Next Revolution. DUKE UNIVERSITY LIBRARY / S10 Cataloged Vuke In rsuy Library NEXT REVOLUTION : If — OR— WOMAN'S EMANCIPATION — FROM- SEX SLAVERY (NO. «.) PBICEt »rs CEXTS. LDOIFEB PUBLISH TNG COMPANY, Vallrt Fall*, Kaxbaa. 590. r\-mpbiet Collection Q <; L : aversity Library "O I _A. 33~ .A . A PSYCHO K" "TOljO«rlCAL ESSAY ON SEX Q ^EL-A_TIO!SrS . ForManed Men and Women. Fou. th Edition. .Jethedava Improve*}. Pi ice 2.5 cents.. '*lhe teaefnncr? of "Diana" hu ve ' *■< eleorned by liiundreds of intelligent and th< r.ni^,jaiifu.l people. Many o . these have expressed their pleasure at ieeemng the p re and relining ligi« r thrown upon sexual subjects by the prmcipl -s advance's i:i it. Allium and Dinn- ism are now words tbat have n specific meaning- among those who arc °eeking to effect a reform in the general thou; rhta. and habits of pc jple on the sex quopf ion. Tho theory of "Dual Functions," first h ivanced in Diana, Uas been received with special tavor. The clean and scientific met! od employed in this woik has prevented all ob- jections to it on ti'O score of immorality, audits renewed publica- tion is justified, not- alone by its merits, but by use numerous letters of approval received."— Preface- to Third Edition. This Remarkable little work may well be called "The Bone of Content ion"— both Radicals and Conservatives claiming it as the exponent and defender of their philosophy in regard to sexual hy- srione and sexual morality. It is having a large sa'e and is doubt- less tho means of exciting much useful discussion and investigation. The Law of Population. ITS CONSEQUENCES AND Its Bearing on Human Conduct and Morals, iii- ANNIE BESAXT. * "It is time that those whcieallv understand tbt c ause ot a re dundanc. unhappy, miserable, and considerably vicious population and the means of preventing the redundancy, should clearly, freely openly and fearlessly point out the moans." Now while the marriage question is up for discussion it would seem a good and suitable time to discuss the kindred subject, "Law of Population," includingthe "Preventive Check." Thirty-fourth thoueand, 30 cents. Cheap edition, 15 cents. CUPID'S YOKES OR THE Binding Forces of Gonjugal Life. By E. H. HKYWOOD. This is the pamphlet for the mailing of which D. M. Bennett was compelled to serve ibirteen months in the Albany Penitentia- ry, and Mr. Heywood, himself, was Imprisoned a short time in the Dedham Jali, all brcanse of the alleged obs^nity contained there- in. If you want to learn something on tha Marriage Question you cannot afford to omit reading this work. Price, 15 cents. / ■Contents. Page. Come, Let us ReasoD Together. M. Harman m Luci- "FEB 1 The American Inquisition, Its Methods and Objects—- The Issue Clearly Stated. Ed. W. Chamberlain . . 5 Another Arrest; Causes and Probable Consequences Thereof. Diana 7 Another Vienna's Sad Story. S-idie Athena Mage on. . 9 The Woman Question (No. 3) Penelope 10 More Obscenity. Light Throne into Dark Places by a Conservative Journal. Editor 11 Crimes Against Womanhood. The O'Neill Letter Vin- dicated and Duplicated 13 A Question of Judicial Integrity. Ed. W. Chamberlain 15 The Woman Question (No 4). Penelope. 18 The Woman Question (No. 5). Pen elope 19 Sympathy, Expose and Query. M. E. Tillottso 21 Notes and Comments. Editor < 22 Voices From Past Ages and Echoes From the Present. 25 The Nude in Literature 27 The Woman Question (No. 6). Penelope 29 Dagmar Manager to Judge Foster , S3 Another Appeal. Mrs. L. D. McCaelm 82 Marital Abuses a Fruitful Cause of Insanity. Flora W. Fox 83 O'Neill to His Critics . . . 34 That which is Done in Secret Shall be Proclaimed Upon the House top. Lois Waisbrooker 85 "Scienter"— "Knowingly." Diana , 36 Who and What are on Trial. Editor 38 Notes and Comment's. Editor. 41 Who and What are on Trial. Editor 43 NoteP and Comments. Editor , . , 44 The Issue Concisely Stated. Editor 45 Who is Sufficient for These Things. Lucinda B« Chan- dler 48 Notes of Trial. Editor 49 Convicted. Editor 53 Scraps frr m Society and Law, Dap mar Mariager 54 Pent up Heart Cries. Mrs. E. A, Abbey . , 55 The Trial. Editor 58 More Letters to the Judge. Clark Luce 62 Another Woman's Story of Wrong and Outrage. The- resa Hushes .« 63 Court Notes. Editor 65 A Strong Expression. Ira H. Wilsou 66 Sentenced. Editor , 67 I^rratum. In nineteenth line from bottom of page 54, read heap- ing instead of "loving." PREFA^p. While we do not deem it necessary to make an apology for the appearance of this pamphlet, perhaps a little explanation may not be altogether out of place as to the arrangement of the matter herein. In order that the reader may understand why there is sack an incongruous disposition, it should be remembered that everything contained in this work was used just as it came out of Lucifer from week to week, rendering it absolutely impossible to classify or divide it into de- partments. The scope covered by this pamphlet embrace* the leading articles that appeared in the Light-Bearer from the early part of March until Mr. Harman was sentenced, or until about the first of May, '90. And as there is a manifest imperfection or indiscriminate arrangement, rendering it somewhat difficult for the reader to fully understand or comprehend their in- tent or purport without a perusal of the issues of Lucieer current with the extracts which comprise this work, we will send these, on application, to all purchasers of the pamphlet, so long as the editious of those dates last. With regard to import or purpose, the articles composiug the Next Revolution No. 2, can be class- ed under the following heads : (1) Endorsements and duplicates of the O'Neill letter, and condemnation of the second arrest. (2) Protests against the persecution of Lucifer's editor for his defense of free speech and the right of free discussion, especially in matters pertaining to the right i-elations of the sexes. (8) Account of and comments upon the late trial, conviction and sentence of Moses Harmau. This work was assuming too large proportions and its issue was being delayed too long, so that the continuation of the discussion on the same