M. D. Moses Scholtz

“ Nothing thrills an average man or woman as much, nothing strikes a vibrating response of a human heart as quickly as an artistically presented romance of love. The only instinct that rivals in intensity the love between man and woman is mother’s love, which is also based on the sex impulse, tho of a wider import. Mother love is, as it were, a continuation of the biological function of sex, a Nature’s provision to protect and to raise the offspring begotten in love. ”

“ The individual suffers as much from the ravages of Syphilis as society. Lucky is the man who can say that he is perfectly cured from Syphilis after two or three years of the most thorough treatment. Lucky is the man if he can be sure that later in life, after he may have forgotten all about his primary infection, the dormant germs of Syphilis lurking in the deep recesses of his body will not attack his most vital organs, as arteries, heart, or brain, and will not strike him down to permanent invalidism or slow but hopeless agony of an incurable disease. ”

“ Take one hundred cases, when a man or boy breaks loose and takes a plunge into the quagmire of prostitution, analyze the circumstances and influences that bring about this misstep, and you will find that in ninety-nine of these hundred cases the hero of this adventure is more of a victim than an active, deliberate perpetrator. Usually it is first a case of overeating rich, stimulating food that heats the blood and clouds clear judgment, the imbibing of sweet wine or alcoholic liquors still more excites and intoxicates our hero ”

“ A new attitude toward the opposite sex gradually makes itself felt, and a woman acquires in his mind and feelings a new meaning and a new light. Womanly beauty and perfection, of which he has been unaware and unconscious, begins to exert on him all-powerful and irresistible attraction, and with further bodily and mental growth, he gradually reaches full maturity and enters the stage of highest consummation of normal manhood—love, marriage, and happy family life. ”

“ To justify his own license of sexual intemperance and deny the same freedom to a woman, it was easy for a man to declare that the sexual necessity for a woman is not as imperative as for a man, and therefore a woman shall be chaste and pure until the marriage, while the man may suit himself in this regard. There is no scientific proof whatsoever that a woman differs in any way from a man in regard to the sexual instinct. ”

“ Children are a life mission and a life interest of a woman; they are the strongest and purest bonds of love between a man and a woman. Gloom and emptiness prevail in a home that is not blessed with children; there is no living interest and no natural attraction in such a home, and a childless couple is doomed to seek outside distractions and interests to fill up the natural void in their existence and to forget their heart-hunger.
No man who looks forward to a happy family life in the future can ignore the question and shirk the responsibility of producing healthy children. ”

“ It is almost humorous, if it were not so pathetic, to see how dumbfounded and shocked are these youthful transgressors of the forbidden path, when a physician declares that the exceptional favors of their lady friend resulted in a bad 75case of gonorrhea or chancre. They are sincerely indignant at the reflection on the honor of their affinity, and are almost ready to doubt the competency of the physician, until a microscopical examination and the subsequent course of the disease convinces them of the sad truth. ”

“ There is no other occupation or human walk of life where the suicide rate is as high as among the slaves of prostitution, neither is there any class of population where 64physical decay and premature death is as common as among the women of the underworld. Let a man or youth who enters a house of prostitution know that by doing so he is not only purchasing a lottery ticket for the prize of a venereal disease, which he seldom misses, but that also with each visit to a fallen woman he drags her down one step lower on the down-grade path of a social abyss. ”

“ Whether we appeal to the nobler and higher instincts of manhood, or to the reason and intelligence of the man by enlightening him on the biological function and significance of sex, or try to instill the fear of the evil consequences of sexual transgression, none of these arguments should be emphasized more than another, but all should be presented with equal force and emphasis. ”

“ The fact that every man and boy suffering from a venereal disease or a disorder resulting from bad sexual habits feels ashamed, degraded, and deeply disgusted with himself, is due not only to the fear of public disgrace and ridicule, but it is essentially a feeling of guilt against his own physical and moral self. ”

“ And just as killing frost or withering heat stunts and dwarfs a young plant, so any abuse or lack of care of the sexual system will dwarf and stunt the growing boy, physically, mentally, and morally.
But even after a man has reached a full state of physical development, his sexual system exerts the same all-powerful influence over his body and mind. ”

“ So it can readily be seen that sex is the greatest treasure Nature has bestowed upon 17men, and that the sexual organs are just as important for health and happiness as are any other organs of the body. For this reason every boy and man should know how to take care of these most vital organs in health and disease. In a word, he should have all necessary knowledge to protect and to keep intact his priceless heritage—healthy and noble manhood. ”

“ First, the popular idea that sex is as much a physical necessity as are other instincts of self-preservation, such as hunger, thirst, or sleep, is fundamentally wrong. Hunger, thirst, etc., are imperative at all ages and under all circumstances. The lack of their satisfaction for a very few days leads to wasting, destruction of the body, and physical suffering. The sexual impulse awakens only at a certain age, lasts a certain period of time, and gradually goes down, leaving the physical welfare of the body undisturbed. ”

“ And if he can do this with full knowledge of the social consequences of his act with a clear mind and cool judgment, let him know that he is a man in name only, and that morally he is much more to be despised and branded with social contempt than the painted creature he is ashamed to recognize on the street the morning after. ”

“ Once this vague impulse or idea is perceived 37by the mind as a sexual idea or emotion, if the will power of the man is not strong enough to push it back again and to submerge the impulse in the realm of the subconscious, the imagination steps in and, by conjuring up various lascivious and sensual images and dreams, stimulates and fans up the flickering light of the original impulse into a mighty, all-devouring, irresistible flame of sexual passion, overpowering all reasoning and self-control of the man. ”

