Memphis daily appeal. [volume] (Memphis, Tenn.) 1847-1886, 1879-06-01
THE PRESS.
Its Power and Influence Wherever II
Ia Free and UntrammeIed-AG Is
the Friend OF the People ana
the Guardian OF their
Interests II Lord
ROseberry's
speech.

London Standard: The Earl of Roseberry
then proposed the toast OF the evening;
Pros perity to the newspaper press iund;
Loud cheers. After some remarks on the
proportions which conservative and liberal
papers in England, Wales and Scotland bore
to each other and to ''the melancholy CIR
cumstances" that there are thirty-two humor-
GUS papers, he proceed to speak of newspa-
pers from three different points of view.
belonged, viz: the readers of the papers;
there was, he believed, only one person In
the world who was said not to read the
papers-Mr. Carlisle. A taught The
call attention was the people who
were written and read about, and
the third the writers In the newspapers.
Taking the readers first, they seemed to be
universal class, and class which had great
claims upon the consideration OF the newspa-
per press. Laughter and cheers We were
under the impression that our conversation
was not uninhuenced by what we read IN the
morning. There were many of our friends
whom we should regret to SIT next to at din
ner If they had not read the leading articles
in the papers. However, they were all
familiar with the sensations OF readers of
newspapers. He passed to the question of
the subjects dealt with by the papers. He
often wondered what the people who are
written about in the newspapers felt like
hear, hear because distinguished men
when they woke up In the morning must
come to the perusal of the daily papers
with very different sensations to those which
were felt by private individuals like
themselves. They must expect to see their
policy expounded for them, their secrets
brought to light. He supposed
Lord Beacons6eld never opened news
paper without seeing the objects of his
policy set forth, and that Mr.. Gladstone
never opened one without seeing the black
ness of his conduct brought home to him.
| ICheers and laughter. There was a story Of
| a vacillating American statesman who was
| in conversation with a few friends as to what
| course ought to be adopted with regard to
| Misrepresentation in the press, and a man
| said to him: The obvious course Is not to
| contradict, not to take notice of what Is said
of you In the papers. People will find you
| out in time if you do not contradict these
things" "Well," said the American states
man, heaving deep sigh, that was the
course | once pursued. l entered on public
| life with resolution that whatever the press
which is acrimonious, as you know, IN
| America laughter might say of me L
would take notice Of it. For years and
years I persevered, till at last my friends
came to me and said: There Is an accusation
in one paper of such an unutterably villain
GUS kind that you owe it to yourself and to
your supporters to contradict it. We'll,
said his friend, what did they
(the papers) do? why, they
went and proved it, the VII
lains'" Laughter. He came to the most
important class of the three-he divided
them also into three classes-the reporters,
the leader writers, who forge the thunder
bolts at home, and "our own correspondents. "
In 1882 Sir Robert Peel mentioned as his
first tribute to EngliIh journalism that the
articles at that time were far superior to the
letters of Junius, and added that it was no
uncomfortable matter for the writers of those
| articles to allow their names to remain I'M
known. Cheers. He passed on to "our
own correspondent, the great invention OF
the modern days of journalism, the ON
niscience of the country. He had always
/ had lingering suspicion that the slave who
accompanied the Roman victor In his chariot,
and whispered to him that he was mortal,
was ''our own correspondent" Laughter
and cheers. He had sometimes suspected
that the elder Phny, who persisted at the
eruption of VesuvIus, ventured there as a
newspaper correspondent to describe the
Z volcano, and lost his life IN the desperate at
d tempt. Laughter and cheers. He firmly
. believed that Orpheus, who went down
8 into regions they never spoke OF
laughter went there as the special cor
respondent of some early paper. Renewed
l laughter. 1t must have struck every one
that there was an element of omnlscience in
1 ''our own correspondent. 1T they read DIR
| Bush's correspondence in reference to Prince
Bismarck was astounded at the fact that all
that passed between himself and the emperor
of the French at Sedan was known to "our
own correspondent, although he had never
mentioned il, and probably the emperor Of the
| French never did so either. Laughter
There was no tribute warm enough to honor
them for the energy with which they In dan.
> ger anu peril, anu length or Journey they
executed, 10 order to describe to those Al
home what was remarkable in the world
lCheers.l There was not d Campaign thai
was fought where they did not find a cor
respondent, or many correspondents, ready
to face the dangers and prlvations of a war
In order to send intelligence of 1t home Il
,. his countrymen. There was not an event that
happened throughout the civilized or inhab-
tied world that was remarkable which was
not made known by the special correspondent
He invited the company, then, to pay doe
honor to this great profession-a profession
which had struggled out of the difficulties OF
e the censorship Of former times to a position
J. OF unequaled power in the present and une
: qualed probabilities in the future. All be
slked IN regard to the future of the press Of
Z this country was that Its sacred trust might
II never deteriorate. And it was a sacred trust
Freedom might degenerate into license and
I use might really become abuse. He saw no
: prospect of that at the present time, but
q there was nothing on which the future lib
! erty and prosperity of the country depended
SO entirely as the hope they entertained that
: writers In the press were determined
to maintain the sacred traditions which
had been handed down to them and
to use their enormous power wisely
to determine to WELD the lash with
Judgment and award the crown with dis
: elimination, and to make US able to boast
as we did now boast, that not in this old nor
: In the new world was there a Iress that could
/, hold a candle to ours cheers that while
we met to RECOGNIZES that truth that night, we
met to recognize another fact, which was
that writers who charm and interest us every
2 day were not always able to leave their fami.
lies, or to provide for their old age in as sat
isfactory a manner as could be wished 1t
was their duty-they who derived enjoyment
= from their labors-to endeavor, as far as pos
, slble, to provide against this emergency.
: And, therefore, he found himself asking
them, with all the ardor and earnestness of
which he was capable, to show their enthusi-
asm in the cause Of the press by a liberal
contribution to its funds. He concluded by
coupling with the toast the name of Lord
3 HouRhton, the president of the fund. Loud
cheers.