Author _ 



Title- 



Imprint 



Our Moral, Social and 
Political Evilg . 



Their Cause and the 
Remedy. 



B. KOENIG, 

Author of 
: 'Ten Years a Detective," Etc. 



Entered according to Act of Congress in the year 1900, by 

Bernhard Koenig 

; in the office of the Librarian of Congress, at Washington, D. C. 



61395 



CCT.15 1900 

Ce W *H|Ht «rtry 

1 3 1 

, SECOND COPY. 

OROfcX DIVISION, 
'pf.T 24 190Q 



CONTENTS. 

1. Preface. Poem. Prose. 

2. Society. 

3. Some Conditions of Our Present Life. 

4. Which are Our Moral and Social Evils 

5. Our Women. 

6. Diseased Brains Mean Diseased Minds. 

7. Are Our Great Money Kings Suffering from Diseased 
Brains ? 

8. Our Political Degenerates. 

9. The Trusts, Corporations and Companies. 

10. Our Courts of Justice. 

11. The Public Press. 

12. Who Can Teach? 

13. Marriage. 

14. When Should Men and WomenWed? 

15. When Should They Not Wed? 

16. Society Suffering. 

17. A Word of Advice to Parents and Teachers. 

18. Advice to Youth. 

19. Summing Up. 

20. The Remedy. 

21. The End. 



PREFACE. 

What is true to-day may be logically contradicted to-morrow. 
The everlasting turn of the mighty wheel of life mixes matters 
eternally and brings before the eye of the observer a kaleido- 
scopic view that dazzles the eye, spirit and soul. It produces an 
eternal change of mind of each living individual, and as each- 
change again produces a different impression on every person, it 
forms new thoughts and ideas, with a result of a chaos-like con- 
glomerata, that is bewildering and that makes us stand aghast 
of the end. 

Of this fact I was impressed soon after I had somewhat seen 
the lights and shades of social life and when I began to study the 
observations of others in regard to this theme I found that they 
either repeated the thoughts of other thinkers or wrote deliberate- 
falsehoods, which would further their own ends. Then I stopped 
"to see through the eyes of others and concluded to make the 
"study of our moral, social and political life" my task, and 
thenceforth I endeavored to sift "facts" from "arguments, wishes 
or illusions," and all dissecting necessary I did with the help of 
plain common sense. Acts and deeds, which were in opposition. 
to moral and social laws, advices and teachings that seemed di- 
rectly aimed against common sense or the laws of nature I noted 
down carefully for years, and during certain periods I compared, 
them again and again, until I believed myself capable of separat- 
ing "the cause from the deed," and then by either subtraction or 
multiplication I gained the end-result. 

Now, after more than thirty years of such study I shall give 
the so-gained facts to the public, but thereby arises the doubt 
whether my capacity to master the English language will be 
found sufficient to express myself correctly and plainly, because, 
as a foreign-born individual I will likely form sentences that show 
my ab-origin, but I claim that few Americans or Englishmen,. 
in comparison, could do better, if they should have to use my 
native tongue, so I will simply ask consideration and say that 
I endeavored to express myself plainly and to be understood by- 
all classes of society. 

Whenever I speak of "the masses" I mean the majority of the 
people, and whenever a reader feels specially adverse to an ex- 
pressed opinion that seems to touch his "sore spot/' let him re- 
flect, investigate and — correct, then the goal is reached of 

Your sincere 

Author. 



- 6 



Come back to your senses, you men of this land, 
It's time, believe me, or yom freedom will stand 
No longer as bright as your forefathers thought, 
When they, with their blood, from England it bought. 

Look now at your best, at your bluest of blood. 
They surely think, they are nearer to God 
Than you that by thrift and the sweat of his brow, 
Will work and earn bread with shovel or plow. 

No longer you command their love and esteem, 
They look upon you in the eye that gleam, 
That drives the blood in uproarious waves 
To the cheeks of all men, that are no knaves. 

No longer you are the same kind of man 
Than those that have gold and claim noble clan 
Way back to old ages, when their forefather was — 
A peddler, or merchant, but — never an ass. 

Look at these men — quite English — you know, 
Who study a life of how to bow low; 
And monkey "patricians," that never should live, 
Because they can "take," but seldom will give. 

B. KOENIG 



— 7 



3\ T earer and nearer by the trend of the times 
Hear we the sound of freedom's sweet chimes ; 

The air waves carry forth the great Marsellaise. 
That sounds through the world in liberty's praise. 

The masses throw down the yoke of the Trust, 
Light breaks the darkness; gold looks like rust; 
-Spirits of might rise way above all, 
-And the "Sons of the Free" rise quick to their call. 

Beware, you tyrants, upstarts, and thieves, 
The sweep of revolution that nothing you leaves, 
And fearful the reckoning with wrongdoers will be, 
The judgment simple : "The rope and a tree." 

That is as true as a God is above, 
Righteous and just and great in his love 
For all that believe, that the earth is his gift, 
And that no one his work on another must shift. 

When equal the work, the duty and task; 
Servility crushed and Faith without masque, 
Then, and only then, holds liberty sway, 
And the sun of equality spreads golden its ray. 

B.Koenig. 



— 8 — 

SOME CONDITIONS OF OUR PRESENT LIFE. 

All those that must earn their daily bread at the present day 
have to lie and crouch, deceive and flatter, or — starve. Tell the 
truth fearlessly, give everything the right name, think yourself 
equal to the best, and you will remain poor and be called a crank 
who acts against his own interests. 

Help the oppressed or stand for equal rights and you will be 
branded as a criminal or as a man who wishes to live off the poor. 

But lie, deceive, beat, cheat, harmonize with the bad, conspire 
with them, and you will earn this world's riches en masse. 

Real goodness is seldom to be found these days ; reai manhood 
and independence seem actually dead. 

Bad has advanced rapidly during the years of the past century, 
and now — at the beginning of the new one — we stand before a 
social crisis, the like never confronted any age, and it will burst 
into a revolution, unless the social problems can be solved soon. 

What are the social problems that confront us and how can 
they be solved? I will undertake to answer these questions, but 
I am fully aware that the truth which I will be obliged to write 
will not make many friends for me; but why should the indi- 
vidual shrink back from a deed that may benefit the people? The 
welfare of the individual does not come into question when the 
great mass of the people may be awakened to a sense of duty 
and reality, that serves the one purpose : "to awake the nations 
from a slumber that is full of terrible nightmares, produced by a 
disease which now spreads with terrific rapidity and has already 
a hold on all elements of society. 

SOCIETY. 

What is "society?" 

All elements of the people ; good, passable, and bad : rich, well 
situated or poor; strong and weak physically or spiritually; all 
human creatures that live form society, and according to our 
great constitution, all are entitled to a fair living and to equal 
rights before the great tribunals of the "Courts of Justice." 

Yes, society is governed by laws, and those who sin against 
the laws should be punished "without fear or favor" by the 
judges elected by the people or their representatives for that 
purpose. 

And every human being forms a link in the great chain of 
society in which it has duties to perform and rights to claim. It 
is governed in every instance by the sovereign will of the ma- 



jority, either directly or indirectly. Directly, when the vote of 
the people made a law for all ; indirectly when the representa- 
tives of the people, selected by the vote of the latter, made the 
laws. And society owes obedience to these laws and *o the per- 
sons that are appointed or elected to uphold them. 

But the "servants of the people" owe more to society than any- 
other one link of it, for they have dual obligations, because they 
have dual rights, of which one invests them with a certain power 
to enforce the laws and to mete out justice to the wronged. 

We can therefore part society into two classes : those that gov- 
ern and those that are governed, and yet the beneficient "trick" 
of our laws is that the governors are again governed by the 
people. 

Our laws are in toto sublime, but society at large is rotten, and 
only the most heroic measures can clear the stagnancy of its 
brain fluid, which 'has produced degeneracy, wherever we look 
to. The disease is like a ''moral consumption," producing moral 
death. The germ is by no means hidden to the searching eye, 
but those that are inflicted seem unaware of their fate, just like 
the real consumptive. The latter believes to the end that his 
malady is but a slight cold ; the degenerate believes that his 
nefarious actions are but natural and "the real thing to do," and 
he laughs at the honest being that rather suffers than does wrong. 

This unhealthy state of affairs cannot last, because it produces 
contrasts which are inadjustable except by use of physical force 
with all its uncertainties and horrors. 

WHICH ARE OUR MORAL AND SOCIAL EVILS? 

The jugular vein running through the great body of the com- 
munity shall now be severed ; the life fluid shall be analyzed and 
the microscopic findings of the strong lens of the honestly search- 
ing eye be given in all its nasty details. 

Can I do it? Yes ! Dare I do it? I would, if not one consid- 
eration stopped my pen to a degree. "The thought that inno- 
cence, sweet innocence, may get hold of this book and receive a 
pen picture of life that would darken the glorious rays of happy 
illusions !" 

Nay, at the proper time and chapter I will speak to Youth, 
warning and advising those who have put their foot on to the 
"downward leading course"; but to a certain extent I feel duty 
bound to enumerate here the evils, so that I can speak properly 
of their existence. 



— 10 — 

All human beings feel at one time or another the necessity 
•of clinging, of praying to "a higher, mightier power" than we 
•feel within us fit to control, and we are then "religious." 

"Religion," in my estimation, was created by the feeling of 
■fallability, superinduced by uncontrollable misfortunes and the 
utter lack of ability to extract body and soul from cares and 
troubles that threatened to destroy moral or physical life. 

The beautiful picture of the c 'Holy Trinity" is certainly worth 
beholding, the teachings of the Bible are sublime for moral pur- 
poses, for our life, but — the teachers of religion have quarreled 
over the earthly spoils of office and have, for reasons of their 
own, succeeded in enshrouding the beautiful with a cloak that is 
distasteful and belief-destroying, and unless we are able to purify 
and simplify Religion, we will soon be without any. 

Therefore I believe that the greatest moral evil in existence 
is "The many creeds, the sectionalism of religion, and the im- 
purity and realism of our religious teachers. 

At the proper place the readers will find "my own religion" 
defined and the cure for the religious evils suggested. 

The second greatest moral evil is the unscientific breeding of 
our race. While the life of our soul is thrown into doubt by the 
clergy, the strength of the body, of the nervous and muscular 
system, is first weakened and then destroyed by unscientific 
breeding, because intermarriage of the human race is permitted 
to take place without scientific discretion or distinct purpose as 
to the ennobling and purifying of body and spirit, thus producing 
foul, instead of a pure and healthy fluid that nourishes the body 
and enlivens soul and mind. 

All other "Moral Evils" are simply the consequence of the 
above, which thesis I will prove in the following different 
chapters. 

Our "Social Evils" can be characterized and contracted into 
one sentence : "Present society at large is made up of overbearing 
fools or idiots, ready to believe in their own greatness, suggested 
by their confreres and a servile press for gain-sake, or — charity. 

"Society" is now in a fierce struggle ; the very foundation of 
its structure is shaken and the battle surges back and forth in a 
wild turmoil. 

What elements of society battle with each other and how will 
the battle end? 

"Morality" struggles with immorality, honesty with dishon- 
esty, perfidy with uprightness, truthfulness with low intrigue, 



— 11 — 

capital with labor. The rich try to crush the poor and dependent 
into absolute submission, and the political elements of the coun- 
try are the very incarnation of all that can be construed into the 
meaning of badness. 

Now the wiseacres will say : "It has been so, it is so now, and 
it will be so as long as the world lasts," but they are mistaken. 

The conditions of society have undergone rapid changes, and 
while, until now, all badness which was done for gain-sake and 
was crowned with pecuniary success, has been looked upon as 
"business-like," smart, and as a "matter of fact" outcome, an 
element still exists which will develop the morals and teachings 
that will lead humanity to a higher plane of life. 

This element now grows slowly because the battle it has to 
fight is so disgusting and fierce, the weapons of the degenerate 
enemy are so miserable, so indecent, that it takes great moral 
courage to keep up the struggle after every defeat. 

The last great political battle claimed one of the best generals 
that the good cause had. ''Henry George is no more, but his 
teachings, his great works, live and will live on and on until that 
plane of life is reached which sound women and men try to secure 
for the welfare of the masses." 

Henry George's theories and teachings on political economy 
I indorse heartily ; they promise splendid results and furnish a 
guide to sure success if followed, therefore I will touch but 
lightly upon that subject whenever the current of my thoughts 
demand it, but I will try to solve the problems which cause the 
rupture between the masses and the classes, between rich and 
; poor ; going to the very root of the evil and lay naked and bare 
what intelligent beings know to exist, but which they fight shy 
" to touch, because of moral cowardice in sacrificing personal in- 
terests or of false ideas of morality, etc. 

If a woman doctor is called to the bedside of a sick man, his 
'disease necessarily revealing the extremities of his body, would 
^she, as a woman, hesitate to do her duty as a doctor? No ! 

Why, then, should not a man undertake to speak naked truth 
of society's misdeeds, abuses, sins, if his object is "the cure of 
the evil?" 

The themes cover so much ground, so many conditions of life, 
that a logical order is nigh on the impossible, and I will have to 
jot down observations, thoughts, ideas and conclusions in separ- 
ate chapters, which yet will form a unit when put together. 



— 12 — 

The two greatest social problems to solve are : "The Equality 
and Contentment of the masses. "Liberty, unity and equality'' 
were guaranteed to the citizens of the United States by the con- 
stitution, but we have had nothing of the kind. Let us look at 
the liberty which we have enjoyed so far. 

Liberty means "freedom from all restraint," but no such lib- 
erty can be enjoyed in any well organized community. It is 
"civil liberty" which the constitution guarantees, the meaning of 
which is, according to Webster, "the liberty of men in a state of 
society, so far only abridged and restrained as is necessary and 
expedient for the safety and interest of society, state or nation." 
Civil liberty is an exemption from the arbitrary will of others, 
w T hich exemption is secured by established laws which restrain 
every man from injuring and controlling another. 

Isn't Webster great? The definition is so clear, so distinct, 
that errors seem impossible, if our lawmakers would only take 
the great dictionary to hand and to heart. 

