St. Johnsbury Caledonian. [volume] (St. Johnsbury, Vt.) 1867-1919, 1884-08-28
"EnterpriSe" and "NeWS."

The New York Graphic says: "A
contemporary has evidently had the
happiness of informing an old man of
his daughters shame. The misfortune
of the daughter happened years ago,
was nearly forgotten, and had been
atoned for but it has been raked to
the light by an impecunious political
clergyman and the newspaper press,
and the old man learned of it for the
first time yesterday. Perhaps the con
temporary is to be congratulated"
The enterprising journalism the
Graphic refers to has plenty of illus
trations the country through we heard
Il very respectable and decent Yer
monter once speak with enthusiastic
admiration of the ''enterprise" of Il
certain Vermont editor, when, if he
had spoken accurately, he would have
spoken not of his enterprise but of his
agile, restless, ceaseless and variegated
Obscenity. "He is a nasty creature
but he gives us the news" said another.
No, he doesn't, he gives You current
scandal, irresponsible gossip, baseless
rumors, picturesque lies y; he does not
give yOu legitimate news at all he
gives you the nOisOme eXhalatiOns of
lHt SJtNS Iut Ol
brOthels the slime and seething malice
of the worthless wretches of every
community the scOundrels whose ar
rival in hell would make even that big
misery more miserable. And it is
this kind of journalism that men who
ought to know better call "enterprise"
and ''news." If the shooting of scan
dial that has no responsible author, if
the circulation of stories that have no
respectable authenticity stand for en-
terprise ; if Obscenity is spice, if rot is
reason, then the newspaper that for
gets that it has any higher responsible
lty than Il peanut stand, which is to
sell as many peanuts as possible, is the
best possible newspaper; but if Il
newspaper stands for discrimination
between authentic intelligence, which
belongs to the public to know, and
sinking scandals that, true or false,
are of no possible public moral con-
Germ, then it is not enterprising to be
nasty, nor spicy to be obscene. We
remember Il few years ago case in
point. A woman who in her youth
had been of frail character squaIely
reformed she married Il man of per-
fectly respectable character, and led a
correct life. The sincerity of her re-
formation won her many friends, and
she was received into upright society
in the town in which she lived. A
dozen years elapsed. A dirty, grOvel-
ing journalist came to the town. He
learned of the corner lOafers and sd
loon gOssips that this woman had once
il blot on her escutcheOn, and he pro-
ceeded to bleat this fact to the world
in the most offensive manner. The
woman had for fifteen years led an
upright life with decent husband !;
the community had forgiven her and
welcomed her back to the decent cir
cles of society, and yet this ugly, NAL
cvOlent, depraved, malodOrus and We
nal journalist, who had prOstituted
himself to the fullest extent that ma
ture had clothed him with capacity
for uncleanliness and impurity, came
along he acted the part OF reSurrec-
ZIONIST of rot; he brutally dug up this
wOman's buried shame and flung it in
her face, and men who ought to know
better call that newspaper energy and
enterprise. To the credit of the com
munity in which the woman lived, be
it said, they loathed the enterprising
journalist who was so brutal that he
could not have a particle of sympathy
for woman whom Christ freely for
gave and blessed with his good wishes
and hopes for her perfect moral recOv-
cry.
When falsehOOd is trickled out
sOlemnly as fact ; when rumor is paint
ed with the color of reason when a
newspaper is nothing better than the
spittoon of society, into which every
fool, knave and malignant expectorates
his private and public hates as ''frOzeu
TRUTH" it is not time to remind the
world that corner gossip and sidewalk
scandal is not news, and that the
printing of current obscenity is moi
enterprise Rutland Herald.