The Marion daily mirror. (Marion, Ohio) 1892-1912, 1908-03-21

1t would perhaps be we'll to explain
in the beginning what is meant by
the title of this article and just what
kind of honor is meant. mean that
small personal honor in everyday re-
lations which governs the business
world of men, without which business
could not so on on the same basis
, il now does throughout the countries
of the civilized world.
There is an unwritten code which
prescribes that nan shall keep his
word; that having been told anything
under the seal of confidence his word
shall be permanently binding: that
the property and letters OF another
person are not to be scrutinized with
curious eye. These are some of the
elementary forms OF honor on which
is built an elaborate structure of
thousand niceties of conduct. The list
of things that are not done by a gem
tleman is a long Que; the list OF
things that a mere common or gard
en- variety Of man doesn't do is a
long one, though perhaps not quite
50 subtle in its variations.
happened in the next few days,
TO have occasion to talk with tene-
ment-house commissioner, twink
ling-eyed old lrishman.
"Women's all right" he said, "as
tenement-house inspectors. They do
all they knows. Women don't know
nothing about plumbng--aint natur-
al they should-and sometimes they're
stupid, but all they do see they tell
straight. They don't shut the eye and
shove the ten-dollar bill in their
pockets. No, ma "am, women in
spectors is all right.
gathered not a little similar tes-
tlmony for my own private amuse-
ment concerning women in positions
OF public trust. That they did "all
they knew" and did not shove away
ten-dOllar bills for not performing
their duties was a general testimony.
also happened to have talk with
n conductor on one of the suburban
trains on the subject of women trying
10 beat their fares.
IT'S the men that beats them" he
said. Now and then a womanll try,
but she gets ratified generally. It's the
men that's the cool hands"
i brought the question up long af-
ter with an old judge, kind old man.
who had long years of experience in
the devious ways in which human
nature expresses itself. The talk fell
upon the subject OF women as wit
nesses.
Rarely he said, "have pushed
women into a corner in cross-ques-
tioning as / would a man, because
learned early in my experience that
almost all women would inevitably
perjure themselves.
asked him If this applied to wom-
en- of all classes.
eyes" he replied, "few women
can be trusted TO tell the truth. When
they come on the witness stand they
have something that they want to
prove, something they want to hold
back, or else they want to state more
than the truth.
IL suppose you mean by that that
women haven't a sense of personal
responsibility toward telling the facts
of the case the way the average
man has That women, in fact, have
no exact sense of honor. Still it seems
to me there IS another side OF the
case ."
i told him the story OF the tenement
house inspectors and other things
that have come TO my notice. He
thought 1t over.
81 think" he told me at last, "that
most OF these imperfect women wit
nesses whom / have noticed would be
able to justify themselves perfectly
for their lack of truth-telling. They
would have felt their lies were told
for some exemplary reason. They
felt inside themselves that the ac-
cused was innocent, and they were
willing to lie TO prove he was, or
they felt that the accused was
guilty, that he had wronged some in