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About The commoner. (Lincoln, Neb.) 1901-1923 | View Entire Issue (April 1, 1920)
1 ?f F T MV & i" pFsJcff 'ftavrTBVWf ' JVVW 'JW!!1 r 10 The Commoner ,TOL. 20, NO. 4 .t j1 wfWftfysrT - A Single Moral Standard (Tho man who in the course of his publio lifo has initiated moro national political issues than any othor contomporary American herewith pre sents his nowost, Mr. Bryan does not announco wjtothor it is his purposo to launch a national campaign in behalf of this issue and whether ho .expects to seek action on tho question by tho coming Democratic National Convention. He has. however, urged tho writing of this principle into the. proposed Constitution of tho .State of No braska.) Editor Collier's Weojcly,. As tho invitation oxtonded to write an article on tho Single Standard of Morality is due to tho fact that I brought this matter before the Consti tutional Convention of Nebraska, now in session, it may bo well to quoto here what I said on that occasion and then elaborate tho prpposition. It roads: "And, just at this time, whon the most cor rupting ihfluonco ovor known in politics is pass , ing out, never to return, woman enters and, add ing her conscience to tho judgment of man, has tens tho triumph of every righteous cause. ' "Lot me Illustrate it as I see It. Suppose two .armlds of ono hundred thousand each are strug gling for1 mastery on a hotly contested battle ' Hold, and that, just at the moment when the conflict is at its height, half of the army on ono v side" is drawn away, leaving the field to be de- ' fdndod by the remaining half, would not this in crease tub dhancos of victory of the hundred thousand? And suppose that, at the samo'tlmo, ' iftty thousand fresh troops came to re-enforce ' the ono hiiiidrcd thousand? Thai is what we have toddy. ' JuBt as tho debasing power of the ' saloon is' being drawn away from ono side, the conscience of woman comos to support every ' causae Ih'at promotes tho nation's welfare. ,s tn . "Our, Sfatd has dono its part a creditable (t'$artin'v. securing these two reforms. Now, I von.turp1 to' suggest a stop in advance. 'I would '"fjlk6to .tide tlio Stato of Nebraska raise 'herd 'the ujiiijidr oi the noxt groat moral reform l)y wrlt Jn'g iiitb. the Constitution the single standard of ,, fcnorallty. ;All legislation rests upon a theory, mntj that' theory should be stated in the Consti tution; You will necessarily indorse; by impji &tJ6n at least, tho single standard or the double Btahdard. I urgo tlio indorsement of the single staiidard-Hno segregation of sln no licensing of Vice, the. ponaltlos for immorality enforced im ' partially agalnBt tho two sexes. That is, in my f Judgment, to bo tho next groat moral reform, and I hope to see Nebraska ldad the fight. The women f are hqrei; their consciences will bo with, us; their ' influence' will help us. How dare we longer dis criminate, against woman and givo to. the ,'im- ' moral man, a respectability that wo deny to her? 1 1 bdg you to consider whether this is not tho time for Nebraska to indorse tho single standard of morality. Man and woman will stand side by sldo before the judgment bar of, God; If they must stand on an equality thero, wo should not give ono of them an advantage over tho otlier in tho tribunals which man creates." SOCIAL EVIL HAS NO FINANCIAL BACKING The tasks of society are successive; tho ener ' gios of society are continuing. Reforms may bo compared to crops; The ground is proparod; the sedd is sown; then follows a period of growth, and finally tho harvest is ready for tho sickle. Tho earth, the sun, and tho moisture are the con tinuing forces; tho crops come annually. So with reforms. During the early years of a reform .those who preach it are like "tho voice of one crying in the wildernoss," but "a truth once ut tered can never be recalled." It echoes and echoes- and echoes until the echo drowns put all other sounds. It is God's way, and we could not' , worship Him as wo do if Ho had not provided -as surely for the triumph of every righteous -cause a3 Ho has that seedtime and harvest shall follow each otlier year after year. Is it not t'lnio for the energies of society to turn' to a new re form? The -oyer throw of the saloon would', of itself, havo been sufficient to proparo the ground for the rtjform which we, have 'under'' consideration Itjlnce nlcohpl contributes in many ways to sex-' ual immorality. It unlooses the atiimal in man, paralyzes tho will power, and thus lessens resis tance to evil. The saloon was tho copartner of every vice and tho promoter of every form of ' sin. It not only emboldened man ton assault , .woman's virtue, but it used woman to lure the unwary into temptation. If not prevented, by law the men engaged in tho liquor business would have capitalized tho attractiveness of. women and made the. occupation of barmaid the most remunerative position open to them. The coun try went more than halfway toward tho elimina tion of the social evil when it banished the drink ing place. But the advent of woman into politics makes tho present time even more opportune in fact, compels society to givo attention to an evil that brazenly reduces woman to tho basis of the brute and measures her value in physical terms only. In speaking to the momhers of the Nebraska Constitutional Convention, I made, I repeat, only three applications of the theory upon which I would havo them write the Constitution of my State; first, no segregation of sin; second, no licensing of vice; third, the penalties for im morality to bo enforced impartially against the two sexes. Tho attempt to segregate sin implies a recogni tion of it as legitimate and, therefore, legisla tion permitting it is based upon tho theory that there is a double standard of morality, one ap plicable to man and one to woman. Who would suggest setting apart a district in which stealing or killing would be permitted? The same is true as to the licensing1 of this vice, whether the licensing be formal, as in some countries, or Implied as in the case of periodical fines which carry with them tho promise of im munity for a certain length of time. The public found to its sorrow that tho licensing of a saloon was at onco seized upon as an evidence of legiti macy, and men engaged in the business indig nantly protested against interfdrehce with a "business recognized by law." The fight against sexual sins will be much easier than the fight against the saloon, because there are no vast combinations of capital ready to furnish an un ' limited corruption fund. The social evil has no considerable financial backing; the supporters of a single standard of morality cannot be black listed,, browbeaten, and driven