The Iola register., 1886-04-23

/ uoUS0 70 mUHOoH0 80U Oc~k4Uo1Ds ~ ~
suppose that % many papers would give
prominence to these things II the people
did not demand thsmf I 30 into the meat
market Of foreign city, and I hnd that
the butchers hang up on the most conspic-
| uous hooks meat that II tainted, while the
meat that 10 fresh and savory 10 put away
without any especial care. come 70 the
conclusion that tho people Of that city
love tainted meat. You know very well
that If the great mass Of people in this
country get hold Of . Newspaper and there
are in il no runaway matches, no broken.
| up families, NO defamation Of men In high
position. they pronounce the paper in.
sipid. They say, "It is shockingly dull
tonight" believe IL II one Of the trials
Of the newspaper press, that the people OF
| this country demand moral slush instead
| Of healthy, intellectual food. Now, you
| are respectable man, an intelligent man,
and paper comes into your hand. You
open it. and there are three col.
umns Of splendidly written edi.
torial, recommending some moral
sentiment, or evolving some scientific
theory. In the next column there is mis-.
erable, contemplate divorce case. Which
do you read first? You dip into the edi-
torial long enough to say: "Well, that's
very ably written" and you read the
divorce case from the "long primer" type
at the top, to the "nonpareil" type at the
bottom. and then you ask your wifs If she
has read it! o. it is only a case o: supply
and demand. Newspaper men are no fools.
They know what you want. and they give
it to You. believe that il the church and
the world bought nothing but pure, honest
and healthful newspapers, nothing but
pure. honest and healthful newspapers
would be published. II you should gather
all the editors and reporters of this coun-
try in one great convention. and then ask
of them what kind of q paper they wonld
prefer to publish, I believe they would
unanimously say: "We would prefer TO
publish an elevated paper" So long As
there is m inquitous demand, there will be
An inquitous supply. make no apology
for debauched newspaper. hut I arn say
ing these things in order to divide the re-.
sponsibility between those that print and
those who read.
Another temptation of the newspaper
profession is the great allurement that
surrounds them. Every occupation and
profession has temptations peculiar to
itself. and the newspaper profession is not
an exception. The great draught, as you
know, is on the nervous forces, and the
brain is racked. The laundering political
speech must read we'll for the sake of the
party, and so the reporter. or the editor,
has to make it read well, although every
-, r. -,
language. The reporter must hear all that
an inaudible speaker, who thinks It is vui-
gar to speak out, says; and it must he
right the next morning or the next night
in the papers, though the night before the
whole audience sat with its hand behind
its ear in vain trying to catch it. This
man must go through killing night-work.
He must go into heated asssmblages, and
into unventilated audience-rooms that are
enough to take the life out Of him. He
must visit court-rooms which are almost
always disgusting with rum and tobacco.
He must expose himself at the fire. He
must write in fetid alley-ways, Added
to all that he must have hastv
mastication and irregular habits. To
bear up under this tremendous nerv.
Gus strain they are tempted 10 ard-
fetal stimulus, and how many thousands
have gone down under that pressure God
only knows. They must have something
to counteract the wet, they must have
something to keep out the chill, and after .
scant nights sleep they must have some.
thing to revive them for the mornings
work. That is what made Horace Greeley
such q stout temperance man.
Another trial of this profession Is the
fact that no one seems to care for their
souls. They feel bitterly about it, though
they laugh. People sometimes laugh the
loudest when they feel the worst. They
are expected to gather up religious pro.
ceedings and to discuss religious doctrines
in the editorial columns, but who expects
them to be saved by the sermons they pho-
nograph, or by the doctrines they discuss
in the editorial columns: The world looks
upon them as professional. Who breaches
to reporters and editors. Some of them
came from religious homes, and when they
left the paternal rool. whoever regarded or
disregarded, they come or with fathers
benediction and a mothers prayer. They
never think of those good old times, but
tears come into their eyes, and they move
around this great, roaring metropolis
homesick. o. if they only knew what
helpful thing 1t is for q man to put his
weary head down on the boso-n Of a sym.
pathetic Christ! He knows how nervous
and tired you are. He has . heart large
enough to take in all your interests in this
world and the next. o, men of the news
paper press, you sometimes get sick of this
world, it seems so hollow and unsatisfying.
If there are any people in all the earth that |
need God, you are the men, and you shall |
have Him if only this day you implore His |
mercy.
Let me ask all men connected with the |
printing press that they help us more and |
more in the effort to make the world ber-
ter. I charge you in the name Of God, be. |
fore whom you must account for the tire.
mendous influence you hold in this
to consecrate yourselves to
higher endeavors. You are the men to
fight back this invasion of corrupt lit.
erature. Lift up your right hand and
swear new allegiance to the cause Of phil
anthropy and religion. And when, at
last, standing on the plains of Judgment
you look out upon the unnumhered throngs
ever whom you have had influence, may
it be found that you were among the
mightiest energies that lifted men upon
the exalted pathway that leads to the re-
nown of Heaven. Better than to have sat
in editorial chair, from which, with the
finger Of type, you decided the destinies
of empires, but decided them wrong, that
you had been some dungeoned exile, who,
by the light Of window iron-grated. or
'craps of New Testament leaf, picked up
rom the hearth. spelled out the story Of