Oxford eagle. (Oxford, Lafayette Co., Miss.) 1876-current, 1902-10-09
INDIVIDUAL
BiLITY.


There are few civilized speci-
mems OF humanity who n sane,
and possessed Of ordinary reason.
who do not desire to appear to
advantage before strangers, how
ever careless they may be about
the opinion OF those composing
their home circle. A man or
woman may be a chronic scold or
fault-finder in tie bosom of their
families. but sweet as honey be.
fore chance acquaintance or
strangers, all because they ale
obeying the natural tendency to
.'put the best foot foremost 1t
is true the hidden foot may be a
cloven foot, but SO long AS 1t is
not seen, the uninitiated pass
judgment from positive evidence.
hen too, it is self-evldent that if
we kept the best foot hidden, and
the clOven member constantly on
parade, our list of friends and
admirers would not only grow
beautifully less, as the clouds roll
by, but we would 'ere long be-
come friendless.
So, in a town; if each man and
woman In it, considered it their
sacred and pressing duty to keep
on constant exhibition, the faults,
failiLgs and short comings of eve.
ry other mar and woman, we
might well ask how long it would
take for such a community to be-
come ''finishedn in every sense OF
the word? No stranger or out
slider would willingly seek such a
community as an abiding place,
and in time the old fossils wonld
exhaust their spleen and roper
toire of other peoples wicked.
ness and join their predecessors
in a place better adapted to their
tastes and talents for seeing only
the worst side of human nature.
The truth is, every evil i'll ex-
istence must have a cause, and
the cause can almost invariably
be traced TO the individual. Ii
careful investigation was made
it would be found that the most
energetic in crying down his
town, and d%enOunciug his neigh.
boris shortcomings, is the one
who has most signally failed in
the discharge of individual duty
For instance. Mr.. A, in n OF
our growing towns, raises a howl
about saloons being permitted III
the community. Boys will be
ruined, mothers and wives made
miserable, and the town degene
rate morally,
All this is unquesti0nably true,
as is also the fact, that Mr.. A. and
many others like him, have been
professional duty shirkers fol
years. Away back yonder, when
they didn't have any boys of their
own to be lead to destruction by
the saloon, they were placidly
silent regarding the liquor ques'
ton, and even INDUCED freely
themselves, sub rosa, because
they felt strong enough to call a
halt when danger threatened. So
long as Mr.. A. and his counter
parts did not suffer from public
menaces to health and morals
aud were not repr0ached for fail
ing to bear their share Of the pub
lie burdens. they were conveui
emily blind to growing evils, bul
when danger threatens them OF
theirs, they come out boldly and
shovel the blame and response
bility on somebody else.
70 a greater or less extent, the
public veal or woe is everybod.'s
business, and The duty of being
what we would seem, incumbent
upon every member of society,
If inclined to find fault with your
home town, and fellow citizens
for failure in duty, look first to
your own record and see that
you are above reproach. Then
shoulder your share of public and
private responsibility, before de
ploring the short comings of 9th
erS.