Deseret evening news. [volume] (Great Salt Lake City [Utah]) 1867-1920, 1899-10-19


One Of the most extraordinary traits
OF human character IL the readiness
80 believe cyii reports Of fellow. bcinrH.
II sccms TO come naturally Somebody
makes malicious insinuntlon.
II h soon taken w. talked about and
ENLARGED. until Il spreads aH a story
81 authenticated truth. There may
have been mo- other basis Tor the story
than the malicious Intent VI lts ORIG
inator. but that is seldom thoroughly
Investigated When evil acts and
thoughts and worda are ancrIhod TO
neishhors rumof ia taken Tor authority
ana inutndo for fact
II was the knowledge Of this peculiar
proncneaa ~ human nature 10 believe
evil reports. that 10 years past enabled
prosecutors 20 make martyrs for science
and Tor religion. with tho endorsement
of public sentiment " L. taken advau-
tuFe Of today BY interruptions plottera
for power and Influence, 10 insure sue
cess Tor their schemes.
An illustration of The Ecncral princi-
pie here noted II the curious ideas
Americans entertain of Germans, and
vice versa. Professor Munatcrborg in
the Atlantic Monthly draws with mas.
ter hand the caricaturo pictures each
nation has accepted a. a portrait Of the
othsr.
To German imagination an American
IL hngrnrt creature with vulgar
tastea and brutal manners. who drinks
WHISKY splits. lights. ruahes along in
wild haste. absorbed only by "a greedy
deslr- for thg dollars u hla neiEhbora.
Corrupt nom top TO toe. he buys leg
islhtura and governments. and for fun
he iynchrs negroes. Ills homo o sky
scraper. and his business founded on
misleading Advertisements while his
newspapers are filled with tales Of MUIR
der. and his churches are Hwarmlng
with hypooritca.
To the American. on the other hand,
the German 10 pictured as o. rnuettraut
eater, stability dressed, necessarily
smoking big pipe aud never taking a
bath. His ambition Il thought to be to
nm blanks with bureaucratic rrd tape.
and to get a title In front Of his name.
lie Il supposed 10 live contentcd without
constitution. under nn absolute auto
orat-a monarch whose chief aim IL to
annoy In every possible way his patient
subjects.
II d. OF course. not alleged that every
German and every American has these
ridiculous notions but. generally speak
Ing. they prevail. ~ u result Of prciu-
dlcoa. Misrepresentation, lack N
knowledge. and, above All. because Il
seems TO be natural to believe that
which IL base.
There IL a wen established law Of the
mind. that we see In our surroundings
10 large extent what Is In ourselves,
or what we expect TO see. To the soul
hiied with peace and 10y. the world
ana all that 10 In Il viii look brlEht,
sunny and cheerful The gloom within
the morbid win dim the beauty Of the
rose and make prominent the thorns.
The humorist will md the funny side
even Of a funeral The philosopher or
poet will hear a sermon In the muir
mura OF the waves. or the whiaporings
OF the shells on the beach In the same
way tho Immoral. tho slandercr. tho
hypocrito viii see around him nothing
but evil, while the noble minded Will
discover something good. even In the
outcaat. In more than one sense Of
the word, ito the pure all things are
pure"
This psychological law sufficiently ao-
counts Tor tho fact that preiudlcca play
such part In tho formation Of opin-
Ions whether OF individuals. " com-
munltles or OF nations. II ex-
plains how In the early ages
enlightened Romans could be
made to believe that one Christian rlte
consisted OF canniballam. ana another
Of immoral conduct II explains how
TO this day, handful OF consplrators
may for a time turn the tide Of public
opinion against a worthy community
II 10 passing, however Falsehood ~
not permanent A the clouds that
come ana 80, Il may throw a shadow
Tor a time upon an otherwise bright
landscape, but above the clouds the
Hight rclgna, That Is eternal