The Irish republic. [volume] (Chicago, Ill.) 1867-18??, 1867-05-04
The Irish as a Reading People.

gress and civilization, it becomes the first duty of all
who would have their particular people take leading
position in the grand army, to that each individual
member thereof shall receive that mental discipline
necessary, so that the whole may move, with the
expertness of order to the 'front.' while the uneducated
recruits tumbling into the established ruts
among the rear guard The great source of popular
information of the day. and the best criterion by which
to Judge Of nations intelligence, the newspaper.
What the wandering schoomaster was to our fathers,
the newspaper Is to our own day. only multiplied
million fold. While the schoolmaster remains unit,
giving light but to limited number of households at
time, each newspaper has the power of distributing
It's light to many households, at time, choose
avail themselves of What position then, do we, the
Irish people, occupy among the nations, taking the
newspaper standard? 1t is only by comparison
that we can arrive at correct decision, and although
the comparison may not be very fatterng to us it is
better to look facts square in the face than to deceive
ourselves ty pleasing unrealtes The Germans in the
United States exes from fatherand like ourselves,
aboring under as many disadvantages as we do and,
all IN all, choose no farer comparison In the
city of Chcago-and the smile will hold for all other
places, the German and Irish populations nearly
equal-each varying perhaps between thirty and forty
thousand. While the Germans have four newspapers
in this City-two dailies and two weekes-the Irish
have at all. There is scarcely town in the
country but has its German paper; while there
scarcely four in the United States that can be called
Irish papers. This is deplorable and disgraceful
state of affairs anything but faterlng as people
sprung from land and race once the fount of Euro
pean learning and proves undenably that great
number Of our people read newspaper There are
in America, to-day, FIVE millions of the Irish race
and their immediate descendants and the circulation of
all the newspapers that really be called Irish does
not exceed hundred thousand Allowing then
that each paper read by five persons we have total
of FIVE hundred thousand of the Irish in America who
read their papers. This is deplorable say the least
That 1t IS fact any person satisfy himself by
going into dozen houses and seeing for himself The
remedy this state of affairs the better and the
sooner all who interested in the welfare of our
country understand that reading people always the
masters and the non-readng the servants the better
Men must be the anvs or the sledges" 'the mental
workers or the bone workers." AS surely as water
finds its level surely will ntege sit in the paror
while the ignorant must scrub the kitchen This NAV be
dsasefu to of people, butthey should under
stand that though they may hide facts from themselves,
cover them with false PRIDE others, viewing US
from their stand point behold we are with all our
faults and virtues.
"The IRISH REPUBLIC is established to speak the
truth fearlessy, though at times, truth may be
the knife in the surgeons hand Children alwaysFhate
their DOCTORS for medicine is so dstaseful On the
other hand children love their old grannies who give
them Jumps of sugar Old granny's sweemeats in time
demoralze the SYSTEM and then comes the doctor with
augh caster oil and bitter pills and though you may
twist and squrm dear boys you must take them if you
wish to restore the system to its natural condition
Those who hide faults, and atter into false be-
liefs about virtues which we do not possess us