Lexington weekly intelligencer. (Lexington, Mo.) 1871-1887, 1886-05-15
EDITORIAL ETHICS.
An Address Delivered. May II, BE.
fore the Missouri Press AssO-
citation, bY Alexander A.
l.esueur. Editor OF
the Lexington IN
lelligencer.

Mr.. freSluent, Ladies ana Gentle-
men of the Missouri Press Associa-
tion:-The term ethics when used in
its broadest meaning is synonym fof
moral philosophy, subject which in
its generic sense may easily be expand
ed to cover all the obligations of man
considered religiously, theoretically or
scientifically. For the purpose of the
remarks which l intend to submit, Mr..
President, upon the subject assigned to
Inc by you, simpler definition may be
found. AS the noun ethics signifies the
science of human duty, SO, applied to
this theme, it may be terseIy rendered
into editorial duty. Duty is a very
little word, and yet it comprehends all
the rest-the fear of God, the love of
man; truth, purity, cleanliness OF
thought, honesty of intent, earnestncss
of purpose, and perseverance to the
end.
II slept and dreamed that life was Beauty;
walked and found that Gfe was duty,''
As prosaic and hard as is the life OF
an editor [ imagine that there are lew
of us who have not had our roseal
visions of what we would do, for
church or state, for home or friends,
for education and morality, did we
possess the golden talisman; but the
vision, whether waking or sleeping,
beautiful, noble and grand though ii
be, must give way to that pent up
Utica which hedges us about. In
these sweet and blnshing days of
spring. when the bright blue skies are
tlecked with red and white, when the
hills are clad in waving green, when
the purling brook steals softly TO the
river, when the birds are twittering in
the new-Ieaved trees, when the daisy,
the pansy and the sweet lily of the val
ley put forth their modest tlowrets, if
an editor may be permitted to breathe
the fresh air of the meadows for an
hour amid the beauties of the season,
it is not strange that he has his fancics
of philanthrOphy, his castles in the air.
But at last, as in most lives, he finds
himself brought, with an iron grip,
into the narrow path marked ont for
| him in life. And yet is it narrow
Most things i'm this life are; but if the
way OF any man is broadened by noble
aspirations, by opportunities for good,
and by elevated and elevating dtfties,
is it not that of the editor? Looked al
from some outside points of view il
may be narrow enough. A certain
style of politician sees in editorial utter.
ances only evidences of schemes and
plots and sinister designs. The general
public is apt censOriOnsly To credit
much that is written to selfish aims.
The inevitable critic, who knows moth
ing of the labOrs imposed upon the edi
| fnr hn Il,
or the circumstances which sur.
capable of making a better journal
than he reads, is always there
The petty fault finder; the narrow
bieot; the fanatic upon this or that
question, have all their fling at the i'm
pulses and the motives of the editor
And yet in what profession is there
more of genuine philanthropy, of con
stantly recurring unseltish and disin-
terested work! In behalf of religion
of the political party, of science and n
art. the editor is the first who is APP
pealed to when the public conscience
or the public heart are to be touched.
| 1t Is not my province, to-day, tC
speak upon the extent of the influence
OF the press. That is we'll understood,
and very generally conceded. The MAJ
who scOrns 1t now because he canno
successfully use it, is forced, before ht
can succeed, to call ii to his aid And
who will say that, as eXe,f7blitied in tn,
editorial pages OF Onr magazines ani
newspapers, this influence is not toi
good? There may be evil in the press
there may be lmpurity, license, subser-
vlency to power or TO wealth ;incompe.
tency, seltishness; indeed all of thes,
are obvious in many places, but the,
are the impertections attendant upnt
all human effort and they are conspicn
Gus by reason of the fact that no Other
work Is SO open to the public eve.
Journalism is III its infancy as to time
1t Is only few short years, that in it,
present completeness rs To news an,
miscellany, and power as to elitoria
opinion, 1t was unknown From the
span like sheets of Il hundred wears ago
confined to few essays and advertise
menls, with the foreign news contain
ed in a month old letter from Paris ul
London, what strides have NOT bee,
made! If, then, its infancy is of surl
potential power what may not il,
strength be when it has reached tb,
full measure OF its more perfected man
hood?
In one half of the homes of our coun
try books are rarely read. What i.
known i'll them of even such familiar
authors as Macaulay, Gibbon, Carlyle
Shakespeare and Dickens? And vel
in most of these the current subjects o
the day are familiarIy and intellgently
discussed. That the newspaper ha,
largely supplamted other agencies %
intelligence and education is patent
and hence comes the responsibility anc
the duty.
The subject of this address wonl,l
hardly have been assigned to me if
had held the view that the highest pur.
pose OF newspaper is to make none,
for its owners. AS IA business invest
ment ii is no doubt true that the news
paper is legitimately and properly ex-
pected to be made profitable While
this is so, there is Il correIative oblIga
ton growing out of the relation thai