TO THE PURE ALL THINGS ARE PURE.

Dominion, Volume 3, Issue 734, 5 February 1910, Page 13

TO THE PURE ALL THINGS ARE PURE.

Sir,—lt is quite painful to read a,daily papfr' nowadays; -.. In; every; issue there is;a shriek/or a^/groan from' some, selfstyled ;..;"right-thinkihg", ■ person, ■ about those-dreadfully:-'wicked: people, who go bathing without,'a-dress-suit.,or -a coat and •pants, of corrugated iron..-,' Why don't these, wretched /people/mind...their, own/business,/,or, stop at home, to save their poor nerves?',, They are only truly happy,,. when': they :,can make • somebody; else-miserable.;/ What an'awfulcrime.it is ..for healthy, jolly, girls, full of life, to be gambolling on a beach, or strong, well-, made jathletes. to -run'about' -with,bathing trunks only. /Whatever are we! coming to' in. this "glorious'.';country ? Is there no manliness; or. common-sense; left?/Have' these; decadents, ever/'visited: Sydney/or any; of, the' "American or, European watering -places? .Have ' they, 'ever seen, a ;famous art gallery? ' Have they ever-, been to. ■•' a 1; fashionable .'dinner,'., ball,'- or'/ gala ■performance in the. greatest theatres of the, world,/.where the; great ladies ■ of .the land wear, little above /their ; waists'; Have they ever, studied the; baldheads.in,,the front;.' stalls ?.-'-, Do ,'■ they attend -.- sports' meetings or -'■ aquatio '-.'carnivals? Have they/ever '•' heard, of ancient Greece, ■ where-Jiealth and physical' beauty were worshipped? Do they know, that ."mor;als" are simply the result /of 'climate, .custom, tradition? Are^they aware that we are only a laughing-stock?. Don't .they know/from, history that the most famous men in' the world,: and-:some /of . the women .too, for that -matter, were intensely "immoral," whatever that may mean H. ;■ These .people, fancy they .-. are moral,. and saintly,: when they are only moral cowards and .hypocrites., Every-thing-is hushed up, and'then it. is not supposed .to exist. Every silly fad' is called ,a reform,, when it/is nothing but a chango,,and very often for .the worse. The country is in : the claws of 'Mrs.' Grundy.-'; ;'.',:;.;■■'■/...'/;, - ....'.. : ; •'-. When a- community cease? to be natural, when people- see indecency. everywhere.'even. in; -statues -■• and .'.pictures, which, in civilised countries." are looked •upon;as rare treasures,;it is.a clear,sign of mental decay, of moral collapsej incipient degeneracy ' and' of doom. This very fine country deserves to be inhabited by a more virile race. Its chief characteristic and- malady is—Neurasthenia.—l am,eto. p • : BALDHEAD. Wellington,, Febrnary 1,. 1910. .;■:.'