold on society, 233;
a menace of society, 233;
other objections, 235;
right information needed regarding, 235
Dancing, in itself not sinful, 232
Dance halls and picture shows, 573
Daughter, be companion to, 126
DEGENERACY, is there a remedy, 410;
indications of constitutional, 435;
two causes of, 476
DEGENERATES, what shall be done with, 475;
many are diseased, 476;
companion to, 435
Diet, 288
DIVORCE, problem of, 468;
an Arkansas woman, 520;
on increase, 522;
not cause of wrecked homes, 524
Diseases, genito urinary, 548
DRUNKARDS, 436;
home, 482
E
Edwards, Jonathan, family of, 399
EMBRYO, relation between mother and, 261;
maternal attention, 262
ENERGY, the creative, 135;
a chance to conserve, 546
ENGAGEMENTS, long, 243;
of young men, 334
ENVIRONMENT, good, greatest blessing, 407;
as potential as heredity, 515;
value of early, 515
Ethics of engaged young women, 242
EUNUCHS, 193;
sex energy of, 219
EXERCISE, the elixir of youth, 286;
in open air, 287
F
Family, an ideal, 432
FAMILY TROUBLES, how solved, 22;
relation too, children, 26
FATHER, how one failed in sex instructions, 70;
son’s natural teacher, 166;
looks after son’s education, 167;
who holds to unethical ideals, 168;
the model, 168;
should not be suspicious but watchful, 172;
transmit to sons more than to daughters, 491
Fathers, iniquities visited on children, 401
Fatherhood, the importance of, 166
FEEBLE MINDED, marriage of, 479;
burden of, 506
FEMALE ORGANS, information concerning, 136;
advice concerning, 137
FISH, story of baby, 100;
why lay so many eggs, 101;
all are orphans, 102;
do not pair off, 102
Friendship and love, 333
G
Germ cell, the, 413
GIRL and BOY, similar information needed, 122;
social nature, 157;
should play together, 157
GIRL, and her father, 41;
and her mother, 41;
and her brother, 42;
first and most valuable training, 44;
the independent, 45, 519;
wise instruction needed, 124;
a confidential talk, 126;
have been little all these years, 130;
an interesting change, 138;
new social desires, 143;
why want a chum, 143;
needs two chums, 144;
choosing the right chum, 144;
the wise, 145;
boy struck, 159;
vanity of, 162;
in period of transition, 226;
should consult mother, 247;
if driven from home, 249;
wronged, a real living incident, 250;
blinded by double standard, 254;
was she scarlet or white, 255;
maternal instinct of, 264;
the independent, 264;
the modern, 518
GIRLHOOD, 237;
comes but once, 161
GIRLS, sixty thousand lost annually, 80;
should be treated as your sister, 213;
association with young men, 237;
should demand single standard of morals, 239;
why they go wrong, 245;
homes for unfortunate, 248
GONORRHEA, 324;
discovery of disease germs of, 324
Gonorrheal rheumatism, 325
H
Heart trouble caused by excess, 548
Heaven, ante room to, 33
HEREDITY, versus environment, 396;
applied by the Romans, 396;
Plato’s views, 397;
genius is, 398;
Max Jukes, 399;
Jonathan Edwards, 399;
the potency of, 400;
and Bible, 400;
a modern proof, 405, 406;
who is responsible, 406;
morbid and bad environment, 406;
relation of three agencies, 410;
race can be improved by, 411;
an objection answered, 420;
materialistic theory fails, 421;
explained, 423;
who is to blame, 425;
mothers advantage of, 428;
right of child good, 445;
and moral tendencies, 514;
agencies of improvement, 512;
received at birth, 512;
parental responsibility, 514;
environment and Christ, 516;
a critic answered, 386;
in plant life, 391
Hereditary, degeneracy, kinds of, 164
HOME, the childless, 21;
childless made happy, 21;
father head of, 24;
a good substitute for, 30;
should come first, 33;
unit of government, 47;
function of, 51;
punishment in, 57;
threatened, 471;
a drunkard’s, 482
Home and school defects in, 51
Homeliness, how to correct some kinds of, 164
Homicide and suicide, 482
House keeper, a good, 31
HUSBAND, relation to wife, 24;
to furnish financial support, 25;
to furnish moral support, 26;
to love wife, 26;
considerate young, 335
