The Worthington advance. [volume] (Worthington, Minn.) 1874-1908, 1881-11-17
ALNA6E ON newspapers.

Their Cylinder tho Front Wheels OF the
Lords Chariot-the Sorts ofEyes That .
Newspaper Has-Somo Of the blessings Of
Froo Press.
Rev. Dr.. Talmsge Of Now York, took
two texts on Sunday morning for q sermon
about the newspapers. One was "And the
the wheels were full Of Eyes," His second
text was, For all the Athenians and strang-
ers which were there spent their time in
nothing else but either to tell or hear some
new thing" he said: I address you on SUBJ
ject you have never heard presented the
newspaper. Thank God that their wheels
ing statistic: that in the year 1870 the num-
Der of copies Of literary and political news
papers published in this country was
!, 500, OO6, 600! What church, what reform
or, what Christian man, can disregard
these things? tell you, my friends, that
q good newspaper is the grandest blessing
people of this century-the erandest
temporal blessing. The theory
is abroad that anybody can makea news
paper with the aid of q capitalist. The
fact is that fortunes are swallowed up every
year in the vain effort to establish news
papers. The large papers swallow up the
small ones. The big whale eats about fifty
minnows. We have 1000 dailies and
weeklies in the United States and Canadas,
and only thirty six are half century old.
The average life of a newspaper is five years.
Most of them die of cholera infantum.
LauRhter.] It is high time that it was
understood that the most successful way to
sink fortune and keepis sunk ii to start a
newspaper. man with an idea starts the
Universal Gazette or the Millennium Ad-
vocate. Finally the money is all
spent and the subscribers won-
der Why their papers do not come.
Lasgtter.] Let me tell you that if you
have an idea, either moral. social, political.
or religious, you had better charge on the
lished. If you cant climb your own back
fence, don't try the Matterhorn. II you
can't eail a SLOT p, don't try to navigate the
Great Eastern. To publish q newspaper
requires the skill, precision, vigilance.
strategy and boldness OF a commander in
chief. To edit newspaper one needs to
be statesman, geographer, statistician,
and o far as all acquisitions are concerned.
encyclopedia! If you have q notion to
start and publish a newspaper, take it for
granted thut you are threatened with soften
ing of the brain. Take your pocket-b book
ana throw it iuto your wife's lap. Rush up
to Bloomingdale asylum and surrender
yourself before you do something desper-
ate. [Lauehter.]
Our newspapers are repositories of
knowledge and are constantly lifting the
people into the sunlight. Newspapers
knowledge makes up the structure Of the
worlds heart and brain, and decides the
fate of churches and of nations. Adams,
jefferson, Franklin, Clinton, NIL had their
hands in printing press. Most Of the
good books Of the day have come out in
periodicals. Macaulays essays, Carlyle's
essays. Ruskin's, ralfourd's. and others
have first appeared in periodicals. Ifone
should see in life nothing in the way of
literature but the Bible, Shakespear, die
tionary, and good newspaper. he would
for the opening of the next. Agood news
plants are made because the evil is re-
ported as we'll as the good. But a news
paper that merely presents the
fair and beautiful side of society is
Misrepresentation. If children come in
to the worlds active life and find it differ.
ent from what they had believed, they will
be incompetent for the struggle. Com
plant is sometimes made that sin is set up
in great primer type and righteousness in
nonpareil. Sin is loathsome make it 80. Vir-
tue is beautiful; make it so. great i'm
pro. ement in newspapers would be to drop
their impersonality. It would add poten-
cy to articles to see articles signed. 1t
eeems to me that no honorable man would
write an article that he would be ashamed
to put his name to. What is q private citi-
zen to do when Misrepresentation is null
tiplied 10000 or Sc. 900 times? A wrong
done a mans character in q newspaper is
more virulsnt than one done in private life.
It seems to me that it would he great ad-
vantage to the literature Of this country, if
men could get the good they write, and be
held responsible for the evil they write.
Another improvement would be o univer-
sity education for journalists, as for the
other professions. NJ profession requires
more culture and education than that Of
journalism. There must be editorial pro-
fessorates in our colleges.
The newspapers serve an important
function as the chroniclers of passing
events. They describe for the benefit Of
future historians all ecclesiastical,
literary, social, political, international.
hemispherieal. They are the reservoirs of
history: They are also blessing in their
newspaper will be the right wing of the
apocalyptic angel. The cylinders of the
Christian printing press will be the front
wheels of the Lords chariot. The music
that it makes mark not in diminuendo,
but in crescena0!"