New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1875-07-08

"bighest and broadcast sense, they should be az
"the same time equally armed with the sharp
"est weapons of controversy, and those graces
Gin speaking and writing which fasten TO
"thcm the attention and confidence of multi
Guides in all free communities" The colleges
ougbt to do great deal more than they are now
doing TO form such class of men, to point out
their duties and to give them the special
training which such duties demand. First OF
all they ought to cultivate the neglected art
of oratory, teaching the eloquence both OF the
pulpit the lyceum, the senate and the political
platform. "Oratory is not trick. 1t is
" great force in the state,"-a tremendous
power in politics, controlling impulse III the
church. Secondly, says Mr.. Adams, they must
give their attention to the newspaper.
"The Independent Press" continues Mt.
Adams, is the most potent check can I'M
"agine possible upon the abuses of party
associations, pushed to the extreme degree
" of corr,lpton under the crafty manipulations
I" of seductive demagogues." 1t Is popular
educator which we cannot afford to leave to
incompetent hands. "The press is greater
"power in the long run than the sword. One
d" consequence inevitably follows. The men
"who, through the marvellous sympathes
(Which they can direct toward the formation
"of public opinion can shake even thrones
should be persons not picked up ut ran
" dom by reason of an accidental facility
cor grace of style, or accident OF voice.
" but rather those richly stored by
Education with intellectual and moral re-
sources, and practiccd i'll the art OF pacing
at them attractivcly as well as convlnclngiy be-
" fore the world" And these are The men whom
our colleges ought TO furnish. We believe
they are doing something more toward that
end than Mr.. Adams seems to suppose. Inc
Importance of journalism as one OF the
liberal professions is pretty generally rccoS
nizcd, and just as tho Old-iashiohcd
party organ, with its incessant quarrelS
and vituperation, its habit of cxaggcration,
and i!s distortions of contemporary history,
fades into the past, the dignity of the press as
a popular guide and educator becomes more
and more conspicuous. SO long as govern
ment is carried on by the apparatus OF party
organizations, party spirit will OF course sur
we; bat the days of the partisan newspaper
are numbered, and before many years 1t VIII
be impossible to find metropolitan journal OF
any prctcnsions willing to confess itsell
party organ.
In this growing independence of the press
thc great embarrassment comes from those
who emancipate themselves not so much from
nartisanshp as from decency, and do their
best to obiterate the distinction between the
manly independence which springs from hon
est convictions and the reckless violence which
has no better inspiration than personal lnaiicc
or the lust of money. There are papers winch
have never good word for any living man.
Like the strumpets of Grconc street,
who lean from their windows and assall
every passcr-by with filthy epihets,
rcserving their choicest blackguar'iisms
for those who will not notice them, they may
easily make themselves public nuisanccs, but
they can do 10 one any actual injury. They
may call this public officer thief and that 9nc
diunkard they may accuse one OF corruption
and another OF conspiracy they may shout
that yondcr reformer is a hypocrite, and the
quiet citizen over there an cmissary OF the
devil; but who stops to listen to the clat-
ter of such vcnomous tongues! May
he. in such torrent of indscrim-
mate abuse the yiIago has accidentally vented
a little truth, for if you throw mud at every
body the chances are that some OF 1t VIII
stick (; but what good can it dol People go
their way without caring to ask what all the
noise is about. until by and BY the police are
called in to Qucll the disturbance.
This sort of libel, however, upon an honOra-
bic profession is not Independent journalism
nor an out gr0wth of it; it il not journalism
at all. 1t has existed ever since the period
zeal press came into existence it is found
in many countries and under many political
conditions and we must bear with it rs one
of the necessary evils of modern civilization,
which we can partly suppress, just as we do
theft and murder, but never entirely abolish.
Mr.. Adams was careful to remind his listeners
that this form of license was entirely foreign
to the independence of which he spoke; and it
will be one of the most important duties OF
the colleges if they undertake to tram
writers for the press to enforce the distinction.