HUSBAND and WIFE, equal partners, 29;
how they differ, 29
I
Ignorance, a degrading form of, 543
Illegitimate father, danger of becoming, 321
Imbecile, Spitzka’s view, 477
Imbecile question, solution of, 477
Immoral women dangerous, 323
Immorality, who is to blame, 80
IMPREGNATION, 258;
symptoms of, 263
Imperfection of plants and animals, 195
Impure thinking, effects of, 207
Impure thoughts, what produces, 223
INCONTINENCE, two forms of, 313;
a false idea about, 313;
effects of, on marriage, 317
Influence, the law of, 51
Inheritance, our mental possibilities, 513
Intemperance and crime, 484
J
Jukes Max, family of, 399
K
Knight, the true young, 211
Knighthood, will you enlist in new, 216
L
Lasciviousness, transmissible, 462
Letter writing, of young women, 241
LIFE, why we do not talk about, 90;
how a mother told story to boy of, 111;
a vine robbed of, 196;
begins with a cell, 259;
the creative, 309;
how to build creative, 310;
creative, built into greater mind, 311;
creative built into social and moral, 312;
is real, 413;
is a unit, 421;
planning for ideal, 445;
important periods of, 540;
a large, 545;
the latter half of, 539
LOVE, and friendship, 333;
tested, 443;
tests of truth, 16
M
MAN, if you would be perfect, 194;
original development under two agencies, 407;
his fall, 407;
need of third agency, 408;
relation to the past, 416;
change of life not unfortunate, 544
MANHOOD, if venerealized consult a Dr., 343;
money and pleasure, 395;
agencies necessary to perfect, 409
MANHOOD, regained, 338;
pathological condition, 341;
hinderances and helps, 341;
facts to be understood, 342
MANHOOD, wrecked, the diagnosis, 339;
causes of wrong thinking, 340
MARRIAGE, basis incentives for, 15;
other incentive for, 16;
means motherhood, 30;
sometimes a farce, 30;
hasty, 243;
civil and divine institution, 525;
of old men, 546;
promises by white slavers, 577;
effects of immature, 437;
difference as to age in, 437;
into criminal families, 437;
wealth should have no influence, 438;
of cousins, 438;
basis of, 443;
primal purpose of, 453, 531;
new laws needed, 470;
laws, how enforced, 471;
effects of bad customs, 471;
effects of feeble minded, 479;
desired qualification of, 480;
anxiety of girl’s parents for, 519, 520;
customs have changed, 518;
lax laws in this country, 521;
better customs and laws needed, 521
Married people should understand sexology, 464
MASCULINE and feminine principles, 414;
women and feminine men, 438
MATERNITY, not an affliction, 531;
why regarded as, 533
Men and boys sap their life, 198
MEN, many defective, 196;
young, many indiscreet or immoral, 239;
few perfect, 337;
wrecked minds of, 338;
kept from Christ, 338
Medicine, 52
MENSTRUATION, 139;
how made regular and painless, 140;
physical, mental and moral changes, 140;
meaning of, 141;
function of, 532
Mental states, 423
Mismated, 16, 441
Mind, relation to salivary glands, 221
MISTAKE, of the past, 67;
the minister, 253
Modesty--false, 602
Morals, double standard of, 602
MOTHER, important advice to, 128;
should be true to child, 249;
larger hereditary influence proven, 428;
the society, 450;
preparation for parental training, 457
MOTHER and CHILD, moral right to father’s name, 255;
vitality one, 496
MOTHERHOOD, may not expose her sin, 246;
may expose her sin, 246;
sublime miracle of, 258;
ideal perfect body essential, 264;
training for, 265;
enslaved curse of age, 553;
practical dietetics, 451;
rights of, 475
N
Nature, getting back to, 372
Neurotics, 436
No one had told her--poetry, 128
NOVEL, introduction, 225;
why girls are fond of, 225;
difference between good and bad, 226;
effects of the vicious, 227
Nuptial night of young man, 335
O
OFFSPRING, mental and moral states, 424;
effects of narcotics on, 451;
from drunkards defective, 483
Organs of gestation, relation of, to mind, 222
Organs of sex, what you should not do, 147
ORIGIN, perverted ideas of--example, 73;
questions of children regarding, 65
Ophthalmia, 325
