The Norfolk weekly news-journal. (Norfolk, Neb.) 1900-19??, 1908-01-03

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every other little town in the country
today, pity though It be, bigger ones
as well.
But Merriam, Johnson county, Kan
sas, has now come forth with a new
example to the rest of the world
And the rest of the world may very
probably watch the progress of the
new rule, as well as to make an effort
to follow suit.
There is too much gossip In the
small village and too much In the
larger places. There is too much COS.
sip in Norfolk and there is too much
of 1t in Omaha and in Chicago. But
it's disgusting and disgrace practice,
for all that.
AS a general thing you will find
that the person who devotes the most
time and tongue-wagging to other peo-
pies business is neither very success
full in his own ventures nor of broad
and generous mind. 1t is generally
the ignorant mind, the mind that has
no taste for good wholesome litera-
ture, the mind that prefers to con.
tract rather than expand, which is
given over to the dishing out of sland-
err and malicious stories about other
people.
And more and more society is com.
ing to look with contempt upon the
person who permits himself to spread
about vicious tales concerning other
people.
The person who delights in the
scandal-monger business is coming to
be more-and ought to be-shunned
as leper or any other unclean and
undesirable citizen.
Merriam, Kansas, has discovered
at last that there is so much good
in the worst Of us and so much bad
in the best of us that 1t little behooves
any of us TO talk about the rest of
u.s." And Merriam, Kan, is already
a different town. 1t has purged itself
of cancer which, If allowed to go I'M
checked, will ruin the peace and hap
piness of any community.
There is truly enough of fault in
all men that it is with little grace that
any individual assumes to censure
and criticize his fellows. For a
general thing, If it is but noticed, the
person who is the most prolific in
gossip of other folk, is really the most
ing. For big, liberal, growing men
and women are too busy tending to
their own business, and too charitable,
withal, to be constantly knocking their
neighbors.
A Kansas City paper thought that
Merriam was unique to justify send
ing a special man down to the place
to write it up. And some of the ex-
pressions that he got are really worth
reproducing. From the report this is
taken:
1t all started when Mr.. Stages de-
clared that there was too much talk
ing behind peoples backs" in Mer-
riam.
"One of the things I've always told
my boy" Mr.. Stages said as he smash
ed the cheese counter with his right
fist, was that the best things he
he could do was to spend half his
time minding his own business and
the other half letting other peoples
-, oil i'll L..
a mighty good idea to adopt that plan
for general rule here in Merriam"
Merriam caught the idea in a mo-
ment and catch an idea in Merriam
is to put it into practice. The town
was just recovering it's normal equan-
unity from the unaccustomed upheaval
of local scandal 1t wasn't serious
scandal. No one had done anything
particularly reprehensible but there
had been talk-too much talk-Mer.
iamites say, and they determined that
the talk should stop.
There wasn't any public meeting
where the town orators could air their
views. 1t must be remembered that
Merriam's plan was to stop talking.
The citizens just passed the word
about quietly that the new law was
in effect.
Merriam was just like all small
towns" James Campbell, keeper of
the general store said yesterday.
There were gossips here. They ex-
changed ideas about everyone. They
didn't tell any specially bad tales but
their tongues were too long and we
thought they ought to be chopped a
little.
mo it wasn't any women's club pro,
position-not at all. We have nothing
of the kind in Merriam not even a
sewing society of a Woman's Christian
temperance union. But there were
some women-not many, but few
who talked over the back fence while
they were hanging out the clothes.
They compared notes when they met
down in the stores and whispered to-