ou? He
said he liked her.

The occurrence is fairly typical of up-to-date standards--except in one
particular. Most girls refrain from mentioning it to mother.

Here is another symptom, of slightly different complexion which applies
to married life and suggests the extent to which the new principle is
bearing fruit, in society circles.

It was brought to my notice, last summer, that in one colony on Long
Island where I happened to be, there were fourteen different houses
where the wife had deserted the family and the husband was keeping house
alone with the children. This was among members of the fashionable set.
In each of these cases, of course, the wife had come across some man
who, for the time being at least, appealed to her more than her husband
and a divorce had been obtained in some convenient way, or was in the
process of obtaining.

It usually happens when a discussion takes place concerning the
immorality of the present day, that some member of the party will
advance the opinion in a more or less authoritative way that the
tendency in question is confined almost entirely to the so-called upper
crust of society and is consequently not entitled to the significance
which is being attributed to it. The great mass of the people, in their
simple homes and simple communities, are not in the least contaminated
or disturbed by it. They are just as moral and clean-minded as they ever
were, probably more so. Among the rich and idle upper classes, there has
always been a lot of dissipation and immorality in all countries, at all
times. If America is getting a little more than usual of it, at present,
that is nothing to get excited about.

In the face of such sentiments, cheerily and forcibly expressed, the
average gossip and fault-finder is usually willing to acquiesce with a
shrug. And so the discussion ends with a feeling that an attempt has
been made to exaggerate the importance of a restricted and
unrepresentative class.

As a matter of fact, this kind of talk would appear to be founded on
neither accurate information nor sound reasoning.

As regards the lower and middle classes--including those in small
communities--especially those in small communities--it has been called
to my attention repeatedly by those in a position to know that the
change in standards, the so-called demoralization, has been quite as
extreme as among the upper crust. And this view is in accord with my own
notion.

Two important agen