THE LASH.

Auckland Star, Volume XXXII, Issue 148, 24 June 1901, Page 2

THE LASH.

(To the Editor.)

Sir,—Two of your correspondents in letters very similar in ton* endeavour to prove that because the lash put a stop to garrotting in London and other cities, years ago, the lash must prove a sure preventive of criminal assaults in this country. Now, I altogether fail to see the analogy! Do you Auckland people know what you are talking about? Is it possible you do not. realise that feminine vice in many shapes sits ever by your side? Walk abroad at nig-ht; travel in a second-class carriage by the last Sunday train; go home by a late tram on any wet night; don't take my word for it; see for yourself; and I think you will agree that the man was right who voiced the remark that professional prostitutes would starve here. It is high time that some one took the 'men's side. If mothers will allow young children and girls to roam at their own sweet will, whithersoever they listeth, they must take the consequences. Child-ruin is no new vice. Half a century back it was common in England. No child of five should be allowed out alone. No young child should be permitted in the society of old men. No girl under sixteen should be allowed out alone after dusk. The world is as it always was, and ever will be. I have roamed over the. face of the globe for twenty years 1 am only thirty-six now—have been from Stewart Island to the North Cape, have lived and worked amongst adventurers and rough men of all kinds, have been on speaking terms with the rich, have on several occasions walked across Mrlbourne, Wellington and Auckland in the small hours of the morning1, unaccompanied, have lived in lonely whares without either locks or bolts, and no woman within miles, but never once in ;i!l my varied experiences has a man in-' ; suited me by word or deed. New Ze>ulanders compare very favourably with ; Englishmen. They hardly erar tell improper stories before women; thay rarely drink to excess; they are not improvident. If your wives and daughters keep their eyes open, and possess true womanliness and common sense, they will find that men of all castes will rctepect them. X should nat care for a son. of mine to have his