The pioneer express. [volume] (Pembina, Dakota [N.D.]) 1883-1928, 1886-07-02
ADDRESS
OF Prs.. 9. :: co.;tl,n; Dsl,v.r.A before:
the Dakota Press Association, Held q,
Abertlssn, Iuns -, 1855. Il


LADIES AND GENTLEMEN OF THE Press As
= -. AoCrArIoN OF DAKOTA.
Ny time has been so thoroughly occu
pied for the past several weeks with th,
travel and correspondence necessary ts
perfect arrangements to my satisiactios
for this our annual meeting aud the excur
sion that is to follow, that not until last
Friday did I find time to commence til,
work Of preparing an address for this oc
casion, and should not have written on,
at all had it not been that the iron rule o.
established precedent demanded it, and
would accept noexcuse for itsnon-periorm
ance. shall not, however, 40 10 the ire
quent custom on occasions like this, re-
hearse the history OF the art we are disci
pies OF. nor discourse at length upon the
unparalleled influence and power for good
and evil the press has welded over commu
mites and Deonles Of the earth since the art
OF printing was discovered. What it hss
done We know, what It is to accomplish in
Dakota depends upon the craft itseff, eve.
~ individual member OF which. is RESPONSE.
bio to his patrons and to the common
wealth for his editorial misieasance or non.
feasance.
The Transformation Of territory like
ours in few years, from an uninhabited
and trackless waste, denounced by geogra.
piers and explorers for hundred years
e. fruitful only Of gumbo, grasshoppers,
alkali, billiards., drouths and arctic TEN.
perature, into fruitful and prosper ous
empire with all the agricultural, education.
81 and commercial facilities known to
American states Of fifty years growth, was
accomplished by means and methods as
new and untried as the developing process
engaged in, was rapid and unusual. To
illustrate: Travel through our agriculture
q distrtcts and make the Acquaintance OF
Dakota farmers, and you will find among
them q surprising number OF college gradu.
ates, disciples Of Escalapins. learned law
ysrs, eminent divines, knights OF the shoot.
ing stick" and representatives OF every art
and vocation, all following the plow with Il
patient industry that would do credit to
the most devoted granger, who to such
pursuits had been born and raised.
This Infusion OF new men trained to
habits OF study and thought, has given to
our agricultural pursuits the benefit OF
brain as we'll as muscle and resulted in
many new and improved methods. OF the
settlement and development OF Dakota, it
may be truthfully said: "Old things have
passed away and all things have become
new" and this is us true OF the means and
methods by which newspaper offices have
been established within our borders, until
the prairies are everywhere specklcd with
them. Back in the eastern states where
most OF us emigrated from, this is how
printers grew; the boy left the farm or
Workshop to begin as printers devil at
the bottom round ofthe ladder; he toiled on
m OF I, a
reach the position OF pressman, and was us
proud as u militia colonel il fortunate
enough to be promoted to foreman of an
| office. Many such in due time became pro.
prietors OF newspapers, and nos and then
one an editor OF ability and distinction.
But that has not becn-to use u slang
phrase-the Dakota way OF getting there;
lots OF men who could not tell shooting
stick" from stick OF cord wood, aspired
to tho profits OF final proof and contest
ootices. now lost in many instances to re.
publican gaze and which, in few moons
Ut best, will cease to gladden. the heart and
seplenish the wallet OF our worthy and now
happy democratic brothers. Scores OF
young men who had stood at the news
.ase barely long enough to learn the
boxes, aocked to Dakota with each
IN Army press and a hand satcllel
Of type. Merchants. bankers and divincs,
too. were all ut once inspired with the be.
lief that they had u special call to start u
newspaper and publish to the world the
GOLDEN opportunities Dakota offered with
out money and without price to all WHO
would come and garner them. Men OF raro
attainments in our art, editors of age and
| experience and brilliant powers also came;
and SO it came to pass that where two or
three houses were gathered together there
also was q newspaper. and often two or
three Of them.
This new order and almost laughabl state
Of things-and it would have been alto
gether, SO from an eastern standpoint
was Just what the hour and the occasion
sailed for, and without it the great miracle
| Of Dakota settlement and Development we
point to could not have been accomplished.
Had we been compelled to wait for
| men OF experience and means and well fur
nished printing offices to come here and
advertise this country, it would have gone
long while without advertising; but the
| and each commenced to boom his own 10.
eality. The lonely settler anxious that
bis friends should come also took from
one to a half dozen copies weekly and mail
| ID them east, and soon, all over the ter
titory east Of the Missouri it was the
same, and booming weekly bulletins wcra
showered like snowflakcs all over the east.
They brought the people here by hundreds
and thousands and tens OF thousands
until now in most counties, the lands are
occupied. Towns are we'll established, tho
booming timeis past; while it lasted it
was easy to publish a newspaper; you had
nothing to do but to describe what you
Inw and who came and where from and
how the crops grew and what the yield was
That satisfied your home patron Them
because he wanted to send such news to
bis friends, and satisfied the eastern read
lr because that was just what he wanted
to know.
That easy time when anyone could edit
3 newspaper satisfactorily has about pass
I'd, and the crucial test is being applied
which is to determine how many OF you
are fitted by nature and education for cdi-
torial duties, how many Of you will succeed
and how many fail? Your patrons will no
longer be satisfied. with boom articles that
are not needed. The time is close at hand
when you must leave the smooth and
placid waters OF the bayous Of mere local
journalism where the sailing has been so
Easy. and launch out upon the uncertain
and turbulent sea OF real journalism which
you will find studded all over with rocks
and reefs that endanger, and storms that
have shipwrecked the staunchest and most
sea worthy crafts that have made the
venture. Something more than descriptive
talent will now be required Of you. Minds
stored with the ripe fruits Of education
end experience will be needed.
Social, economic and political questions
Of the gravest Importance to the people
OF tho whole territory, and consequently OF
interest to each and every one Of your read
srs, will hedge you about and must be dis
eussed and answered for or against; AMI
here is the true field OF American journalism.
An editor should be leader and not fol-
lower in the community where he labors.
Il you find after fair trial that you pos.
less no power in moulding and lsading pub
lic sentiment and action. then you may
know that you, like a great many ministers
Of tho gospel, have missed your calling and
It would be q mercy to your patrons and
wisdom for yourself to seek some other
piche in the great and varied panorama of
human pursuits that you were born to fill
and be content with that. Not that I
would discourage any beginner, because he
p not a Prentice, Halstead or q Greeley,
tor, in the editorial profession as in all
others, tall oaks from little acorns
row." But il you are not the acorn,
there will never be any oak in your case
large or small, no matter in what soil you
are planted. Hyou have it in you to be.
tome q teacher and a leader OF the people
through the medium OF u newspaper, hide
not your light under bushel; come to the
front on one side or the other OF every
question OF moment on which man would
i Cy