But w T e also find in Webster "religious liberty" defined, and 
"natural liberty," etc., etc., but our lawmakers have made their 
own definition of these words, influenced by the sweet will of 
the ruling and interested classes, so that at last the oppressed 
people were forced to combine for mutual protection. It is but 
natural that the latter should see enemies in the former and 
come to hate them, even if we have many rich people who are 
desirous of doing good. 

The oppressed or working classes are at present misled, mis- 
guided by those that use their influence to serve their own ends, 
but I am also convinced that some of the labor leaders are sacri- 
ficing their best abilities in behalf of their fellow men and to 
solve the social problems. They countenance a great deal of 
ignorance and have to act accordingly, or they would lose the 
sympathy of their followers. Yet I am sure that they gradually 
educate the masses, as is proven by the minority of "wild an- 
archists" tolerated amidst the working classes. 

But let me be systematic and ask : "What produces this dis- 
satisfaction of the working people?" 

Two things. The criminal combination of our political rulers 
and of the money kings. The latter could not exist if the former 
did their duty ! 

What does the "criminal combination of our political rulers" 
mean? That the political parties within themselves combine to 
further the ends of each of their members, regardless of the wel- 
fare of the great masses. That they sell the liberty of the work- 
ing people for personal gain. 



— V6 — 

When Mayor Strong was elected the reform movement swept 
the country, yet here in New York City lawmakers were sent to 
Albany who "were there before," and at times have boasted that 
they received money for their votes in certain "deals." 

Yes, the law makers sell the rights of the people to whomso- 
ever is willing to pay the price. 

But by no means must we understand that the "Trusts" are 
only controlling "sugar, cigarettes or railroads, coal, etc., etc.," 
the far. more dangerous Trusts, that first undermine and then 
kill the different dealers, the trader, the mechanic, etc., etc., are 
the department stores. Each of these firms form a "trust" in 
themselves, and each of them kill hundreds and thousands of 
small firms, who formerly did a good business, flourished and 
were a blessing to behold and — now? Is there a shoemaker, a 
grocer, a druggist, a tailor or any other tradesman or mechanic 
who can, by thrift and intelligence, gain a good livelihood and 
save enough to be comfortable in his old age? 

Few, very few, can answer this in the affirmative. 

But those few firms accumulate millions, become slave drivers, 
and degrade every human being in their employ to be mere 
machines. 

These firms are not Trusts in the sense of the word, in which 
it generally is used ; nay, they are the direct cause of commercial 
failure, and if restricting laws are not soon enacted which abolish 
these dangerous business schemers I predict a day when the 
people will arise en masse and force the cessation of these stores, 
except they force themselves out before by low competition. 
Some will here use the argument that "the people" derive a 
benefit from such competition, but that is not so. The manufac- 
turers of the different goods are constantly forced to sell lower 
and lower, and as they do not wish to loose, they either give an 
inferior article or cut wages until the limit is reached. Who 
loses by this operation? The workingmen, and indirect the 
small tradesman. Next, one of the large firms undersells the 
other until one of them fails, then the other buys and sells the 
bankrupt stock. Who loses now? The manufacturer, his sup- 
plier, and again the workingmen. 

"Competition is the life of trade," that is the old saving, but 
it is also the death of it, if natural limits are not drawn. 

How can this be done? By enacting laws governing the pro- 
duction and sale of all goods, etc., etc. 

Of course I cannot here embody my ideas as to these laws to 
'be enacted to remedy each and every evil, which I charge to be 



— 14 - 

the cause of the social problems, but if this work meets with the- 
favor of the public I shall feel called upon to be more explicit in 
the future. 

In Germany the "middle classes" were looked upon as the pil- 
lars of commercial prosperity, and great care was taken to pro- 
tect them, but when these middle classes are destroyed, rich and 
poor will only exist, "liberty, unity and equality" become a farce ; 
the guarantees of the constitution are broken ! 

Of course, the millionaire or those in league with him, will not 
acknowledge these facts, and flippant arguments are used to de- 
stroy the impressions, but the facts nevertheless remain, until 
the awakening of the masses will bear out a judgment that may 
not be respected by«anybody. Let us pray that this "awakening" 
will not come before all the laboring classes have reached that 
intelligence which abhors brutal force. 

I do not preach revolution ; nay, I hope sincerely that the evo- 
lution of mankind will take place before the degeneration is so 
great that physical force will seem the only remedy of the social 
problems. 

But we must soon commence with the regeneration, because 
the morally and physically perfect become scarcer and scarcer 
in comparison to the inhabitation of the world and the sacrifices, 
which necessarily will have to be made, may reach such propor- 
tions that even the most courageous and Spartan-like soul may 
recoil with terror from the aim that is to be reached. 

I have refrained as much as possible from becoming personal 
and to cite examples from the present status of our moral, social 
and political evils, but I ask my readers to study carefully what 
I will have to say on the different subjects when they will be 
treated each and singular specifically. In the treatises that are 
to follow I will state facts, substantiated, as I said before, by affi- 
davits, court records, and the use of the camera, which cannot 
tell falsehoods. 

OUR WOMEN. 

The tendency of the women of the day "to be independent and 
to be the equal of men" is but the consequence of one of the 
unsound conditions of moral and natural home life. 

History offers proof that strong minded, great, intellectual,. 
sterling charactered women were always in existence as long as 
this world exists ; at least, there were always some representa- 
tives of the female sex that compared favorably with the best 



— 15 — 

products of manhood, while the history of all ages also shows- 
weak minded males that were guided and controlled by strong: 
spirits of the opposite sex. 

But history also shows that true wives and good mothers found 
happiness and content at the domestic hearth, while the men 
governed the state of affairs to the satisfaction of the community. 

Yet in every century we find a great revolution which brings 
about radical changes and a general elevation of society; but 
close study also proves that revolutions are always the conse- 
quence of lax morals and general dishonesty. 

A people reaches a certain plane of perfection, then its moral 
tendency begins to degrade, and when the downward course is 
reached the most perfect, the most refined, become the most de- 
graded. ''Society" seems to turn oblivious to common decency 
and purity, to simplest prudence. Criminal acts against the com- 
mon people are committed to satisfy unnatural inclinations when' 
the people become aware that their supposed superiors are noth- 
ing but low weaklings with basely low habits. 

In this race on to the upward, and later on to the downward 
course, we find women the instigators, first to the good, then to- 
the evil doings. 

With pride every American looks back to the mothers of this 
country, but with disdain every true man will now look upon 
some leaders of present society who seek in gayety, in indolence,, 
in certain mockery of ''habits of titled nobility" of the old coun- 
tries a striving to a status in life which shall make them forget 
that their forefathers were honest merchantmen, mechanics, or 
even laborers. 

How miserable look some of our so-called 400, who by all 
means seek to forget their honest ancestry ; who do not blush to- 
seek connection with foreign nobility for the first mentioned 
purpose, and then turn their back upon that great free republic 
which gave to their forefathers, or even to their husbands, the 
wealth and command which they now sell to the highest bidder. 

And who seeks the connections? The men or the women? 

Answer truthfully ! The women ! The very women that by 
their education, wealth and position could prove the most noble 
nobility of character and become by virtue of their deeds the en- 
chanted models of future generations — who could influence the 
deeds of their husbands, fathers and brothers to be most praise- 
worthy and worthy to be recorded in the history of the world. 

Ah, would to God that we had yet many Peter Coopers or 
Peabodys ! How different this world would be ! And what sim- 
ple immemorial monuments these men have erected for them- 



— 16 — 

selves ! I should think that their generation must feel prouder, 
better, than the descendants of barons, counts, dukes, nay, even 
kings. 

Ah, such men had true, noble helpmates ; they had noble 
mothers, noble wives, noble children ! 

Philanthropists are born ! They are God-sent ! But, between 
the real philanthropist of the past decades and "the rich donor" 
of the present day there seems to be an unabridged abyss. While 
the deed of the philanthropist was accepted in the same spirit as 
it was done, the "gifts" (and mostly they are conditional ones) of 
the present money-kings seem to create a feeling of disgust in 
the hearts of high minded women and men. We seem to feel 
that the "good deed" is not a deed of the heart, one that springs 
from a philanthropic sense of duty towards those that receive 
the benefit of the gift, but a craven act to clear the mind of a 
burden that conscience has olaced there. 

Why? 

Because the riches were not gained by honest labor, by hon- 
orable, clean means, but by the crushing, robbing, of the next and 
the poor. 

And the results of these gifts are mostly great heaps of stone, 
monumental, and calculated to make the name of the donor im- 
memorial, and the stones will stand for many centuries, while 
the name of the donor will remain engraved on the memorial 
slates of its halls, yet it will be forgotten by the people because 
the gift lacked the philanthropic spirit. 

When you see the results of noble deeds, when you see the 
rich harvest that their good seeding produced; when you hear 
the blessings of thousands of fathers, mothers and children that 
are uttered at the memory of great, good men of the past, you 
would naturally think that their good, laudable deeds would have 
been inoculated in the present generation. 

Oh, no ! None of that any more ! The fondled, misguided 
daughter of the upper upstart of the day wants tc forget her 
ancestry; she looks for a nobleman as a husband, whose title 
will cover the past, honest or dishonest, and who will waste the 
American millions at the races or gaming tables. 

Do these women feel happy in the strange world which they 
enter? Some do, some do not. 

Those that have no heart, that are of the "butterfly nature," 
lead the life of the "one day fly." They dominate-, and think 
themselves happy. Their life is not worth living. A few regret 
their follv when it is too late, and a broken heart is the end. 



— 17 — 

When will this folly end? The American people begin to look 
■with disdain upon these marriages. 

And are these women married? Are they leading the happy 
life of a ''respected" wife? Or do their dollars act like the quick- 
silver in a barometer, making ''the love" of their husbands rise 
"to the surface" when their gold flows freely, or "noble pas- 
sions" rage like a storm when that flow stops. 

And how low must the "sense of honor" lie in a woman when 
she knows herself to be "endured" only, to live at the side of a 
man, who cannot but hate her, if he is yet capable of even that 
feeling, but we stop to wonder when "free love" and ^sporting 
natures" are developed in that class of society. 

Roll on, roll on, you stone of moral debasement, until you 
crush all degenerates. 

But the degenerates do not know that their actions are wrong 
and harmful to the moral sense of humanity; to them their 
doings are but natural, the consequence of breeding and teaching. 

There is but one remedy. "Let the women of pure blood, pure 
ideas and thoughts" combine and influence the legislators to 
pass laws which will compel again "scientific breeding of the 
human race." Let all foul born fruit be destroyed, the sick for- 
bidden to marry, the age of generation be limited, and weak 
Iruit also be destroyed. 

I know fully well that these w T ords will create a storm of in- 
dignation and abuse, but I will stand for them here, now and 
everywhere, and prove that it is absolutely the only remedy "to 
purify the cloak of our present social and political life." 

The sensation which these words may create at first will soon 
flatten, and naked truth must bear the fruit of reflection ; reflec- 
tion means probing for truth, and then the theory will be found 
•correct. 

But why should this proposition stir up human passion to 
the quick? 

The only reason is because I dare shake on teachings and 
feelings which all received and nurtured from childhood up and 
by which they benefitted, like the good egotists that we all are, 
more or less. 

And is egotism a gift of nature? By no means! 

"The love of the mother" imparts this nasty feeling to the 
•system, until we find it to be but natural and the "real good 
.thing." 



— 18 — 

The child when born absorbs the whole attention and love of 
the mother. Its nasty disposition is cajoled and excused, until 
man or womanhood makes a full fledged egotistic human being 
of it which, by force of habit, will do like its own mother did, 
adding certain ''wisdom" of its own to the bringing up of their 
offsprings, thereby creating, as a general rule, far greater ego- 
tists who, at last, turn degenerates, their mind being well pre- 
pared to like and walk "the road that leads to the downward 
course of breeding and living. 

A real mother's love will by no means ever probate the faults 
and errors of a child, but she will warn, admonish, or punish, 
when occasion necessitates. 

Ah, ye women of the age, what holy duty is before you, and 
how do you discharge it? 

And those few that are really deserving of the title ''mother"' 
and who do their duty in full, are not found "laying plans how 
to marry off their daughters to a pauper and degenerate nobility 
ofa foreign country," but they feel happy and content in the oc- 
cupation of teaching and guiding their children on to the road 
where real happiness lies and a blissful, contented home, which 
in the end is envied them by the degenerate of the day. 

These are the women who are sacred, who are crowned by 
man's love and esteem ; who wear a diadem so rich and beauti- 
ful that it outshines and outlasts the most costly crowns of a 
decayed nobility. 

Ye noble mothers, wives and daughters, accept here my high- 
est esteem ! May you be blessed and the end of the next cen- 
tury see your descendants in the majority. 

Thank God there are comparatively few American 'men who 
turn their backs to their great native country and seek name and 
fame by bowing in servility to the nobility of old countries ; but 
those that do can be treated best by ignoring their existence. 
They are not worthy that an honest American should remember 
their names. 

Of all the millions of adopted citizens of this country, I think 
we would find only a few that have not preserved in their heart 
a warm place for their native land, yet they love this country 
because of its broad principles, of its freedom, of its generosity, 
and few we see return to the land of their birth, even if they were 
born with a "golden spoon in their mouths." 

But from the American 400 we take a step or two down, and 
meet the woman of real shoddvism ! Ah, I shudder ! 



- 19 — 

Yes, they are the most despicable and dangerous of all, be- 
cause they are the direct cause of dissatisfaction of the great 
masses. 

Why? I can best illustrate by citing an instance which I wit- 
It was a very warm October day when I strolled through Madi- 
nessed not long ago. 

son Avenue and then turned into one of the side streets that are 
lined with the "dead" facades of brown-stone houses. 

Right in front of me walked a woman dressed poorly but 
scrupulously clean. She stopped before a house whose broad 
front and rich ornamenting showed that wealthy people lived 
there. 

The poor woman pulled forth an address, and then tried to find 
the number of a house, but they being on the "inside door/' she 
was not able to see it. 

Just while I was passing her a gruff female voice from the 
parlor floor cried out: "Mary, go to the door; there is another 
woman who comes from the advertisement.'' Then a shutter 
opened and the coarse countenance of a woman appeared. 

" Are you a washerwoman?" she inquired of the poor woman. 

"• I am," the latter answered timidly. 

