THE ORDER OP DON'T KNOCK.

Tuapeka Times, Volume XXXIV, Issue 4870, 3 July 1901, Page 1

THE ORDER OP DON'T KNOCK.

An American newspaper-man has just started a society in Buffalo to which he has given this curious title. The members are not pledged, as the name might suggest, to abstain from personal violence or from entering a stranger's room without announcing themselves, but simply to refrain from speaking ill of — from 'knocking' — their friends and acquaintances. Ihe slangy title was, adopted because the founder recognised that if he called his organisation a ' Society for the promotion of Goodfellowship,' or anything like that, lots of the people be hoped to reach would be alarmed by the mere name. The objects of the ( Order ' are described in the articles of incorporation as follows :—: — * (1) To overcome in its members the deplorable habit of speaking ill of our fellows, otherwise known as , knocking, and by precept and example trying to induce others to do the same.. (2) To better the social and I moral condition. of mankind by a true, devotion in its members to the cause of charity in its broadest sense. (3) To keep the Golden Eule ever in the minds of its members. (4) To bind its members together in a social and fraternal manner.' The motto of the Order is, ' If you can't boost, don't knock,' and the founder explains in a book he has just issued, that to ' boost ' is to speak well of a person, and that to ' knock ' is to speak ill. As parellels to the motto, the founder recites the Biblical injunction from St John : 'He that is without sin among you, let him first cast a stone,' and the Shakespearean gem of philosophy, ' He that steals my purse steals trash, but he that filches my good name makes me poor indeed.' The ' book ' contains a long list of things that will be considered knocks including ' scandal,' ( jovial knocking,' * knocking without words,' ' political knocks,' ' newspaper criticism,* ' business knocks,' and a score of other common offences. The by-laws prescribe a fine of one cent for every knock, and it is left to the conscience of the member to impose the penalty. Seventy-five per cent of the fines go to charities selected by the executive and twenty-five per cent to the cost of the management. Tbe Order has already made very considerable progress in America, and steps are being taken* to establish branches in other countries. Lawrence would be none the worse for the presence of a strong society pledged to use its influence against the practice of ' knocking.'