The new North-west. [volume] (Deer Lodge, Mont.) 1869-1897, 1885-08-28
MONTANA PRESS ASSOCIATION.
Address Delivered mt the Butte Midsummer
Meeting, August 81, 1885.
BY j. Il. HENDRy, ESQ.


of professional brethren, many or All o,
whom are older in years and in professional
experience than have the honor Of being
and any of whom, am confident, could as
sumo this arduous task with INFINITELY greater
success. But trust that my frequent lapses
from interest and instruction will be regard
ed In a charitable spirit, and that you will
attribute them to inability and inexperience,
rather than n malicious desire to be tiresome
would ask, too, that If sometimes appear
to be preaching what have not practiced,
you will not be hasty to invoke the curse
that belongs to him who, knowing the path
Of truth, does not follow it. The errors oil
the past have carried lessons for the future.
take it that we are not assembled AZ a
mere mutual admiration society, and that
you care to listen to no long. drawn glorifi'
cation of our common profession.
THE STORY OF THE PRESS
of its power, its mission, its duty-has been
the theme of such fertile minds and eloquent
tongues rs [ could not hope to initiate, even
were L addressing an audience composed en-
tirely of laymen Instead of an association OF
practical co-laborers, who may be reasonably
presumed to be sufficiently impressed with
the magnitude and importance of their cho
sen work. 1t is also to be presumed that the
majority, If not all. of the members of this
association have fixed upon some depart
ment of newspaper labor as their life profess
sion It should therefore be their aim to
study their work with as much care, and
with as close attention to details, rs is be-
stowed upon any other vocation. There are
PRIZES IN THE ARENA OF JOURNALISM,
but they fall to those who not merely com
bine the toilng hand with the active brain
but to those who bring to their work the
close practical study which every business
demands as the condition of success. The
public IL apt to regard an editorial chair as a
position that can be filed by any person who
wields a ready pen. We of the Inside know
differently, but perhaps all OF US have not
quite entered upon afull realization that moi
only are certain natural endowments neces'
sary to our business, but we can proitably
brethren, and every item of our own work
should be looked upon as training to guide
our later endeavors. If we except the chair
of journalism lately established at Cornell,
and the emeritus professorship at Harvard,
the schools furnish no distinctive training
for editorial work. He who chooses that
rugged road TO fame or competence must en-
ter upon it with only the preparatory course
of a general education, or with the more
practical, If more arduous, training of long
apprenticeship IN the mechanical depart
ment of newspaper work-at the case and
the imposing stone. A very large proper
ton of those who essay to be editors and
publishers of a newspaper seize upon the
business with the hope or untried belief that
they will
DEVELOP AN ADAPTABILITY
for the work. OF these experimenters, these
raw recruits, the majority fail ignomniously
before they have suffered the hard school of
experience to mould such energy and talent
as they may possess into the peculiar form
required by the press. The editorial profess
sion, more than any other, presents an ex-
ample of that evolution which is accom-
plished by "natural selection and the sur
vival of the fittest." The greatest journalists
of the country have reached their proud emf
nence only after many years of active work
have brought
THE EXPERIENCE THAT INsUREs SUCCESS.
We cannot afford to follow any hap hazard
happy go-lucky system any more than can
the lawyer or physician. And the Montana
Press Association, whose Inauguration has
been attended by such promising omens,
will prove one of the most powerful engines
for mutual improvements sort OF informal
training school, where each member can
learn something from the experience or ideas
of his fellows.
