The Manchester journal. [volume] (Manchester, Vt.) 1861-current, 1918-12-26

! spade 10 president. becomes mere
habit which Is not only offensive to
most people bu, dcgrades and vitiatos
, the language
II there is one thing on earth moro
tedious and exaspcrating than nag
ging and Scolding woman, il Is man
who swears as matter OF habit
morning, noon and night, when angry
and when placid, when emphatic and
when neutral, when in the presence Of
women and children and when with
other men, at persons, animals and
inanimate things, with or without
cause, generally without the slightest
provocation and often without any
reason whatever. Such man is a
pest and soon becomes menace to
good manners If not to morals and
decency
Set 1t down as a maxim that man
who swears when chilrden are present
is either fool or a callous brute who
needs TO be traced up and given two
or three dozen stripes with the cat
I o nine tails, rs was customary in the
old navy, Being soundly whipped and
picked" was excellent discipline on
shipboard in the days Of Defoe, rs all
lovers of Robinson Crusoe" viii re-
member; il is about the only thing
that would suitably appeal to the man
who has so little regard for the tender
sensibiities of children as to use pro-
fame language in their hearing.
A charitable lady was taking lit
tie girl, left an orphan and living in
circumstances that tended to degrade
ton, to better home in another part
Of the state The child had never
been in railroad train before, so,
when it started, she said, artessy;
Look, the ---- old house is NOV
ing" Pitiful as il was, hardly pas
sanger in the car could refrain from
smiling. II sounded so cute,
That is just the trouble. We laugh
at the baby'a first octh, even though
we correct him for it. What about
the parent who not only fails to cor
rect the child but, by force Of example.
drills the ugly words into the sensitive
system and the plastic mind so that
they stick there as n fixed habit which
teachers and social workers find it
almost impossible to eradicate?
We may say that great deal Of the
swearing and cursing arises from a
poverty of language, but when men
who know better, who hive read,
studied, travelled and generally inn
proved themselves, permit themselves
to use profanity as habit, it is
mighty serious offense.
Take the cverage of schoolboys in
any playground, city or country, and
what is the average of their colversa-
ton as between English and profan-
ty?
How many boys are there in any
given class or school who do not swear
when they are beyond the restraint Of
The teachers?
What effort are we making for
Durer English "as she is spoke" when
healthy, robust and expressive boys
gather together?
One of the advantages Of school
athletics is the opportunity which it
gives to coaches and instructors TO en-
'oIce self-restraint in language, as
we'll as the other things. A coach who
,arks at the fool-boy to "cut it out"
when the boy begins to swear is doing
educational work that tends toward
lean language and incidentally to-
ward morality.
Parents should do still more. They
hould keep their own language clean
md under no circumstances, condition
n pretext permit themselves TO zip
Dose" string of oaths and curses, or
ven one of each, when tender ears are
pen and receptive minds taking them
n.
There are laws against profane
wearing, but they are almost never
nforced. The law we violate when we
wear is the law of common-sense, be-
ause swearing hurts no one but our
elves, save always the little folks who
earn the bad words all too easily.
"Swear not at all" is pretty good
cripture, and like most Of the Old
looks precepts, is good enough TO
pply to curses as well.--Rutland Her
Id