The Sun.
London, England, 1867-07-01 00:00:00

Newspaper Piess Fund.

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On Saturday evening the anniversary festival of
/his institution was held at Willis's Rooms, under

the chairmanship of the Right Hon. W. E. Glad-
stone, M.P. There was a numerous and distin-
guished company present.
At the conclusion of the repast, a party of ladies,
among them Mrs.and Miss Gladstone,who had dined
in one.of the smaller rooms, took their seats under
the orchestra, and immediately facing the chief

table.
The " Ilealtbs of her Majesty the Queen, the
Prince and Princess of Wales, and the other Mem-

bers of the Royal Family " having been drunk with
the customary expressions of loyalty, the toast of
the " Army and Navy" was also given and cordi-
ally responded to.
Admiral Sir John Hay, Junior Lord of the Ad-
miralty, replied for the navy, and Colonel Sykes,

M.P.; for the army.
The CHAIRMAN, upon rising to propose " Success
t 3 the NeWspaper Press Fund," was received with
the most enthusiastic cheering. In the course of a
speech which was listened to throughout with marked
attention, the right hon. gentleman said—l hope
that I may without untruth begin by congratulating
the friends of this institution upon the Considerable

degree of prosperity to which it has already at-
tained. It is among the youngest of our public in-
stitutions, but it has been received, I believe, with
general acceptance-7-first and foremost among that
class fpr whose benefit it is spceially and directly,

though in my opinion by no moans exclusively, in•
tended ; and secondly, by persons of inllaence and
opulence, many of whom are interested
S!'d itlictiutry • ; and
lastly by the public. With regard to the interest
taken by the proprietors of our great journals in the
prosperity of this institution,. I am glad to learn,
from testimony given in the most palpable of all
forms, that there can be no doubt whatever that
that interest is great, and is likely to be found even
increasing hereafter. (Cheers.) I cannot but con.-
gratulate you very cordially, and not you only, but
the country at large, upon the satisfactory progress
which is now being made through Parliament by a
bill intended to alter, and in my opinion to bring
much nearer to a standard of reason and of justice,
the law of libel in this country in its bearing upon
the proceedings of the press. (Cheers.) I say ad-
visedly in its bearings upon the proceedings of the
press rather than upon the interests of the press,
because I am quite sure that whatever adverse bear-
ing that law may have
.had upon the interests of
the press has been in reality—though perhaps
striking those interests in the front rank and in the
first place—has had in reality an adverse bearing
upon the interests of the public at large. The inte-
rests of the public at large are essentially bound up
with those of the press. We live in times when the
newspaper is a great social, political, and moral
power, one so great that it cannot be overlooked
by any of those who would comprehend the cha-
racter of their country or the nature of those pro-
cesses by -which the action of a nation is directed.
(Cheers.) While the newspaper has thus become a
power in the land, those who are connected with the
management of newspapers—those who supply daily
or weekly to the public the food which they derive
from them, have become a body so important to us
all, that we may well say that they are entitled not
less than others to the name and to the dignity of a
profession. (Hear, hear.) They are persons en-
gaged in supplying from day to day one of those
primary wants of society, without which it is hardly
too much to say society, as we comprehend and un-
derstand it, could not exist. (Cheers.) The purpose
of this institution is to recognise those ti.s of duty,
charity, and of brotherhood which bind together the
members of this profession, and also to give an op-
portunity to others beyond its strictly defined limits
for manifesting their interest in its welfare; and in
both points. of view to encourage it. (Cheers.) The
care of this institution is perfect, and its appeal to
our goodwill is strong. It is well, it is honourable,
it is healthful for themselves and the community that
the members of classes should unite together by con-
tributions obtained from each individual in the day
of his prosperity to meet the wants of those who, from
time to time, fall into need, and thereby not merely
to relieve individual necessity, but to give comfort,
independence, and dignity to the class. (Cheers.)
That sentiment pervades English society. It goes down
low into the masses of the community ; it is an lion-
(=able sentiment of duty and of independence—that
independence which makes a man feel that he hardly
can be a man, if without an overwhehnieg necessity,
he thrOws himself upon the resources of others—that
duty by which he is made conscious that he ought to
bear his own burden and not to cast it upon the
shoulders of . his brethren. (Cheers.) Primarily, it
SCOOS- to me that considerations of this kind are
especially applicable to a profession such as that
of the writers in newspapers and of the re-
porters fur newspapers, inasmuch as it is in a
great degree a profession of transition. (Hear,
hear.) llow many are there among the eminent—
among the most eminent men of our clay and
generation—who hare passed one stage at least of
their early lives as newspaper reporters. (Cheers.)
That hononrable and arduous employment is one
through which energy and ability will carry a man
to others that are more lucrative, and; therefore, the
profession, speaking generally,. is not like others
containing rich prizes, and which we may contem-
plate as conveying within themselves all that is
necessary for their own independence, and for dis-
pensing with, nay, even for depriving them of the
right to make an extraneous appeal to the public.
This is a profession fed from time to time by the
ardent and unsparing efforts of our youth for the
discharge of duties, to which I believe no man,
except in the perfection of both mental and physical
faculties, is really equal; it is a profession beyond
which lie hopes to pass, Many of these- who bare