We are gathered as an association of edi-
tors and publishers for
THE FURTHERANCE OF THE INTERESTS OF
OUR COMMON BUSINESS,
10 consider how we can improve our papers,
and as consequence, improve our pecuni.
arv condition; for 1t may be laid down as a
rule that, other things being equal, the best
paper makes the most money. Though the
public does not always seem to show proper
appreciation of the fact, and though enough
Of tie Bohemian spirit enters into the con-
stitution Of every true journalist to make
him esteem money but little for mere mon
eys sake, yet money we must have to sup
port position of becoming responsibility in
society and to oil the wheels of progress rep.
rssented by our papers. Our newspapers are
OUR MEANS OF LIVELIHOOD,
and how to honorably obtain from their
n a mar aY NJ
our labor and investments, Is n vital ques-
ton, just as it Is with the merchant or the
farmer. We bid for public confidence and
patronage; we seek to draw and retain the
support of a newspaper-reading public. We
of the Montana Press Association are assem-
bled to promote these ends by exchanging
views, making cooperative arrangements,
and cultivating personal acquaintance. And
let me say that from mere utilitarian point
of view, this last item
THE CULTIVATION OF PERSONAL RELA-
TIoNs-
IL by no means Insignificant. Editors as a
class are prone to attack each other, and to
fill their columns with coarse personal abuse
of their brethren. One sinister effect Of this
policy Is its pronounced tendency to drag
the editorial profession from its high estate |
II degrades the press before the public eye. |
group of editors constantly quarreling |
among themselves presents the spectacle of |
a lot Of low fellows who are deserving of
general exeeration-each of them guilty of
all that Is said of him by his fellows, and per- |
haps more. In the eyes of the public It Is |
dog eat dog" Furthermore, it Is disgust |
ing to the general reader. A few morbid |
tastes may delight in such personalities, but |
the common-sense reader, upon whom we |
must depend for genuine appreciation and /
support, Is annoyed beyond mea-
sure. I appeal to any of you to tell me If |
quarrel between editors, conducted through |
The columns Of their papers, of which you |
are disinterested reader, Is not ridiculous /
and disgusting Next time you feel like pro- |
voking or carrying on quarrel with youl /
neighbor, put yourself in a sensible readers /
place and remember your bread and butter |
We cannot afford to stand up before the pub /
lie eye and scalp one another for the delec- /
alton of a mob of hoodlums, while the best /
'ense of our community of readers turns /
away in disgust; and, IL 1t overlooks the /
does so with weakened respect |
or the transgressor. ........
But criticism for fellow editors and the
products OF their pens is frequently not |
merely proper but necessary.
IT Is OFTEN OUR DUTY TO DIFFER
most positively with the profession or public |
bearing OF fellow editor; 1t Is often neces-
ary to call attention to his professional or
sven personal faults, and to contradict and |
lone in courteous spirit and without any
preach of professional etiquette or Of the de- |
,orum which should mark
THE INTERCOURSE OF GENTLEMEN. -'I
There Is no member of this association who
s not entitled to the respect of all men;
much more should he command it from his
elbow journalists who may be supposed To
ecognize the responsibility and high order
If our common profession.
Where no personal acquaintance exists.
here Is little regard for personal feelings.
But such gatherings as this, repeated at In
ervals, promote friendship, soften preju-
Ices, obliterate baseless antagonisms, and
make US brethren in acquaintance as we are
n business. 1t seems to me that in this par.
ocular a marked benefit has already resulted
Ind this avoidance of coarseness should be
deserved In all personal criticism It Is very |
the province of the newspaper to
iscuss the records or qualifications Of men |
or seeking public position. 1t IL |
ppear TO be duty to disapprove of their
ublic acts or aspirations, that duty can be
most effectively performed in spirit of de-
ency, gentifty and fair conscience, remem.
ering that such men have friends, and that
hensive language will convert them into
nemies Of yonr paper, and will not add one
D Its list of friends.
FAIR AND HONORABLE CRITICISM
! ever most impressive, and shows greater
lRnity and stronger case than do coarse
nd scandalous language, unwarrantable de. |
unciations and assertions that cannot be
Maintained. do not mean to convey the
nference that paper may be successfully |
onducted and even occupy place in the
Elections Of all men. He Is either an mac
We or an Insignificant person who lives 10 ,
us crowded, struggling world without occa-
FAR nrx xrvff H. -. - II