New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1875-09-07
SCANDAL NONGERING.

A peculiarly sad state of society is said to
exist in Atchison-at least The Champion,
newspaper OF that town, AYERS that y" the
"whole atmosphere is tainted with the mia
"mous stories of pcstiferOus character-vani-
"pires who, with a malignancy as persistent
Gas il is deyilish, torture the most innocent
"acts into guilt and the most harmless indis-
e" cretions into crimes" Moreover, "thcsc
"barpjes of both sexes devote almost their
"whole time to their malign work" How
"t0 suppress the miScreants" is the problem.
Shall they when caught "be ducked in the
Missouri ?" or shall "their ears be slit SO that
s. they may carry on their persons forever the sign
"of their infamy7' Somebody, it is limited,
will some day be shot "there may be trag-
"e,ly which will shock the community" There
will be n Deceased Vampire with popular
verdict of "Served him Cor herr right" We
shouldn't wonder Nowhere are those who are
maligned always wise. Infamy breeds wrath.
1t is SO much easier to shoot than to be patient
and to wait. Besides those who value reputa-
ton and feel detraction the most keenly, are
of the very temper which seeks revenge with
out stopping to reason, and which mslcads
them into the fallacy of supposing that the
swiftest yindication of themselves is the
amplest
Very few have that exquisite moral delicacy
which prompts its posscssor to consider as a
crime the utterance of careless words which
may inure neighbOr. There are those who
understand this thoroughly; who find no diff
Guilty, through long habit, in keeping their
tongues bridled who will not willingly listen
to malignant gossip, and who never,
when it has been forced upon them, repeat
IT, We have known such and extremely com
Portable they are to knOw-these self-balanccd
folk who Ito quote Sponsors line) "their eyes,
"their ears their tongues, their talk restrain"
There are not many of them anywhere, bat
wherever they arc-and there must be two or
three in Atchson-they are in an excellent
posi,ion for starting frst-class missionary
enterprise. We do not believe that there is
any social evil which cannot be mitigated,
even if it cannot be extirpated. Every well
meaning man should consider how much good
he can do without taking great deal of
trouble either by listening to ill-naturcd Cos
SIP with an air of Indifference or OF impaticnce,
or by Indignantly refusing to listen to 1t
at all. For we must consider that great pro-
norton of the stories disadvantageOus to
personal character which are alloat, are really
none of our business, and in no way concern
our happiness, our prosperity, or our success.
Now, we will suppose that man OF good
character in AtchisOn, when one of these SIAN
ders is whispered to him, makes the whisperer
Enthusiastically to understand that he considers
himself insulted 10y the sneaking recital
"What have done that you bring this UNI
"cean report to me 7 What reason have you
"for believing that would like to hear this |!
ado | regard it as true or false9 Sir or
MADAM, | think nothing about it whatever
"nor do intend to think about it. o! it will
"not keep me awake o nights-this hint that
"Mr. - has gone wrong or that Mrs. - Is
"no better than she should be. No more of
"your insults if you please-that is the point
"about which l am principally concerned.
"Your talk is contamination. BE off with you ~
Let them try this in Atchison as remedy
for the prevailing epidemic, before they betake
themselves to the persuasive pistol and the
argumentative bOwie-knife! A few honest
ones making this contemptuous stand against
the foul sea of detraction, will work wonders.
SANDER should be one Of the most disreputable
vices in this vicious world; but on the other
hand it is sin into which tolerably we'll
meaning takers fall, partly because they must
talk about something or somebody; and rarity
, A, ..usc there is an exaltatiOn of ourselves in