" Well, if you want to wash for a dollar a day, you go down- 
stairs, into the kitchen, and I will come and see you, otherwise 
you need not bother,'' and — clang, the window was shut. 

I do not know what prompted me, but I had stopped when 
the gruff voice spoke, then turning, I saw big tears trickling 
down the cheeks of the poor woman, while the blood flushed 
her face with a deep crimson. 

"I cannot," she murmured, conscious of the fact that I could 
overhear her. "She would have no mercy with my weakness; 
she looks so hard and rough." 

Then the woman passed by me, throwing an inquiring glance 
at me. 

"Are you looking for work?" I asked kindlv. 

"Oh, yes, I am," she stammered, but I am afraid I cannot do 
hard labor, and — that woman — in there — does not look as if she 
would have patience or forbearance with one that is very, very 
sick. 

I then learned the history of the woman, but why should I 
repeat it here? Suffice it to say that she was of gentle birth, a 
widow now, who tried to support three children as sick as she 
was. 



— 20 — 

And she cried and with bitter words asked : "Wiry does that 
strong woman live a life of idleness? Why has she the power to 
command and to exact work that she would be more fit to do 
herself? 

I could but say: "My dear woman, that is an unhealthy state 
of our present laws that rules society, but let us hope that the 
day will come when every being has its usefulness and will do 
the work that spiritual or physical ability laid out for it. 

Ah, the women of shoddyism ! How much harm do they do ! 
The shop girls know their former low station in life and seek 
by all means to reach the plane of the richly but loudly clad 
sister. 

The woman of acquaintance jealously takes notice of the dia- 
monds of Mrs. Shoddy and teases her husband to do his utmost 
to place her on "an equal level." And when poor hubby finds 
that he is unable to gratify the wishes of his wife, who urges him 
to use foul means to reach the goal? The wife ! 

Mothers, wives, daughters, am I right? Are not most of you 
chasing the phantom: "To lead the millionaire's life" 

No, not all ! We have noble women of sound mind, of good, 
true heart, but they are in the minority instead of in the majority, 
especially in the great cities of this continent ; and the marital 
relations— the spring of all good and of all evil in life — have be- 
come so loose that thinkers and philosophers are earnestly con- 
sidering whether the marital laws of society should not undergo 
,a decided change. 

But who can speak and teach on this subject? I will consider 
this question at the proper time and place with all the earnestness 
that it deserves, and then gradually I will show the root of all 
evils and propose the one and only remedy for it. To breed the 
human race scientifically, instead of fouling the blood by breed- 
ing good to bad, and bad to worse, thereby creating a race which 
looks upon crime as a smart working instead of a diseased 
working" of the brain and generating the multi-millionaire with 
his cold, impassionate nature, that stops at nothing to gain a 
selfish end. 

In consequence of the status quo we have come very near to 
look with contempt upon a character of true, sterling value which 
is scorned and ostracized. Men and women with high moral 
sense are laughed at and ridiculed, and when they try to assert 
that they are right, people of lax ideas and immoral character 
try to besmirch and f ) drag them down to their own low level. 



- 21 — 

Yes, society at large is far more degraded, far more in the 
meshes of sin, far more evil minded, than it is itself aware of. 
When we become used to look at wrong as being right, at sin as 
being virtuous, and that crime is honorable, or at least not dis- 
gracing, then it is high time that the social problems are solved 
at any cost ; solved by the righteous indignation of all truly hon- 
orable people, who must mass together and mete out punish- 
ment to thieves and rascals, who openly defy law and* order of 
the universe, and bargain for the guaranteed rights of the people. 

I predict the time when we will look upon certain laws of 
bygone ages as having been very wise ones, and as history re- 
peats itself in all matters, we will have to adopt those very 
measures of social resurrection again. 

That our liberty as guaranteed by the constitution of the 
United States is sold, cut and shrivelled into nothing, is now an 
acknowledged fact; unity is hardly to be expected under these 
circumstances, and can only be reached when liberty is restored, 
but ''"equality" will only be brought about by very stringent laws, 
which would seriously affect the usages of centuries. 

I have always held that the sense of "equality" must be inocu- 
lated in the coming generation, as he who was brought up with 
the idea that riches, training and learning gave him naturally a 
higher position in life than his poorer fellow-man enjoys cannot, 
and will not, discard these thoughts, unless fortune turns her 
back upon him and shows that "golden hearts and honest 
minds" exist in all classes of life. 

DISEASED BRAINS MEANS DISEASED MINDS. , 

A diseased brain certainly produces a diseased mind, and a 
desire to do what is forbidden or so hideous that it is distasteful 
or incomprehensible to the sound mind. A diseased mind will 
develop an inclination to outdo "the desirable and the good"; 
it creates an unhealthy superlative, and this desire stamps the 
disease. But to the diseased mind the "unnatural, unhealthy 
superlative" looks desirable, the attainment of the best, regard- 
less that it is produced at the expense and ruination of fellow 
beings, and that is the proof of the disease. 

An argument with a diseased mind is absolutely fruitless as a 
matter "per se," and would be an unthankful task if this work 
would only reach the incurables, but I live in hopes that it will 
also reach the thousands who are still open to an argument and 
readv to be convinced by facts. 



— 22 — 

Let us see where we find such diseased minds in our social, 
political and business world. 

In our social life we find the disease in the desire to live far 
above the means of the individual and to rank — at least outwardly 
— by dress and jewel with those that also live above their means, 
and so on, until we reach the diseased argument, which is : "Make 
the means anyhow" ; this, then, seems to become the right thing 
to do, instead of what it is : the unnatural, unhealthy superlative 
of the simple good. And in the mad rush to grab and gobble 
up the dishonestly made dollars, honor, self-respect, family ties, 
obligations, morality, common decency, everything, is forgotten, 
everything is trodden into the mire and gutter for — what? for 
the almighty dollar that shall satisfy the desires of the diseased 
brains, the wish for the "unnatural, unhealthy, superlative of so- 
called good." 

And the attentive observer stands first amused, then dazed, 
in the whirlpool of this life ; he compares the past with the pres- 
ent, and concludes that if the past was by no means faultless, the 
present is simply distasteful, the opposite to uprightness, honor 
and humanity. 

Why? 

Ah, here, and now, I see a member of ''the rich" meeting a 
friend. Both politely lift their hats and bow low. The tips of 
the fingers touch each other as if both were afraid that the other's 
hand is dirty. Well, is it clean? Is the glove that covers the 
flesh paid for with honestly earned money, or hangs upon it the 
life blood of a ruined existence? 

Who can tell? 

Xow they part, and the countenances of both are overspread 
by a grin that speaks volumes to the mind reader and physiol- 
ogist ! 

The tendencies of diseased brains of our present times will be 
treated in a separate chapter, but the business methods of our 
money kings and mercantile lights who, no doubt, suffer from 
the worst form of a diseased brain, shall be more fully treated 
in the next chapter. 

ARE OUR GREAT MONEY KINGS SUFFERING FROM 
DISEASED BRAINS? 

The mere possesssion of riches tends to create and to form pas- 
sions and desires, which to the less fortunate (?) seem incredible, 
unnatural, immoral and undesirable, because the function of the 
will power in suppressing these passions is especially strained 
and called upon to perform its best endeavors. 



— 23 — 

Now, then. Our medical scientists teach us that the brain has 
a stated amount of cells and each of them is the site of a capacity. 

It is evident that use means consume, but a forced usage of 
any part of the body soon becomes visible by the deadening and 
ultimate consuming of the parts, glands and arteries which pre- 
serve and nourish. For instance, the laborer, who uses his 
hands all day handling rough articles, will soon show the cal- 
lous effect of the skin that came in constant contact with rough 
material ; the arteries of the skin, asked by nature to supply more 
than the usual food, had to do harder work, and when called 
upon to do more than they should do, they tired, and at last re- 
fused the work altogether, becoming dead and hard, and there- 
with giving to the parts where they lie, a callous and "dead" 
appearance. The hands do the work still, but not in the same 
nimble way as when every little artery was in a perfect, healthy 
condition. Mind that, please. 

And the little brain cells, each destined to do certain func- 
tions, will also tire if one or more is called upon to do a greater 
task than what nature permitted them to do without tiring, and so 
will the cell containing our will power tire, harden and collapse 
if w r e ask an unnatural performance of it. Once dead, it cannot 
appeal for aid to such cells as hold generosity, morality, sense 
of honor, etc., and, at last, we meet the thorough money king 
with many of his brain cells dead, consequently with a diseased 
brain, who will amass his fortune, irrespective of the lives that 
he ruins, and who walks over graves to his very doubtful happy 
home. 

And the disease of his brain is inherited by his children, who 
come into the world looking upon the status as a birthright and 
upon their less rich, fellow beings as beneath their own standing. 

O, ye miserable creatures ! Would to God the great chance 
were given you to look into the soul of a pure minded human 
being, that feels happiest in the pure joy of a simple life and 
who has the facility to enshroud the dirtiest with the love of 
unselfishness ; who does good, not for reward or praise, but 
-solely from a natural instinct and irrespective of the receiver's 
counter action. 

Does the pomp which surrounds you, the servility which you 
buy, the friendship that is false, the love that is betrayed, repay 
you for the beautiful content that you lost, just as Adam and Eve 
lost the Paradise? 



— 24 — 

The diseased brain will answer yes. I say no, a thousand 
times no, but if we allow the diseased mind to breed on, then 
comes revolution, as sure as history repeats itself in every 
century. 

OUR POLITICAL DEGENERATES. 

While ascribing in the foregoing chapters that the ''degener- 
ates of this age" were in the majority, I gladly said that people 
of good, honest and sound mind were still in existence, but I 
have yet to find the politician of the day whose hand the honest 
man could conscientiously shake, knowing that man's sense was 
absolutely clear on the point of "honor and honesty." Nay, I 
must say worse ! 

It is nigh on to impossible that a perfectly honorable man can 
become "an American politician" if he was such a being when 
entering the career ; he certainly could not be so long and remain 
in the ranks. He will form connections, make promises, enter 
into obligations, etc., which sooner or later must interfere with 
his plain and sworn to duties, and when the first step of dis- 
honesty was taken, and the foul mouthed flatterer has excused 
or even applauded the wrong, then the next step down is made 
quicker, conscience is quieter, and ambition enters the track, 
putting its spurs deep into the brain cell, where conscience is 
already asleep and bleed the latter soon to death. 

But our politicians know well that the degenerates in the 
masses are by far in the majority, and that therefore their acts 
and deeds will pass unpunished, except when they harm one of 
the few sterling characters who then brings them, often per- 
chance, before one of the sterling judges, when punishment is 
meted out, but often, very often, the "mightier power" then par- 
dons the sinner. 

We have, in fact, passed that stage of political life where a 
Reform through the ballot box seemed possible. I did hope, a 
few years ago, when Dr. Parkhurst and other sterling men went 
forward to crush dishonesty and degeneracy, that the political" 
evils could be checked and remedied by "the vote of the peo- 
ple," but since that time I am convinced that "only the purifica- 
tion of blood" will produce a change and bring forth patriotic 
men, who, from a point of high sense of honor, will guide and 
maintain the welfare of the people. 

Dr. Parkhurst, for instance, is such a man in the most noble 
sense of the word, and only such can fully appreciate what he 



— 25 — 

has done in the past, who tried to do as he did. He undertook: 
the work of a giant, and I sincerely hope that he will yet end it 
satisfactorily. 

Nobody can judge how distasteful such labors must have been, 
to him ; nobody can imagine the obstacles which were placed in 
his way, but let us still hope that the foul atmosphere of our 
political world can be aired, and that wrong can yet be righted 
without revolution or other drastic measures. But let not alone 
the moral filth be cleared away, no — go higher, Dr. Parkhurst, 
and — go low T er also. The stagnation of the brain fluid is disas- 
trous to the best minds, and the judgment of good men and 
women have become clouded, while the poor working people are 
embittered and ready to mistrust even the purest minds. 

Well, is it to be wondered? Not at all ! When the child re- 
ceives the lesson that dishonesty is smartness, and that to be 
sharp means "to make the dollar anyhow," and teachings of the 
same kind, then we must not wonder to see the child grow up 
to be all that it is expected to be, and that its ideas of right and 
wrong are entirely mixed up and contrary to law and honor. 

Is it necessary for me to offer proof for these assertions? 

No, because everybody, absolutely everybody, knows they are 
facts ; knows that "honesty" in our political circles is laughed 
at ,although we find here and there some servants of the people 
who say : "We never took a dishonest dollar, and mav be they 
didn't. 

But what ways and means did they have to use "to get there?" 
Did they have to pay their way, or did they have to make prom- 
ises, or did they natter a man who stands below them in every 
respect? 

You did ; I say you did, no matter who you are, and no argu- 
ment could convince me of the contrary, because I know better. 

There are two men alive in whom I have yet confidence, al- 
though they allied themselves with people of ill repute, but I 
believe that they will try to clean the political Augean stable if 
they reach the goal that they aim for, even if they now use the 
motto of the Jesuits : "The purpose sanctifies the means." I may 
be mistaken; both may prove "common stock," but I doubt it. 
I have closely observed their actions, as far as that was possible 
for the "outsider" to do, and I came to the conclusion that the 
"allies" were forced on them by necessity, and that their char- 
acter is of such a sterling nature that it will assert itself in its 
full capacity and nobility when the goal is reached and when, 
they can make their personality felt to the fullest extent. 



— 26 — 

These two men are William Jennings Bryan and Governor 
Theodore Roosevelt. One is a Democrat, the other ? Republi- 
can, but both, I hope, want to do the same thing, clean the politi- 
cal Augean stable, give an honest government to the people of 
the United States, and before all and everything see to it that 
the judiciary is "not alone honest, but learned." If we ever could 
get "honest and learned" judges, a big step towards the right 
reform would be made, but as it is at present, the masses have 
lost all confidence in the judiciary, in consequence of which hon- 
orable judges have to suffer under the reputation and actions of 
their colleagues. 

OUR COURTS OF JUSTICE. 

The name and reputation of a "judge" should be absolutely 
"free from stain," his learning and experience should be far above 
the average lawyer, because his position is exalted, he has the 
welfare and happiness of thousands in his hands. His judgment 
should be accepted and respected like the expressions of the wise 
men of old ages, and not as is only too often done now — jeered 
at and charges of corruption, dishonesty, or incompetency made 
and publicly proclaimed. 