subjects, largely, will be continued in the Next Revolution No. 3, now in course of preparation. The Publishers. COME, LET IS REASON TOGETHER. In order to reason together we must hear both sides, or rather all sides. In this issue of Lucifer letters are printed from more than one correspondent endors- ing fully the plan, the act, of giving publicity to such revelations as those made by Dr. O'Neill, W. G. Mark- land, Sadie A. Magoon, C. C. Luce and others. In the "Opposition" column are printed some opinions denouncing in most emphatic language the publication of such matters. Besides these pronounced expres- sions of opinion from friends and foes we have re- ceirtd several letters that take a somewhat middle ground. Among these is one from an old (not in years) and much esteemed friend, which reads thus: Kan., ;M '90 Dbab Mr. Hat*man; The copy of Lucifer for whicli you have agaiu been arrested lies before me. It is too Dad that you have allowed such Indecent, vulgar matter in your paper. Such articles canno t and should not be read in decent company nor olsewhere. They convey nolnformation, suggest no remedy and only have a tendancy to deprave the weak and disgust the strong . You had won a splen- did victory and it is too bad that you have given it away. Of course the U. S. Court has uo ri^ht to fine and imprison you for mailing the paper, it has no other right than to protect its postal employees from physical injury, from explosives, etc., but who can successfully defend the right to send through the mails really OBSOBNK literature when it is so difficult to maintain our rights even when we do not abuse these rights? Of course you will say, "what is obscene, and who shall judge?" Each one for himself, is my answer, and rest assured that under liberty, where sympathy for you and a desire to defend your right to publish what you please, would not retain your subscribers, 95 percent would drop the paper at once. That would be judgment and punishment and the only kind that a decently organized community would care to inflict. Yours Regretfully and in haste, ■ Without attempting to "reason the case" on all the points named in this letter, I would respectfully say: It may be true, as above intimated, that the course pursued by Lucifer's editor is a suicidal one, so far as the welfare of the paper is concerned. Judging from the indications — the expressions of strong dis- approval, some ot which expressions have been pub- lished — and judging from the sudden falling off of receipts, it did look awhile as though Lucifer's friends and patrons would soon be reduced to the traditional and historic "three hundred 1 ' — the number that was left, after the sifting, to Gideon at Mt. Gilead, and to Leonidas at the pass of Thermopylae. Now, if I may be allowed ,o use the illustration (dis- claiming, of course, all intention of comparing my humble self to any heroic personage, whether histor- ical or mythical) I will say that a presentiment now comes to me that the O'Neill letter will prove to be the Thermopylae of the conflict in defense of the right of free publication — the palladium of all human lib- erties, whether present or future. It may be — and if the utterances of the opposition press are true pro- phecies it will be — that at the coming trial ai Topeka, Lucifer and its editor will be as effectually wiped out of existence, so far as future work is concerned, as were Leonidas and the three hundred Spartans by the countless hosts of Persian invaders, but it is just possible that in this case, as in the historic one, the sacrifice may not be all in vain. The sacrifice at Thermopylae wat a necessary preparation for, and an essential factor of, Marathon and Salamis. Without Thermopylae there would have been no Marathon, no Salamis! In like manner may it nol tuna out to be that the vol- untary sacrifice of the few in defense of absolute free- dom of speech — freedom that is responsible only to him or her who utters, and to him or her who is injured by such utterance — may it not be that the vol- untary sacrifice of a few at the coming conflict of forces will so thin out and so discourage the hosts of paternalistic despotism that another Marathon and another Salamis will follow as natural sequences? The question as to whether such letters as that of Dr. O'Neill should be "read in decent society" is one upon which good people may honestly differ, There are many good women and men who condemn the public recital of murders, highway robberies, bank robberies, etc., on the ground that the}' "deprave the weak," the young and the viciously inclined. But where shall the line be drawn? When we undertake to shield the young and the viciously inclined from all knowledge of the evil examples that are to be found in the world we find ourselves balked and de- feated at every turn. No paternal government ever T»as or ever will be strong enough to carry out stfch a design. It is the old, old story of Eve and the tempter. The desire to know all that can be known breaks over all barriers and defies all restraint. It is the lesson uf all time that the only safe prevention against evil ex- amples is proper and timely warning — honest and faithful instruction. The question then is pertinent, "How can a child be warned against evil when his monitor is not allowed to tell in plain language what that evil really is? 1 ' To speak of it in vague and general terms is either no warning at all else it serves only to excite a morbid curiosity that will seek the desiied information through channels that are destruc- tive to the health and life of the inquirer. "Disgust the strong." That is to say, such plain spoken revelations of human depravity shock the sen- sibilities of the virtuously strong. In all good con- science and kindliness of feeling towards those who differ I would again ask: Is it the fact itself 'that shocks us, or is it only the telling of the fact? From the arguments of our friendly critics them- selves I am constrained to believe that it is the telling of these unnatural crimes and vices, rather than their acknowledged existence that shocks so many good people, and