The Guthrie daily leader. [volume] (Guthrie, Okla.) 1893-1996, 1906-05-08

Mayor Hawkins. Of New Richmond, Wisconsin.
has announced to the 900 nhabltsnts OF his baili-
has announced to the 1000 inhabitants OF his ball
gick that there WIN be no more pfofane swearing
tolerated in that town. In al cases OF wllui or In
cxcusable profanity he VIII enforce law which has
been lying dormant for many years and fine the o.
tenders 500 EACH The alternative being thirty days
In Jail If the New Richmondites wish to cuss they
mast slins away northward to the humber camps.
whore they viii shock nothing but the virgin forest.
The mayor opens way for the qubbling lawyers
AZ the very beginning What Is rinexcusable' pro-
fanity7 Some would tell us thatg gu profanity is In
excusable: but Mayor Hawkins must recognize an
excusable variety or an excusable degree, else he
would not have used the qualifying adjective when
your collar button rolls down rat hole behind the
bureau your last collar button and you have only
seven minutes to finish dressing and catch the car
down town, how much, il any profanity is excusa-
blc7
Il Is a wonder to us that the practice Of using
profanity ever took root in America. The early,
cosoniss so Thoroughly disapproved OF It that they
thought up some Of the most excruciating tortures
as punishment The old Virginia law provided that
for a first onense the user Of profanity should be
fined, for the second should have his tongue pierced
with bodldn, and for the third should suffer death.
History has little record Of the manner OF enforcing
this law but it Is not likely that many OF the habual
pcfEeNcreQ
the second ohense Some OF the old Spanish col
onies decreed that the tongue should be cut out,
should safer hundred stripes and should give up a
part Of his property to the crown. In New England
4 favorite scheme was to expose the swearer in
public place with a split stick on his tongue II the
splt stick inspired still profanity Cand we have
sneang idea that 1t might the laws provided that
a rel-hot iron should be thrust through the unruly
member. And II after that pleasant little experience
he st persisted he was made TO wear conspicuous
capital B" sewed upon his garments that all men
might know him for a blasphemer, and shun him.
The remarkable thing is, that with all these tor
lures lying in wait for the swearers the art Of
ing should not have been forgotton and profanity be-
come dead language Did the criminals hold Sec
ret meetings in the shades Of midnight forest,
and there thrilled by delicious sense OF risk and
crime perfect themselves In the use Of ouss words,
In order that swearing might be handed down to
posterity2
AS mater Of fact, some of the most picturesque,
fubodied shocking oaths are handed
down to us from those severe old times. Such
saryiya is only to be explained on the ground that
the more a man was tortured for swearing the more
profane he became Or perhaps there was period
when profanity was almost stamped out on land by
the rigorous practices OF the coloniss and the tradi
lions maintained on the high seas well ont OF sight
Of land, the only place where it safe to swear.
II So IL would seem that profanity was driven into
the keeping Of those wetftted to preserve It, and
even add TO It. There is nothing 50 comprehensive
so shocking as long scaly lissome saltwater oath,
that cilngs about and hugs the object Of its ire like
sea serpent
To get back to Wisconsin and modern times, the
mayor Of New Richmond Is certainly making most
commendabc stand for morality Perhaps It will be
an enectual one in New Richmond And II it is the
habit OF not swearing may spread all the coun
try Who can tellg Great reforms have started
from lesser germs than this Tis a consummation
deyoutly to be wished The practice of profanity
should be universally damned BY the enlightened
bstter thought Of all communities
--oOo-