The mind of a judge should be clear, cool, deliberate; his ex- 
perience in law and life should be extraordinary, and his sense 
of honor and justice must border on the zenith of human perfec- 
tion. But if an every day lawyer, an every day human being, 
with either stained or no reputation is put on the bench of justice, 
we must not expect correct and honest judgments. If men who 
have pledged themselv,es to degenerate political party leaders, 
and are even not "every day lawyers," become "judges of the 
people," then we have reached a plane in politics which sooner 
or later must lead to revolution, because these very judges mis- 
judge even the degenerate mass and dare do "acts of justice" 
which must call forth "anarchy." 

Ine "Reiorm Movement," which a few years ago swept over 
New York City, produced two good results: I. It showed that 
the people could be aroused to see the difference between good 
and bad, and 2, That it gave us at least one "sterling judge," and 
this is, I do not hesitate to say it, Judge Goff. He is the ideal 
man for the position, and he has my greatest respect, although I 
never had the honor to exchange one word with him. In due 
time, when I publish my treatise on "Our Courts of Justice," I 
shall undertake to prove what I said here. 



— 27 — 

It is hardly worth while to extend this theme now and here, 
and I only touched lightly upon it to show that our whole social 
and political life is rotten to the core, and that the minds of the 
masses are in an absolutely unhealthy state, while the ideas of 
right and wrong are twisted into a chaos-like state. 

I have so far shown the abyss on whose limit our social and 
political life has arrived, but it certainly could not have taken 
such a low turn if our morals had not been shaken to the very 
foundation of their lawful and natural structure, and therefore I 
will cover that part of my theme more explicitly, throwing 
flashes of light on those parts which are shadiest and are seldom 
touched upon by the writer who caters to the conceit of the 
classes as well as of the masses. 

THE PRESIDENTIAL CAMPAIGN OF 1900. 

The, few words which I uttered in regard to Messrs. Roose- 
velt and Bryan were written a few months ago, and I am glad to 
find the opportunity to take now a ''one-side" view of the situa- 
tion, before this book goes into print, and to declare in the most 
emphatic terms my choice for Colonel William Jennings Bryan. 

Roosevelt has proved himself to be "common political stock," 
because he subordinated his views to the inferior, nay, damnable 
wire-pulling habits of a rotten political machine. He bowed to 
Hanna, McKinley, Piatt & Co. ! He declares his imperialistic 
ideas ; he bound himself hand and foot to the "trust policy," and 
before all "he showed political trickery in dealing with the cases 
against Van Wyck, Gardiner and Coler." 

' k When I come back from the West," I will pay attention to 
the charges against these men !" These words brand Mr. R. 
forever as a machine politician, because meanwhile the poor peo- 
ple paid 60 cents for ice while "His Excellency" enjoyed a "re- 
union" with the rough riders and, by the way, boomed his boom. 

Well, that is tending to the sacred duties of the highest office 
■of the State, you know, and doubtless "worthy" of a "great sol- 
dier-politician" who uses the khaki uniform to play "yellow 
politics." 

"His Excellency" (a true Republican title, no doubt) gives 
"Col." Gardiner another chance to bring the Ice Trust barons 
before another ^Tammany Grand Jury," while he allows the only 
honest man, Mr. Coler, to remain under a cloud of suspicion, be- 
cause the latter was slated to receive the nomination for gor- 
crnor. 



— 28 — 

Yes, I do not hesitate to say Mr. Roosevelt has succeeded in; 
destroying the esteem in which honest men held him until he 
was nominated as a candidate for the Vice-Presidency of the- 
United States, but we must be thankful that he de-masked him- 
self in time to make the choice simple. "William Jennings- 
Bryan" will, with God's help, be the next president of our free 
republic, and his master mind will master the most difficult situ- 
ation that ever confronted a president since Abraham Lincoln's 
time. 

Look at this spiritual giant ! Look, ye noble hearted men and 
women at this character, that stands out in snowy white, like a 
silhouette on the black background of a political horizon which 
threatens destruction to our cherished personal liberty, to all 
that we hold dear in life ! 

Is there really an honest man that can waver, that can be in 
doubt? Not unless he is a simpleton and believes on a one-sided 
argument, or if he stands in fear that his ill-gotten gains may be 
swallowed up by the tidal wave of reform ! 

But I predict that this tidal wave will lift William Jennings 
Bryan on its white caps and carry him to Washington with a 
sweep and rush that will stagger the political rogues and thieves 
and teach them an everlasting lessson. 

- History shows that "great men" are born for the hour, and 
William Jennings Bryan has proved by every one of his words 
and actions that he is 

"THE MAN OF THE HOUR/" 

and therefore J say he will prove to be "The saving and blessing- 
of this nation !" 

To him, who understands the silver question thoroughly, it is 
incomprehensible how the working and small tradesman can 
for one moment consider to vote for McKinley, for him who 
stands as the personification of Trusts, but, on interviewing hun- 
dreds of people, whose second word was: "I do not want the- 
dollar which I earn so hard to be worth only about 53 cents," I 
found that they neither had any correct idea of the silver ques- 
tion, but seemed unaware of how the Trusts influenced their 
whole welfare, and I think that I may do some good vet by giv- 
ing a clear idea of the two questions which, if not now alievated: 
by the election of Mr. Bryan, must shake the foundations of this- 
republic within a decade. 

If our citizens would not be composed of a conglomeration of 
nations, revolution would long have cleared the political horizon,. 



— 29 — 

but the Trusts and millionaires know that Europe and Asia un- 
loads its poorest classes here, and that they feel comparatively 
happy here, because their existence is more bearable in the 
United States, even at the disadvantage they labor under. But 
the time will come when the emigration is checked, the doors are 
closed, and by that time the foreign element will be all accli- 
mated and educated to the standard. That every human being 
is entitled to a fair living does not alone mean bread and meat, 
but everything that will make life worth living. 

Now, let us look the silver question fairly in the face ! What 
means 16 to i? It means that 16 ounces of silver shall be equal 
in value to an ounce of gold, which is the present standard under 
the present administration, and has been the standard for a num- 
ber of years back, and this valuation of the silver dollar, whose 
present real value is but 53 cents in gold, has never been ques- 
tioned by any citizen of the United States or of any other 
country. 

But now comes the "gold bug" and says : Yes, our silver 
dollar is taken like a gold dollar, because the holder of it can get 
at any time a gold dollar from the treasury of the country ; but I 
say that is not so, for the United States treasury never, at any 
time, has enough gold dollars in reserve to meet any and all 
demands. If, for instance, every dollar in United States 
silver should be presented at a given day at the United States 
treasury for exchange of gold dollars the demand would never be 
met in full, although enough United States gold dollars may 
be in circulation all over the world to meet that demand. It 
does not do me, you, or anybody any good to know that enough 
gold dollars are in existence to exchange them for silver dollars, 
but we want the demand to be met at any time if that is the law. 
Now, then, is it not far better to have two metals of standard 
value thaji one, in case of necessity? That is, if there is short- 
ness on one, there may be plenty of the other in the treasury to 
meet all demands of payments? 

Of course it is, but not for the speculators, for the money 
kings, etc., for they like shorts and longs, because that gives 
them chances to speculate and to rob those that are in need of 
the demanded medium of exchange. 

All moneys are nothing but mediums of exchanges, whether 

v it is gold, silver, copper, nickel, or any other thing, as long as a 
government acknowledges it as its mediums of exchange, and 

•as long as the resources of the country guarantee the payments 
oi the debts. 



-- 30 - 

The note or check of a merchant is his "medium of exchange" ; 
for either of them there must be the face value in the bank or in 
the hands of the maker on the day of its maturity, and if it is not 
paid, the debtor's property is attached and sold, but until it is 
matured and unpaid, the debtor's credit cannot be assailed. 

Now, the merchant's goods and wares, his estate in this in- 
stance, is his "established value of belongings," just* the same as 
the gold, silver, copper, nickel or paper money of this country 
establishes the value of its possessions and incomes, and these 
possessions and incomes again furnish the guarantee for the 
value of the "medium of exchange." 

Now, then, if this is true, will any one deny us the right to 
establish the value and to select the medium of our exchanges? 
Can any one do so without heaping insult on our integrity to pay 
our debts? 

No, that will not and cannot be done, for we would retaliate 
and crush the insulter. 

The resources of this country are simply unlimited ; our com- 
merce is so extensive that we easily could force the acceptance 
of our "mediums ot exchanges" or retaliate! 

The ratio of 16 to i is therefore not the question of war be- 
tween the Republican and Democratic parties, or rather between 
the money kings and all other people. 

What is it, then? 

The money kings say : ''The free and unlimited coinage of 
silver." 

Well, that is, in the first place, not a matter for the president 
to decide, but for Congress and Senate, like every vital and 
important law making of and for the United States. 

If a majority of our law makers ever should see fit to order an 
unlimited coinage of silver, they will certainly do so, after thor- 
ough deliberation, and then we will have to see whether the 
result is good or bad, and, in the latter event, the law would 
again be changed. But, as I said in my former argument, as 
long as our incomes and resources cover and guarantee the 
amount of exchange mediums in circulation for the benefit of the 
peoples, then their established value cannot come in question 
except speculators and money kings bring about a monetary 
doubt for the purpose of speculation, and then there may be 
havoc in their own ranks. But such a status quo would not 
affect the poor classes at all, and the middle classes only tem- 
porarily, if risks had been taken by them. 



— 31 — 

At last let us look at the principle point made by the Repub- 
licans : "That our credit with the world would suffer if we could, 
not make all our payments in gold.'' 

Do we do that now? Not a bit of it, but we simply ship so and 
so many millions of gold dollars hither and thither, whereby the 
shippers make a premium every time that it changes possession 
when it is wanted to keep the so-called "gold reserve funds" in 
banks and government vaults. 

Gold is at present the only fundamental value and metal by 
which all other commodities and metals are valued. 

But whv should the world not have two, three, or more metals 
with established values? Would it not be far better to have 
plenty mediums of exchange as to have so little, that the money 
kings are able to make so-called "corners" for it? 

I think any sensible person, except the speculator, will answer 
this question in the affirmative. 

Therefore I say, let us vote for Mr. Bryan, who has pledged 
himself to give us a clean, learned and experienced United 
States Supreme Court bench, who has pledged himself to destroy 
the destroying "Trusts," who promised to end the war in the 
Philippines, and to give to their people a government of their 
own choice. This will end the infamous war tax and give real 
prosperity and real full dinner pails not alone to the working- 
men, but to the small tradesmen and mechanics as well. 

Yes, I appeal to all really honest men to vote for Wm. J. 
Bryan, and not alone for the reason of monetary advantage, but 
to help uphold the honor and self respect of manhood, the honor 
of our free land, of the great republic, which the forefathers es- 
tablished with their life blood. 

Richard Croker certainly spoke one true word, not long ago, 
when he said: "Bryan will be George Washington the second;" 
but I say: He will prove "the saviour of the nation!" 

THE TRUSTS, CORPORATIONS AND COMPANIES. 

The diseased brain has produced the great evil of the day: 
"The Trust." 

What a mockery this name is to the real purpose for which it 
is said to be formed. 

O trust you fools, that "Trusts" will do 
What you would do to others too. 
To trust the "Trusts" means quick destruction, 
Means Trust's death in "Trusts's" suction. 



— 32 — 

Yes, the diseased brain is necessary for the formation of the 
"Trtist" because the former of these "combinations" must be 
devoid of all feelings, ready to destroy the business, the life-work 
of their next fellow beings if he or they dare to uphold the most 
sacred right of this great republic, ''freedom of thought, action 
and speech." 

They must stand ready to crush all competition by fair or foul 
means, or they would never succeed. 

They must stand ready to annihilate the fair existence of mil- 
lions of people and to make them poor and dependent, or they 
would never succeed. 

THey must stand ready to advance the arguments of their dis- 
eased brains backed up by their ill gotten gains, or they would 
never succeed. 

They must be ready to laugh at the cursing of the ruined, or 
-they would never succeed. 

They must stand ready to crush the sufferers into idiocy and 
slavery, or they would be annihilated themselves. 

But — what is a "Trust"? 

A combination of capitalists with the avowed purpose to con- 
trol the market of one article and to one purpose, to the detri- 
ment of others that are engaged in the same business. 

The argument that a "Trust" is formed to run a certain busi- 
ness "more economically whereby the masses of the people will 
profit," is simply ridiculous, which I will show by statistical 
proof when my book on that subject is published. Suffice it here 
to say that the profit goes into the pocket of a few, but that the 
loss to thousands and millions is simply incalculable. 

But it is not alone "the Trust" that rakes up discontent and 
brings about destruction, but all conglomeration of capital works 
destruction. This crystallizing of "money power" bears the 
miserable fruit of wrongdoing, suppression, slavery and of usur- 
pation of power. It allows laws to be enacted which are abso- 
lutely damnable, as under a cloak of justice the most contempt- 
ible "lawful frauds" are now committed. 

The big corporations, companies, etc., etc., furnish abundant 
proof for my assertions, and in my treatise. "Trusts, Corporations 
and Companies," I shall furnish details that will astonish the 
world. 

There is not a day, nay, not an hour of any business day 
passing, that is not full of horror to some individual which stands 
aghast and helpless, yes, absolutely helpless versus the great 
"Trusts, Corporations and Companies." 



— 33 — 

Take, for instance, our "Fire and Life Insurance Companies." 
Go to the palaces which these great companies have built for 
their business homes : watch the herd of employees that is busy 
taking the moneys of the ''insured fools," and then see the few 
that are necessary to pay "the losses.'' The Insurance Company 
never believes that an insured has "a loss/' but always believes 
itself the looser and the real unfortunate a criminal. This alone 
furnishes a notable item for the calculator, but the unlucky per- 
son that enters the "marble halls" of these companies for the 
purpose of "recovering" damages will tell you in a little while 
that he or she came in contact with a lot of the most cold blooded 
"business men of the present age" that fair mind could possibly 
conceive. 

