The Leavenworth weekly times. [volume] (Leavenworth, Kan.) 1870-1880, 1874-01-29

without question
Had stranger dropped down in our
midst during the compaign Of 1872, what
idea could be have gained of the character
and abilities of General Grant and Mr.. VIII
son from the opposite press? lie would
have seen the former depicted as a blood
thirty tyrant, eager to put the liberties OF
the people under his feet. He would also
have read of the President Of the United
States a. VIGOROUSLY dissipated person and
stranger to the prophecies of life.
He would have been introduced
Senator Wilson as a mounting dema-
Rogue, far gone in all sorts OF sascality. q
hvpocrite and an ignoramus. But this, it will
be said. would not have been Information
gained from characterised press" Qaite
true, But turning to the other side, the
stranger would have found exaggerated lau-
d,tions of the candidates, and not much crit
icism. Upon what would he have based his
opinion Of the Republican candidates? The
answer, We presume, is that such . seeker
after information should have averaged the
conflicting estimates, and 30 have reached an
approximately Just conclusion. But if it
oniv requires Que to imagine the best and
the worst of any one, and then STRIKE an
average to arrive at the truth, Of what ger.
vice Is the press in such cases? The issue
ont of this dilemma lies in discarding the
prers % . commentator, and accepting it in
The exercise of its function as a dissemipa-
tor of the facts of current history.
Regarding the press As the chronicler OF
the facts of current history, we shall see how
often the text brings the commentary TO
naught. The policy Of public administra-
tor cannot always be learned from the re-
marks Of editors. But the press ia compell-
ed to give currency TO the official utterances
of public men, and this it does With reason
able accuracy. Grant that all men are just
" tried BY their deliberate uterances and
their official .cts, and it becomes true, as
proposed, that the chief Of what we know of
public men must be gathered from the news.
papers. And We have only to admit that 1t
j. Of paramount importance TO select good
men for public position TO recognize the se-
rious responsibility assumed by the conscien-
tious iournali-t. He assumes TO stand as
the champion of good government. or he
deliberately prostitutes his power and
dexrades his guild by giving his energies to
uneducatiDg the people. That some Journal
lists have no higher conception of duty than
that which relates to selling their wares Is
not to be denied. And from this class. as
rule, comes the never ending lament that the
pres il trammelled by narrow legislation.
The man who makes all smartness to dwell
in personal attacks feels aegrieved.when the
Law crosses his path. He who has no fixed
principles of political action to advocate or
defend, very naturally resorts to personal
aba e. But this is not journalism in any
reputable sense; nor can such catering be
supposed to swell the stock of general in
formation.
But is the journalist debarred criticism
therefore? By NO means. The mistakes,
the errors of judgment. and even the patent
departures from the path Of rectitude, Of
which public men are guilty, are fair sub
jec,s of criticism. But it does not add weight
to argument or dignity to the Office Of Cen
cor to denounce public man as an ass because
he falls into an error Of judgment. 1t does
not become the journalist to denounce men
q thieves and robbers because they take
what the Law assigns to them. Nor does it
follow, a. some editors appear to hold, that
increase of wealth among public men is proof
positive of corrupt practices. The fact is,
and it il right to avow it, that the legislator
who sells his vote or influence for cash stands
on IN equality with the journalist who con-
cocts false and sensational news to sell his
paper. If there il anything TO choose be-
tween such recusants it gees to the credit Of
the Legislator. For while he degrades him.
self and insults his constituents, the conduc.
tor Of q lying and unprincipled newspaper
teaches that lying 10 better than truth-ieliing
il only il pays better. And he enters the
family circle with his vile wares, ard saps
the foundation of morality.
legitimate Journalism deals in facts and
well-ascertained probabilities, giving mere
rumor the lowest place. In its commenta-
ries upon facts and upon men, the journalist
Is % firmly bound to observe decorum in his
paper As he feels himself to be in ordinary
conversation with reputable men and women
in the drawins-room. When he forgets this
he i no longer an oracle to be trusted and
all the information he deals in will not add
much to the sum of human knowledge. No
man has right to print and send into the
family circle anything that he would, from
sense of decepcy and decorum, refrain from
repeating verbally in the house of his neigh.
Dor and in the presence Of his family. Such
legitimate journalism as We have indicated
above would truly become mighty teacher