so long as this is the case I must maintain that our friends ought to be shocked! Nay more, they must be shocked before an)' determined and rational effort will be made towards eradicating these cancer spots from our social system. Changing the figure of speech somewhat: When people are slowly but surely dying from breathing air poisoned with carbonic acid gas, all they ask is to be let alone. But what should and what would be thought of the on-looker who makes no effort to save these unconscious sleepers for fear of giving them an un- pleasant shock? Our social structure, our organic physical life itself, is permeated with the poison of sex-abuse in its multitudinous forms. Shall we who know the facts and who know what the inevitable consequences must be to future generations of women and men, to say nothing of the miseries inflicted upon those now living, shall we raise no earning voice for fear of shocking the sensibilities of those who are as yet unconscious of being personally affected by the consequences of sex-abuse in and by others? If we could isolate ourselves from our fellow mortals, if we could shut out from our lives all the effects of the moral effluvia that flows from sex-abuse in and by others, there might be some excuse, from a narrowly elfish standpoint, in thus closing our eyes, stopping 4 up our ears and bridling our tongues in regard to these fearfully shocking vices and crimes. But it so happeDfl that we cannot thus isolate our lives from the influences that make the weal or woe of our fel- low mortals. The life of the individual is inseparable from the life of the race. If the social life of the race reeks with the effluvia of moral and physical cor- ruption we cannot avoid being more or less affected thereby. A strong effort of the will may save us from personal moral and physical asphyxiation, but in pro- portion as we live the broad«r, higher, nobler life of of the altruistic humanitarian the more we must suffer because of the miseries resultant from the crimes and vices of our human brothers and sisters. When our friends admit that there is ''really obscene literature," and that we "abuse our rights" when we send such literature through the mails, they practic- ally, though unconsciously, give away the whole ground in dispute to the agents of despotic paternal- ism. On the contrary Lucifer maintains that there is no such thing as obscene literature, in the technical and legal sense, no more tnan there is, or should be, such a thing as blasphemy in the technical and legal sense, and therefore it is impossible "to abuse our rights" therein; and this position is practically admit- ted by our correspondent above quoted when he says the "court has no right to fine and imprison you for mailing the paper," no matter how much "real ob- scenity" it may contain. That is to say obscenity is simply a matter of private opinion with which the courts and the P. O. officials have nothing whaterer to do. "Convey no information." Yes, and no. To the '•naturally vile" the O'Neill letter conveys no infor- mation, consequently it does not hurt them if it does them no good, but to hundreds and thousands of pure- minded women and men it does convey information — just the information needed to wake them up as with a bugle call, to a realizing sense of danger — danger to the weak and the viciously inclined, and danger through human solidarity, to the entire race, preient, and, especially, future. "Suggests no remedy." Well, suppose it is true that that individual letter did not suggest a remedy. Is it nothing to tell of a real danger though no means o of escape be suggested? Is it nothing to show that innocent women and unborn babes are being slain fey the thousand and that men are ignorantl y committing homicide and suicide? Is it nothing to call attention to the facts themselves and let others devise, and, through concerted action, inaugurate an affective plan tor putting an end to such shocking crimes and vioti? Respectfully but most earnestly would we eall at- tention of our middle-ground friends to the metto at the head of this current edition of Lttcifir — first page: "The first step is to arouse the public intelligence to the fact of the dangers, and the public conscienee to condemn and resent the wrongs." — W. H. H. Miller, Attorney General, U. S. A. This testimony coming from such a source shenld carry much weight. It is a most emphatic endorsement of Lucifer's constant plea that the public conscience, the public intelligence, is the real court of appeal — the real tribunal before which all questions of mor- ality or virtue must be tried. The individual intelli- gence, the individual conscience, must be reached and educated, and this can only be done effectually and effectively by means of the public pr$$8, public lec- tures, etc., ani hence we speak correctly whea we say the "public conscience," the "public intelligenee." — M. Harman, in Lucifer, March 7th, 1890. TIIE AMERICAN INQUISITION. Its Methods and Objects— The Issue Clearly St* ted • New Yobk, February 28, 1880. Friend Harm an: Nothing can exceed the meanneu and vindictiveness of the malignity exhibited in your last arrest. The purpose of it ie bo apparent that if the eourt and jury can be made to exercise any thought upon the case they must perceive that purpose. If there were any honest intention of trying any fair issue in your case, by just meth- ods, certainly the indictments, with their numerous count*, already pending against you would afford the prosecution ample chance for all the trial they could wish. This last ar- rest clearly proves that the tactics of the prosecution will be to create a prejudice against you, rather than to demon* strate in any way convincing to reason, that yon have done anything wrong. This is the same old poliey whieh has always obtained in this class of cases since the ease of D. M. Bennett. The instigators of the persecution will not try to 6 show that you have done wrong, but they will go into court howling "thie man has been arrested so many times that he must really be a very baa man!" There is one little fact about