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paradise； according to our present ideas； in a few years。 There is no
mystery about it： the way has been pointed out over and over again。
The difficulty is not the way but the will。 And we have no will because
the first thing done with us in childhood was to break our will。 Can
anything be more disgusting than the spectacle of a nation reading the
biography of Gladstone and gloating over the account of how he was
flogged at Eton； two of his schoolfellows being compelled to hold him
down whilst he was flogged。 Not long ago a public body in England had
to deal with the case of a schoolmaster who； conceiving himself insulted
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by the smoking of a cigaret against his orders by a pupil eighteen years old；
proposed to flog him publicly as a satisfaction to what he called his honor
and authority。 I had intended to give the particulars of this ease； but find
the drudgery of repeating such stuff too sickening； and the effect unjust to
a man who was doing only what others all over the country were doing as
part of the established routine of what is called education。 The astounding
part of it was the manner in which the person to whom this outrage on
decency seemed quite proper and natural claimed to be a functionary of
high character； and had his claim allowed。 In Japan he would hardly
have been allowed the privilege of committing suicide。 What is to be said
of a profession in which such obscenities are made points of honor； or of
institutions in which they are an accepted part of the daily routine？
Wholesome people would not argue about the taste of such nastinesses：
they would spit them out； but we are tainted with flagellomania from our
childhood。 When will we realize that the fact that we can become
accustomed to anything； however disgusting at first； makes it necessary
for us to examine carefully everything we have become accustomed to？
Before motor cars became common； necessity had accustomed us to a
foulness in our streets which would have horrified us had the street been
our drawing…room carpet。 Before long we shall be as particular about our
streets as we now are about our carpets； and their condition in the
nineteenth century will become as forgotten and incredible as the
condition of the corridors of palaces and the courts of castles was as late as
the eighteenth century。 This foulness； we can plead； was imposed on us
as a necessity by the use of horses and of huge retinues； but flogging has
never been so imposed： it has always been a vice； craved for on any
pretext by those depraved by it。 Boys were flogged when criminals were
hanged； to impress the awful warning on them。 Boys were flogged at
boundaries； to impress the boundaries on their memory。 Other methods
and other punishments were always available： the choice of this one
betrayed the sensual impulse which makes the practice an abomination。
But when its viciousness made it customary； it was practised and tolerated
on all hands by people who were innocent of anything worse than
stupidity； ill temper； and inability to discover other methods of
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maintaining order than those they had always seen practised and approved
of。 From children and animals it extended to slaves and criminals。 In
the days of Moses it was limited to 39 lashes。 In the early nineteenth
century it had become an open madness： soldiers were sentenced to a
thousand lashes for trifling offences； with the result （among others less
mentionable） that the Iron Duke of Wellington complained that it was
impossible to get an order obeyed in the British army except in two or
three crack regiments。 Such frantic excesses of this disgusting neurosis
provoked a reaction against it； but the clamor for it by depraved persons
never ceased； and was tolerated by a nation trained to it from childhood in
the schools until last year （1913）； when in what must be described as a
paroxysm of sexual excitement provoked by the agitation concerning the
White Slave Traffic （the purely commercial nature of which I was
prevented from exposing on the stage by the Censorship twenty years ago）
the Government yielded to an outcry for flagellation led by the Archbishop
of Canterbury； and passed an Act under which a judge can sentence a man
to be flogged to the utmost extremity with any instrument usable for such
a purpose that he cares to prescribe。 Such an Act is not a legislative
phenomenon but a psychopathic one。 Its effect on the White Slave
Traffic was； of course； to distract public attention from its real cause and
from the people who really profit by it to imaginary 〃foreign scoundrels；〃
and to secure a monopoly of its organization for women。
And all this evil is made possible by the schoolmaster with his cane
and birch； by the parents getting rid as best they can of the nuisance of
children making noise and mischief in the house； and by the denial to
children of the elementary rights of human beings。
The first man who enslaved and 〃broke in〃 an animal with a whip
would have invented the explosion engine instead could he have foreseen
the curse he was laying on his race。 For men and women learnt thereby
to enslave and break in their children by the same means。 These children；
grown up； knew no other methods of training。 Finally the evil that was
done for gain by the greedy was refined on and done for pleasure by the
lustful。 Flogging has become a pleasure purchasable in our streets； and
inhibition a grown…up habit that children play at。 〃Go and see what baby is
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doing； and tell him he mustnt〃 is the last word of