Ovaries, location and function of, 133
Ovulation, 258
Oysters, story of baby, 99
P
PARENTS, the training of, 49;
should agree, 56;
the greatest blessing of, 408;
immature, 431;
effect of culture, 452;
suppressing evil tendencies, 452
PARENTHOOD, intellectual preparation for, 447;
physical preparation for, 448;
an invalid mother, 449;
morbid conditions transmissible, 449
Passion, meaning of, 210-310
PERSONAL LIBERTY, effects of, 485;
two more examples, 487;
versus rights of others, 488
PHYSICAL CULTURE, 291-303;
for men, importance of, 371;
for men, wild tribes, 372;
for men modern customs, 372;
Exercise--rules for, 374;
Exercise--value of, 374;
for men, exercises, 375-385
Physical ailments, common, 547
Physical disorder, 537
PLANTS, story of, 92;
the outer parts, 92;
the papa parts, 93;
the mamma parts, 93;
how the two natures unite, 94;
two natures not always in same flower, 95;
three methods of uniting natures, 97;
a wise plan regarding origin, 97
Poetry--No One Had Told Her, 128
PREGNANCY, first twenty-four hours, 259;
first thirty days, 260;
second thirty days, 261
Prenatal opportunities, 427
PRENATAL INFLUENCE, effects of mothers, 460;
effects of dishonesty, 460;
effects of anger, 460;
we are slow to learn, 462
PRENATAL TRAINING, one-half before birth, 454;
transmission of acquired, 454;
Dr. Fowler and Dr. Cowan on, 455:
an example of, 456;
mother’s preparation, 457;
father’s coöperation, 456;
order of, 456;
Example--inventive genius, 457;
Example--two girls, 458;
Example--golden hair, 459;
testimony of doctor, 459;
vitality determines results, 463;
G. Campbell Morgan on, 465;
Wesleyan Methodist on, 465;
Dr. Winfield Scott on, 465;
Prof. Riddle on, 466;
a suggestion, 468
Problem, divorce, 468
Procreative period in sexes, 532
Profanity, use of, 175
PROSTITUTION, men fallen as women, 318;
no less sin because of price, 319;
great physical risk, 320
Prostitution, its only excuse, 600
Prostate gland, information on, 325
Protected, inspected, neglected, 471
PUBERTY, 188;
pimples, 163;
treatment, 163
Pure man worthy of pure wife, 321
PURITY, three good rules, 59;
personal, 60;
a nation’s strength, 468
PURITY MOVEMENT, 599;
why past have failed, 607;
why modern is effective, 608;
Education in, 610;
methods of education, 613;
Legislation on, 614;
law enactment and enforcement, 615;
rescue work, 616;
personal invitation to assist in battle, 617
PUNISHMENT, in home, 57;
study offense in, 58;
corporal, 58
Q
QUESTIONS and ANSWERS on Sex for child, 117-122;
on vital questions for young women, 266-275;
on vital questions for young men, 345-370;
on vital questions for married and unmarried, 550-559
R
Race suicide, two kinds, 474
Reproduction, lower forms of life, 414
Reproduction, in man, 415
Reproductive system changes during change of life, 538
Right and wrong experiences, 89
S
School should teach bodily and mental purity, 567
Scolding and threatening, 59
SECRET SIN, how learned, 146;
moral effect of, 148;
physical effect of, 149;
letters concerning, 149;
when should boy be told, 171;
boys do not know injury, 198;
often commences early, 199;
how to keep from habit, 200;
some effects of habit, 200;
injures mind and morals, 201;
injures sexual organs, 201;
how to quit habit, 202
Self-respect lost, 321
Seminal weakness, hope for all, 343
Sex organs of boys, two functions of, 206
SEX, other purposes of, 305;
life, principles of, 415;
a resident part of life, 422;
female organs of, 132
SEXES, similar in change of, 528;
creative periods in, 532
Sex and social nature of girls, 158
Sex problems explained, 538
SEX ENERGY changes boy into man, 190;
example--two full brother colts, 191;
example--two full blooded chickens, 192;
ways of using, 208;
example--unsexed male horse, 218;
caponized male bird, 219;
eunuch, 219;
unsexed girl, 219;
for you to decide how used, 223
SEX HYGIENE, school instruction in, 560;
silence a failure, 561;
parents as instructors, 561;
school can teach laws, 563