“ Nowhere else are the ravages of Syphilis more destructive and cruel; no other disease punishes the offspring for the sins of its parents so ruthlessly and wantonly; no other scourge inflicts its terrible retribution on the second generation at such a tender age as hereditary Syphilis. Hereditary Syphilis is undoubtedly the saddest and most gruesome chapter in the long black record of Syphilis. ”

“ Surely the impulse and organs of the 34human body, designed by the Great Creator for the highest function of human life—that of transmission of life—cannot be shameful, nor vulgar, nor immoral. The broad and intelligent interpretation of sex raises it above a mere animal instinct, ennobles and purifies it from any element of low and brutal passions, and by instilling in the man a feeling of sacredness and moral obligation on his part towards the future family, renders the sex problem a subject worthy of reverence and earnest study. ”

“ Love between a man and woman and its consummation in marriage and formation of the unit, the family, is the highest expression and development of the primitive sex instinct; it is the only form of expression of the sexual impulse intended by Nature and sanctioned by religion and the social code of morals. Sex, in its spiritualized and purified form of love, has ever been the dominating and controlling factor in the history of the human race. Love has furnished more to the content of the emotional life of human kind than any other emotional force. ”

“ And yet almost in all cases a physician is able to tell with reasonable certainty whether the patient is able to get married without danger of transmitting the infection, but to arrive at such a definite conclusion a physician must undertake a whole series of different examinations and special tests, as only repeated, persistent, negative tests for Gonococci can be accepted as conclusive. A man who comes to a physician and insists that the physician should render his verdict at once demands the impossible, and the hasty conclusion he will force out is not worth much. ”

“ Equally so, no more important nor more sacred duty lies on a grown-up, fully developed man than to keep this treasure of physical and mental equipment bestowed upon him by generous Nature intact and unimpaired. ”

“ Copyright in England
3 PREFACE The scourge of the social evil and its baneful and disintegrating influences on the moral and physical structure of modern society has come to be recognized more and more by the public opinion as one of the most burning social problems of to-day. A new battle cry of social purity and conservation of manhood and womanhood has resounded on the battlefield of social endeavor, and a new crusade, under the banner of a young but vigorous movement of eugenics, has been started for a morally pure and physically strong young generation. ”

“ It is absolutely impossible to differentiate between real Gonorrhea and simple urethritis by the clinical appearance of the case or to estimate the seriousness and duration of the case by the visible symptoms, such as the amount of discharge, intensity of pains, etc. Not only the patient, but even the physician can not establish the presence of Gonorrhea in the case without a microscopical examination. A man who claims to be able to estimate the nature and seriousness of the case from the looks of things is either an ignoramus or impostor, or both. ”

“ The other way is to attack the monster of social evil by reaching the individual offender and by protecting him from the pitfalls and dangers, through moral persuasion and by arming him with the necessary knowledge of sex life in health and disease.
It is agreed on all sides that the keynote of this educational movement should be a campaign of sex education and moral prophylaxis. The young generation, both boys and girls alike, should be taught from an early age the proper biological and social function of sex, and trained in an open and healthy attitude toward sex problems. ”

“ How different it is with the sex function. People are so different as to their sexual capacity and preferences, commonly called “temperament,” that no hard or fast rules can be enjoined on the average man or woman, and not even approximate limits can be given in an individual case. There are many so-called frigid natures, particularly among women, who feel not the slightest attraction for the members of the opposite sex, and are able to go for years and even thruout life without any active desire for sexual relationship. ”

“ Think of a boy fourteen to sixteen years old on the threshold of manhood, and watch the changes going on in his whole being at this period of transition. Watch this most wonderful transformation, how a frail, little, helpless skeleton shoots into a large-boned frame with powerful muscles; how his squealing, girlish voice deepens into a low, manly, vibrating tone, and the smooth skin of the face and genital organs begins to show a hairy growth. Equally great changes take place in the boy’s mentality and feelings. ”

“ Practical experience shows that no other function of the body is so absolutely controlled by the nervous system and more dependent on the state of the mind than the function of sex. All other instincts and functions of the body, like hunger, sleep, digestion, breathing, etc., are controlled to some extent by mind influences. Different feelings and emotions, like fright, worry, sorrow, etc., check and retard all functions for a while, but they cannot retard them for a long time, and surely cannot stop them altogether. How different it is with the sexual impulse. ”

“ Sex is the magic source of life, which not only reproduces life, but also keeps up the divine spark of vitality in the human body and controls and stimulates its growth and healthy development. Sexual glands that every healthy child gets from its very inception, thru their internal secretions, act as a source of life and energy in the body, stimulating its growth and influencing its general condition. ”

“ The man, being master of the situation, has never tried to develop self-control and will power in subduing his physical passion, and has cloaked his sexual intemperance and indulgence with a fancied natural necessity. The double moral standard as it is practiced to-day has brought untold misery and has ruined lives of millions of young women who were so unfortunate as to make a first misstep and yielded to temptation. ”

“ Prostitution is undoubtedly the main source of venereal infection, but the term prostitution should be taken broadly. There are two kinds of prostitution: one is openly organized in red-light district, tolerated by society, and regulated by the police; and another, secret, clandestine, practised by thousands of women and girls in large towns, women who do not make a living from the “life of shame,” but secretly indulge in illicit sexual intercourse for a side income or presents, while trying to keep up an appearance and social standing of a “respectable” woman. ”