Corvallis gazette. [volume] (Corvallis, Benton County, Or.) 1900-1909, 1903-04-07
SMITHS OFFENSE.

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Student Smith is made the
subject Of much deserved censure,
for kidnapping Senator Vance's
literary child. 1t is remarkably !
surprising that "a man of mid
die age and for several years a
preacher OF the gospel,' y as is az
serted of Mr.. Smith, could be
guilty of plagiarism and hope to
escape detection. He mt1st have
presumed upon the ignorance OF
his audience and of the judges
selected to decide the merits of
the contestants.
1t is almost beyond belief that
any student having the confidence
of his instructors and fellow stu
dents Mr.. Smith evidently pos
sessed can coolly, deliberately
and purposely commit such
literary crime.- It certainly
evinces as great moral obliquity
as is shown by the, horse-thief.
But seeming plagiarism may
lack the essential elements of the
crime. These are the willful
and intentional appropriation OF
another's language and the fraud
of presenting it as ones own.
Lacking these there can be no
real plagiarism.
Mr. Smith may at some time
have saturated his mind with
Senator Vance's finely worded
lecture. The thought and lam
guage Of the lecture may have
been so strikingly beautiful and
expressive to the student that he
permitted memory to store them
away, and then himself became
unconscious of the fact. Mem
ory held them in a sort of mental
cold storage. When Mr.. Smith
began to compose his oration the
mental heat evolved set free this
material in cold storage and he
used it unconscious that it was
the property of another.
Writers who have a limited vo-
cabulary of their own are prone
to draw on that of another.
Students in none of our schools
are sufficiently drilled in variety
nf expression by using different
words rather than different ar
rangement. The poverty of the
English language in perfect syn
onyms requires that a writer shall
have a large vocabulary. When
this is acquired it will be found
that the English language fur
nishes as various, expressive and
attractive habiliments for human
thought as any other language.
A writer may then take gem OF
thought from another and giving
it new luster in expression, pre-
sent it as his own work. 1t is this
power ofexpression which defends
Shakspere from plagiarism. Il
he appropriates the gems .oi
others he recuts and resets them
SO skillfu1ly and beautifully that
the world acknowledges his pro-
rrietary right.
If students would pay less at.
tention to what others have
thought on given subject until
they first have exhausted and re-
corded their own thought, they
would more easily acquire the
habit both of original thought
and expression. He who be-
1ieves that no new thought can
be found, and no old thought be
given new expression either
thinks he knows it all or is in.
capable of accurate and profound
thought. "There is room at the
top" said Webster to the young
lawyer. So in the domain OF
thought and expression there is
room at the top. This eminence
cannot be reached by fraud and
deception nor by servile imita-
tion. "Sail far, soar high if you
can, but sail under your own flag,
soar with your own WINGS" was
the rebuke we once heard admin.
istered to a thoughtless, lazy stu
dent.
Carelessress neither explain:
nor defends plagiarism. It may
be explained and excused as ar
unconscious mental phenomenon
but it is more likely to. be will
full theft. sv4