A Needed Reform | AdventAI

The Seventh-day Adventist Publishing Association · Battle Creek, Mich. · May 26, 1868

A Needed Reform.

ACCORDING to the statements in our public prints, nothing pays the managers of our theaters so well as spectacular exhibitions, such as the Black Crook, the White Fawn, etc. There seems also to be a great demand for prints of the same character, judging by the profusion of Police Gazettes and similar publications at the book-stands at the corners of our streets.

That such exhibitions and publications should be in demand, shows that the great mass of our population has already a deeply depraved taste, and certain we are that the ministering to this taste will increase the depth of the depravity of its subjects. And all the more is it a matter of deep regret, and a matter calling for the attention of all interested in promoting morality in our land, that the press is beginning to pander to this debased appetite, because it has avenues of access to those whom we are specially interested in saving, far more numerous than the theater. What can be done to prevent the contagion spreading? Must we fold our hands, and see the morals of our youth undermined, and our whole population drifting into Parisian licentiousness? Shall we not rather call upon the authorities to enforce the laws of the land in reference to these indecent exhibitions, whether they be made on the printed page, or in nature on the public streets, or within the walls of the theater? And above all, shall we not endeavor to bring the word of truth, by which alone men can cleanse their way, to bear on the hearts and consciences of our entire population?—Chris. Press.