The Stourbridge Observer, Cradley Heath, Halesowen & District Chronicle.
Stourbridge, West Midlands, England, 1874-06-06 00:00:00

NEWSPAPER PRESS FUND.

In London, on Saturday evening, the eleventh
annual I limner of the Newspaper PrieSB Fund took
place at Willis's ROOlllB, King-street, St. James's.
The Duke of Somerset, KG., occupied the chair, sup-
ported by more than 200 distinguished guests.
After dinner his I:race the I!hainnau proposed
"Her Majesty, the Queen and the Members of the
Royal ' (Loud cheers.)
The toast was drunk with three times three. Air,
the National Anthem.
The noble Chairman next proposFd "The Army,
the Navy, and the Reserve Forces, and also "'The
Health of Admiral Sir Spencer Rol:Ma:in as connected
with the Navy, and that of Colonel Sir Francis Festing
as connected with the Army."
The toatssae drunk with enthusiasm, and responded
to in approp-iate terms by Sir Spencer Robinson and
Colonel Sir W. Festing.
The Duke of Somerset then rose to prope,e the toast
of the evenin.g, and was received with loud cheers. His
Grace said : My lids and gentlemen, I rise to Iwo-
pose " Prosperity to the Newspaper Press Fund.' I
have no claims specially to propose that toast, except as
representing one of the readers of the country. I read
the press, and I have derived much pleasure and
amusement from the press—and, se for I felt it my
duty when asked to undertake the task to propose this
toast. (Cheers.) What I value in the press is its
independence and its variety of opinion. (Cheers.)
I suppose that in this room we differ perhaps
as much upon many topics as so many people can
possibly do. We have many sentiments quite
opposed to each other, and perhaps even those prin-
ciples which constitute the base of our political and
social life are principles upon whieh we are not
agree!. But yet upon one point we are agreed,
awl that is that all opinions should have free course
where they do not interfere with the decorum and
safety of society. (('heers.) That I hold to be the
great principle of Liberal Government, and I hold it
to belong to England to have that principle in a special
degree. I would say then upon the subject of the
press that I have known it for many years, and I
may say without flattery that the press has greatly
improved. It has improved in inanlineas of tone. It
has improved by not touching those questions of
private life in winch fifty years ago it used frequently
to indulge. (Hear, hear.) I think that there is a
great improvement in the press. I confess that
when I look at the machinery by which the press
is carried on in this couutry I am astonished at it in
the different aspects it presents. lam surprised at
the foreign correspondent. I heard Colonel Prating
refer to the foreign corre,pondentwin Africa. (Hear,
hear.) Well, I have observed that whenever there
jean uncomfortable place in the world—(laughter)--
if there is a town to be besieged, if there is a
battle to be fought between two armies, where there
is a good chance of your being killed, down :lirectly
comes the foreign correspondent. (('heers and laughter.)
Whether he is a special correspondent, or a regular
correspondent, or an occasional corm:ism:lent, I for
my patt confess I never understood— (loud laughter)—
but there he appears. "No dangers affright him, and
no labours tire. ' He attends to the fighting all the
day, an:l he sits up all night writing an account it.
(Renewed laughter and cheers.) That is a wonderful
consideration. Now we conic to another, and I think
it really wonderful. I was reading the other day, in
Lord Cockburn's "Memoirs," the account of a meet-
ing in Edinburgh in 1831, when Lord Grey made
a speech—a great speech—and it is recorded as a
remarkable fact that after the speech had been
made in the evening the reporters set out for
London as hard as they could, and by travelling by
post horses they arrived at length in London, and
the speech was published in the papers that were
printed in London on the following Vi ednesday after-
noon; and this, we are told, was a feat which could
not possibly be surpassed. (Laughter.) Well, to us,
you know, that seems to be rather slow—we have
got so much faster. (Renewed laughter.) In fact, what
Homer termed "winged words" are much too slow for
us in these days—(cheers and laughter)—we move at so
greatly accelerated a rate. There is the reporter, who
is supposed to give the world the speech that is spoken.
But he very often assists in making the speeches. I
have attended meetings in the country, and have heard
a gentleman speak with great fluoney, but I found
that there was neither head nor tail to any me of
his sentences. (Laughter.) Next day, however, there
came out in his name a neat awl appropriate speech.
It was so very excellently done that it would be just as
well if the reporters of the two parties had met and
settled a decent speech for each side, and given each to
the public. In that way I think we might possibly
get better speeches reported. Well then there is the
lii use of Commons, where I have heard there is
wmetimes such a superabundance of eloquence
that the whole business of the country is stopped.
(Laughter.) I very often think that in our next effort
at reform it should lie provided that the Speaker
should be at liberty to say to a member who is anxious
to speak, "Pray retire to a committee room with a
reporter." If that were so, the House of Commons
might be able to make intelligible Acts of Parliament.
(Laughter.) You are aware that at the present
moment the judges have declared several times the
Acts of Parliament as they are now made are perfectly
unintelligible. (Renewed laughter.) Well, that will
be a great advantage, no doubt, and the speeches will
come out just as well from the committee room as if
they were delivered in the House, and the member
will have the pleasure—a great pleasure lam sure it
would be—of seeing a column of his local paper
devoted to his speech. (Cheers and laughter.) I
have alluded to two very wonderful persons, but there
is another more wonderful still. I have often
wondered how a newspaper is, so to say, " managed."
I have tried to imagine it. Sitting in my manager's
ra en, I suppose I should have six ::r seven leading
articles prepared and handed to me to choose from.
In choosing I should, of course, go " from grave
to gay, from lively to severe." lam afraid I should
say to a gentleman who had written one leading
article—" You must put a little more cayenne pepper
into your leading article next time. I saw two old
gentlemen reading your last, and they each went to
sleep." (Laughter.) Then, again, there is an aroma
about sime articles which one does not like to get
exactly. A gentleman asks his :laughter to read to
him an article is a sanitary matter, and she evidently
thinks it ought to go into the slopliasin. (A laugh.)
These things I think ought to go into the outer sheet.
(Hear, hear.) Theyare not pleasant reading. I have
given you one or two hMts, but I have yet to come to
the immediate correspondents. " Verax " writes, and
his letter goes into the waste-paper basket. "Pertnax"
writes, and he, too, is voted a bore. (Laughter.) This
is very tiresome. But there is another and entirely
different aspect of the Press. Let us regard it as
we may, and as I hope we ever may, as a great
and noble awl an independent Press. (Cheers.)
It is absolutely necessary that the men who are
connected with it should feel that they are indepen-
dent—(cheers) —that not onlythey ale independent, but
that if a time of illness or depression should come,
they skould have the conviction that those who are
dear to them—those who are dependent upon their
exertions—would not be left without some little pro-
vision. That, I should think, is a matter necessary to
bear in mind if you want to preserve the indepen-
dence of the Press. (Hear, hear.) We must all feel
when we are writing or thinking how to carry on the
world—to improve it or to advance it—we must feel,
indeed, oftentimes what shadows we are—what
shadows we pursue, and at these times it is some
solace and consolation to feel that those who are near
an:l dear to us will not be left without some provision;
and for that purpose this fund has been established.
With the toast his grace coupled "The Health of the
President of the Fund, Lord Houghton."
The toast was drunk with all the honours.