OBSERVATIONS

Northern Advocate, 12 June 1937, Page 8

OBSERVATIONS

By “ THE MAN ON. THE . LOOK-OUT ”

F is extraordinary how ready people are to pass on scandalous stories whikh they have heard about other people. If they were as ready to pass on stories to the credit of other, people, it Would make all the difference. But they forget the good, and, like carrion in general, they delight in scenting out unsavoury things' and, with generosity worthy of a better cause, sharing it with as many as come within keach of them. People who would flinch from killing a fly have no compunction about killing, or, at any rate, seriously wounding, friend and foe alike with the poisoned shaft of falsehood..

a thing when they passed on a story which had been told to them by somebody who did not care whether the story was true or not so long as it stuck—should remember that they themselves might be the victims of similar treatment at any moment. It can be said without fear of contradiction that nobody is safe from the slanderous tongue. The best man or. woman in Whangarei might be damned in the course of a day, for no matter how much he or she might prove the falsity of a slanderous rumour, some would wag their heads and use those most accursed words “There must be something in it, for where there is smoke there must be fire.” Who can combat such a statement?

A Whangarei man told me that a few weeks ago he heard a story about a notability whose name has occupied attention in every quarter of the globe. It was a disturbing story, which, though circumstantial, might well have been true, so plausible was it. »So far he had withstood the desire to pass it on to others, for he believed that slander should be treated in the way that chain letters should be treated—by refusing to forge another link, and thus breaking the chain. Why pass on a story that may be altogether untrue, yet which might cause irreparable damage to a fellow being? It is perhaps a different matter if one knows from personal experience that what he says about another is true. But,‘even then, why pass it on? Life is short, and slanderer and slandered will soon be reduced to the same state.

Slander and slanderers have a literature all to themselves. It is interesting to recall some classical examples. The ancient philosopher Socrates warns us to “Listen not to a talebearer or slanderer, for he tells thee nothing out of goodwill; but as he discovers the secrets of others, so he will of thine in turn.” Horace, too, utters a warning against the slanderer. He says; He that shall rail against his absent friends, V . ( . Or hears them scandalised, and not i defends, Sports with their fame, and speaks whate’er he can, And only to be thought a vvitty man, , " ' _ ’ ■; - Tells tales and brings his friends in disesteem, That man’s a knave—be sure of him. Shakespeare speaks eloquently in condemnation of slanderers and slander —“whose edge is sharper than the sword.” His lines put in the mouth of the miserable lago have become immortal: Who steals my purse steals trash; ’tis something, nothing; ’Twas mine, ’tis his, and has been slave to thousands; But he that filches from me my good name Robs me of that which not enriches him And makes me poor indeed.

Slander is a thing which feeds upon itself, and thrives upon its food. There is a story told of a little American town where slanderous rumour was a long suit on the part of the inhabitants. It set out in the morning an unfledged chicken; it returned at night a rooster with talons and tail feathers. Unhappy indeed was the man or woman who was the victim of the slanderer’s attentions.

Those who delight in slandering their neighbours—they probably would not reckon that they were doing such

Tennyson, in equally Immortal lines, recounts the appeal of King Arthur to the Knights of his Round Table to “speak no slander, no, nor listen to it,” while Plautus, in more direct language, says that “those men who carry about, and who listen to, accusations, should . all be hanged—the carriers by their tongues and the listeners by their ears.” “When will evil speakers cease from evil talking? When listeners refrain from evil hearing.” So said an old time wise man. His words are as true today as when he uttered them centuries ago. , v As I said in my opening sentence, “It is extraordinary how ready people are to pass on stories which they have hoard about other people.” Would it be slanderous to say that such readiness is to be discerned in Whangarei? I wonder? * m * I was really pleased when the King’s Birthday broke frosty and clear, promising a good day, for if any body of public-spirited citizens deserve to achieve success it is the men who have set their hearts on making Rugby Park a good football ground. They have been likened to the man who marries for the second time—evincing the victory of hope over experience—but I admire them for the way in whith they have stuck to their self-imposed task. Outrageous fortune has been unkind to them, but this year promised better things. Then down came rain, and it continued to come down until the park was badly saturated. It only, wanted rain to fall on . King’s Birthday to. dash the hopes of the workers, for the ground was already in a very wet state. However, the rain did not fall,, and Rygby Park stood up well to the strain put upon it. I am sure everybody who admires, as I do, the pertinacity of the Rugby Union enthusiasts hopes that this will prove to have been a real barometer, indicating final success of the effort to make Rugby Park a fine football ground.