Essex County herald. [volume] (Guildhall, Vt.) 1873-1964, 1886-05-07

periods and the semicolons aud the exclama-
ton points AMI the asteriskS Plenty Of
abuse but no sympathy / have for many
years tod in positions where l have seen
the whole process going on, and know all
about the annoyances and tho maltreatments
and the sutferings, and propose this morn
ing TO declare them, praying Almighty God
that a word of helpfulneSs may come TO
many who need the help, while 1 hope to I'M
pres the minds Of those outside the
newspaper profession with certain facts
that will make them more lenient and kind
in your treatment of those inside of it.
In the first place, one of the great trials of
the newspaper profession comes from the
fact that more of the shams of the world
pass before it than before any other profess
sion. Every day through the newspaper Of
flee 20 all the weaknesses of the word. The
vanities that wan5 to be pulled, the revengls
that want to b. wreaked, the mistakes that
want 30 he correcte l, the men who wantto be
set right who never were right, the meanneSs
that wants to get its wares announced in the
editorial column to save the expense Of the
advertising column, the cracll-b-aiued phil
osophers who go through with stories as
long as their hair and a gloomy as their fin
ger nails in mourning because bereft OF
soap, and all the long procession of boTes
VINO come to say five minutes and stay an
hour. It is wonder to me that the editors
and reporters of ths lal | have any faith
left either in God, man o. woman. Re-
fore no class of re )ple on earth do so many
OF the shams and the weaknesses of the word
pass When | find some of them scepti-
cal do not wonder at it.
wonder they believe in any
thing. II the editor or reporter had not in
his early home, OF has not in his present
hoTe some model of earnestness of character,
or unless he throws him self upon the uphold
ing grace of God, he will make temporal and
everlasting shipwrecl.
Another trial of the newspaper profession
comes from inadequate compensation. There
Is great rejoicing ever and anon in this land,
because the price Of newspapers has gone
down, from five cents to four, from four
to three, from three to two, from two
TO one. There are men who would like
to have the price go down to half
a cent never rejoice at such
time because it means hardship perjury do
nestle privation, starvation. You may not
see where it strikes, but it strikes. No news-
paper in the lan1 can afford to be published
at less than five cents a sheet. Through the
rivalrias OF newspapers it is necessary that
prices come down. but oh what suffering it
means, what hardship, what trial. Since the
days of Razle5t and Sheridan and John Mil
ton and the wall of Grub at London, liter
ary toll has never been appreciated.
Oliver Goldsmith, entertaining his
friends, has to sit in the win
dow, because there is only one chair.
LinnHus has to sell his splendid work for one
ducat De Foe, the author of 2lS volumes
dies penniless. The learned johnson had
such shabby clothes that he could not dine
with gentlemen, so he sat behind the screen
and dined while the gentlemen on ths other
side the screen Were apolauding his works.
Butler, after throwing the world into fits of
To-, t1v, 4 lid -
crust. So it has always been. Manual toll
seems to have grudge against literary
toll, and it practically says: "You come
down here and shove plane and break
cobblestones and pound the shoe last,
and get an honest living like the rest of us in
stead of sitting there idly scribbling!" But
God knows there is no harder toll on earth
than literary toll 1t isnota question of hard
times: it is Characteristic of all times. The
world has no appreciation of the immense
financial, physical, intelle ctual exhaustion of
literary toll, AMI SO the world begrudges five
cents and SAYS: Cant you make it fourm
an then bagrudgcs four and says: Cant
you make it three?" and begrudges the three
cents for a newspaper ard says Cant you
make it two" and grind AMI grind and grind,
and in that MIL are ground up the bodies
and the minds and the souls of men and
women. The world dips its chaice into the
blood and says: aha! the price of news
papers has gone down." While there are
men in the newspaper profession who have
made their fortunes, tell you men and
women of America that to the most it is
struggle for bread. Let me say to all such
in the presence of an unappreciatjve world,
you had better when you go home at night.
worn and nervous and exhausted, kneel
down and commend your case to God who
has promised to be your God and the God of
your children after you
App irio1 Of tho MAJ TrnpnCSipu
comes in the diseased appetite abroad for un-
healthy intelligence. We cry out against
the murders and the scandals to which thu
newspapers give prominence. Why do so
many of the newspapers give prominence to
such things! Because the public taste de-
mands them. go into foreign city and
into a meat market, AMI | find that the
butchers have hung up on the most conspicu
Gus hooks meat that is tainted, while the
fresh and the savory meat is carelessly tossed
aside What am | to conclude! | unmistak-
ably conclude that the Eeop'e of that
city love tainted meat. If there is so
much ubiquitous literature abroad in
the shape OF book and newspaper, it is be-
cause the public taste is so corrupt it demands
it. Now, you are an honest citizen, you are
a good citizen, you are an intelligent citizen,
you are a man of family, q newspaper comes
into your house, you open it; there are three
columns of splendid written editorials next
to it there is a mean, contemplate divorce
case. Which do You read the more thor
oughly? Here are the spIe2didly written ed
itorials evolving some beautiful moral senti-
mert, or some theory Of silence You dip
into it ana say, That Is Sp,endidly written
that is well done, TINT editorial. y
Then you turn to the dive ce case and read
it all, from the long primer type at the top
to the nonpareil at the bottom, AMI ask your
wife if she has real it, 1t is only a case Of
demand and supDy V. Newspaper men arJ
not fools. They know what you want anl
they give it TO you. If the church of Cod
and if honorable men of the word, would de
cline to lerd the depraved books and
depraved newspapers they would not be
published, for the simpe reason that they
would not lay, for iniquity gets poorer and
poorer and Io9rerand C6hnot afford to support
literature. 1t is the honest men, the hard
working men, the pure nien of the world that
support the literature II a convention couli
be called now and ma1o up of all the elitOr}
and reporters of the Untel States, and il
were plainly put them, which kind of paper
theyshould prefer to publish and which style
of news to send forth, i think they would unln-
imously declare: 1--WE would rather send out
elevating literature than bad literature" l
say this not in apology for dabauched
Newspaper, but say it tlat you may lay a
divided responsibility between thoe who
print and those who read.
Another great tompta iol t. the newpo-
per profession comes in the a'lurements tIat
surround it. Every occupation, trade, pro-
fession has its especial temptations. 1t is 50
with the clerical profeS sion, with the medi al
profession, with the lie 81 profession, VITA
the artistic proie Sion. evsry ira lie,
every profession, every business. The newt