The Arkansaw traveler., 1888-09-15
PRIVACY"
New York Evening Post.

writer of the day the art of pointing contrasts between the minor morals of Europe and of the United States, has, in his last book, "The Reverberator, i" undertaken to compare European and American ideas on the subject of pri- vacy-using that term to designate the exemption of private individuals and families from newspaper criticism, comment, or description. In fact the book may be called a study of the American newspaper man," as he is known to American society, that is, the man to whom the most important thing in the world is news, and to whom news is something which, whether true or false. people must have, and to whom the great function of the intellect is to be "newsy," "breezy," chatty, and to whom it's highest achievement is the production of very salable "gossipy letter" or a column of "Stroller's paragraphs"
 He depicts this type in the person of certain FEack, who occupies in Paris the place of correspondent of an American "society journal" known as the Rever6erator, and who is charged with the duty of letting in light on the inner recesses of European society. He makes the acquaintance there of two American girls somewhat of the Daisy Miller kind, who are travelling with their father, 8 wealthy and re- tired speculator, and are attacking the social problems of Europe with the usual aaivete of their class. -Flock seems so very knowing and cultivated both to the fathers and daughters that they unhesitatingly accept his advice in trying to see something of French life. He introduces them to an Amer ican portrait painter, who paints the portrait of the prettiest of the girls, and at the studio they make the &C., quaintance of Gastoa Pro6ert, a charm ing young man, whose father is Gal licized American who has married into an old French family, very proud, very refined, and exceedingly private in it's tastes and traditions. Pro6ert becomes engaged to one of them, who is received into the family with more or less cordiality, and speedily, of course, finds out all about them. Like nearly all families, they have skele- tons in their cioset-things in the family history which they would like to forget and which have been we'll nigh forgotten, and personal traits and peculiarities on which they do not care to dwell. Seeing FZack frequent ly, the girl tells him all this little by little, and to F2dck it is all news of the most ravishing description about the French "exclusives" and old fogies, and well calculated to make the circu- lation of the Rever6erator take great jump.
 Accordingly he manages to work it all into letter apropos of the por- trait, with numerous additions and embellishments of his own, intended to increase its "spiciness." It comes back to the Pro6erts, who read it with indescribable horror, shame, and dis gust, and the scene in which poor liss Francte, the American .taancee, has to face them and confess that it was due to her indiscretion and her acquaint- ance with Fldck-to them an awful blackguard-is very dramatic, and is sketched with great power.
 The story brings out in very strik- ing way the remarkable success the French have had in defending their private life from press part of which is really just as ruffianly and unscrup- ulous as the very worst of our news papers. In one way or another, partly by legislation, partly by strong social traditions, particularly an extreme sensitiveness about family honor and responsibility, they have managed to keep interviewers out of their houses and to prevent family affairs being converted into "copy." In fact, jour- nalistic personalities and exposures are confined almost exclusively to jour- nalists, who are even more merciless to each other than American journal ists when "war" breaks out, and fight probably three fourths of the duels which occur in France. Of these things French society takes little mo- tice. It takes the view, which is not uncommon even in this country, that it is the nature of the journalist to be silly, unscrupulocs, impertinent, or buffoonish, and that as long as he prac- tices his art only on his fellows, who can repay him in kind, nobody need be troubled. Any attempt to subject private affairs to journalistic explora- tion is sternly repressed both by courts and juries. The publication of almost anything about map's private life which he objects to and considers dis agreeable, as long as he is not under accusation before criminal court, is penal offense. It is very rare indeed that French newspaper in publish ing an "item" of disagreeable nature about any body will venture to give more than the initials of the victim. The pursuit of afflicted families for