your arrest that goes far to detract from the injurious effect your enemies intend- ed it should produce upon you. That fact is that by good lack the warrant for your arrest fell into the hands of a marshal rather more honest than the generality of your per- secutors. In such cases the marshal is generally expected to be very austere and to carry out his part of the pretense that a great crime has been committed and to feign great vigilance lest his prisoner run away, but Marshal Dill ard, knowing that the charge against you was all a sham, know- ing your integrity, kuowing that you could not be induced to run away from the false accusations against you, seems to have taken all the force out of this new persecution by showing his entire confidence in you and allowing you to go on your parole until the next day. Thus by the honesty of one man the infamous purpose of this new attack is to a great extent frustrated. I believe you have many friends who are wise enough to understand that the things discreditable to a man are the things he does himself and that a peaceable, well conducted citizen cannot be disgraced by whatever outrage somo one else inflicts upon him, and I believe those friends will ap- prove of your course, and stand by you loyally, however a few of the feeble ones may fall away. Remember always that this is not a question of the good taste or bad taste of what you have printed, nor is it a ques- tion whether the statements and theories of Mr. Markland, Dr.' O'Neill, Mrs. Luce and others are trua or false. It is a simple question whether or not there shall be in this coun try entire and unrestrained freedom for the expression of opinion on any and every subject. Whether or not there shall be eTeoted on American soil a corrupt, lawless, irre- sponsible censorship. Only this and nothing more. Ed. W. Chamberlain. AKOTHEK ARREST. Causes and Probable Consequences Thereof. Luoifei: Beauty and health and virtue are naturally more attractive than deformity, disease and vice. It is natural that wa should be disinclined to have these unattractive things obtrude upon us. Wheu they are ob- traded upon us, like the self-righteous Levite we pass by on the other side, leaving it to the heretic, the good Samaritan, to administer needed aid. I was trying to spread the light, to preach the gospel of the beauty of holiness, and to keep back and to cover up, wherever it could be done, the re- pulsivene?s which ignorance of sexual law has created, and which is forcing itself upon us in so many Awful Let- ters. But sexual vice was too aggressive and too inhuman to be ginored. For the last throe years, called out by the persecu- tion of the former arrests, the intolerable position of woman under the marrriage law has been more and more clearly de- veloped. And at last women themselves have come to the front, demandng that the veil shall be torn aside, and that they shall be freed from tne domination of tyrannic lust. Had the prosecution, when it found that the objeot of the original publications was to put an end to legalized rape and murder, withdrawn its mistaken charge, there would have been no necessity for accumulation of facts. There were facts enough, when legislator'a^^erB-^honest enough to heed them. But the government maintained its attitude of opposition, attempting to discredit the facts already brought forward; and it became necessary, not only in self-defense but also in the interest of truth and justice, to gather cor- roborating facte, to sustain the position originally taken. It was natural that physicians, from their vocation, should be more familiar with such facts than others, and unless hard- ened by familiarity, that they should be more zealous to bring them forward Dr. O'Neill, from his own knowledge as well as from his professional information, testifies in the article which is the subject of the new arrest, that the case quoted in the Markland letter, instead of being exceptional, in not uncommon. Ic is no longer the case of one woman who might have been killed legally, but was not; but it is the case of "thousands of women who are killed every year by sexual excesses forced upon them." It is unpleasant to learn of a single case of such cruelty; it is horrifying to know what multitudes suffer it. The pious Levites shut their eyes and closed their ears; while the good {Samaritans in spite of persecution and arrest, come to the rescue. In another respect Dr. O'Neill has given facts surpassing the enormity of the case in the Markland letter. It is un- necessary for me to call attention to that part of his letter. Had there not been this new arrest, the liberal public, so far as they read it at all, would have passed it by with a ehud- der*and in silence,simply strengthen d in their determination to spread the light which will put an end to such abnormaj 8 practices. It is the arrest, and not O'Neill or Harman, whioh forces such hideous details before the unwilling eyes of tfce public; and not only these but many, many more. If such facts are true, they demand recognition somewhere that a remedy may be applied. The arrest substantially denial their truth, and forces those who know similar cor- roboration facts, to bring them forward. From my own in- stigations I am satisfied that when the facts are brought forward, as they muet be if this persecution continues, the teufco will be found to exceed the statements of O'Neill as muth as his statement! exceed those of the Markland letter upoe the subject of marital rape. Shall those who know the facts keep Silence while Harman ie dragged to prison for iiftiag his warning voice? Diana. ▲■•titer Victim's Sad Story . Los Angeles, Calif. IEditob LuoiFSJt : A yery dear and intimate friend of mine married, amd was the mother of a sweet little girl whom J loved almost equally with my own little daughter, and who I beli tye loyed "Auntie" next to her mama. She was a per- fect child. I speak truly. I neyer saw her wilful, disobedi- emt, ill-tempered, or naughty in any way. I often remarked to her mother: "Ida, do not expect her to reach woman* heed, for she will not tarry long on