The daily morning Astorian. [volume] (Astoria, Oregon) 1883-1899, 1888-07-06
"sNOBs AND sNOBBERY.n
Caste Distinction the Rock That Threatens
American Institutions.

American Institutions.
Col. L. T. Copeland lectured last
evening to large and intelligent
audience ON the subject of "Snobs
and Snobbery." Under this subject
he dealt particularly with caste, and
caste distinctions, and strongly in
weighed against the introduction of
any form of this vice into America, a
vice which would cause a wealthy
and otherwise indulgent parent to
cast daughter into poverty and deg
radiation simply because she would
marry the man of her choice.
He dealt first with the complete
stratification of English society. The
shop keepers, the country aristocracy,
the titled nobility, all formed castles
which did not mix with one another,
socially. and above these was the
crowned blue blood. The lecturer
then went on to say, with a most in
| descrlbable facial expression and in
tonation Of voice that an the free
republic OF America we have no
castes," and continued: "When we
say it, we lie like blazes."
Our constitution declares it to be
self evident that all men are free and
equal, yet Americans have more caste
feeling than any people under the
sun. In England there was a class
of shopkeepers, but all in this class
were equal.
Here in America we make distinc-
tion between the man who sells in
the big shop and he who sells in the
smaller stores.
In European cities there were
fashionable localities, but the locality
did not make the people fashionable.
In American cities there was a caste
of locality. People who lived on
Fifth avenue, N. Y, were toney be-
cause they lived there, even Il they
had cocoanut head and the brains
OF mule. Americans made more of
the caste of color than any other civ
ilized nation. At a fashionable din
ner in England where many men Of
title were present he had sat oppo-
site a darkey with kinky hair and
face as black as the bottom of a fry
ing pan, When he saw the darkey
receiving more attention than was
accorded to himself, he could not
help thinking that he was in place
more than 1000 miles from where the
Declaration Of Independence was
signed. In shame, and to the ever
lasting disgrace of America be it said,
that whole we profess not to believe
in caste we practice it more than any
other people. Nothing was so un-
American as caste, and yet it consti-
tuted a great and menacing danger
to our institutions in the future.
Snobbery was the outcome of
pride; pride was the offspring of ego
tism. The dandy dude or masher,
was only one of the family OF snobs.
A pretentious man or woman of any
degree, whether born in castle or
hovel, educated or uneducated, rich
or poor, was snob.
He then spoke Of the different
kind of snobs, such as the
Blue Blooded Snob who based his
claim to distinction on the achieve
ments of his ancestors. This class
did not. believe in the Darwinian
theory but were good illustrations Oft.
1t was not SO much TO young man
what his father had done as what
he could do; not so important where
he came from as where he
was going to. We had
no titled snobs here simply because
the wise men who framed our con-
stitution had made it impossible.
Otherwise there were people who
would introduce the nuisance here.
He scathingly rebuked those
mothers who so wickedly cast their
daughters IN the way of such de-
bauched reprobates as the prince of
Wales, lord Lansdowne, lord Marl-
borough, ETC., that they might waltz
with them, and these men had put
their arms around the prettiest girls
in America, although their mothers
knew that their touch was pollution.
He was very severe on the Anglo
maniac, the dude and dudine, and
those people who aped the manners
and customs of the European no.
biliy.
He inveighed against the caste of
religion, the snobbery of many fash
ionable churches, and the canting
snob who always intruded his religion
and paraded his hypocrisy before the
world. The snob of superior culture
and the illiterate bore came under his
scathing criticism. He held Abra-
ham Lincoln up as an example of a
lordly man, and in conclusion showed
the hard working, law abiding Christ
ian family to be the truly noble OF
the earth.
Crow