If fate, cruel fate, has visited you in the form of the most ter- 
rible element, "Fire," and destroyed your home or merchandise 
or ware of any kind, you find some relief in the fact that you did 
your duty as a head of a family or business man by insuring your 
all in a good company, and after the first agony over your loss 
has vanished you look with a hopeful eye into the future. 

A few days after the fire a so-called "Adjuster" of the com- 
pany calls on you and asks questions as to the origin of the fire, 
as to the value of your goods, etc., that drives the blood of 
shame or disgrace into your face, and if you are a person of 
honor you will resent the remarks of the foul mouthed "gentle- 
man" in the most severe manner; but that "aggravates" his 
antagonistic ideas, and unless you kick him into the street he 
will only the more insult you. 

When you at last furnish a proof of your loss, you will find 
so many objections made, and so many "clauses and laws" 
pointed to that the goal of the "adjuster" is soon reached, and 
that you take whatever the company sees fit to give you. 

But, as I said before, I shall go into the fullest details and 
quote facts in the book that is especially devoted to this subject. 
I shall not alone point out the evils, but also the redress by the 
laws that must be enacted if cheating of the insurance companies 
and corporations shall be made impossible in the future. These 
laws must be so distinct, so plain, that their disobeyance would 
be followed by heavy civil and criminal punishment. 

In my judgment Insurance Companies and Corporations which 
deal and speculate with commodities and conveniences affecting 
•the welfare of the people should be run by the people — by the 
government of the United States alone. 



— 34 — 

It could be easily proven whether the Insurance Companies 
are doing an honest business, or whether they intentionally, with 
the view of cheating their clients, charge them with criminal acts, 
thereby withholding what is justly due them, or with the same 
intent force them to costly suits which are absolutely ruinous to 
their clients' interests. 

The legislature of this State could easily appoint an investi- 
gating committee, with power to . summon the officers of the 
Insurance Companies before it, producing their ''loss accounts" 
and from these take the names and addresses of the victims 
winch soon would tell a story that would and must bring about 
the change which I before mentioned. 

I shall in my treatise on this subject ask the legislature to 
appoint such a committee, and I will use my best endeavors to 
help the members to sift the matter to the very bottom. 

THE PUBLIC PRESS. 

Has the public press a "moral obligation"? 

It has, and it is embodied in a most noble purpose : "To edu- 
cate and ennoble the masses." 

Does our public press fulfill this purpose? 

NOj or at least only so far as its own pocket benefits by it. 

Why not? 

Because it is infected with the "disease of the century," and 
very few journals are in existence which, from a proper moral 
standpoint, would combat an evil, if money was in it for the 
paper. 

It is, for instance, accepted by everybody that "The Great 
Store" is the death of the small merchant, nay, of the big one as 
well in the end. yet no journal of the day that receives the adver- 
tising patronage of the "Great Stores" will touch that theme in 
any way, shape or form. 

The press looks on and gloats over the spoils it receives, while 
hundred thousands are trodden down* their existence stamped 
out, our sons and daughters becoming the slaves of the few, loos- 
ing ambition and self respect and gaining what for it? A com- 
pensation too big to die. too small to live decently, except a bodv 
is satisfied to live on adulterated food, eat in dingy quarters, or to 
subsist on the mockery of food that is served in the five and ten 
cent restaurants. 

The few that receive good pay are held up as examples worthv 
to be imitated, but how can the thousands slip into places that 
are. so few and scarce? 



.- 35 — 

"The Great Store," or rather "The Octopus," as I choose to 
call it, must go, must be wiped out, or moral degradation of the 
masses, worse than at present, must result. 

Now, if this is a fact, why do not the daily journals use their 
power to annihilate them, to make them impossible? The reason 
I have stated before, and it is needless to say that other evils are 
in existence under the very eyes of the forces, which are likewise 
severely let alone. 

And even if the press combats an evil, does it keep up the agi- 
tation until it is remedied, torn out by the roots? 

Nonsense i As soon as somebody makes "the grease" flow, 
"the noise" is stopped and "oblivion" is secured. 

But what is the real duty of the daily press? 

To report all happenings of the day. truthful and minutely; 
fearlessly and without favor. When that is done, the "real teach- 
ers of life," experienced, high minded persons should criticise, 
soliloquize, argue, on topics that would be of interest to the 
masses. Teach, warn, but also show by pen pictures the beauti- 
ful light of a pure, upright and moral life. 

- flattering the conceit of the masses, giving credit to people 
who deserve punishment the press commits a crime because it 
misleads on the one hand, and sets a poor example on the other. 
I will touch here one great evil of the day. It is found in every 
business, in every walk of life. 

"Young men and girls" are put in places to which neither 
knowledge nor experience entitles them. They call it the in- 
fusion of young blood into the business. 

It is nothing of the kind. These young people are engaged 
because they will work for a pittance, and rely on a partial support 
from the parents, or on stealing and robbing their employers, 
or the girls on the side income of a loose life. 

Go to the big stores and look at the wan faces, bedecked 'with 
the artificial colors of "rouge and white" ; study their behavior, 
listen to their whispered or often even loud conversation, watch 
them on their way home, evenings or Sundays, and you will 
shudder at the thought that your own sweet daughter may be 
driven to such an existence. 

Xo doubt we have good girls among them, but they are in the 
minority, no matter how great the outcry against this assertion 
may be ; the interested parties know that I am right. 

And is it to be wondered? Before their very eyes, all day 
long, "the ladies" upon whom they must wait; the fineries which 
tbev sell, and then the tired out body and soul in the evening! 
Can thev resist temptation? 



— 36 — 

Public Press, why do you not answer the question truthfully? 
Why do you stop all agitation after a litttle while, even if you do 
slightly touch the theme once in a great while? 

The Octopus jingles its money bag and advertises daily a 
page instead of a column or two, and then "the dogs" are 
•called off. 

Well, all this seems but natural at the present dav and at the 
present conception of the word honor and moral duty, but it 
-cannot last. 

The press is degenerated as everything else is, and the remedy 
is the same as proposed before. 

Now I cannot be accused of having flattered my former con- 
freres too much, but what I said was naked truth, and, of course, 
it should be unnecessary to say that I spoke of the general rule, 
not of the few exceptions that may exist, but are unknown to 
me, although I tried to find them. Well, maybe they hid, shying 
the glare of the lantern with which I looked for them at broad 
daylight, like "Diogenes" in olden times, but the public perhaps 
may discover them now, when the criticisms of this book are 
carefully studied. 

What a revelation these criticisms will be ! 

But, my dear reader, before we now enter the gates of "life's 
misery-dale," and look at the panorama of our moral degrada- 
tions, let us ask the question : 

"WHO CAN JUDGE AND WHO CAN TEACH?" 

Experience is one great teacher. 

If this is true, then the party who gathered the greatest experi- 
ence should be the best explainer and teacher of the inexperi- 
enced. 

Is this conclusion true, true every time? 

No. We see the incorrectness of the argument at the very 
hearts of life "with our parents and with our school teachers." 

Father and mother are looked upon as infallible, our school 
teachers likewise, and yet how many children have a right to 
curse the teachings which they receive under the parental roof, 
and how many great talents are misled, destroyed by narrow 
minded, careless teaches. Th heart of the attentive observer — of 
him who makes a study of life — bleeds when he sees the bud of a 
talented young life nipped off in its earliest stages by parental 
stupidity, or destroyed by the incapacitated mind of coleric 
teachers. This can be seen every day of one's life, and it proves 
that "experience does not always furnish the capacity to teach." 



- 37 — 

The every day men or women will not understand" the very 
meaning of this argument, for to them it seems only natural that 
"Charley" should be miserable because he did not "?tick to his 
trade/" or "Emmy" must live poor because she could have done 
better. They do not know that nature in its mysterious kindness 
sends us numerous great spirits, born of the human flesh, and 
destined to do great things if we would have it so. But then 
comes blindness, stupidity, ignorance, bad will, etc., etc., and, 
misunderstanding the young, quick pulsating nature ot the noble 
exotic life-plant, everything is done to suppress its growth, to 
hinder the freely up-germinating spirit, in consequence of which 
we soon^see a little crippled life-plant with here and there a side- 
shoot producing little wonderful buds, which die before they 
open and only allow us to perceive the great and beneficial beauty 
which they might have developed had we not crippled the plant 
in its early stages of growth. 

So die yearly, nay daily, many thousand great men and women 
on account of bad teachings, on account of that no safe advisor 
was near them, on account of soulless, ignorant corruptors. They 
do not die the common death of common mortals, nay, they die 
inch by inch, their hearts being wrought and torn, their spirits 
poisoned and condemned, until merciful nature closes the valves 
of the tortured hearts and speaketh "rest !" 

But, laugh as you may, I assert that from among these "mis- 
understoods" fate's unfavored, those arise which are gifted with 
iron nerves and will power, who out of wreck and ruin arise and 
shake the dirt like the dog the water, when it leaves the cleaning 
element. They look back to the ruinous life with disdain, and 
then stop to think. Next, they wade back because they see here 
and there a likewise punished human being which is in danger 
to be drowned and extending the tried and experienced hand of 
"the saver," they guide and lead the sufferer out of harm's way, 
and these are the real teachers of life, believe me ! 

But, now we come to another important question : "Who is it 
that has this experience? Where is it gained?" When have we 
a right to say: "We can teach?" Ah, as easy as it seems to 
answer these questions, as hard it is to convince with all that 
you may say about it. 

You, young and old philosophers, men and women of the 
world, everyday observer, father, mother, teacher, preacher, doc- 
tor, judge, lawyer, criminalist, you all, when are you fit "to 
teach." Is it when you became convinced that all illusions are 
illusions? Is it when you think you have gained the capacity to 
judge right and wrong, or what is beneficial and damaging? Is 



— 38 — 

it when you have filled your brains to overflowing with the 
teachings of others? Is it when you believe yourself above re- 
proach? Is it when you have seen all the vices and virtues of 
this life? Is it when you have expounded our moral and social 
laws? Is it when you have inhaled God's teachings and are des- 
ignated to teach them? Or is it when your own misguided, mis- 
understood, but noble-born spirit has waded through the marshes 
of life, was crushed by misfortunes, wounded to death by all that 
seemed beautiful and noble, was disrespected by the most ignoble 
creatures after everything you worshiped had lost its glory, all 
illusions were destroyed, and then, when everything seeemed 
bare of beauty and color, you found at the bottom of your heart 
one feeling to forgive all. pity, mercy. And with such mercy 
.in your heart beautiful nature opens her endearing, lovely cre- 
ation and you hear the little birds offering their thanksgiving 
and the sv ra's children, balsamic-like, appease and 

heal the wounds of heart and soul while the busy bee teaches you 
that unceasing work at last secures a blessed home. 

There, you great philosophers, there is the ever teaching .pic- 
ture upon which you can rely, which you may consult at any time, 
when one of your pupils wants a question answered, that is to 
yourself a conundrum. Go out under nature's great dome, with 
open eyes ; there question, listen and learn, and if you are able to 
understand 1 and interpret all teachings bearing upon vour ques- 
tion, then you may become a "real teacher to the wounded 
heart.'' 

Years of great mental suffering, years of endless battle with 
life and misfortune, and before all years of moral disgust gave 
me study and learning and at last the forgh ing mercy towards 
those who had wronged me and the wish for forgiveness from 
them, whom my revolting nature may have insulted. 

The ever turning wheel of fortune threw out for me more trials 
and "eye openers" than for millions of my fellow crentures. and 
at last pressed me into the private detective service in which I 
went through a school the like is not offered to a d nat- 

urally inclined philosopher on the face of this earth, and as I 
became the superintendent of this bureau the horizon of my 
experience was widened to almost unlimited spheres. 

Now that detective life lies behind me and the journalistic 
career has opened its beneficial door, I feel duty bound "to teach" 
and to give advice to those who are willing to profit and learn, 
and whenever you will find my doctrines illustrated by exam- 
ples, rest assured that the latter were taken from real life and 
are bare of all imaginatii 



— £9 — 

The origin of a human life is the consequence of sexual inter- 
course, and as the latter is only sanctioned by our moral and 
social laws within the bonds of matrimony, I will treat the sub- 
ject first, from its moral and social standpoint, because it is the 
fountain of human life, and from it up germinates all social 
problems. 

MARRIAGE. 

Is marriage, in the sense that the civilized world looks upon it, 
necessary? 

I had this question asked me thousands of times by unfortu- 
nates who found no happiness in the matrimonial tie. 

Speaking- from a strictly philosophical standpoint, I most de- 
cidedly answer "no," but, considering the present brutality of 
the masses, the lack of conscientiousness, the advancing carnal 
inclinations of our better classes, I most decidedly say yes. 

Now here we have a social problem and find ourselves in a sore 
conflict by having a "no" and a "yes" to the very question that 
is agitating our minds, and yet my answer will be fully under- 
stood and acquiesced in by every high-minded person. 

Marriage in itself is nothing but the command of men, a law ; 
but the idea of the" word is so high, so including all that we imag- 
ine of this world's happiness, that it can only be compared to 
"our first love." If marriage shall be happy, it must be the 
beautiful glorious idyl of which the lad and maid dreams before 
and after the first kiss has sent showers of sweet happiness 
through their quick pulsating veins. True marriage is one con- 
tinuous flow of happiness, one everlasting embrace of the soul, 
an amalgamation of thoughts and bodies, and its overflow is the 
sexual intercourse. At least, so it should be, but in reality, with 
the great masses, it is vice versa. The carnal habits of humanity 
are more and more inclining towards animalic habits, and if I 
here would undertake to prove my assertions, I should have to 
use language unfit to be read by all. May it suffice to say that 
our law-makers will soon be forced to recognize this fact and to 
remedy the social evil, or they themsalves may be selected to 
suffer the consequences. 

Marrriage, as looked upon by the great masses, seems to be 
either an asylum for the feminine sex (sometimes for the male 
sex, too) or a contract between the parties, wherein each has 
duties to perform and rights to claim. If there is a certain feel- 
ing between the contracting parties, it also finds vent in sexual 



— 40 — 

intercourse, but here this intercourse solely takes place to satisfy 
the carnal instincts, and therefore is often the very reason why 
a disagreement takes place, which most every time leads to art- 
unhappy life, and if a married life is unhappy, then it is "hell 
on earth." 

