The Wanganui Chronicle. SATURDAY, MAY 10, 1947. CONVENTIONS.

Wanganui Chronicle, 10 May 1947, Page 4

The Wanganui Chronicle. SATURDAY, MAY 10, 1947. CONVENTIONS.

*» CONVENTIONS arc frequently the subject of censure, yet, those conventions persist. There must be some vitality in them when they are capable of surviving notwithstanding the scorn poured on them by the rebels and the “bright young things.” To speak of a person as a middle-aged conventional old party is for some people to engage in the most crushing of denunciations.

Conventions are sometimes as’-oeiated with that famous lady. Mrs. Grundy. Actually they have nothing in common. Mrs. Grundy has her way of looking at things; generally it is too self-righteous to be attractive ami it usually extols the conduct of the past as against that of the present. But Mrs. Grundy’s concern for the welfare of the race causes her to lay a heavy hand upon quite a lot of innocent amusement. Conventions do nothing of the sort. When the world was less advanced than it is now it placed not a little store upon logical thinking. It believed that it was good to have some methodical approach to a problem, and in order to get going it fashioned for itself a convention which was expressed thus: “First define your terms.'’ It was a good convention and had practical advantages, for it brought the discussion out of the fog of tiic indefinite and made clear from the beginning what was actually being discussed. When discussing conventions, then, it is as well to start with the term “convention’’ and enquire what is actually meant by it, what is the idea which it is sought to be conveyed from one mind to another. A free interpretation is not quite good enough, for if one man calls twelve inches a foot while another calls it a yard confusion must arise when these two persons meet and converse.

A convention is custom which becomes established by long usage. It is a rule of conduct which has been found by experience to work well. Those who wish to fly in the face of experience of generations which have gone before will find nothing commendable in the fact that many people under varying conditions have found that a convention is a useful practical guide to conduct. Here, then, is the definition of the convention, namely, a practical guide to conduct. The individual who desires to make his own foot-rule anil his own multiplication tables will find that most of his time will be taken up in discovering what is the most desirable unit of measurement for him and for his fellows. Then, if he desires to depart from the general belief that two and two make four he will have to embark on an interesting course of experimentation.

The craving to be original which affects some people is seldom carried so far as 1o cause a challenge to be made to the conventions of mathematical science; but in a field where human experience is an equally sound guide, that is in the field of morals, the tendency to refuse to accept Ihc experience of past generations is regarded by too many as something to he admired. Why accept, mathematical conventions and challenge moral conventions? It is much easier to prove a mathematical convention than it is to prove the soundness of a moral one. Moral conduct is right conduet, and right conduct is that which brings right results in its train. Where disaster follows action the action can be said to be wrong. Moral conduct is personal. Under one set of conditions a given action may be right, or it may be right for one man, but under another set of conditions the same conduct, will be considered to be wrong, or it may be wrong for the man who is immediately concerned.

The amusement of gambling provides an interesting set of conventions. To disclaim a gaming debt is regarded as reprehensible. but to delay paying the grocer and gambling with his money is regarded as “sporty” by some people. These same people would not think of lifting sixpence out of the grocer’s till. The grocer may be the loser in either case but it has become a convention to call one man a sport and another man a thief. A wealthy man putting a modest sovereign on a horse to add to his interest in a race breaks no convention as to right conduct and none will condemn him for his conduct. It is a convention to leave each man to be the judge of his own conduct so long as that conduct does not ent across the well-being of anyone else. This is a good convention, making for reasonable conduct between man and man. Most people want to be left alone; they don’t want to bo shining examples nor do they want other people getting fussy about saving their souls. It is for this reason that the convention has grown up among sensible and balanced people not to discuss religion unless invited 1o do so. On the other hand, lor a Scoutmaster oi’ a leader of youth to inarch a group of lads off to the racecourse or to the bookmaker’s office would be reprehensible because it would be lending encouragement and support to what ma.v become a disastrous occupation. For the same reason the said Scoutmaster may feel that, whatever anyone else may do, he must eschew all forms of gambling in order to be a proper example to the youngsters who look to him for leadership. It is a convention among those who feel that they are in large measure their brothers’ keepers to refrain from amusements that they do not condemn others for engaging in. A man is. by a convention that has been found to be a good one, left to himself to decide the degree of responsibility he will accept for himself in respect to the degree of example he will afford others. Conventions also serve as guides in other matters, in dress for instance. 11 is a convention not to go to a christening wearing plus fours. A man goes to church soberly dressed because it. bespeaks his frame of mind, or at least the frame ot mind that ne ought to be in while attending Divine Service. To remain standing until a hostess assumes her scat at the dinner table is a convention that is more than a token of respect to the hostess; it sets the point of time for the opening of the meal. To refrain from smoking at the dinner table is a natural convention for anyone who has come to possess what the psychologists call the later acquired characteristics, namely, those habits which are based on consideration for others. To be unconventional in this respect. is the conduct of one who has not. come to a full social sense, in other words one whose social education has been defective. One desires not to have to reason out one’s conduct on all occasions and the provision of ready-made rules based on experience cuts down considerably one's cause for concern. The convention provides the ready rule ot conduct; it has the endorsement of the many. Taken by-and-large, a contention is a sale guide, and it is unwise to put the least of these aside without first engaging in due reflection on the matter.