| Show A vile business the act of congress under which mrs woodhull was recently tried is entitled an act for the suppression of trade ia la and circulation of obscene literature and articles of immoral use it enacts that no obscene lewd or lascivious book pamphlet picture paper print or other publication of an am indecent character or any article or thing designed or intended for the p perversion sion slon or conception or procuring of abortion or any article or thing intended or adapted for any indecent or immoral use or nature nor any written or prin prid printed ted ca card rd circular 3 book pamphlet advertisement or notice of any kind giving information directly or indirectly where or how bow or of whom or by w what nat means either of the t tings lings before mentioned may be obtained or made nor any letter upon the enve envelope loDo of which or postal card upon which indecent or scurrilous epithets may be written or printed shall be ea carried r in the mail 11 and for the mailing or delivery or assisting to mail or deliver any of the tile foregoing articles the tile law affixes a fine of not less than nor more than or imprisonment from one to ten years the federal courts have jurisdiction ris of such cases and any united states judge mayon bayon may on proper affidavit direct the marshal to search for and seize a all ali I 1 such articles article few pew persons probably are aware of the grave necessity thai that existed for the passage of such an act so infamous amous a business as the circulation of obscene litera literature and the deliberate poisoning of the morals of youth would natural naturally lybe be carried on in the most sneaking and secret manner but facts show that it has been systematically and extensively carried on it is impossible to conceive of anything more nefarious in itself or more dangerous to public morals than such a commerce which attacks parents through their children and society through the youth of the land b by Y means so stealthy as scarcely to be detected and so vile as to be almost nam nameless biess bless the men who engage 0 in this loathsome traffic make mak 0 a business of obtaining lists of scholars and students in schools and colleges ages all over the landane lan dand forwarding circulars with price lists of their vile publications and other articles the credit of unearthing k the business and procuring the passage of the law jaw against its prosecution through the malls mails belongs to a young mail man of new york named anthony comstock who it must be c confessed our essed has rendered the public a real service in calling attention to this great inaam infamy Y in a memorial to the house of representatives at the last session of congress he said he had been engaged in the war against obscene literature for about abou t a year with the following results seized and destroy destroyed pd obscene photographs stereoscopic and other pictures more than obscene books and pamphlets moie more than five live tons obscene letterpress letter press in sheets more than two tons sheets of impure songs catalogues cataloguer catal hand bills ac more than obscene micros microscopic copie eople watch watell and knife charms and finger rings more than obscene negative plates for yr printing inting photographs photograph and sand stereoscopic views about obscene engraved steel and copper plates obscene lithographic stones destroyed destroy Fd 20 obscene wood cut engra engravings aings more than stereotype plates for prin printing tive obscene books more than f nive five tons obscene transparent playing cards card to newspapers seized 1 ad about letters from all parts of the country ordering these goods about names of dealers in account books hooks seized about list of names in the hands of dealers that are sold as merchandise to forward catalogues cataloguer catal and circulars to independent of letters and account books seized more than arrests of dealers over 50 11 out of obscene books published publish in new york during the tic year 1871 mr comstock succeeding in capturing and destroying tile the stere plates and engravings of among the letters seized were orders from all parts of the country with lists of names etc and what is rather startling there were found on the books of one dealer twenty separate orders from the librarian of a public school in a western city how extensively the trammie traffic has been carried on no one can tell but the fact that it has been carried on at all and that the mails malls were open to uso use for placing this pois Vols poisonous onous stuff in lu the hands of the youn shows that some legislation was loudly called for and it is to be hoped that the war thus vigorously begun will be waged to the complete extermination of the business indianapolis di journal |
