The Leon reporter. (Leon, Iowa) 1887-1930, 1914-01-22
Moral Issue Forced to Front by
Tango.

even TO ueSCTuCClOn. Leu any IHlu5
become the fad, the craze Of the day,
and the multitude will adopt tor
| come as near to it as they can
without stopping to think what the
consequences may be or what an alb
surd spectacle they are making OF
themselves. Philosophers have tried
to convince us that man is different
from the animals in that he shapes
his actions by his reasoning powers,
but they have neglected to take into
account the Overpowering psychologl-
cal influence of example. If human
beings are not near relations to the
monkey tribe, at least they give good
ground for the suspicion, By the sim
ian character they display in mimick-
ing whatever they see. 1t matters
not how absurd or how immoral or
immoral new vogue may be, 1t cap
lures the race just the same and you
behold the whole world going
through the same antics-whether 1t
is hopping, or sliding, or wearing
certain form of ticker, or exposing
some special portion of the anatomy,
or what not. Educators, ministers
and reformers must not ignore or
| discount this simian weakness in hui
manity, for with most of us 1t is
the dominant trait. 1t yields neith-
er to reason not to anything else,
and when a fad once gets hold of the
public it seems that there is little to
do but let it run it's course and do
it's worst. There is no question that
these new dances are dangerously
fascinating; if they were not so we
should not see the people of two
hemispheres dipping and bowling to
their sway. If you don't want to
catch the germ you must keep abso-
lutely away, for none are immune.
The mother of Achilles thought she
had made him proof against all dan
gers by dipping him in the river
Styx, but she forgot that the water
did not touch his heel which was
covered by her hand, and this vul-
nerable heel later became his undo
ing. And so it is, apparently, with
the human race as whole, for sure
ly when the dance microbe once gets
Judgement on persons heels he
might as we'll give up and dance. In
many places the tango craze has as
sumed such serious proportions that
it has eclipsed anything else, and it
keeps on spreading in spite Of earn
est efforts to curb it, In every city
and town anyone who can teach the
tango is in great demand and pupils
pay big prices and beg for a chance
to be instructed in the steps and
movements. The waltz and two-step
are now as obsolete as the old quad
rifle, lancers or Virginia-reel, and
anyone who doesn't dance the up-to-
date dances finds himself stranger
in a strange land. The tango is mere
ly one dance among many which go
to make up the type dance OF the
day. Some of the others have such
names as these: The Boston, the
grizzly bear. the luncheon lurch, the
tennis tango, the futurist tWirl. the
banana peel glide, the turtle dove,
the grape juice wallow, the seasick,
the double Boston, the Boston dip,
the panier waltz, the kitchen sink.
debutante dip, the tango dip, the
bunny hug. the Frisco rag, Frisco
glide. the one-step, the grape vine,
the Texas Tommy, the aeroplane dip,
the Brazilian make or machichl,
the fish walk, the tiger, the Cucia.
the tango dream, the hitchy-koo, the
hesitation waltz, the boll-weevil wig
gle. the diaphanous dip, etc. Jean
Richepin, a member of the French
Academy and one of the foremost of
literary Frenchmen, has even writ
ten a new play called The Tango"
and President Poincare hOnored the
first performance with his presence.
NJ. Richepin has come to the defense
of the tango. Its origin was lowly,
but it should not be despised on that
account, he says, and he reminds us
that most of the dances of the ball
room have originated in common
| folk-dances He recently read be-
fore the Academy an elaborate essay
in which he traced the descent Of the
tango from the religious dances Of
Egypt and Greece. No doubt such
dances did have much of their early
inspiration in the religious spirit
but like many other popular prac-
tees they have lost their original
| significance and have become mere
~ pleasure-giving indulgences. more
or less demoralizing The London
Times in an article says that the vul-
garity of the tango as at first danced
has been eliminated and that while
the present dance was suggested by
the South American tango, it has
| Deen thoroughly IcCOuoIA uCtSu "
suit the usages Of polite society. New
ertheless as generally danced it is
offensive to the sense of propriety OF
people who give much thought to
the moral effect of personal conduct.
Emperor William of Germany is not
a very straight-laced moralist but he
has forbidden the German army and
navy officers to dance these new
dances, as he considers them a dis
grace to the uniform and bad ex-
ample to the public. Church author
tiles generally, and the Catholic ones
| in particular, have taken a stand
against these dances. Cardinal Am
cite the Catholic archbishop of Paris
has just issued the following ad-
monition: We condemn the dance
imported from abroad known under
the name of the tango, which, by it's
nature, is indecent and offensive to
morals, and Christians may not in
conscience take part therein. 1t will,
therefore, be the duty of confessors
to take notice of this in the admins
tration of the sacrament of pen
voroo Tho cardinal pOoa on 70