San Francisco Call, Volume 85, Number 122, 1 April 1899 — THE CORRUPTION OF ' YOUTH. [ARTICLE]

THE CORRUPTION OF ' YOUTH.

WITH the invention which has made possible the "mutoscope," the "artoscope" and all the other forms of exhibition in which photography is given a semblance of the movements of life, a new instrument has -been placed in the hands of the vicious for the corruption of youth.; They have been' prompt to take advantage of it,- They have copied pictures in which nude art has been carried to the extreme of indecency, they have induced vile women to pose in half nudity, and of these they have made scenes to tempt the depravity of manhood and the curiosity of youth. These vicious exhibitions arc displayed in San Francisco with an effrontery that is as audacious as it is shameless. In an investigation of the extent to which the evil is carried on along our "principal streets The Call yesterday ■ exposed the . fact that a considerable . number " of . the patrons of such place- j are schoolboys, some of them so small they haje to j be lifted in the arms. of their larger companions to bring their eyes on a level with the aperture in the machine through which the pictures are seen. Beneath the depth of this open depravity there is, moreover, a lower depth which the proprietors of the places disclose to those who arc known to them. For the gratification of such patrons even the slightest pretenses of decency are thrown aside and a degradation as low as that of the slums of Chinatown is. presented in foul pictures displayed in the vitascope and ribald songs clinked out from the phonograph. These vicious exhibitions are the more dangerous to society because they are given under the guise of scientific novelties of invention and new achievements in mechanical and electrical art. In that form they attract large numbers of persons who are not depraved and have no desire for the indecent. By the patronage of such visitors an air of respectability is given to the places of exhibition, and parents have no objection to make when their children go there to spend their nickels.

' For a time the proprietors of the exhibitions conducted their places with much outward show of decency, but now they have become bold. The machines, in which the. pictures are placed are plainly marked with signs intimating the depravity of the scenes within, and these occupy prominent positions in their showrooms. ' It is therefore no longer possible for the public to overlook the affront given to its morals and its laws. It is difficult, indeed, to understand how even the police can.have been blind to it for so long a time. •

It is not a pleasant subject to deal with, and The Call would have gladly turned aside from it had it* been aware of any way to suppress the evil other than by exposing it. It now directs to all of these so-called phonograph and mutoscope parlors the attention of the police, the Society for the Prevention of Vice and the public generally. A good step was taken for reform and the welfare of society when the- notorious gamblers of Ingleside were "compelled to give up the nefarious trade which was tempting large numbers of people to evil courses leading to dishonor and suicide, and now another step in the same direction can be taken by the suppression of the indecent pictures and songs that are corrupting the youth of the city.

It is not necessary to enact a new ordinance to cover the subject. The present law suffices. All that is needed is an aroused public sentiment and energetic action on the part of the police. The exposure made by The Call has been sufficient to show the nature of the offense and point out some of the more conspicuous places where it is carried on. It is now the turn of the police to act.