I may now as well as later place myself on record as a firm 
believer in the doctrine "that seven-eighths of all marital troubles 
commence in the bridal chamber. For this I could offer over- 
whelming proof. 

But before we look at the unpleasant side of the question, let 
me satisfy you that I am not a pessimist ; that I believe in good, 
true, excellent women and men. Of course, for these it is hard 
to believe the impurities of human kind, as a kind fate excludes 
the dark pictures of life from their view, and therewith saves 
them an experience that generally leaves a blighted life behind. 
I live in hopes that this work but few happy people will read, 
because it shall be a teacher and guide for unfortunates who are 
in danger of losing themselves while in the most terrible strug- 
gle of life. 

A happy married life is based, above all, on esteem, which, of 
course, must be mutual ; next, the carnal instincts must be of 
the same nature. If a couple is well matched on these points and 
they are also blessed with a feeling of real love for each other, 
then, and only then, a marriage is ideal ! The blessing of such 
a union can only be felt, no pen can describe it. Spirit and body, 
soul and mind, are in constant intercourse ; an electrical, yet un- 
explained, fluid seems to act as a transmitter of thoughts, ideas, 
wishes, etc., and a wonderful understanding is apparent. 

This beautiful picture changes at once when we see one of 
these three points missing. The life then becomes a broken 
chain, of which the husband drags the one end to one side and 
the wife the other in the opposite direction. 

If esteem, the most essential .point of marriage, is missing, the 
trust between husband and wife is no more, and jealousy follows ; 
the latter will destroy love surer than death. Here we are now 
right in the whirlpool of an unhappy marriage, and although I 
have listened to thousands of different marital troubles, all, all 
could be brought back to the bridal chamber ! But while I lis- 
tened to all these stories of vice and woe, I have often said to 
myself: "If A would have married B, both would have been 
content, because their marital inclinations were alike, but as it 
was, two miserable lives were the consequence." 

Now let me explain by citing examples from my experience. 



— 41 — 

Mrs. B. wasthe only daughter of a rich provision merchant, 
well educated and brought up with the idea that a luxurious life 
was awaiting her. She became acquainted with a young man 
holding a good position, and soon love ripened between them. 
After considerable hesitancy on the part of the bride's father the 
girl became Mrs. B., and two children were born to them. The 
second birth left the young mother an invalid, and suspicious 
that her husband was no longer true to his marital vows. Ac- 
cording to her own statement she had no proof of his unfaith- 
fulness, but "a clairvoyant" had told her that the husband had 
"another girl." She now commenced to find fault with the time 
of his coming home, and then became inquisitive as to where he 
had spent the evenings, etc. From hasty words it soon came to 
disagreeable scenes, and at last to violence, when she left him 
and went back to her parents. 

When the case came into my hands I satisfied myself, through 
her physician, that Mrs. B. suffered from an incurable disease, 
and I made up my mind, after probing the character and the 
inclinations of the husband, that divorce was the best for the two. 
•If, on the other hand, I would have found that the carnal inclina- 
tions of the husband had been less strong, I should have talked 
sense to both and used my best endeavors to reunite them. That 
my action in this case was right I am satisfied of, after years have 
elapsed. 

But what can we learn from this case? 

"That, although the carnal inclinations were well matched at 
first, and love and esteem were present from the beginning, the 
latter two vanished when the former could not be satisfied. Here 
the moral spirit of the woman was not above the average ; she 
could not renounce, and her education was not advanced enough 
to shy the clairvoyant. May be, if she would have reserved her 
feelings, and would have been satisfied with the love of the two 
angels which kind fate had presented to her, she may have be- 
come, in later years, the true and worshiped companion of her 
lawful husband. 

I cited this case because it illustrates many thousands of a like 
nature. It is a well known fact that our women are not very 
strong, and that certain diseases exclude many of ever becoming 
a mother, while still others lose all inclinations for sexual inter- 
course ; in fact, are unfit for it on account of weakness. Now, 
imagine that a man with very strong carnal feelings marries a. 
woman just the opposite of his nature ! What must be the con- 



— 42 — 

I have met but a very few women whose character was so 
angelic-like that as soon as they had discovered their unfitness 
for further sexual "intercourse they resigned themselves at once 
to their fate and lived happpily — at least as far as this was possible 
tinder the circumstances. 

It is a disagreeable task to look at the other side of this picture ; 
I mean when we see the carnal inclinations far stronger in the 
woman than in the man to whom matrimony binds her, and yet 
this picture deserves far more attention than many would like to 
see it receive. 

Our society asks virtue of both sexes until moral and social 
laws tie the marital knot. 

What nonsense, especially where it deliberately closes both 
eyes when the stronger sex indulges in the most disgraceful 
vices, regardless of age and of the development of the body. 

The natural consequence of the obligatory self-chastisement 
of women is "personal abuse." Nature begins to speak as soon 
as the human body begins to ripen, and magnetic-like it draws 
the hand to quiet the "spring of feelings." Here and then is the 
time when parents should urge and teach the young folks to look 
onward, while the family physician should prescribe what is 
necessary to cut down the superfluous strength of the perhaps 
too quick growing young life plant. A great deal of bodily exer- 
cise, a vegetarian diet, daily cold baths, etc., with quiet but earn- 
est instructions from the parental mouths will act wonderfully 
and allow a natural ripening of body and soul. If, on the con- 
trary, the young fruit is eat up by unnatural, blood poisoning 
"fever," then we must expect "a crippled, wormy fruit," which 
will not be tasteful when given to its natural purpose. 

But now let us look to still another picture which shows the 
stupidity and injustice of our present social and judicial laws on 
the question. 

Here before us is a young, strong, healthy woman, say of 
twenty and three, in all the loveliness of a pure, virtuous girl. 
She has fought the battle against the temptations of nature 
bravely, assisted by a prudent and kindly parent, yet the moment 
at last arrives when "the fruit" is over ripe and must be picked 
or it falls down and rots. Do you all understand me? Or is 
there some that has not yet observed the day when the bloom of 
life vanished from a lovely girl, rosy cheeks turned ashen gray; 
rounded, well developed forms became square and lifeless, spark- 
ling, happy eyes looked dim and dull, the whole an old maid! 
There, you moralists, is a victim of your laws ! What should the 
poor creature do? You propped her full of illusions, told her of 



— 43 — 

beautiful love, and that she must not have sexual intercourse or 
marry, except she felt the "soul filling happiness/' and now? 
What is she now? A disagreeable old maid, whose life remains 
companionless and a steady dream for that great law of nature: 
''the fountain of life." 

And here I say, do not condemn the poor girls, whose natural 
instincts are far greater than all "moral teachings and the com- 
mandments of your laws." I say you may suppress some na- 
tures, you may tame them and bring them to self abuse, but 
there are many that can by no influence, teaching or training be 
kept from satisfying their carnal instincts, which are predominant 
in their nature on account of their breeding. 

I do not wish to be understood for one single moment that I 
intend to preach free love or an immediate overthrow of our 
moral and social laws, but I would like to see public sentiment 
changed for the poor girls that sin against themselves, if sin it 
can be called, because they cannot be blamed for the blood in- 
fused into them by their parents. 

It is 'a well known fact that in Paris (and Paris is France, they 
more illegitimate children are born than in all other capitals 
of Europe together. The "orphan and foundling asylums" are 
all conducted by the government, and the children brought up in 
those institutions prove to be good and faithful citizens. While I 
admit that the carnal habits of France, viewed from our present 
standpoint, are more animalic like than in any other country. I 
assert at the same time that more criminal operations are per- 
formed in America, and that morality is here, as there, below 
zero, according to our present social laws. 

The moral doctrine of all this is : "Talk with your children 
about the laws of nature, when the ripening of the body begins; 
teach them how to keep the temperature of their feelings down 
to a normal point ; marry them, when nature requires it, to strong 
and sound mates, but do not curse and abandon them when na- 
ture before this* forces obedience to the laws dictated by blood. 
There are, no doubt, many high minded people who fully agree 
with me on this subject, and their far-seeing eyes and benevolent 
hearts have erected institutions where "the unfortunates" may 
find a home when in trouble, but society generally closes the 
doors on them after the "trouble" is over, and "a soul" is then 
killed. Let me illustrate by an example. 

A very beautiful girl of eighteen years of age, who lost her 
parents at an early stage of life, was brought up by an elder 
sister, who thought much of her own family, but believed her 
sister capable of taking care of herself. "Lilly" made the ac- 



— 44 — 

quaintance of a rich man, who gave a good account of himself, .. 
and then he was allowed to take the girl to theaters, balls, drives, 
etc., until at last she fell a prey to his seductive entreaties. 

When I was called into the case I soon ascertained that the 
man had a wife and three children living in New Jersey, and 
while Lilly's sister and her husband were ready "to kill him," the 
girl pleaded for and acted in accord with her seducer. She then 
was banished from the home of her sister, and a year later I 
found her as the wife of a thief, and herself a shoplifter. 

I will not deny that the girl's plucky stand which she took for 
her seducer had awakened in me a desire to dissect her character, 
which at first seemed somewhat problematical, and when I met 
her again I found occasion to renew her acquaintance and to 
enlarge my knowledge of human nature. 

Lilly became a mother after her seducer had succeeded in 
"shaking her off." The child was born at an institution, from 
where she emerged, a changed creature. As a domestic help she 
earned enough to pay the board for her boy, and he was the only 
comfort which life held out for her. Later she made the ac- 
quaintance of a young man who promised and did marry her, 
Lilly seeing in this union the only way by which she could bring 
the child to her bosom. 

Had she remained a good girl in all those years? She openly 
said "no," but she was "smart" enough not to get into trouble 
again. 

Soon after her marriage she discovered that her husband was 
a thief and he found in her a helpmate. 

"But she stole for her child," she said, and no argument could 
persuade her that it was wrong, and when she went to prison the 
boy was sent to an institution, where he is likely at present while. 
I write this. 

And what can we learn from this case? 

That the parents or guardians of a young life should watch over 
it day and night and when the time of ripening arrives we should 
be guardian in fact, not only in name. It is false to let the young 
blooming plant stretch its rich but flexible foliage towards the 
dark lights of life : we must train it with soft and, if oossible. un- 
felt pressure towards the social laws, upon which the branches- 
can unfold the rich foliage for the benefit of the one favored. 
The "dark lights" of life seem to have a certain sucking action,, 
like the quicksand, drawing the subject once in its circle deeper 
and deeper into the ugly glare, dazzling all true sight, blinding it 



— 45 — 

• with vice and blood stirring pictures, until the beautiful and pure 
seems to be a mockery, but the blasphemous part, "giddiness 
producing," where the word "forget" seems to be the only com- 
fort left. 

But the time comes when these dark lights lose their mag- 
netic influence; when the blinking eyes see everything dark; 
when the soul quivers and yearns for one, only one moment of 
sweet, innocent happiness, for the rich feeling of pride born by 
a pure; noble past. 

Gone ! Gone from them forever ! Out of thousands, one may 
be gathered in by dame Fortune and led towards a life gardener 
who will take the despised, discarded plant from the heap of life's 
refuse and, after cleaning and nursing it, more carefully than 
what it would have to be when at the beginning or starting point 
of "ripening to maturity," he shields gently each little sprout that 
dares to stretch towards the glorious and golden rays of a pure 
life's sun, allowing it to inhale the ozone gradually, as otherwise 
the very pureness of the atmosphere would work depressingly 
•on the bowing, penitent spirit, and produce despair again. 

Such a gardener of life can teach, but there are not many in 
•existence believe me. 

Ah, ye poor crippled plants, ye despairing women and men, I 
have often wished to be allowed to talk to you from the bottom 

• of my heart. Do not despair, do not believe that you are lost, 
that beautiful creation has closed its golden gates for you not to 
enter and enjoy paradise. It is not so. Go gather every good 
point that is left in you and with the smallest treasure start again, 
and when "Fortune does not seem to reward your good inten- 
tions, stay steadfast, say to yourself, "I deserved punishment, I 
will bow down and take it, but my reward will come at last; 
meanwhile I will refresh the sinking courage by looking at noble, 
pure-bred, clean exemplars of life, thus strengthening my desire 
to gain some happpy hours before cold death reaches me. Then 
— sometimes unawares — you will meet a "life gardener" when 
you least expect it and he will help you until beautiful, pure cre- 
ation again opens its wonderful balsamic-like and consoling 
teachings. 

Nay, nobody is lost who yet feels a desire to be good and pure 
-and the past can be outlived, if you earnestly desire to do so. 
But do I write all this for and to the poor alone? 
This question all at once comes to me. I often soliloquize that 
way when the spin of my thoughts does not run quite in accord 
with the theme. 



— 46 — 

The contents of this book are designed to clear the minds of 
all who partly were brought up and held in ignorance by either 
a foolishly conducted education or by a neglected training or by 
misfortunes. Many rich, many poor women and men may profit 
by my teachings, for I intend to tell them how to get and how to 
use common sense, while I will not despoil the illulsions that are 
upholding hopes for a better future. 

Disappointments, the destroying of our fairest hopes for happi- 
ness, etc., are very differently felt by individuals. With some it 
works at once wreck and ruin, while others suffer quietly untold 
agonies before they give up the last hope, and then plunge into 
the abyss of life head foremost, to end miserably. 

Now, let us come to the point and divide this moral and social 
theme into the following questions : 

i. When should men and women wed? 

2. When should they not wed? 

3. When should they separate? 

1. WHEX SHOULD MEN AXD WOMEN WED? 

At our earliest youth, say when we enter our eighteenth year 
(with some sooner) the bud of life breaks forth and the fruit 
ripens. At this very time we feel a stronger inclination towards 
the other sex and we become fond of its company. There seems 
to be an electric fluid which draws them together and, to be 
brief, the wish for sexual intercourse ripens. 

Our social laws kindly cover the acts of men when they now 
follow nature's quest, but the female is forbidden to yield and 
she must wait until marriage allows her to satisfy "natural in- 
stincts.'' 

I have shown before that in consequence of this unnatural sup- 
pression of nature criminal habits are resorted to which produce 
the most unnatural flow, weakening body and mind, and destroy- 
ing the strength of the unborn generation. 

My advice is : Let the young people marry as soon as possible, 
but do not intermarry unsound or weak people ! 