earth.'' I shall never forget the last time I saw the child. I was leaving home for B few weeks, my little daughter accompanying me. Ida lived Bear the station, and we called at the door to say good bye. The little one stood on the threshold by her mama's side, Bot sobbing or crying, but with the tears in her eyes, amd ob her pretty cheeks. M What is the matter, dear little Lena? " asked Ruby, my Uttie girl, thee flye years of age. She nearly always called her M dear little Lena" when speaking to her. "Auatie and Ruby going away, never see Lena any mere." *Oh yes darling" I said, we will come home bye and bye." •Ton not see Lena," she answered, very solemnly and deeideily; and we did not. In three days she was no more. Poor Ida pined and suffered. a severe illness which nearly terminated fatally, and shortly after her recovery she left her husband. In reply to my question why she did this, she said: "1 have endured life with him the past three years for Lena's sake. Now she is gone there is no need for me to be orueille4 longer. I am nearly wrecked and ruined by eefistant sightly intercourse, which is often r epeated in the 9 morning. This and nothing else was the cause of my mis- carriage. Wealth undreamed of would not tempt me to live with bim again. I am undeveloped sexually, never having desires in that direction; still, with a husband who had any love or kind feelings for me, and one less selfish it might have been different, but he cared nothing for the torture to me so long as he was gratified. "I often think of what Delia P told me. How when George used to court her, and they sat up at night, when she sat by his side, or perhaps in his lap, and they kissed, or ca- ressed one another, she felt the strongest sexual desire, I used to wonder at the difference between us. I have had several others tell me the same. Mamie H said she could hardly control herself. You remember how bright, pretty, well and strong she used to be, and how her health and strength left her after her marriage. This would not have occurred, however amative her husband might have been, if he had been kind and careful, but instead, he played the brute the first night after their marriage. To use her own expression, 'he went to work like a man a mowing,' and instead of a pleasure as it might have been, it was most intense torture. "He kept this up for a little less than a year, then, as you know, she was laid in the grave, and he is just as much her murderer, as though he had killed her in any other manner." I believe that a strong, healthy, well organized woman will have sexual desires, and if less so than man, it is because she is less active in the fresh outdoor air. I was riding m the cable car a few days ago, when three young ladies en- tered, and sat down in front of me. One of them though not large, was finely proportioned, with a full chest, and well rounded waist. Her eyes sparkled, her cheeks glowed and every motion was replete with life and grace. The other two, though broader shouldered, were much smaller at the waist; indeed they were laced to such an extent that they sat stiff and upright, and they were pale, dull eyed, and ap- peared listless and languished, with no grace or poetry of motion. I thought to myself, is it any wonder if sex life is destroyed in their being? What kind of wives and mothers would they make? but how terrible it would be to have it destroyed by some horrible brute in the life of the well- developed one. There are men loving, gentle, and kind, and there are men brutes. Sadie Athena Magoon. 10 THE WOJIAN QUESTION. NUMBER III. Lucifer: In a tract issued by Rachel Campbell, I find a proposition for the maintenance of women, the first two sec* lions of which bear directly upon the principles laid down in the two preceding articles. The first section provides that every woman, after reaching the age of 18 years, shall be supported from the public treasury. The second section provides that every child shall be supported from the pub- lic treasury until it is 18 years of age. That is, every female is to be supported for life, and every male until he is 18 years of age, from the public treasury. The proposition for the support of women from 20 to 45 years of age, in my last article, was shown to require appro- priations of money too vast to be dreamed of under existing conditions; and here is a proposition requiring still more enormous appropriations. I shall assume in this article- that it is right and just that some such provision shall be made, if there is power to make it, and consider the authority for making it. The general principle of political economy has been enunciatedjthat a man is entitled to the product of his indus- try. If this provision for women and children is to be made a man is entitled to only one half or one-third of the product of his industry. But who is to determine what proportion he shall hold, and what shall be done with the remainder? Republican governments, instituted primarily for the pro- tection Of individual rights, have levied taxes for various ob- jects admitted by common consent to be for the common benefit, the support of public schools, the repair and light- ing of streets, &c; bat such taxes have been so small in pro- portion to the annual product of industry as seldom to be burdensome even to those who happened not to share in the benefits. Are we to authorize governments to increase these taxes 60 as to include more than half the entire net income of the country, and to divide them according to their own judgment? Would not this be too dangerous a power to en- trust to ordinary legislators, already known to be too easily bribed to subvert justice for their own aggrandizement? I know of but one way in which these objections can be met. When we are ready to form voluntary associations for the reorganization of industry, through such associations an equitable division of the profits can be made. If such equitable division can be attained m no other way, it is an additional reason why we should persevere, in spite of re- peated failures from adverse conditions, in the endeavor to i L reorganize