The Brattleboro reformer. (Brattleboro, Vt.) 1907-1912, 1908-11-27
The MeddLer
IN The eoai fiis yos. put 10 on.

Times 81 stress like those through
which this town has been Flooding for
the past three weeks are what reveal
people in their true colons. II Is easy
enough 10 assume the cloak of un-clhsh-
ness when DOMINIC II requires little or no
/ sslf-sacriiicc. There il nothing remark.
| ably vir,uous about being generous when
prosperity is our portion; II isn't worthy
/ OF special comment that we are not stub.
born when things are going our way. IL
| is when fate seems unkihd and circum-
stances appear TO he conspiring TO harm
Us that unseltshness, generosity and sell.
/ denial are real virtues. Civic loyalty and
public spirit are made up largely OF these
qualities. The man who is glad TO boom
his town when prosperity smiles yet will.
Ing 10 deceive when danger irowns Will
never in the last analysis be due the title
Of good citizen. This bit OF philosophy,
II il may IL honored by that name. Is the
result OF bordering over the attitude of
some people toward the course the news
papers have seen III to take In handling
the smallpox outbreak.
That the course Of events in Brattle.
boro Of late has been extremely harmful
to business interests is fact that can.
not be evaded. Coming as IT does at the
beginning OF the holiday season the situa.
tion Is particularly unfortunate. Yet can
it be truthiully said that the newspapers
are in any way 20 blame! Is 1t fair 10
hold them responsible for the temporary
business depression because they have
told the truth about situation which
needed truth to rob II OF its dangers! A
man with box OF dynamite in his front
yard might allay fear on the part of his
neighbors by labelling the explosive saw
dust, but he wouldn't be in line for any |
laurel wreaths il some unsuspecting |
friend stumbled over the stuff and was
blown to smithereens. The illustration /
holds good in the case Of the newspapers .
and their handling OF the local smallpox
scare. When the disease first appeared
they might have ignored their true voca.
ton and circulated stories OF doubt and
skepticism; they might have scoffed at
the statements Of local physicians and ig'
nored the assertions OF imported experts.
This course undoubtedly would have
helped business temporarily, but it would
have been followed by an explosion OF
public opinion that would have done in
ralculable damage.
That the newspapers chose the other
course doesn't entitle them to any medals
IF heroism. They would forever have lost
heir prestige and the confidence of their
subscribers had they failed to tell the
ruth at a time when truth was needed
more than anything else. As it is, there ,
$ no reason TO expect that the public .
will not be as ready to believe the reas- i
uring developments as 1t was TO believe :
he more apprehensive facts of two weeks t
go. And the recent developments are re- /
hey indicate beyond question that by i
acing the situation squarely the local /
ealth authorities have succeeded in get :
ing an under-hold This advantage could |
ot have been gained if the public had y
zen led to believe there was no cause n
or apprehension; the public could have v
zen led to believe this if the newspapers
ad not done their duty.
When we stop to consider how readily '
zeal people believe all they hear about r
Inside newspaper exaggeration 1t Is not q
uprising that folks in other towns have q
cad the truth through eyes distorted by Il
Misguided fear. People have solemnly as q
,rted that this paper or that paper con- h
lined a despatch that there weren't i,
rough well people LETT in Brattleboro to =,
llry the dead, yet no one has yet pro-
uced the iniqutous sheet Stories have
cen circulated to the effect that railroad
atoms of the surrounding towns were
acarded with signs warning people away
ON our infected burg, but the man who
Is actually seen one of these warnings
IS yet to make his appearance. Our
,ighbors perhaps are unduly frightened
,out our predicament but there is no
ason for thinking they are so panic
ricken as rumor tries to make out.
fled down to facts, all the exaggeration
outside newspapers consists of one or ,
70 sensational headlines, unfortunate
it nothing for which any local person is
blame.
Getting back to our initial statement, /
ere is nothing which will so help us to
aw the present situation honestly as =
eral endowment of unselfshness, gen
osity and lf-denial-qualties which
ter largely into the making of good
izenship. It is unfortunate I'M
rtunate perhaps for some than for 9th
;-that smallpox should have made its
pearance in Brattleboro, but it's not
E fault of the newspapers or the doctors
the druggists or the weather or the
mate It's due to a vicious little bug
lose identity even scientists have not
fnitely established but whose vitality
fact succumhinp for want Of something