Saturday press. [volume] (Honolulu, H.I.) 1880-1885, 1885-01-03
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~. Se~.paper uaner. Ne,e.paper HtLic,,
Honoisi. Newspapers.

| have already discussed, IN a gen
eral way, what the subject matter in
daily and weekly newspapers ought 10
be We have to consider, specifically,
what newspapers ought to print both
for moral reasons and for consdera.
tons OF profit.
1t is a iavorite dogma Of pJpsninen,
local student of evolution Mat, in the
evolution Of morals. .thefe is time in
the history Of ,copfinunities, Of nations
and of Jsees at which immortality
is not immoral but is, on the contrary,
,he~highcst Of moral laws-Seb frese,-
4 'raffey For example, in the era OF
universal tumult when agriculture
was unknown or very imperfectly un-
derstood and men, living by the chase
or 10y pastoral pursuits made constant
war upon each other, or tribe on tribe,
or nation on nation-it was then the
hNtl VI N'til hiih ~ NH tNCll 'Ut VI
his neighboS whom he might reason
ably suspect Of designs either upon his
own life, his own herds or his own
hunting ground II he did not, he
might be murdered, despoiled OF served
to death. In those stirring times il
was moral to carry off by force your
neighbor's most comely and strapping
daughter, in order that your sons might
become stout spearsmen, tall archers
and good looking enough to delight
your fatherly heart
Many worthy journalists, apparently
reasoning similarly, hold that news
paper may proitably and honorably
cater to some of the worst desires OF
humanity in order to obtain circulation;
afterwards reforming by a carefully
graduated scale Of improvement until
perfect responsibility is attained. In
the United States the New York Her
aid is a conspicuous example Of the tvo-
luton Of newspaper morals.
| do not believe in the principle
more exactly, the un-principle above
outlined To my mind there should
be before the honorable journalist, an
ideal as high as that held up to the
students of John Hopkins University,
in the memorable words of the presi-
dent, Daniel c. Gilman "You have
been taught, young men, in this univer.
sity, to search for truth Let that be
the maxim Of your life. Find out, seize
hold OF, and never let go the pearl OF
great price. Do not mistake the counter
felt for the gem. Be afraid of error, OF
false inferences, of imperfect knowledge,
of bad logic. Keep your minds in sus-
pense rather than accept that which
seems to you false; but never, never be
afraid of the truth" And hold that
no honorable journalist will consent to
accept business success at the price Of
cowardly subserviency to policy.
But, altogether apart from moral con-
siderations, the matter which a news
paper ought to print is-to the con-
scientious editor-a source of continu.
Gus study and of almost continuous
anxiety.
Local news in small communities is
an endless worriment. There are few
communities SO small that interesting
local occurencies are not of daily hap
pening. Comparatively few Of those
happenings are reported. The reason
often is the inefficiency of reporters
either in gathering news or in present
ing it in readable shape; quite as often,
the reason is the real or assumed diff
dence of those who have news to furnish;
most often, the reason lies in the small
ness Of the reporting force or the
largeness of the field to be covered.
Given place as large as Honolulu
which is city of magnificent distan-
ces-and no one reporter can get one-half
the news that might be profitably (or at
least interestingly given to his readers.
Three men, at once industrious and
intelligent, would be small enough staff
OF reporters for a Honolulu paper
exclusive oftheregular shipping man.
Each then might be assigned to GER
tain portion of territory, and be re-
sponsible for the re-telling Of all the
happenings that took place within it.
To render each OF the three familiar
with the whole field, each mans terri
tory should be changed from time to
time and each should be given fair
share of the most arduous and exacting
reporting, which too often falls upon
one man.
In Honolulu, the shipping reporter
holds far more important position
than is generally considered. A good
shipping man has the power to make
his work not only OF value to merchants,
but of interest to the general reader.
His frs, duty is to be exact; his second, to
be interesting. Now think there is
no class OF men which numbers SO many
wide-awake, observing men as the
sailor class. The shipping man who i,
alive to his opportunities will make the
acquaintance OF all the sailors he can