The Idaho Republican. [volume] (Blackfoot, Idaho) 1904-1932, 1921-07-28
i18 Days and
Nothing Done
MEN AND WOMEN SHOULD
BURY THE RATCHET

We have been saying some things
about the way the public criticise
women and girls on account of dress
and the lack of it, and down in their
hearts they probably do not really
mean 1t.
We, are much impressed with the
unkind things that are said about
men and their personal conduct,
especially men in business whose
firms might suffer damage in conse-
quence Of the things said about the
man responsible for its success or
failure. The banking business, for
example, is very easily affected by
reports that they are in hard straits.
It is almost as much affected by re-
ports that the cashier is violating the
moral code, and there seem to be
people who make it their business or
pleasure to spread reports about
bankers, and to be active at the time
1t will hurt worst.
There was banker in our town
who was active in about all the
towns undertakings, business, social
and religious, and during all the
years of his residence here he was
eminently successful in business.
Like. a good many bankers he was
said to be cold-blooded in business,
but bankers do not cultivate the
habit of worrying over everybody's
Troubles. If they did they would
probably do little else but worry.
The man in question did not need
nao1le's sympathy while living here,
for he was prosperous. Later he
went to a neighboring town and
undertook bigger things and his
firm failed under his management.
That was the hour when he needed
friends and sympathy or at least
needed the charity of being left alone
and not have his character attacked,
but that was the hour when the
tongue of scandal got busy spreading
the information "They say that he
was flying high and violating the
moral code and that was the reason
for the financial failure, etc, etc,
with the inevitable remark, II don t
know anything about it myself, but
that is what I. hear" And there are
always scandal mongers ready to re-
peat that kind of stuff and people
gullible enough to believe 1t, and the
sum total of their activity is, to in
jure the one under discussion. %
There is hardly man in, business
in our town, if he is aggressive and
trying to succeed in large measure
who is not the object of some of that
kind of rot once in every few years.
Women usually start such stories,
but men do it sometimes. If the
victim of the story is in business it
hurts more or less, but by the time
the slanderers swing round the
circle and SANDER all of the active
men of the town those handicaps
become evened up.
If people would just cultivate
some sunshine in their hearts and
cut out the criticism of dress and
remember that talking about wrong
conduct does not mend it if true, but
always has more or less recoil
against the character of the one do
ing the talking, If men and women
would just bury the Ratchet they
WELD against one another to no pur-
pose, they would see more beauty
and less of darkness in life.
There is one more feature about
these matters that is worthy of at
tention. The person who reads this
does not think it means him or her.
But 1t does. If it does not apply to
you in some measure you are an