Clarksville weekly chronicle. (Clarksville, Tenn.) 1873-1890, 1877-06-30
tennessee Press Association.
ADDRESSES OF HON. G. A. HENRY
AND DIR. r. w. DICKINSON
At the Late Meeting of the AssOcia-
tiOn, Thursday, June 21st.

tiOH, Thursday, June 21st.
To render complete our accoun
of the transactions of the society i
Clarksville we now give the tw
following addresses, which nee
neither Recommendation nor com
ment at our hands. The great pun
poses for which such associations ar
formed could no where and by n,
one be expressed in more forcibl
terms or in choicer language. Indi
vidually we congratulate Ourselve
for having been absent from tn,
hall when the compliment paid by
our venerable friend to ourselve
was uttered, for we are modest anC
the bushes would never have beer
obliterated from our consciou:
cheeks. The shock was not quite
so great in encountering them be
hind a softening veil of printers ink
Gentlemen Of the Tennessee Pres,
| dSSOCCOtCOH
I am requested by the Mayor and
City Council of Clarksville, and the
citizens of the city, to welcome you
here in their name. / have so high
an appreciation of them, and of you,
individually and collectively, that
/ at once accepted the duty assigned
me to perform with very great
pleasure. In the name of the
Mayor, the City Council and the
people, / welcome you to this city,
to its hospitalities and our homes.
We shall be prompt, gentlemen, to
avail ourselves of the opportunity
thus afforded of cultivating the ac-
quaintance of such band of intelli-
gent gentlemen, who are devoting
their time and talents to the phySi-
cal and intellectual development of
the resources of the State and the
culture and refinement of the peO-
pie, and you, on your part, will have
the opportunity Of enlarging the
circle of personal friendship, of culti-
waiting a more intimate acquaint-
ance of our patriotic men and of our
refined and accomplished women.
If you fail to appreciate the truth
of what | say about the former, L
feel perfectly sure you will accord
with me in the sentiment l have
expressed about the latter. You
and we, / hope, will have good
cause for mutual congratulations, in
view of the pleasant results that
NAV grow out of this intercourse.
will not address you on the art
of printing, for it is a theme with
which you are very familiar, except
to say there is nothing that has been
developed in the whole circle of
scientific and philosophical dis
cOvery that has so enlarged the
boundaries of human knowledge.
Though the art of printing in its
rudest and simplest form, by char
acters and type, has existed from
the earliest antiquity, the use of
mOUabIe types was not generally
adopted before the fifteenth century.
Gutenberg, a German of the city
of Mentz, in the year 1850, made
such advancement in the art as to
entitle him to the credit and honor
of the discovery, still the contrast
between the rude and heavy ma
chinery used by him and by our
own DR.. Benjamin Franklin (Which
is now, as history informs us, on
exhibition in the Patent Office in
Washington city as sort of curious
Renaissance of the pasG1; and the
magnificent and symetricaI printing
presses now in use in New York and
London; any one of which will
strike off 900 impressions in an
hour, is remarkable indeed. We
are further informed that the first
printing press introduced into
America was at Cambridge, in 1859.
The Constitution, gentlemen,
guarantees the freedom of the press,
and with it is conferred power, for
good or for evil, that is almost over
powering in its contemplation. You
WELD power this day greater than
governors or presidents possess, and
who are very often made by you,
and sometimes, / am sorry to say, |
very badly made. The material |
may not have been good, but that |
does not change the truth of the |
statement. The press in free
country controls, more or less, pub
lie opinion, and is the lever that
moves the world. Without an in
dependent and intelligent press, a
free government could hardly be
Without it civiliZa-
ton on its luminous wings would
be suspended in its flight. You
have the power, if you properly
exercise your great functions, to
mould the minds of men, shape the
destiny of the country, and advance
and establish commercial prosperity.
If, however, that great power is un-
wisely or Wickediy used, you may
overthrow public and private NOR
ality on which everything else rests,
and shake the whole fabric of liberty
to its deep foundation.
1t is therefore, / say, awful to
contemplate the power you possess
for good or for evil. Ifthe press be-
comes licentiOuS or Venal, SurFen-
ders its independence or is seduced
by power to trample down COnstl-
tutiOnal liberty, it is at best but
chartered hbertine, if not an incar-
nate devil. If, on the contrary, it
is a faithful sentinel and keeps
vigilant watch and ward around the
temple of liberty, and sounds the
tOcsin of alarm when it is in danger,
when it is assailed by open foes or
betrayed by insidious friends, it is
then an angel with healing on its
wings, and is the palladium of
public liberty, its defense and its
shield.
You may be expected to differ on
all questions of public policy, the
tariff, the currency and the like, but
upon all questions that involve the
honor of the State, its faith, its in
tegrity and the liberty of the peo-
pie, the press should be an unit and
utter no uncertain sound. If any
man in America should ever usurp
power, and play the role
of military despot, the gathered
thunders of an united and indig-
nant press, should instantly and
burst upon his ears
and startle him from his dream of
power. Unless my faith is vain,
predict they will do it, On such an
the battery Of the press
will open in every village and play
with destructive fury on despOtic
power. You will be faithful in the
hour of temptation and of trial, and
to YOU, | assign the great honor to
carry in your hand the banner of
freedom to the world. Again bid
you welcome to the city and its
hospitalities. Before | take my
4