SEX IGNORANCE, parents not responsible for, 71;
man as guilty as woman, 474
SEX INSTRUCTIONS, how a father failed in, 70;
how a teacher failed in, 70;
results of old method, 74;
how a child gets information, 74;
result of faults, 75;
how to introduce, 84;
how this can be done in schools, 86;
author’s experience, 87;
boy of ten, 123;
girl of ten, 124;
advantage of beginning early, 124;
female form, 125;
review of, 131;
for boy, how to proceed, 169
Sex knowledge, views of past, 218
Sex life, relation of reading to disposition of, 229
Sexology, newly married should understand, 466
SEXUAL desire begins to wane, 543;
discharge condition of, in unwell man, 190
SEXUAL GLANDS, two functions of, 220;
the continuous function of, 220
Sexual necessity, unanswerable argument against, 315
Sex life, nature of, 304
Sexuality and sensuality, 463
SEXUAL ORGANS, 185;
can be abused, 146;
why given, 182;
are not sinful, 182
Sexual system, names are pure, 183
SEX TRUTHS, two qualifications necessary to teach, 68;
instruction of children in past, 71;
desired by boys and girls, 77;
how shall a child be told, 81;
when shall a child be told, 82;
the ideal way to tell, 84;
teaching in public schools, 85
Sin, motherhood may not expose, 246
Skin, functions of, 371
Sleep, 289
Social and sex nature, relation of, 331
Social danger, 469
SOCIAL EVIL, two colossal blunders, 600;
commercialization of, 603;
why men are as guilty as women, 609
Social nature of young men, 331
Sowing wild oats, 431
Spitzka’s view of imbeciles, 477
Stricture, 324
Syphilis, 327;
three stages of 327;
innocent may be effected, 328;
examples, 328-329
T
Teacher, how he failed in sex instruction, 70
TEMPERAMENTS, 439;
motive, 439;
nervous, 440;
vital, 440;
like should not marry like, 440;
law of complements, 441
Testes, inflammation of, 325
TOBACCO, use of, 177;
habit and enormous evil, 53;
smoking by Dr. Pidduck, 490;
effects of, 490;
users, children of, 490;
where both parents use it, 491;
and degeneracy, 491
Training of perfect plant or animal, 173
Troubles in family, how solved, 22
Truest bravery, 213
TRUE KNIGHT, 211;
has one standard of morals, 215
Twins, 417
Twin brothers, 419
U
UNSEXED girl the, 219;
unsexed male horse, 218
Urinary organs, 184
V
Vagina, location and function of, 134
VENEREAL DISEASE, the bad cold fallacy, 322;
two principles, 322;
old as prostitution, 322;
medical attention, 323;
wife and children greatest sufferers, 325;
health certificate regarding, 328;
more dangerous than smallpox, 480;
victims, 481;
sterilization a remedy, 482;
avoid by frankness, 566
Virtue, men think less of than women, 318
Virtue of boys sacrificed, 80
W
Warning, a word of, 548
WHITE SLAVE TRAFFIC, 570;
devices of, 572;
cleverly worded advertisement, 573;
examplesof, 580;
greatest evil, 599
WHITE SLAVERY, how girls are retained, 581;
a national disgrace, 585;
power of Government to wipe out, 586;
use of mail in, 588;
laws inadequate, 589;
new laws needed, 590;
convictions and prosecution, 592;
others who profit by, 606;
extent of evil, 606
WIFE, should know value of dollar, 32;
keep herself attractive, 32;
be industrious, 32;
take interest in husband’s affairs, 32;
the helpmate, 333
WOMANHOOD, dawning of, 125;
a real transition, 127;
the charms of, 141
Womb, location and function of, 134
WOMEN, few go wrong by choice, 245-319;
young should be sensible, 240
WOMAN WRONGED, should she ever choose title of Mrs., 256;
necessary to tell child, 256;
should tell story to her
lover, 257;
when not necessary to confess wrong, 257;
a man’s appreciation of destroyed, 320
Y
YOUNG MAN, ethics after engagement, 334;
nuptial night of, 335
YOUNG MEN, many indiscreet or immoral, 239;
social nature of, 331;
pernicious custom of, 232;
engagements of, 334;
certain rights not yours, 334
YOUNG WOMEN, be sensible, 240;
letter writing of, 241;
“hands off” policy, 241;
ethics of engaged, 242;
advice to, 243-244
* * * * *
THE WHITE SLAVE TRAFFIC AND PUBLIC VICE CAN AND MUST BE ANNIHILATED.