society upon an equitable basis. But recognizing this necessity, and the impossibility of its immediate development, we need to devise whatever tem- porary expedients are practicable, to check the downward course which must result from the failure of the higher classes to do their share in the duties of maternity, leaving the next generation to be largely the offspring of the classes least fit for maternity. Penelope. HORK OBSCENITY. I.ijfli I Thrown into Dark Places a C'oiiserratire Journal. The latest contribution to that class of literature which the prurient are very fond of calling "obscene," is made by no less profound a scholar and no less elegant gentleman than Mr. Irving Browne, the editor of the Albany Law Journal. In his issue of March tf, 1890, that gentleman quotes into an editorial article extracts from the first annual report of the New York State Commission in Lunacy which fill over three columns of his paper. These extracts are descriptive of the way in which New York treats her pauper in- sane in county institutions and are highly "obscene." They are given as Mr. Browne says, "Lest it should be thought that we exaggerate," when he says, "hud- dled together in cramped and ill ventilated quarters, without proper water, fire clothing, food, medicines or bedding, without suitable opportunities for exer- cise, in filth, squalor and wretchedness, these misera- ble beiners are treated with a shocking disregard of the decencies due to sex, with a callous indifference, and even without an apparent recognition of the fact that they are unfortunate human beings, deserving and demanding the pitiful care of the community to whom God has given them in trust." Of the extracts from the report which Mr. Browne reproduces there is room in Lucifer's columns to re- print only a very few, but those few are most instruc- tive and when read in parallel columns with the Markland letter and the O'Neill letter and an intelli- gent comparison made between these extracts on the one hand and those now famous letters on the other hand and the motives for the publication of each duly considered, it will be clearly seen either that the charge of obscenity against Lucifer is a most brutal outrage, or that one of the best informed and most 12 learned legal gentlemen of the state of New York together with such eminent gentlemen as compose the New York State Commission in Lunacy, are guilty of the most atrocious "obscenity" and should be indicted and convicted. The following must suffice: "Ap examination f-howed that some beds, and especially those of the disturbed and tilthy patients, were simply too vile for descrip- tion. In many instances the mattresses were literally reeking with filth, and evidently were i.ot dried from oue day's ead to another." •'It is literally true, however difficult of belief, that it is a com- mon practice at most of these places to bathe three or more patieats in the same water." "These patients, by reason of lack of night service, are put to tied and left to lie in their tilth and excrement until morning. " • "In one institution, within a year or two, a case was established of intercourse between an idiot woman and an insane man, which resulted in the birth of a child.'' "The floor was wet and otherwise soiled with excrement, the odor from which was exceedingly offensive. Infactitsuielled more 1 i ke a privy vault than a place for the confinement of a human being." "The beds in these rooms were examined and presented a most shocking appearance. The ticks were only partly filled with straw and the bedding was saturated and discolored by human filth. The odor from the beds was extremely offensive, penetrating the whole building." "She was bare-footed and evidently had nothing on her person except a blue cotton skirl and a man's coat." Caetera paribus absutit. Mr. Irving Browne justifies the publication of so much ''obscenity" in the following ringing language: "This is ii shocking, even a disgusting recital. But it ought to be read more extensively tnan it ever will be in the pages of a public document, and we spread the painful de- tails before our readers in tbe hope that some one will be stirred to activity in the endeavor to ameliorate the condi- tion of these unfortunate beings. Wnile the people are building a capitol at a cost of twenty millions, and are pro- posing to pay fifteen millions for the privilege of holding a fair in the city of New York, it will be a wholesome lesson to legislators and to the community to behold the rottenness under the goodly outside of our social fabric, to be reminded how they live for show and rivalry and luxury, and how ' neglectful and callous they are to human suffering. We ore tender of our criminals in comparison; we give them whole- some food, sufficient clotning, and keep them moderately clean; we compel them to go to church, and we furnish them with good reading. If any of them have deserved death, after loading them down with tiowers, we go about to invent some painless and speedy method of taking them off. But for these poor distracted creatures, who have committed no crime, we have nothing better to offer than this report dis- closes. We are glad to learn that a bill has been introduced in both houses of the legislature to close these chambers of horrors and put their inmates under the care of the stats. 