out of politics by rich and powerful organizations. Then, too, in the social evil each single act is a sin, while it was not a single drink, but the drink habit, that aroused opposition, v It will bo comparatively easy to eradicate en tirely every semblance of legality and make the social evil a vagabond. The larger task will be to correct the in equalities in the law and put man and woman upon the same level fn the matter of punishment. I speak now of the punishments enforced by the law!" but they will increasingly influence public sentiment, which has heretofore made glaring discriminations between the sexes. It is when one comes to examine the penalties for immoral ity that he recognizes how clearly they conform to the double standard theory. Three illustrations will suffice. In one pf the States the law, until a few years ago, permitted a husband to obtain a divorce .up on proof of a single violation of the marriage vow, while a wife was compelled to prove habit ual violation on tho part of the husband. Tho law now accords equal rights. In the matter of bastardy tho penalty .exacted of Hie man is usually insignificant as compared with the penalty enforced against the woman. As a rule, 'the man escapes upon the payment of a few dollars, while the woman must raise the child and suffer social obstracism. The age of consent is another illustration. In many States it has been raised within the last few years, in one, where it still remains at four teen, I found that the woman must be twenty one in order to make a valid deed to real estate. That is, she can barter away a priceless virtue when she is fourteen, but she must be seven years older before she is considered mature enough to convoy a piece of stumpy land. If our lawa are written upon the theory that men and women must live up to the same standard of morality, the penalty for sexual sins wUl be en forced with impartiality against the sexes. This is not only a matter of justice, but it will be of incalculable value in the way of education. SCIENCE AND THE BIBLE ' However, in every moral movement, law fol .. lows .rather .than precedes public opinion. When ; public, opinion; has reached a ,point where it can - compel legislation, its further progress- is ac- celerated by tho influence which law cxerta wt Tr- M'liT , uetore iaw is possible i aftd a rapid.doyelopment of public opinion along thin Htia a nrnlmMn "uufc,, Science will greatly aid in this new crusado it will reach some who vill nnf fm rt ligious appeals. The investigations are now suf-; uumuLiy uuuijmulu iu roDjovo every excuse that ' has been made for immorality, and to support warnings so terrible that' no man rnrinhi nf sdning can disregard thorn. The study of eugenics a comparatively recent science will support the Bible declaration that the sins of the father are visited upon tho children even- imtn tho m-.i and fourth generation. However harsh this law of nature may seem to be, it cannot be violated with impunity. But who will bring an indict ment againt it when he understands how neces sary it is to strengthen man against overpower ing temptation? If one is indifferent to himself, he may hesitate to afflict those whom he loves better than his own life. And it must be remem bered that the same law that visits sin upon de scendants gives us assurance that righteousness may bo bequeathed from generation to genera tion. "The right of a child to be well-born" is thus doubly secured, The pure blood of a virtu ous parentage is a richer inheritance than royal ty or lands. GLORIOUS PERIOD IN HISTORY The church will naturally lead in this reform, for the Bible speaks in no uncertain terms on this great subject. The Master protested with an emphasis unequaled by anyone before or since against the discrimination then existing and still existing against women: "He that is with out sin among you, let him first cast a s.tone at her," is a ringing challenge to that spirit of in justice which stones the women to death while it excuses the man, It was Christ, too, who went to the root of the whole matter when He exposed the beginning ot sin. "But I say unto you, That whosoever looketh on a woman to lust after her hath com mitted adultery with her already in his heart." While the church will avail itself of all argu ments, scientific as well as economic, its strong est appeal will be to the conscience. It will ap ply the law of service andhfse the power to love. While it holds up before the woman the ideal of perfect purity, it will force man to consider the unspeakable' selfishness of one whot for a mom ent's fleeting pleasure, will blast a human lifo and drag down to the. bottomless pit one made in the image of the Creator. What a goriou period in which to live! Schoolboys are wont to look back, to some Golden Age of the past and express regret that they did not live their brief span in those days. There has been no Golden Age like the one. in which we live no time when the average ideal was so high and the average purpose so' exalted. In no former time were the opportunities for service so numerous and so large. The United States is "blessed above all other nations of the earth in the courage which its people possesa'to undertake great things. Never since history began to record the doings of man havo the people won at the polls such a moral victory as our nation won when the saloon was banished from the land. No where have . women ever exerted' the influence they have in the United States, and" that influence will be increased in the immediate future. On no other subject has man so cruelly misused wom an; at no other time does he show such a con tempt for her higher qualities. Here, surely, is a cause in which every woman will be proud to enlist, and she may hope to call to her side all the men most of them coerced into active coopera tion by conscience, the remainder shamed out of opposition to her plea for justice. WV J. BRYAN. The retailers-continue to assert through the , newspapers, their earnest desire . that prices to consumers be lowered, ..They, are like the auto mobile man, aghast at having run over a pedes trian, who said, when asked why he did not stop when he saw the man. ahead of him, that he . never thought of it. Perhaps the retailers never thought of reducing prices to their customers as one way of getting reduced prices for con 1 sumers. Sugar prices continue to hover about the IS to 25 cents a pound average, notwithstanding the fact, that a determined effort has been made in Various quarters to force the profiteers to have mercy outhe consuming public. The profiteers manage , to .keep the price away up, possibly on the theory that revenue is sweet. y .f ,4 4. Jaw i. . li THdM.fo to&v&Aiu JiJK- -H