THE LIGHT
OFFICIAL MAGAZINE OF THE WORLD’S PURITY FEDERATION.
B. S. STEADWELL, Editor
This wonderfully helpful magazine has been published for fifteen years
at La Crosse, Wisconsin, and has for its purpose the eradication of the
traffic in women, (White Slave Traffic), the suppression of public vice;
a higher and single standard of morality, and the safe and sane
instruction of our young in sex hygiene and the laws of life. It is
acknowledged everywhere to be the leading magazine of the world along
social purity lines. It tells exactly what our parents, teachers,
editors, doctors, pastors, evangelists, Sunday school workers, social,
civic and moral reformers, and our young men and young women ought to
know,--tells it in a pure, chaste way. It is a magazine that ought to be
in every home, in every library, and in every office.
I enclose my annual gift to =The Light= of $5.00. You are doing a glorious
work.--J. T. S. Williams, Iowa.
=The Light= has been of greater value to me than any other magazine I have
ever read.--Virgil L. Smith, Wisconsin.
Your last issue is one of the very best Christian magazines that I have
ever seen.--E. P. Miller, M. D., New York.
I can hardly wait for =The Light= to come. I wish it was printed every
week. May God bless you.--Mrs. Simpkins, California.
I wish I were able to put a copy of =The Light= in every home, especially
where there are young people.--Mrs. Nareganz, South Dakota.
In my work as Provincial Superintendent of Purity in the W. C. T. U., I
could not do without =The Light=.--Annie K. Thompson, Victoria, B. C.,
Canada.
I certainly do not want to give up =The Light=. I look for it as I do a
dear friend’s visit. It is one of the very best magazines I ever
saw.--Mrs. Ferris, California.
Nothing has helped me so much to live down temptations in college as =The
Light=. I can never be grateful and thankful enough to its editor.--J S.
Scriminger, Virginia.
The May number of =The Light= is one of the best, the most hopeful and
encouraging of all the good issues you have sent out. May God bless and
prosper you in this good work.--Sylvanus Stall, D. D., Philadelphia,
publisher “Self and Sex Series.”
Dear Mr. Steadwell: Enclosed find check for $1.00. Please continue =The
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the 50 cents.--Mrs. Lulu Loveland Shepard, President, Utah State W. C.
T. U.
=The Light=, so far as I know purity literature, is, beyond all
comparison, the best periodical on the varied phases of the broad
subject of the sex problem as it agitates the world today. It keeps
abreast of the negative side, everything that is being done to reduce
and eliminate vice is discussed in fullest detail; on the positive side,
everything that is being tried to bring in a speedy development of pure
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dealt with sanely and in due proportion by writers of unquestioned
competence, arranged with the skill of a born journalist.
I have a complete set, from No. 1, Vol. 1, and find it a perfect
thesaurus of information on every conceivable phase of the question.
Then each new number comes with new and most important matter, which
keeps one up-to-date with the world-campaign for a clean humanity, while
old and new material throbs with a constant inspiration. God give it an
immense circulation until the World Federation for Purity shall have
accomplished its work.--Rev. Dr. C. S. Eby, Toronto, Canada.
=The Light= contains from 68 to 100 pages each issue. Publishes all the
reform news of the world and portraits of the leading writers. A yearly
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Address all communications and send all remittances to
THE LIGHT
B. S. Steadwell, Editor. La Crosse, Wisconsin.
* * * * *
Typographical errors corrected by the etext transcriber:
There as so many things=> There are so many things {pg 89}
as he can develope into a pure=> as he can develop into a pure {pg 168}
“Hotchison notched teeth,”=> “Hotchinson notched teeth,” {pg 406}
tempermental adaptation=> temperamental adaptation {pg 439}
unnatural social, econnomic=> unnatural social, economic {pg 441}
kidnaped or carried=> kidnapped or carried {pg 590}