have done it generally in ignorance. When you realize the truth you
will see that it is unkind--possibly you may even realize that it is
dangerous. And yet I do not want to overstate even this point. I heard
lately of a girl who, having been told the truth, became so nervous
that she was afraid to sit within five feet of a man and found general
social intercourse spoilt for her. There are no dangers for men, but on
the contrary there is very great help for men, in the society of girls
who will meet them in a spontaneous, natural, and friendly way. It is
when the girls who should be their natural companions are found to be
prudish and stiff that men are all too apt to look for other girls who
will at least be friendly and often much more than friendly. All that I
want girls to know is that there are dangers on the horizon of this
part of life, and to ask them to use their wisdom and their common
sense. What I ask of men is that they should cease meanly trying to
avoid responsibility in this connection, and should face their half of
the problem. For the problem _is_ worth solving. Happy, free, wholesome
companionship between men and women is a bracing and splendid thing. We
cannot possibly solve the whole problem of human life till we have
attained to it.

And now a last word to the people to whom at the beginning I offered an
apology--to the exceptional young people who take no interest in the
other sex. I do not commend your attitude. It is not wise. If it is in
your case instinctive and spontaneous you need not worry, for nature
will soon cure it. But if you have consciously adopted it, or are
deliberately retaining it, you are making a serious mistake. You are
not sexless beings, and by adopting this attitude you are repressing
certain parts of your natures which will one day make their presence
felt whether you like it or no, and possibly in unhappy and unnatural
ways. Girl friendships cannot fully and finally satisfy any girl.