Cedar Falls gazette. [volume] (Cedar Falls, Iowa) 1860-1895, 1868-12-11
THE GAZETTE



The Empire Of the Press
Within the confines of Republican
America, il may appear flight o
fancy 10 talk of the growth Of al
empire, md many will he ready tt
doubt our statement, that withia tht
past thirty years there has developed
on our shores a power greater than
the Rome of the Caesars or the Popes
IT il the empire Of the press. True
it IL yet i'm it's infancy and in many
respects imperfect, but its influence
Is UNIVERSAL and it's power without
limit. In the great professions oi
the country, journalism stands first
and 1t has come to a point when II
dares TO assert its supremacy. 1t has
been truthfully uttered by one oi
Towa's progressive statesmen, that a
description of the powers andutility
of the press would require a review
of all u .: is moss characteristic and
encouraging i'm cur modern civiliza-
ton. Lit creates and controls popular
opinion and wherever the pulse of
freedom beats, the press gives it all
eloquent tongue. Ii il the fnlcrum
which clevates mankind to higher
standard of civilization. 1t was
iy,fA haf
there was no better nioralist than the
newspaper. only take newspa-
per, consider it welln said he, land
pay for it, and it will instruct thee. y
Tie press to the people is the world.
and the man at his evening fireside
with his newspapers, lias before him
an epitome of all the characters and
events i'm this teemfng universe.
Many, we are led t. believe, do not
yet know that the press OF this coun
try nssniHates the candidates
for the presidency and dictates
who are to he our members OF
Congress. And now while we are on
this subject, writing I'm behalf of our
profession, or, in other words, blow
ing our own horn, we shall speak our
mind plainly.
There is a class of men in every
community who effect a condescen-
son towards the local newspaper in
tensely amusing. They have pat.
ronagc for it, but it IL not such as is
Observation-Disclosures and cents. They act
towards newspaper men as though
they were literary adventures, to be
tolerated but not literally supported
They are ignorant of the fact that ii
Is the local newspaper which encour.
ages emigration aud sells their goods
for them, aid that they are depend
encies of this great agency of pro
gress. There il to be found also u
class of men who live Off of the To-
cal newspaper. who have money to
loan ut forty per cent. Il year, but who
are TOO poor to take their home pa
per. They do not by any means get
along without reading it. No! They
are found at the hotels or some good
place where the paper is public prop
erty, stealing its contents regularly
each week. No man with the eHter
prise of good citizen can afford t.
Ito without his home paper. Said n
poor man to us the other day: II am
unable to pay for the paper now, or
account Of sickness, but send it,
cannot get along without it,"
The public spirit of a community
may be and is judged by the manner
i'm which the people support their
home paper. Take Marshalltown, in
this State, as all instance. 1t is CON
ceded to be one of the most prosper
Gus aud enterprising towns in Iowa
and the Times, as natural sequence,
Is one of the most prosperous papers.
During The dull and less prosper
Gus periods Of the history of town,
the citizens are too apt to relax their
energies and look to their paper for
greater effort. They learn then to
appreciate its usefulness and its influ
ence, but fail to understand theil
duty.
In comparison with ether States
Iowa journalism is in advance of our
Eastern sisters in many RESPECTS
They, AS rue. are wide awake and
are found representing the enter
prise, industry and progress of the
communities i'm which they are loca
ted. When ii is announced, as it has
been, that Iowa contains n populn
tion OF |, 100. 900 people, let it he re-
memhered that to the press, more
than any other human agency, IL the
credit of this rapid increase due
When its announced that Iowa CAV,
nearly fifty thousand majority fol
Grant and Colfax, let it he remem-
bered that to tie Republican press is
largely due the victory.