Wilmington daily commercial., 1873-07-24

mined as We apprehend IT, We know that in
many papers the remedial agencies of society
the churches. schools, social conventions-pri-
yAte and original eharities-beG for space that =
ffeely aecordAd 10 The record OF petty thief Of
an unfaithfnl husband OF wife. That which will
make Aepicy paragraph is onosen before that
which will make healthy one.
Nor is this ALL The crimes which are Thus
spread before the public for its daily food are
often treated like anything but crimes. Some
Of our papers have way OF doing up their col
umns Of local lcrime as II it we're Joke. The wri-
ter makes an ingenious Jest of everything he is
called upon TO notice. The poor women who
are loet 10 virtue and society, with hell within
them and before them, furnish grateful themes
for the reporters careless pleAsAntries. Their
aFrzignment, their tIial, their senteDce their APP
psArAnoe, their words, are chronleled IN unfeel-
ing slang. With the intent 10 excite laughter.
That which TO good man or woman is inn lite
" pathetic is made to appear mstter to be
laughed at or to be passed over IS OF no &C
count A case OF infdelly in the marriage rela.
uon, involving the destruction of the peace OF
families. the disgrace Of children and the irrem-
ediable shame Of the parties primarily concer-
The higher ahe life involved and the purer the
reputation, the richer" the Developments" al
ways. Nothing plesses our jesting reporter
like large game. clergyman Is the best, next
= lay member, and then any msn or woman who
may be in 8 high social position. Crime in
higher life" is particularly grateful dish for
rho = to sArve up who cater for the prurient
p bic. 1t is impossible not TO conclude that the
.neu no write these items aud articles delight
in them. and that the men who publish them do
50 ouly With relation to their mercantile value.
We know Of nothing more heartless than the
way in which criminals and crime are treated BY
portion of the daily press, aud nothing more
demoral:zlng TO the public and to those who are
guilty Of tuhng With them under the license Of
the reporters pen. IL Is 9 bad, bsd busIness.
Il is evil which every paper Calming 10 lie
repectAhls ongkt to cut up, MOOT AID branch.
So long as crime Is treSted lightly II is cno0ue-
Agei. So long too. IS the edltylug, informing,
remedial and purifying agencies of the world
are suhol dinAted in the paolic notice TO the re-
~ y vica and erima simply b-caase they
are less startling or sl iy, il lie nonsen,e to talk
.-, a. Y,asck alNefti>ements and parade cf
meek virtue which deserves both to pc pitiei
aud lSngh he'd at.
The daily paper has now become visitor in
every family OF ordinary iutelllg Il hiss
become the daily fool Of children and youth all
over our country, and 1t ought never to hold s
record winch would naturally ieave an nWhole-
solne effect upon their minds, II crime is re-
corded, 1t should be recorded IS crime and wIth
a conscientious exclusion Of all details that the
edItor would exclu we're he cal lei upon 10 tell
che story to bis boy upon his knee. or to his
grown-up dAughter'eittlng st his side. The way
an which nastIuess and beAstiiness are sdveT-
tised ~ criminal reports is AbominGbls Il is
bic thousand things OF greater moment and
OF sweeter import pA-s unnotIcsd by the press
every day The apology that the press must
be exact, impartial faithful, literal. etc. is 8
SHABBY one. press is never impartial, when.
by the pTedomiuAuce 1t gives to crime in its re-
ports, it conveys the impression that crime is
the most important thing 10 be reported, when,
IN truth, it is the least important Its records do
not hinder crime, do not flourish virtue, do not
advance Intelligence, da not purity youth. do
not build up tie best interests Of society; an
the absorption Of the columns OF the public
press by them is a stupendous moral nuisance
that ought to be sbsted
We do not expect the press to be very much
in advance of the people, ieither in morAlty or
intelligence 1t Is quite ss much the outgroSth
as the leader OF our civilization, but IT oTg hit to
be an emAnalion for tue best American spint aud
culture and not the worst. We shall bAve prob
Aoy, - long IS c.I1le exists, professional scAv-
elsors who follow N lis way TO clean and gorge
as uEcieAniiness. We have suel nov, and
beAstly brood VITO CLEAN sitter them even but
WY press claiming to be respectable shonld
deem II its duty TO asslrt 10 the dirty work sur.
passes oar comprehension, Ne repeat-it is
not Necessary /; II is not on any account desira-
b.e--Jr, 7. q. Il 91nd S,rf5 er's FIR August.