| Show LiTERA literature turc AND ANI ITS IT lafi LU C tr jr our children knew no other charac bersby which to read than those of the deseret alphabet they ahey might labor labori under some disadvantages but these would not be wholly unmixed with benefits they would be deprived of the privilege of reading very many excellent works but they would also be kept free from the contagion of evil with which much of the popular literature of the day is filled the whole country is flooded with books and periodicals which can not fali fall to produce the most moat pernicious results upon those who peruse them A walk down main street in this city and a glance at the illustrated periodicals which are there anra anea dis displayed to tempt temp the gaze of young and old must satisfy every properly constituted mind upon this point there is a class of books and papers which nind find nd ready sale in the world the circulation of which can not fall to promote vice licentiousness and crime they contaminate and corrupt those who peruse them probably the number that is sold in this community is very small when our population is considered we have been een informed that they are bought but very rarely by our citizens but the question frequently arises in witnessing ss the manner in which they are ven deda why parade them so openly why display them in irhe jibe broade broadest and most open style style stylo to catch the eyes esai of the youil gor both sexes and cause them to collee col coi lee lec in groups around them picture pictures are ar e attractive and to none more than to children hildren when they see them spread before them they are sure to look at them hem but what parent who has seen the the police gazette Ga the das days doings the he last sensation n or any of that class of illustrated papers would be pleased if h he knew egnew his children phildren had access to them lae hl he would world not have hig big home hom i e coa contaminated t laminated amina ted by their thelt presence he would not lethis let iet his children visit a neighbors if he knew lie he would put such papers in their hands handstand bandstand and why should nis care go for naught or bo be neutralized by the exposure of this class of publication son on the public street in such publications a way wiy that his children in passing can hot tail tall to see them if there is a cias class of so vile and prurient a taste that none bat but buch huch papers will satisfy themi emlet th emiet let iet them go elsewhere and obtain them sueh such 6 goci 0 chipty efty efcy 1 is undesirable here de ceney dency good morals and the well being of society alike forbid the circulation and displaying of these vile sheet in our midst there is another class of papers which is largely patronized in this territory that wisdom and a regard for the king kingg dom of god would suggest as being altogether unsuitable for latter day ailts faints and especially their children to read many of them are illustrated qa albo but tb they eyare are of an tit L entirely different 04 character to the others of or which we speak the illustrations are modest and depict deplot prominent incidents au and d scenes brought out in the story but it is not nop to their style or make up object it is to the character of their reading constant dropping it is said will wear away a stone the constant repetition of incorrect ideas especially when told in an attractive manner will if listened to have their effect 4 thebo papers have greater jg reater influence than many people li imagine they are but they are efm eff effective active the influence of the press is not fully under sabod or recognized by ti as a people many do not understood its power A book or a paper that contains false ideas and carries a pernicious influence is bought or subscribed for by parents without the least suspicion ap apparently atenta Y flet ilet that it can do h arm th they will iet let their families read these week weeke after week and never object to their doing so while at the same time if f visitors were to go to their houses and and convey convey the same ideas orally they would be indignant and consider con ton sider them very unsuitable associates for their families why this difference of feeling because men inen are careless and tand do not reflect they know not the influence and power of literature if they did an improper bo bookar book okon or paper of any kind hind would be expelled from the house as quickly as the authors would be propria in persona if they were to go there and talk the stuff they write one of the mightiest revolutions of which we have any knowledge has been accomplished ina lna in a single generation in the united states by the means of the press men alen who are still young can recollect when antislavery anti slavery writers and lecturers were subjected to the grat grot grossest sest abuse no longer ago than 1837 elijah P lovejoy the editor of the observer ver vcr and an advocate of antislavery anti slavery was killed by a mob at alton illinois but though persecuted and mobbed they were determined to persevere they lectured and wrote rote and labored with indefatigable industry despite every obstacle bb stacie stacle but above all they appreciated the power of the press they used it largely their ideas were disseminated broade broadcast att over the land with unflagging zeal they bowed sowed the beed seed diligently and waited patient patiently y for it to germinate and yield a crop and they were not disappointed A new kiew generation arose which was fully imbued with their ideas and antislavery became popular even pollyl politicians the most fickle timorous and unreliable class elass in the world whose god Is popularity brought effe uffe sufferings rings to their shrine the leading advocates of the doerine of abolition are still alive they have lived to see their ideas triumphant and the negro emancipated who after this can doubt the power ower of the press when effectively usef used A judicious parent will not suffer his children to read a book or a paper which conveys ideas that he would object to hearing conversed about in their presence let each parent before he buys a book or subscribes for a paper ask himself whether he wishes the ideas it co conveys n v e Vs to prevail in his family and be the staple of their reading week after wee week k r so 0 o long as the book or subscription remains if ich he does dues then buy or subscribe for it if not have nothing to do with it |