13 It ought to pass at once, so that this burning disgrace may be wiped away. And until this is done we had bBtter dis- pense with grand staircabes and other senseless displays of selfish wealth and unfeeling power.". Here is a state of aftairs which is the direct out- come, the necessary and inevitable result, of that kind of "morality" which is prosecuting Lucifer for "obscenity." Shall Lucifer's editor be put into a prison little better than the places described in the above extracts and Mr. Irving Browne and the gen- tlemen of the Lunacy Commission of the State of Xew York go free? Will those who justify the per- secution of Ltjcipeh on the grounds of taste please state why the editor of the Albany Law Journal and the Lunacy Commission should not be likewise pros- ecuted? The unprejudiced reader will observe that the ar- guments used by the conservative editor of the Law Journal in defending the exposures published by him, are almost identical with those advanced by us in justification of the exposures made by Dr. O'Neill, W. G. Markland, C. C. Luce, Dagmar Manager and others. Whether the parallel of cases thus fairly instituted will have any weight with our prosecutors and with court and jury at the trial next month, re- mains to be seen. Will our paternal rulers (Anthony Comstock, Wan- amaker & Co.) reenact the fable of the lawyer and the farmer, in which story the verdict depended alto- gether upon the question as to whose bull it was that had done the goring? The O'Neill Letter Vindicated and Duplicated . [Of the writer of the following l~tter I have no personal knowledge, but of her entire reliability I am assured by one of Lucifer's oldest and firmest friends, and hence I feel no hesitation in giving publicity to her statements of what she believes to be matters of fact. — Editor Lucifer.] Dear Friend and Brother: I have felt so keenly for you in this last trouble that I cannot forbear writing you a few lines, hoping thereby to give you some assurance that you are not altogether deserted in this case. That you have done what is right in publishing the O'Neill letter, there is no doubt in my mind, but that you should be arrested for it is an outrage. It contains as much truth as the Markland letter, the trouble is that the truth which it does contain is less generally kno w n, and the practice which it exposes is not sanctioned by law as the Markland praotioes are. So I presume, it is considered a greater crime in you to pub- lish it. An acquaintance of mine who lived in Kanaas City atone time, assured me that "Suckers" were as common as prostitutes there, that they charged a quarter for the act, and that women who had become so diseased that they were not safe for men to use resorted to the practice for a living. That men preferred it to going to a prostitute. An intimate friend of mine told me her husband insisted on having her go through the performance for him, but she always re- fused, though she granted him every other outrage he chose to perpetrate. She drew the line at this point, and refused absolutely. He gave her eeveral beatings for refusing, but she persisted. When her second child was less than three weeks old he demanded of her this outrage. She refused and he dragged her out of bed, kicked, choked, pinched and bit her, and then left her lying on the floor unconscious. Her nurse came in and found her there. Her life was des- paired of, but she recovered far enough to leave the house and go to her aunt, and tell the story of her wrongs. The aunt, a Christian bigot, told her she must go back, and do as her husband required her to do, but the poor woman braved all that a young woman ignora nt of the ways of the world mast brave under such a decision as she made, and would not go back. She was divorced when I knew her, but broken in health, despised by her relatives, snd making her way in life as best she could. So long as these revolting, disgusting, horrible things are, they may as well be made known, that they may be done away with. The fact that they do exist is enough to make any person havinp any humanity in them, struggle to enlighten the race on the right use of sex. That those who do strive for sex enlightenment are far in advance of the times is evidenced by their being consigned to a prison as their reward. You will be better appreciated in a hundred years from now. T have felt tempted to add my mite to the appeals, and the accounts of outrages suffered by women, even though there are so many who are doing the work so much better than I could hope to do. * * * * But I am with you in this fight for a better sex life, heart and hand. I have bee n on the unpopular side of the sub- ject all my life, and have been proscribed, and ostracised by friends and relatives, but the assurance that 1 have been on the side of Justice has sustained me. And I have not been entirely without sympathetic friends at any time. ] 5 I have your photo— thankB to the kindness of a friend, and by it I see what a sensitive, generous nature you have, and how great a capacity you have for sufferirg from being misunderstood. I regret very much that you are called upon to suffer for doing what you conceive to be right, and what the world must some time come to see is right. You have my sincere sympathy, and I trust you will be able to bear up bravely under this extra tax upon your strength and health. There are true hearts that are with you iu all your noble work, and whose kindly thoughts are wafted to you hourly. Don't think you are forsaken, even though a few frail friends fly from you when you grow ahead of their ca- pacity to grow. I like to think that there is a law of com* pensation in nature, and that there will come a time when all good work will be appreciated. If not in our time there are generations yet to come that will bless the memory of Mosea Harman. If there is anything in this that you want to publish, you are at liberty to do so, but for the reason giveu already, please do not give the name. With a heart f nil of sympathy, and with a fervent Bless You, I am sincerely yours for all good work, A QUESTION OF JUDICIAL, INTEGRITY. The last assault upon the editor of Lucifer seems to in- dicate that after three years of cowardly braggadocio the obscenists intend to brace themselves up for trial at the coming term. Whether the trial comes off or not, it stands Lucifer in hand to state its case so clearly that the misrep- resentations of its persecutors may be ineffectual, even though those misrepresentations should receive the ap- proval of the court as expressed in an adverse judgment. The threatened trial if it ever takes place, will be more like the trials for witchcraft that were had in early New Eng- land times than like judicial proceeding appropriate to our day. It cannot be otherwise. In such cases it is always the judge and not the victim who is on trial, and I apprehend that