The Salt Lake herald. [volume] (Salt Lake City [Utah]) 1870-1909, 1904-04-03
COMMUNICATED.
THE DOUBLE sTANDARD.


few. or from tho voice Of public opinion /
appears to be always the court OF last I
appeal for the deciding Of what amount |
or Righteousness or s;nfulness may be 1
selected IN our actions and thoughts. IL |
Is the infallfble judge. and the mortal
must conform 10 the standard ii has
drawn UP or he will lose prestige, social /
" or otherwise. as soon as he undertakes
10 act or speak according TO the prompt |
ings OF his own reasonings.
Customs gradually change, but must al |
ways run the gantlet Of fashionable |
opinion before they can successfully be
releEateo 10 the chi0rOfOrmed atmosphere
Of the has-beeris. Society stands in the
Way OF the progress Of the new. Tor u
Is naturally conservative and is inclined !
70 have eyes only for the charms of the
old. The newly born must be actually
thrust upon its notice. no matter how
efloctually il may have demonstrated its
worth Old customs die hard. and we
are always inclined to judge Of the why
and wherefore Of a present day innova-
ton by a standard that has long ago
lost its value as the criterion or truth
and goodness. Stephenson's locomotive
was condemned as being no good. for
cows wandering on the railroad track
would be Killed and how could the in
Nentlon prove beneficial in the face OF
such a Disaster Marconi was freely
placarded crank and dreamer. for the
general public could not imagine how he
was going TO carry messages across the
Stouus WITHOUT the strlnsstnS OF wires.
some OF the French scientists imagined
they were being made the victims of a
fakir, OF a ventriloqusst. when they first
heard Edison's photograph, for how
could such a combination OF matter as
that TALK How could IL have a mem
I ory2 Spencer has his host Of opponents.
Thoughts are sifted through the sleeves
CT LEGISLATION. or fashion. and are mould
ed into laws that must conform to pres
ent day Ideas. or customs. The new, at
It's inception. is necessarily confined TO
the mind OF him who generates IL for a
period Of time. II thrlves by making con-
Yerts. it demonstrates its invincibility.
and when society no longer can blindfold
Itself to its merits ii tardily gives II a
trial; II is forced upon it. Mr. Goshen
has said there are two standards" by
which men and women are judged. One
for the woman; one for the man. What
upheavai of thought in the field Of right
and wrong has caused this change? Mod
ern thought has voiced the truth that
woman is mans equal. and so has drawn
attention TO the fact that there is wrong
being done somewhere. The one time
universal idea that woman was shOddy
Idly cooperating, but still has influence
in our legislative halls. a new fact dis
covered knocks an old notion in the head:
just 50, but even after the find. the old
notion seems to have a cinch on resur-
rectton, for he still persists in parading
his bandaged skull. Custom is hard to
down.
Society may make such ironclad laws
that the Identity of the individual may
be lost. He is not himself. he Is dis
guised; and, knowing it, his heart re-
speaks so the world may not find reason
for ostracizing him, although his convie-
tons carry him elsewhere. He is not
true to himself; he is bound to the char
lot wheels of another's opinion In bust
ness he is ever fearful of offending. by
even the recital of truth. a. particular
section of his customers, and so works
70 win their favor though his heart re-
bells at the course he is pursuing. In
politics, 10 become the successful candi-
date he lies awake nights trying to recon
sue him everywhere; even when he calls
upon his friend at his home he plants
his foot. his hat as etiquette demands he
must. One standard is drawn up by his
own reason; the other, and it is his chief
/ controller, comes from the factory OF
other men. He sacrifices self upon the
altar of custom, OF prevalent opinion.
| He prides himself upon his freedom. and
yet. to a great extent. he is intellectually
submerged under the heel OF society. Vol
untary servitude means voluntary renun-
citation of the chief privilege of human
reason; the privilege Of self-control. A
nan, il his inclinations are not criminal,
cannot go far astray if he follows the
bend Of his own mind. COnventionality
makes man a coward, for he must jump
out Of himself in order to come under
the influence OF An outside power. We
are free to the extent that we follow the
banners of our own reason; we are moral
/ lepers as soon as we surrender self, opin-
ions ana all TO the guidance of others A
slave TO fashion, you must thrust the
red-hot iron OF inferiority deep into the
forehead of your own individuality. A
double standard. What brand Of NOR
alit-2
POlonius says to Laertus: This, above
all: to thine own self be true"
Where is the Institution, the man. that
| is really not afraid Of criticism. who is
aware that his thoughts are unwelcome.
and yet cares not Find such a man and
! you find one who IS giving ear to Po-
1 lonius- The man not afraid of criticism
must be one Of natures noblemen?
Victor Jacquemont tells story that
/ goes a long way to show what custom
will do for a people. A Hindoo village
was almost depopulated by a famine
caused by the depredatiOnS OF sacred
monkeys that made constant raids on the
I fields and gardens of the superstitious
peasants. who would rather see their
4 children starve to death than lift a. hand
I against the long-tailed saints. At last
/ the British stakeholder saw way to
relieve their distress. He called a meet
/ ing OF their sirdars and offered them free
/ transportation to a mOnkeyless island of
/ the Malay archipelago. Learning that
the land Of the proposed colony was fer
! tile and thinly settled the survivors ac-
| cepted the proposal with tears of graft
/ tude; but when the band of gaunt refu-
gees embarked at the mouth of the
HOoglyn, the stockholders agent was
! gTieved to learn that their cargo OF
/ household goods included a large cageful
/ OF sacred monkeys. They are beyond
/ human help SAYS the official rnem0ran-
/ DUN and their children can be re-
/ deemed only by curing them of the SUI
| persution that has ruined their monkey
/ ridden ancestors
.'Yen get the best of moral books
/ ManS black Gentoos and pagan Turks,
1 Or hunters wild on Ponotaxi
! Wha never heard of orthodoxy"
| says Burns. and it may give the cause
/ Of the Double Standard
y JOSEPH ROGERS.
/ - East First South