The Calumet news. [volume] (Calumet, Mich.) 1907-1938, 1912-04-17
MANNERS IN THE
PUBLIC SCHOOLS
oLiVET COLLEGE PRoFEss o r
SAYS A COURSE WOULD BE
AS VALUABLE AS ONE
IN ENGLISH.

49,
Olivet, Mich, April III earnestly
believe that IL is Desirable and possi-
BILE TO have a school course in man
ners. and give il the Same dignity az
a course In English" said Or. III. ~.
Miller, of the sociology department OF
Olivet college in Il lecture on Man
ners" before one of his sociology
classes.
DR. Miller Is the most radical thinker
ia the Olivet faculty in sociological
matters and his statements on MAN
ners is the result OF long study and
observation. lie says further
For both the individual and socie
| Is TO be maintained it is necessary
to harnIonize the two without dinin-
| ishing the vigor of either. out % this
situation arises many of our customs
and most of our manners. 1t IS for
this reason that a course i'm manners
would be fully as valuable as one In
| English.
Language is purely social insti-
I
we have Of expressing ideas which
come In social relations. Our man
ners are for the purpose of expressing
ourselves also Many of our man
uers are directly based on custom.
Thus it is good form for a man to
walk with u lady on the side away
! from the street. This was a custom
of the chivalrous age when the street
contained dangers from which tn,
man should furnish protection. a man
should not walk between two women
for the same reason. Such forms have
outlived their cause. but are of valve.
in maintaining In men the feeling OF
responsibility to protect women"
| Speaking Of the double standard o.;
morals which is receiving so much
attention ut the present time from
writer's, DR.. Miller said:
THE apparently Illogical double
standard If morals has an element Of
nationality i'm IT. The woman or moth
or is the real conserVer of the family
unit. and whatever nay become Of the
father. the children will be safely rear
Ell Ii the mother remains in proper
harmony with the group.
Women have been the foremost
promoters of this double standard be-
cause since they are nearer the re-
sponsibfIity for the integrity of the
group, they are the most intense con-
servers of custom. They are the bit
terest and most uncompromisirg crit
les OF an immoral sIstpr. thoush tht
! immortality may be f,tr less than that
of her brother The double STANDARD
OF morals has really come abou'
through the superiority Of man and IT,
moral .rferiority of women.
I'VE object to smoking by womel.
not because it is wrong. but boCaus,
| il breaks down one of the safeguards
of sex integrity on which the rae,
depends. From the point of view %;
logic there is no more reason VIII,
women should not smoke than wins
men should not but all of us feel al.
instructive dislike OF the practice
Or. Miller suggested and empha-
sized the question of dress in relation
to present social rccullarities. In part
he said:
| wv hcnever we arc IN q social sit
uation we wear our good clothes, MOI
To show that We have them, but L
show that we ale. while IN this sUcia
situation. free. Then we have gon'
10 the further extreme of making OF
clothes grade up according to best
ness in terms of impracticabilily TO
any other sort Of activity. This /:
! carried to the extreme I'm women;
dress. and yet it is good manners foi
her tn wear such dress to demon
strate her freedom
Manners. said Dr. Miller, shoulC
express our personality. Just as ba,
English may not indicate bad thinking
so rudeness may not mean that the in
dividual is unSociai, but rudeness be
longs in the same class as bad gram
mar
The relation which customs an
manners bear TO society Is that they
keep man from forgetting that he is
It member of "a group and thus do nol
allow him To revert to his pure in
dividualism. The leading customs
which have a moral value today are
monogamy. anti-slavery and democra-
cy. Progress is watchword whici
we shout but do not understand
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