The mirror. (Stillwater, Minn.) 1894-1925, 1901-04-25
A Protest.

| F YOU were to meet man clothed
in filthy rags, with bloated face
and uneven gait, whose breath
was foul with the fumes of alcohol
and stale tobacco, and whose general
appearance showed that he had been a
stranger to soap and water for many
| days If not weeks; l say, if you should
meet such one and he should attempt
| to address you, you would almost De
sure to turn away in disgust, or if you
did stop to listen and heard words of
| priceless wisdom, they would have
little, if any effect. The incongruity
between the mans appearance and his
words would nullify their effect. If
| on the other hand you met man whose
! cOuntenance had not been changed into
that of a beast, who was cleanly and de-
Gently clad, whose bearing showed that
dignity which always accompanies
self-respect, if you met such one and
he should attempt to address you, his
words would be listened to with at
tention and respect
1t is so with thoughts or ideas;
clothed in proper terms and in that
calm and dignifed tone which should
De more apparent in the written than
the spoken thought, they are received
in kindly manner and are more or
less effective But clothed in the garb
of the bowery slums or in the worst
type of Billingsgate, we turn from them
in disgust, or should we delve through
the strata of unclean matter to find
the ideas themselves, they are of little
effect when found. The feeling of
loathing, caused by the terms in which
they are expressed, destroys their effect
or produces just an opposite one from
that desired.
In the Issue of THE PRISON MIRROR
under date of April II, 1901, there ap-
peared an article entitled "koast." Now
while we may commend some of the
sentiments expressed therein, we must
condemn unequivocally Its tone and
language and deplOre it's appearance in
our paper. 1t appears to ne that
man must have fallen inconceivably
low if that roast did not "slide off like
water from ducks back" And after
writing his pitiful effusion, "Philoso-
pher" need not have told us that he had
spent years of intimacy with, what he
styles "yellow pups" etc. Again his
information that his roast was a
'tirade" was superfuous. The gray
matter in mans brain would have to
be below the sawdust variety if these
facts were not patent. Now 1 do not
want this to be taken as a defense of
the "kicker," for it is not meant as
such, nor of any of the other classes
mentioned by our philos opher. While
the "kicker" is to be deplored, to my
mind a legitimate protest is preferable
to fawning, cringing servility, or even
to philosophy, when the writer tells so
plainly as this gentleman does, the
purpose of his philosophy.
Now word to Philosopher: Will
he calmly and unbiasedly read his
article considering it as the production
of some other persons pen, and then
from the article, draw picture of the
mental and moral condition of the
writer. That article. emanating from
the inner man, pictures the writer as he
really is. And what a picture of him.
self, for any man to parade
before the public. 1t often happens
that in holding up the shortcomings OF
others, we uncOnsciously lay ourselves
open to censure. 1t may be so in my
case, but even if so, I should still feel
it incumbent on me to enter this
protest. MIC-MAC.