Let all fathers and mothers who at all care for the happiness 
of their children see to it that they do not come in contact with 
"bad stock," as "blood will tell every time," and produce idiotic, 
syphilitic, deaf and dumb children, the miseries, often the origi- 
nalities, of the parents' hatred for each other. 



— 47 — 

If two lives shall be tied together in wedlock let the parties 
concerned be satisfied of the perfect healthy condition of groom 
and bride, of their equal inclinations for cohabitation, and of 
their mental accord on the questions of married life. 

The happiness of married life seems to' centralize in the raising- 
of a family, in consequence of which we should try to breed scien- 
tifically the best and not as has been done in the last century — 
carelessly — the worst. 

We human subjects have placed ourselves in this respect far 
below the beast. No breeder of horses or any other animals 
would think to mix good stock with bad blood, nor "to connect 
the strong with the weak or sickly, yet society does not hesitate 
for one moment to mix the purest blood with the foulest if the al- 
mighty dollar is in question. Or do they hesitate? 

Xo, no, a thousand times no ! 

There is more misery, more idiocy, more incapability, more 
scrofula, more instinct for unnatural, criminal inclinations and 
carnal feelings, etc., in the best of our society than among the 
poor, although we find in the latter's ranks miserable beings on 
account of underfed existences and on account of dirty, close 
quarters in which they are condemned to live. 

These criminally carnal instincts seem to breed on and on 
towards the downward course, and our schools (above all the 
boarding schools) become and are the very pest-holes at which 
many hopeful young life-plants are blasted! If I only could 
speak here the whole and full truth of the knowledge which I 
have gathered when at my former vocation, many parents would 
shudder and know why their darlings walk around as mere shad- 
ows of their former selves ; but to the young folks I will talk later 
and lift my warning voice, hoping from the bottom of my heart 
that every word will weigh with them unmeasured volumes. 

We may conclude this chapter in condensing all that was said 
into the following : 

Marry when you are healthy, and see that your betrothed is in 
normal condition, body and soul. 

Do not marry when your own blood or that of your betrothed 
is in bad condition and if respect does not exist between you. 

Love will vanish, love will change into hatred when you de- 
ceive your betrothed on the above points, while a "conventional 
marriage" or a marriage for money will serve to degenerate hu- 
man kind further and further, until we have an idiotic, damnable 
race, that has no more pure blood to regenerate from. 



— 48 - 

Every evil, moral, social and political, is a result of the blood 
poisoning sexual intercourse of our generation ; but pure blood 
would mean pure mind, pure heart, pure ideas, pure actions, pure 
life ! 

WHAT IS PURE? 

All that is done without the least hesitation, all that the heart 
dictates without the use of reasoning power. Pure is everything 
that produces great, unspeakable joy and brings in feeling and 
expression nearer to the Almighty. Purity is — simplicity. 

BAD, POISONED BLOOD. 

Cannot generate pure minds, it is impossible. Therefore, and 
for the sake of the improvement of our social life, we should ex- 
tinguish the worst; breed good to better, and the better to the 
best ; otherwise our next question arises : 

2. WHEN SHOULD A MARRIED COUPLE SEPARATE? 

W r hile I have told you in the former chapter when marriage is 
desirable and how it should be entered into, it would seem un- 
necessary to tell "when to separate" ; however, I have only told 
you what to avoid, while now I come to a far more delicate 
task, namely : to tell how and when the marital knot should be 
untied to bring back happiness, if possible, or at least peace and 
quietude to a blasted life. 

Let me again repeat the doctrine : "All unhappiness begins in 
the bridal chamber," and offer proof for this theory. 

Close observations and studies have shown that the sexual in- 
clinations of husband and wife must be equal, as otherwise either 
a certain disrespectful or repulsive feeling will take possession of 
the party who is approached in vain by the mate. Still oftener I 
liave found repugnancy where certain bodily ailments, mishaps 
or unnatural carnal inclinations were the just cause. Imagine a 
married couple who enters the bridal chamber full of virtue and 
love. At last they are to enjoy the heavenly outpour of love, and 
in the embrace of the bodies nature's sweetest gift to human 
flesh shall find vent. And while all conventional veils drop and 
-animalic magnetism teaches the most inexperienced how to find 
nature's sweetest gift, enveloped with illusionary beauty, we find 
from the adored body a perfume arising which is repulsive, which 
at once changes love into hatred. Or, what is worse, an incapa- 
bility is encountered which destroys all marital happiness at 
once, while bodily misshapes or ailments are the cause of imme- 
diately awakened jealousy. 



— 49 — 

Now, you opponents of divorce, do you mean to say that God 
-ever meant to unite two people for the purpose of leading an 
unhappy life in marital union? Or do you mean to say that a 
man or woman of strong carnal inclinations will suffer and sacri- 
fice because of nonsensical moral and social laws? Do you mean 
to say that a suppression of a surplus in nature is health giving or 
sustaining? 

Nothing of the kind, and, thanks to our enlightened age, the 
doctrines of pious tempi passati become more and more teach- 
ings of the past. 

Marriage, if not made indissolvable by that love of which at first 
we spoke becomes nothing but a contract between a man and a 
woman, which should be dissolved as soon as it is proved that 
one of the parties to the contract cannot fulfil the obligations 
dictated by nature, or if one becomes repulsive to the other. 

The morality of the great masses would be improved hundred- 
fold if divorces would be granted where repugnance exists, where 
bodily ailments exclude sexual intercourse, where the carnal 
inclinations on the one side prove to be positively distasteful to 
the other side, or where incapability is proven. 

Other grounds for divorce should be : Cruelty, non-support, a 
dishonored name, habitual drunkenness, the habitual use of 
opiates, the generation of idiots, cripples, or unhealthy children, 
offensive breath and sweat, sickly incurable discharges of the 
womb, venereal diseases, lunacy, idiocy, or mutual disinclination. 

On these grounds an absolute divorce should be granted, but 

. is not granted in the great State of New York, while certain 

other parts of the United States these grounds are statutory 

grounds upon which an absolute divorce is pronounced by the 

courts. 

An unhappy married life is hell on earth, and is led by many 
"for the good" of the children. 

Oh, you blind fools ! Do you really believe that your sacrifice 
is bearing good fruit? Nay, you know better! I will admit that 
here and there a father and mother can be found who bury their 
grievances out of sight in the presence of their children. I will 
admit that a few may be found who "carry their lot" like Jesus 
did his cross, but for what, for whom? Would a decent separa- 
tion, a quiet settlement of all difficulties, not have produced better 
results? Certainly. Both parties may have found congenial 
mates, or if one was afflicted he or she could have lived alone, 
while the other was free to enter again into happy marital 
relations. 



— 50 — 

If the opponents of divorce would only divest themselves of al! 
prejudice, as much and as well as the writer is willing to ac- 
knowledge moral and religious influence to the degree of com- 
mon sense and heart's content, then one could look for sensible 
laws to pass, but as long as intolerance and the teachings of the 
church will influence even the intelligent class of society, divorce 
will only be brought about by scandal, by the ruin of name and 
fame, by criminal acts, etc., while nameless crimes are growing 
in percentage and immensity, morality is undermined, family life 
and honor is destroyed, animalic and beastly habits are practised, 
while a certain libertine clergy reaps the fruits of its teachings. 

I here restrain the flood of my thoughts. I restrain my pen to 
write facts ; I will positively avoid every word which could be 
construed by evil-minded persons as inflaming, but if public trials 
and accusations have not yet proved our religious advisors fal- 
lable, then I could give facts and acts which would prove them 
nothing but human beings. 

As Luther preached : Do according to my teachings, not to my 
deeds, so should every clergyman speak, except the "chosen few," 
who, by nature's endowment and God's grace, live an exemplary 
life. But these few should not forget that they are the "chosen 
ones," and that the great masses must be differently judged be- 
riuse education, surroundings, natural instincts, etc., etc., are 
'"•ver the same in any two human beings. 

Here again I tell what should be done, but is not done. Under 
me present divorce laws of the State of New York the clergy 
could do a great deal of good by using its influence with obstinate 
parties who, from sheer malice, will oppose proceedings even 
when justly entered, and drive their spouse's insane. If these 
people would receive good, sound advice from the clergy, many 
murders would not be committed, and many a decent man and 
woman would be saved unhappiness and humiliation. 

In the most positive language I say : "Let a marriage be dis- 
solved as soon as one of the parties has a repugnant feeling 
towards the other, may the cause come from whatsoever source, 
otherwise the end will be misery and disgrace to all concerned, 
if not worse. 

SOCIETY SUFFERING. 

The many thousand existing unhappy marriages are a disgrace 
to society, whose laws are faulty and disobeyed, trampled upon 
and jested at. High class society has its "modern marriage," in 
which both parties go their own way — ad libitum — and enjoy 



>- 51 — 

the liberties of "fast men and women" with the cloak of "mar- 
riage certificate" thrown around them to avoid giving cause of 
being slighted. 

Looking at such a marriage from a philosophical standpoint, 
nothing could be said about it, as both parties are satisfied to 
cover their moral filth, but the morals of society suffer thereby 
immensely, because such relations set a damnable example ; that 
is, if cohabitation is only to be sanctioned within the bonds of 
matrimony. 

The woman who will consent to a "modern marriage" must 
naturally be of loose character, depraved mind, or have animal- 
istic and beastly inclinations. No pure woman, under the pres- 
ent laws, would enter into such a "private contract." The man to 
it must stand below the beast, as he delivers the mother of his 
children, or even only "his wife" to another man, and therewith 
becomes the most degraded subject of mankind. I can have 
pity, yes, even a certain regard for a common prostitute, but for 

"a man" of the just mentioned class I have a thorough 

horror, and whenever I meet him, even his touch seems to be 
insulting. He and the man who allows a woman to support him 
from the money earned by prostituting her womanhood are 
equally detestable, and every decent human being should avoid 
and despise these brutes. If you are married to such a person, 
break the tie as soon as you discover his or her dishonesty or 
depravity, and thereby save yourself and your honor. 

These so-called "modern marriages" furnish a seemingly in- 
creditable gusto for carnal and beastly practises that give over- 
whelming proof of the depravity of our best society. How can I 
dare to speak of these? The enormity of the crime is indescrib- 
able, and I shall not venture to do it, but I warn the inexperienced 
reader for any of his or her own sex who speaks of these foul 
doings at all. Remain innnocent of such disgusting and- ruinous 
"pleasures," or you will be a prey to them and soon rank among 
the degraded, depraved fools and die a most horrible death. 

Women, listen to my warning voice : "flee him or her who 
wants to initiate you into the "pleasure circle" of beastly habits ; 
shun them like a pestilence, abhor to listen to one of their words, 
or you are lost, like many thousands before you which I saw van- 
ishing "in the quicksand of criminal life." 

These beastly habits produce the degenerating spirit of our 
present decade, and on and on they take a downward course and 
drag into their meshes the best, the purest, the wisest, if they 
come in direct contact with the evil doers. 



— 52 — 

We may well pray : "Do not lead us info temptation," but what 
when the incarnate fiend comes in spite of our entreaties and 
"perchance" lets us see the inflaming pictures, which the liber- 
tine generally carries with him? What an easy work Satanas has 
vvvith the innocents whose very bodily strength is his best ally. 

And these beastly inclinations are now "a matter of course" 
between many husbands and wives, and while the preys of the 
poorer class show the consequence of the evil practices by the 
ashen gray hue of their complexion, higher society covers this 
sign by a bit of rouge. 

Well, paint yourself, hide the consequences of your immoral 
life from your neighbor, the degeneration of your inner organs, 
especially stomach and kidneys, will soon remind you that there 
are consequences which set the death knell of your life aringing. 

W^hen Dr. Parkhurst, in the crusade against the police, wit- 
nessed "frog leaping" and other beastly things, I thought to 
myself : "Good Doctor, you see public performances of human 
kind that has sunk below the beast, but can you look behind the 
curtain of the sacred bridal chamber? Can you look behind the 
curtains of seminaries, pensions, boarding schools, etc., etc.? 
Can you purify the mind of our young folks who bear the sin of 
their originators in their blood? 

Marry sensibly, breed scientifically, and the morals of society 
will be purified as a natural consequence and society will instead 
of suffering again advance and stand morally and bodily above 
reproach. 

A WORD OF ADVICE TO PARENTS AND TEACHERS. 

The impressions which an up-germinating soul receives are 
lasting or at least guiding for the life-time, and therefore parents 
and teachers should have full control over their own tempers and 
never, at any time, should their ward see an action or hear a 
word which would or could leave a lasting bad impression upon 
the modelling mind and soul. This should be made a funda- 
mental law of education, and if it is strictly adhered to, the benefit 
derived would be the greatest blessing ever extended to children. 
My studies in and of life have established this theory as sound 
and above argument. 

To be clear, to enable the readers to understand clearly, I 
must state my religious views, as they are fundamental in build- 
ing up theories of the kind I have just advanced. 



- 53 — 

As in everything else I have always strove to understand my- 
self first and clearly as to reasons and proof for conclusions at 
which I arrived, and so I established also, after long and deter- 
mined studies, a religious belief, which, founded on ideas that 
seemed to be natural, held proof in all situations of life. Here 
it is : 

Professor Vogt's teachings have to be accepted by all educated 
minds as above argument, and he brings us back and shows that 
all and everything is the amalgamation of things, until he ar- 
rives at the two original substances : "Light and Air," and then 
he stops. He does not dare to say who called these two original 
things into existence. 

I had to form my own opinion about it, and after due consid- 
eration I concluded that two things only could have one origi- 
nator, and that this was "God," or "The Almighty," or whatever 
name we wish to give to this great Being that originated the two 
original substances, without which nothing, absolutely nothing, 
ever could nor can exist up to this day. 

My next conclusion, that the creator of anything has also the 
power "to destroy what he made," will certainly be accepted as 
sensible and sound, and, if accepted, we cannot deny that God has 
the right and power to destroy what he originated ; the two orig- 
inal substances, "Air and Light," and if he should do that, them 
we would have oblivion — : the world would be at an end. 

