The weekly clarion. [volume] (Jackson, Miss.) 1863-1882, 1879-06-11
Press COnyention-.-The Country Press.
Address of Hon Geo. W. Harper, Delivered
ST Pasgagoula, june 4, 1873.
GENrLENrS OF THE Pass ASSOCIATION:

Address of Hon. Geo. W. Harper, OsIlNeEeu
ST Pasgagoula, June 4, 1879.
GENTLEMEN OF THE PRESS ASSOCIATION:
If YOU expect from me, on this occasion, snch
( am ESSAY as that recited in vour hearing Twelve
mon MS a.so at Vick> burg on such an one rs tlat
/ of two wears ago at Holly Springs or such an
/ one as Thar Of four years ago 1T hoSclusko-yY"
4 grW b. Disappointed.
I sayiSt invited YOU to feast OF flowers ana
poetry; and in each ease the entertainment was
/ a feast, indeed; awakening our tehdertst lee'-
. ings aud sensibiiJies, and transporting our
/ thoughts fIneies and affections, even as the
/ evening breeze in May, in the odorous hover
/ garden, watts the perfume OF thousand open
/ Inc flowers.
T hide OF sentiment. httlc OF poetry, niue Oh
/ what is called eiaquenee, IN your E>S'NiSt lor
Z the present occasion. Born ami reared l." man ;
estate among the r0ck-bount ana IRON az
! hills and mountains OF Virginia, fancy, poetry
I and eloquence did not stop to make a lodgnvnt
with me | was invited To quite different least
I | was assigned place among those who were
/ 10 eschew poetry and song and devote their
energies and lahors to the stern realities OF HE
to hard work and hard knocks, among the
! actuaities in their most practical and rugged
form.
/ Gentlemen YOU will have neither eloquence
nor poetry at this hour, but | hope to entertain
/ Won with thoughts and suggestions eminently
{ practical and which, | trust, may prove useful
/
/ " and otherwise, in whatever may promise to
remove the burdens from the struggling Press
OF Mississippi.
In the region of country in which my youth
/ was spent, there are but two classes OF people
but two grand divisions Of society. one class
or division work top u the ground. They
/ are Supcrintcndcnts, cashiers and clcrks-theN
/ count in and count out the money-dress scru-
pulousiy wrll-ride in the open air-thcH enjoy
/ life The other great class or division work
! almost exclusively pp8er He ground. They are
0 l. inn. ...lI
in working out iron ore, and in blasting out
rock They have a hard life and hard labor i
their lot in the bowels OF old mother earth,
shut ont from the genial sunshine, and cut of
/ from the gentle and refreshing hreezes OF heav-
/ en-. Nature, prodigal as she sometimes il in her
Observation-Disclosures her hand often seems
] has not smiled on that class. They are not born
10 fortune TO fame-and their pathway
through life may lie said truly to be a rugged
one.
In this favored Southland. gentlemen, there
is no underground teoyk We all occupy places
on top gf tie grosu4d. We all enjoy the genial
sunshine, the refreshing shower, the passing
breeze, alkc-and we all witness the grandeur
| of the sunrise and the glory departed when he
sinks 10 rest in the far distant western horizon.
But, gentlemen, If there is class here, in
this bright and beautiful land, whose task is
comparahle-who-e toll and isolation verges TO
the lab0rs OF the earth workers in the mining
diStricts-I believe that class is to be found
among the legitimate editors and publishers Of
Mississippi.
NtHtItmtn OF the country newspaper Press,
you my brothers, and as a band Of brothers
we are assembled here on this interesting occa-
sion for free consultation
BY communion of the banner,
Battle-searred but glorious banner,
BY the baptism OF the banner
Brothers of one church we;
Nor creed nor factions divide us;
Nor race, nor nation, can deride us,
And whatever fate betide us,
Brothers ever let rs be-"
Our caIIiD0 in lifa i. ~. f,,n Of
responsibility, as its duties varied and la
borious; and the public demands more of us,
and grants us fewer favors and less proportion
ate remuneration-than any other class of in
telligent laborers. No men Of amy Of the pro-
fessions-no men Of any Ct the multiplied trades
and occUEatioHs-are called upon soon to
tention; and yet when the great public inter
ests are firmly established, when the great bat
tie has been fought and the great victory won,
and everything begins to go as merrlv as rings
out the notes of marriage bell-who is sooner
or more severely left to take care of himself
to paddle his own canoc-than tLs country
newspaper man? And then, when error is com
mitted-errQT Of judgment, of word, of act
who so soon brings down Upon his unfortunate
head the combined Indignation aad wrath of
the cOmmunity-as the village editor? And as
II the world IS under compulsion to SHOW, its
extreme lngratltude toward the plIhtcr, who
desert the country Newspaper sooner, or plunge
the dagger deeper into its vitals than the very
men for whom it has in times past labored the
most diligently and efficiently?