the reason why Lucifer's persecutors have delayed for so long to place Judge Foster on trial is that he showed so much honesty in deciding as he did, in 31 Fed Rep. 872, that when a trial is to take place there should be something to be tried. The decisions in cases under the blackmail law are so confused, so contradictory, and so eccentric that each case reflects the individual character of the judge who tries it and holds that up into prominence, while the offense real or pretended of the defendant is lost sight of in the general maze. Irreconcilable decisions have been rendered under this law, the only effect of which is to display the judges in various favorable or unfavorable lights according as they 16 have been true or false to the obligations of their judicial office. Oppos ing decisions have been rendered on the very simple questi ons as to whether it was necessary to set out the matter in the indictment, as to whether it was necessary to allege "scienter,'' as to whether the law applied to letters or not, &o., (fee &c. A very iobtructive case and one in which the judge shows a high sense of the responsibility of his office is U. S. vs. Huggett, tried July 1, 1889, in the Circuit court of the Northern District of Ohio and reported in 40 Fed. Kep. 630. Judge Hammond in this case does not snivel and wiggle and shirk the issue as many Judges have done in these cases. He decides the question that is before him to decide, not in the broadest way possible, it is true, but with a manliness and independence which compared with the efforts of some judges to make capital for themselves out of the conviction of an innocent victim, entitles him to commendation. Speaking of the confusion to which I have alluded Judge Hammond says: "Strictly and technically none of the decisions by any ot the judges are of authority, and in the circuit I take it all the judges stand alike in this matter, supposed distinctions in rank not adding anything to the authoritative ef- fect of judgment or opiuions. Whichever judge holds the circuit court, it is the judgment of the court, aud can be no more or less authoritative because of these distinctions. It would be intolerable if it were otherwise, Uufortunately, owing to our very absurd judicial system it seems quite impossible to introduce into it the rule of stare decisis, as between the different circuits and in the courts inferior to the supreme court, the decisions of that tribunal aloue being biuding as authority up>n all. If the first judicial decision of tnis question had been followed as a precedent, there would have been no conflict of authority, and "letters" would have been excluded from the operation of this act. But Judge Deady's careful judgment was by him all too graciously, perhaps, made to yield to mere statements that other judges in his circuit thought differently, and without any published opinious from them. Other courts felt at lib erty to disregard the first precedent, and so we have them all acting independently in judgment. This may be de- plorable, but it is inevitable, unless all will yi^ld to the first careful and intelligent decision as a precedent, strictly con- sidered." Judge Hammond then proceeds to quash the indictment before him, which after all is the only thing an honest judge could possibly have done, for the reading of the law of 1876 as to "letters" is plain enough. But a list of opposing cases upon this point, whether the law of 1876 applies to letters or not, which list is given by Judge Hammond in f ur.» will be instructive. The law was held to include "letters" in U. S. vs. Gay- IT lord 17 Fed. Rep. 438, U. S. vs. Hanover Id. 444, U. S. vs. Bntton Id 731, U. S. vs. Morris 18 Fed. Rep. 900, vs. Thomas 27 Fed. Kep. 682. The law was held not to apply to "letters" m U. S. vs. Williams 3 Fed. Rep. 484, U. S. vs. Lof tis 12 Fed. Rep. 671 U. S. vs. Comerford 25 Fed. Rep. 902 and U. S. Mathias 3G Fed. Kep. 892. Some of these efforts to bnog private correspondence within the operation of this infamous law are very strained and show a very great prej udice and a very great degree of mental impurity on the part of the judges who make them, but they are too voluminous to be any more than re- ferred to in an ordinary article like this. It would not be proper however, to close this article without inserting the thundering protest against all this abomination, made by J udge Turner in U. S. vs. Commer- ford, tried November 1885 in the District Court of the Western District of Texas. If there had been more judgen of the oharacter and integrity of Judge Turner there would have been fewer silly decisions upon this rascally law and the law itself would long ago have had its quietus. Judge Turner says: "We have been taught to believe that it was the great- est injustice towards the common people of eld Rome when the laws they were commanded to obey,under Caligula, were written in small characters, and hung upon high pillars, thus more effectually to ensnare the people. How much advantage may we justly claim over the old Roman, if our oriminal laws are so obscurely written that one cannot tell when he is violating them? If the rule con tended for here is to be applied to the defendant, he will be put upon trial for an act which he could not by perusing the law have as- certained was an offense. My own sense of justice revolts at the idea. It is not in keeping with the genius of our in- stitutions, and I cannot give it my sanction.'* Here was a test of the integrity of the judge. Judge Turner stood that test splendidly. If Lucifer's case is ever tried I hope it will be before a judge as capable of standing such a test as Judge Turner was. It is, after all merely a question of judicial integrity. It is ridiculous that on such a question one-half of the decisions should be one way and the other half just the opposite way, and I say without hesitation that in these cases where the decisions haye stretched the law to embrace private letters the judges •o deciding have very clearly demonstrated their lack of moral character, patriotism and integrity. 1£d. W. Chambeblain, ! 8 TIIE WOllAN