Seattle daily post-intelligencer. [volume] (Seattle, W.T. [Wash.]) 1881-1888, 1884-06-19

About twenty delegates reported a
the convention, which opened yestsrda,
forenoon This number was Iareel,
en4mented by members of the Ioca
Union Ms Margaret lie Sourd o.
olympia, President Of the wes.err
washington Division, led the dsvotiona
After prayer and roll call Of
ofncers and delegates. Mrs.. A. I. Bur
NELL a. Recording Secretary, made tn,
annual report.
Inc report Of the Organizer, Prof
M attic L. Hansee, showed that durins
the year Unions we're established a,
Seattle, Coupeville. Semiahmoo, Fern.
dale, Anacortes, whatcom, Oak HArbo,
ana white River. The Union at tbs
latter place was effected under the
auspices OF Mrs. L. V. Ward. Many
other places will receive attention in the
near future.
At 2 p. m. the devotional exercises
were conducted by Mrs. Malone. The
annual address Of the President was
delivered, after which the following in.
terestlng report was gwen:
INFLUENCING THE PREss.-
By Mrs. G. X. Jenner.l
The field of work to which | an as
signed Is 50 immense. and my name,
standing opposite the department OF
" Influencing the Press" appears so in
that | confess TO have been
occupied during good share of the
time since last fall when | was ap-
pointed), not in trying to find where |
might introduce the thin edge of the
temperance wedge, bat in surveying the
broad held, so rich In grand realities
and Rrander possibilities, and measur-
ing our ability with the amount of work
that should be accomplished in West
ern Washington.
So my paper will not be as much a
report of what has been done as an
epitome of what we hope the w. G. L.
U. may do IN the near future.
When We consider the eagerness with
which the multitudes await the distri-
button of the daily or weekly news
paper. and the minuteness attending
the reading of 1t, We feel truly the
Press Is the power that moves the
world"
Wonderful events follow each other
so closely IN this nineteenth century,
we have become possessed with crav-
ing for the sensational, and We expert
ence sort of excited expectancy as we
review the columns of a morning or
evening daily" in our search for
new and startling. We see
the great drama of life in Its social,
political or commercial phases, with
the scenic effects produced by genius or
by riches or by poverty, and
the greater drama of death portrayed
before Us. For half day or a day we
gaze, then, firing, impatiently await the
of the scene.
In the true sense, is the world moved
by the average newspaper! Rather, do
not many OF our editors, understanding
well the general opinions and tastes of
their patrons. pamper them TO the fullest
IS a business transaction? Occasionally
one forRets for time the means Of
said to be involved. rises
above pure business calculations, and
expressing his best thought in an edi-
torial worthy of record, incites those
who read to nobler ambitions. Happy
would IL be for society, if its thought.
thus lifted, might be held above its
usual plane. until firmly established.
But IN our zeal for righteous cause,
let us not be too exacting of our news
paper men. IL has been said that "only
4 giant like Horace Greeley could be at
once q reformsr and an editor" Thanks
to the worlds progress the giants are
in number; and, indeed,
wherever We find a newspaper estab-
lished on firm business basis, conse-
quently an independent enc, we have
come to expect in the editorial chair, If
not giant, at least man greater than
the average. Today we need ne Cali
leos. We know that "the world moves. ;"
The high toned press of the land is ole
Of the great levers, and the cultivated
minds and Christianized hearts of the
people is the fulcrum used. God is the
fJrce that sets il in motion.
But what shall We say of the pigmy
editors OF the worthless publications
Of the day ? Sisters, two of the 70
fined ladies of Seattle, the President of
the Ladies' Relief Society and another
active member of the same, on one of
their recent visits of charity, found a
bright, motherless girl of eleven years
of age attending to the house and car
ing for a child of four years, sick at the
time with measles. On looking around
the room they discovered as the only
reading matter visible a copy Of the
Police Gazette. Their womanly instincts
were shocked that a girl of such tender
years should be thus exposed to the per-
nieious influence of 30 vile sheet. They
were informed of whom she obtained
it. DO you feel surprise when tell you
il was from a woman
The little girl is supplied with health
full reading now, and those iadiss are
aroused to the necessity of Legislative
action that shall suppress such litera.
ture. Shall We not unite our voices and
votes with theirs, and in the fall, If pos.
sible, make this one of the issues OF
election !? think it is within our prov.
iuoe, nay, it is our duty =, to do. Tall
the matter over in your respective
Unions. Let the local press committee.
take it ia hand. aud securing the 90 Up,
Grafton OF good newspapers, agitate the
question until all shall have Leard, and
let as not forget TO pray for success in
this direction. Governor Cleveland, OF
New York, has approved the law amend
ing section 81 of the Penal Code, m TX
ing IL q misdemeanor to sell, OF give oil
show such publications TO ninors. The
latest Eastern paper brings the news
and wish we might follow 10 the foot
steps of the Empire State as regards thii
matter, as also that of introducing tenn.
peranee text books in the public schools
In reporting the favors the press has
extended 20 our local unions, should
be bat inaccurate il | were TO attempt
% particularize. The work of the w
@. L. u. IL 30 comparatively new. w,
have accomplished less with more labor
than more systematic arrangement
would have helped as TO; hence nv re
port is not complete.
I think l may safely state that no
one paper In Western Washington hai
refused us assistance in the matter ol
local advertising. Several have allowed
as space for clippings. and We have evel
been treated with courtesy, however
troublesome our appeals have been, Of
however unbusinesslike.
We hope oar editors think that feel
inc OF gratitude in the hearts of some
OF their patrons IL worth something u
them. We assure them thus pubiicly
that the feeling exists, and although II
will not furnish " bread and butter q
use the term because il is 80 express
siyc), We hold ourselves in readiness q
divide crust, when, from standing fol
principle, We all cone n crusts. In tn