The Redwood gazette. [volume] (Redwood Falls, Minn.) 1873-1940, 1878-04-18
The monograph rs Social Factor.

COAApOoAuS, AOOA'
The Photograph as a Social Factor.
Now THAT we have the monograph
among us, and have dullcd the edge of
curiosity concerning its nature and the
nature of its performances, by listening
attcntively to explanations of the laws
of acoustics and dissertations upon at
mospheric waves and the vibratory ac-
ton of metals, all of which many of us
do not at all understand, it is worth
while to ask ourselves: What is to be
the effect of this mechanical verbatim
reporter upon our lives and characters?
1t is a new social factor, the exact rela-
ton of which to other social factors re-
mains to be determined. Like the
freedman in politics, it has future be-
fore it, and in that future every one of
us is directly interested. Let us sec
what that future is likely to be. Let us
see what promise and potency lie hid
den within this new genie of modern
life.
Prediction in every such case must
rest upon the moral character and the
intellectual capacity of the being whose
course of conduct is to be considered,
and in this case VIC find that certain
well-defncd qualities afford us solid
ground on which to build conjecture.
The monograph is, in its ultimate
analysis, reporter, and the reporter
we know. He has been known to be
wooden sometimes, but in his new
form he is metallic, but the metal in his
composition is not brass, as it has been
supposed to be in the cruder human
form of the species. The new reporter.
unlike the old one, is incapable of Sec
ing things that do not exist and hear
ing things which are no. said. 1t is
not liable to that inability to read
it's notes which has ovcrt;,ken
shorthand writer's sometimes. These
are advantages Of course, but
they are not altogether SO. The new
reporter is believed to be incapable of
correcting the grammatical errors of
the distinguished gentlemen whose
speeches it has to report-an important
function performed by reporters of the
old sort. 1t is incapable also of re-
moving from the conversation of states
men ill-chosen explosives, and it can
not revise and polish their utterances
as reporters for the press have been
wont to do. Worse still, it is impossi-
BILE to contradict the plodding machine,
and the public speaker who finds that
what he has said gives offense to the
public cannot escape responsibility by
declaring that the photograph was
drunk and unsupported the words
spoken. Members of Congress
makes one shudder TO think of twill
have their speeches printed in the
Record without the modern improve
ments which their Private Secretaries
have been accustomed to add to them.
On the whole, there are positive reasons
for objecting to the Introduction of
monographs into the galleries of Con-
gress.
On the other hand, men who like to
hear themselves talk. and who are new
er conscious of the absurdity of what
they say, may be counted upon to favor
the instruments use, because they can
put the tinfoil reports of their speeches
into their pockets, and grind them out
as often as they please after their re-
tirement from public life, fighting their
battles over again, and listening. en-
tranced, to the sound of their own
voices, having canned eloquence out of
season, as we have canned peaches and
tomatoes in winter.
The introduction of a photograph
into an unsuspecting sewing circle or
church sociable, where everybody talks
at once, is thing not to be thought of
for a moment. A prohibitory law is
needed Immediately. The instrument
should also be kept out of the hands of
boys who have sisters old enough to re-
ccive attention from bachelors who
would become benedicts; it too closely
resembles the boys themselves in its
merciless accuracy.
On the other hand, the instrument
will be of incalculable service to lectur-
ers, who, instead of wandering like
restless spirits and sleeping in uncom-
Portable inns, will deliver their dis
courses to a monograph in their libra
ries and furnish tipfoil eloquence to
lyceum committees, to be ground out
from rural platforms without the bod
ily presence of the lecturers themselves.
These are only few hints of the ways
in which the photograph is likely to
work revolution in our methods of
doing things to every reader, and we
frankly own that we contemplate life
in the photographic age not altogether
without misgivings.-N. Y. Evening
Post
The change that has come over the
mining industry during the past year of
1877 is remarkable. The dividends de-
clared for the twelve months show a
falling off of no less than EYE. 900 as
compared with those of 1876. There is
a reverse, however, to this dark picture.
This year in round numbers the in
creased yield of our wheat fields has en-
abled us to send away some 10000 tons
of breadstuffs, valued at f12 per ton.
This represents no less than f12O. 600,
while, again if we add the value of
wheat and -four imported in 1876. we
bring up the total to something over
E215,OOO, an amount which will 60
a long way to compensate for the
loss Of our gold yield.-AeIbo"rne
(Aststralia) Leader.