Signal-Copiahan. (Hazlehurst, Copiah County, Miss.) 1885-1888, 1886-08-26
4 Nord.sf Caution.

While we are advancing In morals
and religious training. and are pros
pering rs . community generally,
there Is one subject to which we wish
to call attention, with u view OF cor
recting an evil which Ia not peculiar to
this community, but which should be
discouraged everywhere. We refer to
tho morbid taste for sensational and
slandcrOus news. II occurs To us that
this isa growing evil, and one Of very
dangerous tendency. II IL, no doubt,
attributable In part to the character Of
the public press, which Is sensational
in the extreme. The increase of news
papers, the invention Of the telegraph
aud the Increased mail facilities have
bcsA great promoters Of general edu-
cation, but with all these causes, the
taste for something sensational, and
the effect Is seen In every phase VI
life.
The newspaper that gives the min
utest detail of the most horrible tragc-
DIV and outrageous scandal Is the most
popular, and the individual TINT can
repeat the most scandalOus story fire.
Guently has the most Interested audi
tors. We see the effects OF this dis
position, in u marked degree, in pub
lie life. 1t Is perfectly safe to say that II
our Savi0ur's human character could
DO duplicated, and that duplicate
should be placed In public life, or be-
come q candidate for public promotion,
he would be subject to the yilcst de-
traction OF the scandal mOngcr. This 10
An acknowledged weakness In society,
and you still hear men who recognize
this truth, repeating the most Outra-
gcous and unfoundcd rumors with the
greatest zest and seeming earncstness
Of truth. 1t does not stop herc-it
pervades the sanctity OF home, and
cxageratcs every little domestic infe-
licity into tragedy, and II peeps be-
hind the curtains OF society aud mag
nifics every little imprudcnce into IN
outrageous scandal, and this Is not all
when the scandal market Ia propitiOus
and the scandal vendor out Of news,
private spleen comes to tho rescue and
the absolutely innocent must be
crushed. We have lately seen istan-
ccs Of this kind in Memphis and New
Orleans, where two young ladies,
who were as pure as the driven snow,
have been the victims. After q scan-
dal has been set on foot, by some one
engaged In the trade, II Is remarkable
with what avidity II Is caught up and
circulated. This Is sometimes done
by innocent but thoughtless people,
who do not stop to think how merci-
less y stab they are INJECTING, or arc
digging the social grave Of some
innocent victim; and they forget, also i,
that perfect innocence Ia no protection
against the thrusts Of the character AS
sassin, whose productions are always
secretly started and circulated ut large
before the victim Is aware Of it-.and
the lie will always Outrun tho truth.
We have recently seen, In our own
community, an instance OF perfect in
nOcence fOully slandcred. A young
lady OF this town was the victim, and,
when she heard Of the rumOr, she
went to some Of our prominent citi-
zens, stated the facts, and demanded
an investigation. Tho most searching
examination was made and her perfect
and unquestioned innocence, not only
OF anything wrong but OF anything
that could be construed into impru-
dcnce, absolutely demonstrated. The
fact Is, no man, woman or child could
be found who pretended to know of \
single circumstance that gave faith to
the report or could point to any one
who could give any information on the
subject.
This Is not the first instance OF SLAM
dereus reports being circulated in the
community, but is the first instance
where full investigation Of the facts
have been made, and 1t develops a
very serious condition Of sOciety-onc
in which innocence Is no protection
against the shafts Of detraction and
scandal. In such state Of society
who Is safe? Whose sister or daughter
can claim immunity from tho SANDER
er's villainous tongue? OF course we
do not intend to intimate that this
community Is worse, In this respect,
than others, but we wish to warn our
people against what we fear is grow
ing evil, and caution them TO shun the
backbitcr rs they would rattlesnake.
When there Is no longer market for
their wares scandal mongers will cease
to flourish.