Daily capital journal. (Salem, Oregon) 1903-1919, 1917-01-16
THE CIVILIZING LIE

Someone has said that "a lie is the defense of the
weak" This may be true in cases. but there are
good many lies that not told by the weak or in de-
fense of anything Some other wise old guy who evident
y spoke from experience laid it down axiom that
@chldren and fools tell the TRUTH 1t would from
this that the natural instinct Of human family is to
speak the truth This may well be doubted Children are
perhaps not naturally just liars but they are Omancers
AS their minds develop and take in the great mystery OF
the world they have visions that makes them just little
novelists Their busy little brains get to working with
the steering dder not in working order and they have
adventures real to hem yet still happening only within
their own little brain cells So that the natural instinct
while not being to lie to invade the field OF dreams and
visions 1t is the realm of untruth that most delightful
Civilization is the father Of lies however much that
credit may be given to another nameless gentleman
True most Of the lies made apparently necessity by
social relations Of the innocent and harmless KIND
but the world would become unnhabtabe if all OF us told
the truth all the time Mrs A. for instance calls on
Mrs. B. AS the latter sees her coming she probably re-
marks: ooh dear, there comes Mrs. B. just when am
getting ready to go down town, and just know she Will
stay for hours and spoil my afternoon. This is what
she tells herself What she says to Mrs B. is different
She is $50 glad she came take off your wraps and spend
the afternoon was just thinking of you and wishing
you would come and now have my wish" 1t is lie OF
course but what could the poor woman do! Ii she sad
to her what she said to herself there would be breaking
off of speaking when they passed by and the result would
be if every spoke the truth that there would be no one
speaking to each other The whole world would be at
each others hroas if half of it spoke the truth on such
occasions.
The man who to please his wife goes out to spend the
evening when he had arranged for something else, and
who for instance has shoe and corn that are not work
ing in harmony after several hours spent in suffering
the tortures of the damned smiles like gentleman as ne
tells his hostess what delightful evening he has had and
lies like hero What else can poor man DO? Without
the polite lie cheeruly told the world would be in state
Of chaos society would cease to exist and mans or
womans most bitterest enemies would be those with
whom he she most often in contact Wherefore
it is conceded that t is better to lie little than to be
unhappy much
If YOU don't believe it start down town some morning
with the determination to tell the truth and ne whole
rub on every occasion during the day. 1t IS safe bet
that if you do and stick to your resolution that before
noon you will have made an enemy OF practically every
person YOU have conversed with; have been roundly
sworn at some dozens of times probably been licked
time or two and il not in the hospital by night you VIII
at least need the Srevces of DOCTOR and will receive the
sympathy of your wife who at the same time will while
expressing sorrow feel that you only got what you de-
served and will only lie about it because she does not
want to start family row--by telling the truth. And
vet you can hardly offer greater insult to person
than to tell the truth about him and call him liar You
don't do it. You say instead he or she is mistaken, or
their source of information polluted or they were
msnfolmed, or something Of that kind; anything to
avoid telling the truth You lie rather than tell the other
fellow he doing so and he accepts what he knows to be
lie as the genuine truth and lies to himself about it
simply because he has else to pass the lie along to-
Of course the style of lies spoken of Of the class
known as white lies" but of them when closely
analyzed are shaded from dark gray through all the
shades of brown and border Of them the faded
black We have always admired the spirit Of the hobo