My next theory is "That the creator of anything great always : 
should receive admiration and due esteem; why then should we 
not admire and esteem the greatest creator, Him who has the 
undisputed right to destroy, that without which nothing can exist? 
Why should common sense not invest him with powers equally 
great as the original elements are which He must have created? 
But, here I will stop, as "common sense and sound theories" end 
and imagination naturally commences. Let us simply look up to 
God as "the great creator of the two original substances, without 
which nothing can exist." Let us acknowledge that he has the 
sole control of them, and naturally of us and all things. 

If we so become impressed with the existence of a "Supreme 
Being" that commands our highest esteem and admiration, ex- 
planation is furnished for the natural inclination and instinct of i 
all human beings to look for help to some supreme power. We 
find this instinct in all races and people and even the soul of the. 
infidel yearns for sympathy in the hour of distress and need. 



— 54 — 

''The impression which the germinating soul receives is ever- 
lasting through life," show to it the great creator in any sensible 
form, and the picture that impresses the young soul will forever 
keep color as long as life lasts. 

Here and now, parents and teachers, you have the reason why 
I gave you my religious belief and views, and do as I did. First 
formulate your own religious views ; formulate within yourself 
what you want to teach and impress it upon your children or 
wards, and then do not show or tell them anything different after 
that. 

But when you succeed in planting a blooming life picture into 
the trusting soul of your child or ward it will always rind in after 
years and in the hour of grief and despair a sweet scented bud, 
whose fragrance and beauty will soothe and heal the most dan- 
gerous wound that the reality of life made. 

And has your child grown up to the age of maturity and the 
intellect is developed to the degree where the cords of the heart 
vibrate and answer the least touch, protect it as much as yo'u can 
from rough handling and by no means you, yourself, speak or act 
unkindly. This is the time when the spirit begins to draw con- 
clusions from the impressions which the soul receives, and where 
the battle between the result of your teachings and the illusion- 
ary dreams and wishes is fought. Have the former rooted solidly, 
then the battle is short and the wounds received heal easily and 
quickly ; but have your own acts been different from your teach- 
ings, has the young soul from comparison been thrown into 
doubt, then the battle is long and harmful, and often ends disas- 
trously to the young life plant. 

Let me tell you of one example which came to my knowledge 
rby way of a confession. 

Mr. B. was a large estate holder in Germany; he died when 
in the best part of his life and left a wife and six children. The 
youngest, then ten years of age, was a wide awake boy, a joy to 
behold, strong, healthy, but with a high-strung temperament. 
He had been the pet of his father, whose love was envied him by 
his brothers, who believed the boy to be wild and inclining to the 
bad, in consequence of which he was put into a boarding-school 
with severe disciplinary rules. These made the boy obstinate, 
and to a certain degree bitter, as he believed himself to be 
wronged and by no means loved. The only time that his jovial 
face lit up and showed the old roguishness was during vacations, 
which he enjoyed under the parental roof. 



— 55 — 

Four years had elapsed, the boy had become prematurely aged, 
.-and acted and looked like seventeen, yet his heart yearned for the 
pleasures of boyhood and, before all, for the lost love of his dead 
father, whom he had fairly worshiped. 

It was during one of these vacations that the county fair took 
place and, like the rest of his comrades, he expected to receive a 
few dollars spending money with which he could enjoy the sight- 
seeing. With beaming smiles on his lips he asked his mother 
for the usual pecuniary allowance, but the lady was not in good 
humor, and finding but very little change in her pocket, she laid 
it in his hands, saying that that would have to do. 

She always had been a pretty severe mother, who would not 
allow any back talk, so the much disappointed boy turned ab- 
ruptly on his heels, and without kissing his mother good-bye as 
usual, walked to the door. The astonished lady looked after 
him, and when he had opened the door to leave she cried: 
"Shame on you ! You cannot be my child, you must be a 
foundling!" 

Hardly had the words left her mouth when the boy's eyes di- 
lated, and the next moment he dropped heavily to the floor, 
blood spurting from his mouth and nose. 

The terrible work was done ! What did it help, that the mother 
now cried and with loving words tried to pacify the wild grief of 
her child. The bitter thorn that stabbed his heart, that wounded 
his soul, was there and — stayed there forever. Nothing could 
persuade the boy that a mother could say such words to a child 
which she loved, and up to her dying bed the bitter feeling lasted, 
and at last drove him away from his fatherland and to the shores 
of this country. 

Take a lesson from this story, ye fathers and mothers ! It is 
simple, but — true. 

ADVICE TO YOUTH. 

As soon as the intellect of a child begins to develop the spirit 
works in the little brain, and while the body grows, the thoughts 
ripen and conjectures are made on the pleasures which future life 
may have in store for it. In this stage of youth's life, nature 
formulates certain feelings which are not understood, but they 
are the surplus of a rich blood which must be reduced by healthy 
exercise, such as gymnastics, swimming, bicycling, riding horse- 
back, rowing, and the like ; this causes the muscles to develop, the 
spirit to be refreshed and occupied, and the whole system is 
brought to the height of perfection. 



— 56 — 

It is in this stage of life that every youth, whether male or fe- 
male, should intrust its feelings and thoughts to the parents or 
guardians and follow their advice, but stay away from bad com- 
panions, w r hose talk and teachings drive the blush of shame to 
your face ; following of which would be your ruin without doubt. 

If, however, by misfortune some moral disease has infected the 
body, do not hesitate to immmediately consult a first-class phy- 
sician, or your life will be blasted. Remember ''that impure 
blood cannot generate anything but impure thoughts, and they 
again bear criminal fruit and actions." 

When pure love at last takes possession of your soul and mind 
do not give yourself up to thoughtless and short happiness ; 
nay, sound, examine, try the object of your love thoroughly; see 
that he or she is well mated to you, that your ideas of life are con- 
genial, health, mind and honor is unimpaired, and then, after a 
certain time has elapsed, ask your heart whether your choice is 
above comparison, and whether regard and esteem for him or 
her holds next place to love. If you can answer these questions 
truthfully and satisfactorily to yourself, then wed the object of 
your love, and I venture to predict for you a happy life, but if 
on one of these questions you feel uncertain, do not yet tie the 
knot, which is so easily made, and yet so hard to undo. Wait and 
wait longer, until you make sure on these essential points. And 
if you detect a serious difference in opinion, or a defect in the 
healthful condition of your betrothed, do not hesitate to sever 
the connections before it is too late and before unspeakable 
misery ruins two and perhaps more lives. 

In selecting your husband or wife do not alone consult your 
heart, but ask advice from your brain, and while I advise you to 
trust to the judgment of good parents or true guardians, yet I 
warn you to become a prey to monetary dealings, or to ambitious 
desires. Marriage will make you the happiest or the most mis- 
erable being ; it will either give you that ambition which is nec- 
essary to create and uphold the happiness of a family, or it will 
darken your path and extinguish every spark of the divine feel- 
ing, without which human kind becomes a beastly existence. 

"Take the world as it is and not as it ought to be." This saying 
has been repeated to me thousands of times, but always by 
beings whom I found devoid of all self respect. Their honor gave 
away to cowardly servility, shown for gainsake, and to such peo- 
ple I cannot and will not talk. They do not understand high- 
mindedness ; they will see in everything "a deed done for a pur- 
pose." In my long years of experience I have found mothers 
that have wilfully ill-advised their children ; fathers who misled 



— 57 — 

their own flesh and blood. These creatures cannot be tolerated! 
by any self-respecting man or woman. How, therefore, can the 
advise of "take the world as it is and not as it ought to be" have 
any virtue and sense whatever? 

No, you young men and women, do not listen to any such sinis- 
ter advises; they bear the stamp of lax morality on their very 
forehead. 

It is with a sorry heart that I admit the dire immorality of the 
greatest part of our young folks, at least in the great cities of this 
country, and heroic measures will have to be taken if a change 
shall be enacted, and curious enough it seems that the parents of 
these young men and women are the last to notice that their 
loved ones are sliding down life's hill to the cloakes of sin and 
crime. 

Of course, to youth "the pleasures" of life have the charm of 
newness, but when crime and sin against nature, such as polu- 
tion, unnatural habits and the like, take possession of the brain 
and become unconquerable vices, then a lost human being may 
be recorded. 

Oh, how many beautiful, talented young life plants have I seen 
withering; yes, rot; how many tottering, narrowless, weak, 
young men have I seen married to^ fresh rosebuds of girlhood 
and then? — misery, unhappiness, disease, crime! 

Wake up, ye mothers and fathers, ye preachers and doctors! 
Are you blind? Instead of rocking your parental belief into the 
lazy slumber of stupid paternal ignorance, watch your children,, 
sound their knowledge, and then guide them wisely, introducing 
nature's sweetest gifts to them in delicate ways, until they find a 
mate in love for life. 

Nothing is more harmful than when a young man or woman 
gropes in darkness, while nature has ripened in her or him and 
sends showers of not understood feelings into the anticipating 
soul. This is the most dangerous time for a young life, and while 
it lasts youth should not be left to take care of itself ; the experi- 
enced eye of the natural guardian should watch over it day and 
night. 

Yes, you young men and women, let me conclude this chapter 
with the most earnest words that are to my disposition: "Do 
never forget and always remember in the hour of greatest temp- 
tation that purity is sublime, that chastity commands respect, and 
that love is never lasting where it seeks the ruin of womanhood." 



— 58 — 

"Mark well, you young men and women, here speaketh not a 
•doctor of medicine, but one of the teachers who stands above the 
masses by virtue of a character which he saved in spite of ter- 
rible temptations and experiences. Yes, I once felt and con- 
quered ; I was wounded nigh on to death and forgave ; I saw sin 
and disgrace, and rescued ; I was despised for it, and now I want 
you all to profit by my experience in taking each one of you what 
is best for him from the contents of this book. 

SUMMING UP. 

In summing up we may safely say that our social and political 
evils are simply the consequence of the moral degradation of the 
present race and this low standpoint of morality was brought on 
by careless breeding. From this germinates 

A. Our social evils ; they are : 

1. The sectionalism of religious creed. 

2. The absence of all conception, integrity and honor, if the 
"almighty dollar" is at stake. 

3. The absolute conceit of those who by foul means gained 
riches towards the poor and honest. 

4. The use of every foul means of these upstarts to receive 
honors which are due to the honest alone. 

5. The tendency of the rich to crush the poor and dependent 
into submission and servility. 

6. The utter unworthiness of the "Upper Upstarts" to be mem- 
bers and inhabitants of this great republic, founded by the great- 
est men of centuries, on account of their unworthy bowing to 
the so-called "nobility of the old countries" and their utter dis- 
regard for the "principles of this country." 

7. The present laws on marital relationship and the consequent 
disregard of family honor, ties and bonds. 

B. OUR POLITICAL EVILS; THEY ARE BUT ONE. 

"Lack of honor from the ward heeler up to as high as you 
please." 

That is short, but to the very point ! 



— 59 — 
C. OUR MORAL EVILS. 
They are : 

1. The daily growing inclination towards beastly habits. 

2. The low sense of our youth for honor and morality. 

. 3. The lack of chastity in the full sense of the word, in all stages 
•of society. There is sore lack of chastity in our youth, in our 
married women and men; yes, even in age. 

4. The intermingling of the "women of the town" with those 
that still are good, and this is one of our greatest moral evils. 

5. The lack of sense for moral obligations and parental duties. 

6. The consequent lack of sense of the children for their duties 
towards the parents. 

7. The utter lax morals within marital bonds, especially in 
"upper society" and in spite of all ministerial "thunder showers" 
and "pulpit storms." 

THE REMEDY. 

A careful reading of this "summing up" will convince any "cool 
brain" that neither religious teachings, nor education of the 
masses, nor the usual law making would remedy these evils; for 
what has education, religious teachings and laws done for us 
so far? 

We are sliding down, down, down. We are "going the pace" 
so fast that the masses do not notice the rapidity of moral decline 
and we accept as natural what is most unnatural, and must end in 
the annihilation of a future race. 

Now, is there a remedy? Can we stop this gigantic slide 
towards the great finale? 

There is, but it is so drastic and forciful that I have but little 
hope for its immediate adaptation, and I admit that initiating 
steps may have to be taken preparing the masses for the severe 
final remedy. 

Great revolutions never were fought by the down trodden age, 
but by the next generation. 

The woman who feels that "the purification of blood" will be 
the only remedy will impregnate her ideas to the fruit she bears 
:and the child will fight and die for that principle. 



— 60 — 

Now, let every good woman and mother of this present age 
conceive the idea that only "pure blood" will bring perfect hap- 
piness to her future generation ; let this thought be predominant 
during her pregnancy, and within three decades the law will be 
passed that only perfectly healthy people shall breed, and within 
fifty years the American race would be the noblest, strongest, 
greatest on the face of the earth. 

The sectionalism of religious creed could be cured by a simple 
law. Let every human being living in the world be forced to 
belong to a creed, and let every one thousand souls of a creed be 
given a teacher, preacher, rabbi, or whatever you may call them, 
and they to be paid a fair salary by the government of the land; 
but all extra fees for teaching, preaching, funeral exercises, 
christening, confessions, masses, etc., etc., etc., be abolished and a 
law enacted that will punish a clerical offender with stste prison 
if he takes a fee for any religious or other ceremony prescribed 
by his sect or religion. 

How quick would our religious advisors say that these cere- 
monies are unnecessary; nay, foolish, and I predict that within 
twenty years after such laws have been passed, all sectionalism 
and religious creeds would have vanished. 

THE END. 

At the conclusion of this book let me once more assure you 
that it was not the idle moralist who thus wrote, condemning you 
that knows I spoke the truth; but it is a man who waded through 
the "marshes of life" like many of you, but he stalked along with 
iron steps, gifted with iron will power, and with a soft heart, the 
latter at last dictating every word of this book, hoping that it may 
prove beneficial to many who by ignorance, false teachings, or in- 
experience would tumble into the whirlpool of a degrading soul 
and body destroying life. 

In a series of publications I will treat hereafter each and every 
evil specially and separately, proving their existence and showing 
the utter degradation of society, the heartless combat of wealth 
with poverty and honesty, and the terrible corruption of our po- 
litical world. I shall quote from statistical proofs, personal in- 
vestigations, court records, and flash lights of the camera. 

"Truth, Naked Truth," will remain my motto until the remedy, 
is accepted.