When it may be to their interest 20 do so,
Demag0gueS may UndeEYaiue and degrade the
influence eXerted by the country Press; when
they can no longer command its power-placc-
hunters may deride it, when it is too upright
to swerve from the line of strict integrity ras-
Gals may threaten it; but, gentlemen, there is
an influence and power, which always has .
and Always viii be- exercised by the well con
Quoted and conscientious newspaper The best
elements IN every society have felt it and .een
II IN the p4St-the best eleme;.t> viii see it and
teeI 1t IN all yeat- 70 come. Aud although in the
steady and faithful discharge Of duty, as YOU
see 1t, storms may sometimes gather around
you, threatening and fcarfuI-and pregnant
apparently, with public Indignation, remember
that "t''th IS mighty, aad must DrcyoU" and
that IN this land Of intelligence virtue and free
thought, and where error cannot long prevail /
the sober second thought has often sent up to
the highest rounds Of fame those whom itbe
coffuptlonlsts, or the mob, but hgief .nnc be- /
voured
When in the discharge Of honest duty. gen /
temeh' you should not quail before the dema- /
SoS4t' the place-hunter or the ruffian. To Won 1
the Press IS entrusted. You are its guardians 4
/ on must be the judges as to where duty leads
Tor you are responsible for the influence wheth-
er good or evil, exerted through your columns
ana produced upon the public mind You must
De independent; yet you must hare = Geeent !
ana dpldihg resnect ~ thG upIhiGns and iudg- /
hl'Ht "i others.' But it is well for you to re-
htmhcf continually, and never forget that
win the most conscious and scrupulous iour-
nalism-and with the most self-sacrifcing and
truly heroic efforts to please-you cannot and
VIII not escape from the fate denounced In
iiamlets malediction. g BE .Lou as chaste as
ealumny."
But, Gentlemen, with your permission, we
VIII approach more nearly your business inter
ests-lndeed, take IN hand the situation Of the
TODAY. " 'e' 1t
In my judgment, this is decidedly the most
depressed and gloomy oil in, IL,
ourh!llsm IN Mississippi during nv personal
1Hperence OF third of century Ibe non
lauon OF the State has greatly increased prr-
maps doubled, within the period end H. fat;1;
les Tor gathering and disseminating intelJioence
ga larldiy multiplied, and perhaps the coun-
y paper Is found more universally in the circle
u In ,Iie lntelSent family now, THAN it 30
fears ago; and the influence of the properly
conducted paper is perhaps greater now than
yer before But, gentlemen we encounter
, ul.les, very diseonragng difficulties, that
" ere formerly unknown.
1nlrty years ago your Legislature did not so
ar forget itself, and far disregardthe riobts in
ms state OF aboring class, as to declare nv
'I,de' actlof Iee Ftlfe g ke paid 10 the
nch right was set UP in the olden times. ON
ne contrary, IN the grand old times of thirty .
ears ago your Legislators, chosen from the
most Intelligent and substantial and natriotic !
'leInent IN your then greatly favored State I :
COX peculiar pride-in fostering the country |
ress IN placing it on firm aasla, ana build :
~ II. at.o increasing its usefulness and 4
,oWef; IN extending its influence and ensurino
IS independence of thought and action. To a
ne Hrentlsses, the Claibornes, the Sharkeys, .
nc nc McNutts, the Bingamans, the Browns-s,li q
lustrlous names IT AixsiSsippis bfiehtest DAYS
II vac Pleasure W extend kind Offices md I
hheIal patronage to the country Press. In !
iced, in those heroic times, the country news .
aper man found close friend, an adviser n T.
rusty defender and prop, in every Mississippi 4
Iatesman-ln every public man who had 1T =
Fart the good 81 the I,esEle aud the honor and =,
l9iy Hl tiie common wealth. II
tate Senate two or three ,iearr o., -. /