The Indianapolis journal. [volume] (Indianapolis [Ind.]) 1867-1904, 1886-02-11
TIE PRESS ONCE MORE.

which it defended the average daily news
paper" from the Advocates charge that it was
'1eprous with lust and red with tragedy"
We copy the following from its article:
'This sweet, pure Journal has in the very
number in which it aims to refute our accu-
sations, such headlines as these: The Cloves
tragedy Bloody fight in bank AN i'm
poster under arrest "A farce completed,
Kealing again in JAIL The murder of the
Knoch family Police bribery in NewYork
ing baggage A family fight The case
against George Banks etc. And then be-
cause, al we suppose, there was no religious
scandal to be found near home, it imported
"A church quarrel all the way from Leaven-
worth, Kan; and many Of these items came
by the Associated Press. At any rate they
bear no mark Of Special, as they appear in
the Journal.
Gard all this appears in paper which is
confessedly one of our very best and in the
very number which assails us because we
charged that the average daily newspaper is
afame with tragedy and red with blood. IF
they do these things in green tree, what
shall be done in the dryT If this is the best,
we evidently need deliYerance from those
which are not the best.
"The Journal has considerable ability, but
1t is not wise for it to undertake the impossi-
ble The attempt to vindicate the average
American newspaper as against the charge
that it is too much biotched with records Of
crime to be benediction in cur homes would
prove too much for it's strength"
We will take up the Advocates specifca-
tions seriatim, for it is evident that it has
shifted its attack from the average daily
| newspaper" to the Journal 'The Cloves
tragedy" article comprised sizty-one lines
The tragedy was bad enough, but it was a
tragedy nevertheless, and its manner of pre-
| sentation in the Journal was not such as to
| render it attractive, or to gid the truth the
tragedy enforced, that 'the wages of sin is
DEATH" 'The bloody fight in bank" COM
prised twenty-tw lines; it was a bald state
ment Of an incident, without any elaboration
whatever. Gan impostor under arrest" COM
prised sixteen lines, and told of the arrest Of
the negro Nero in London, who, under the
guise Of religion, had been living grossly i'm
moral life and swindling the people Of Eng
land. Are We to understand that
not even 80 much as sixteen lines are to be
devoted to the exposure of scoundrelly inn
poster, so that religion may be saved from un-
worthy men and society protected from their
crimesf Jesus Christ devoted more than six
| teen lines to the exposure of such wolves in
sleeps clothing in His time. ga farce COM
pleted" comprised thirty-six lines and was
the story of the conclusion Of an investigation
Of alleged frauds by naval officers; there was
nothing Of lust or of tragedy in it. 'The
| murder of the Knoch family" comprised six
teen lines, "Police bribers in New
York" comprised nineteen lines. Are we
to understand that the daily newspaper
must not devote nineteen lines to the exposure
Of corruption in municipal government
| If this be So what shall we say of ministers of
the gospel who preach entire sermons on
| such topicsg 1.-TWO burglars killed" COM
| prised fourteen lines. Charged with plum
dering baggage comprised nineteen lines
there is not a drop of blood nor a suggestion
of lust in the entire account. IA family
fight comprised sixteen lines and told Of a
brother shooting his sisters husband in a
church. Would an average daily newspaper
be expected to give less space than that to
such an unusual occurrences ''The case
| against George Banks" comprised eleven
lines. "Kealing again in Jail" is local item Of
eleven lines, and no blood or scandal about that
The Leavenworth church scandal was not
a scandal at ALL in the senge in which that
word is used, or as the Advocate would have
it understood. It was letter signed by a
rector in good standing in the Episcopal
Church, addressed to his bishop We hope
that an official letter Of a clergyman to his
ecclesiastic superior is not scandal" Here
is total of 236 lines in IAN average daily
newspaper"-a little over one column The
issue of the Journal which DR.. Bayliss scanned
with his infamed zeal and magnifying glass
contained over thirty-fve columns of reading
matter Our critic has been able to pick out
236 lines, upon which he proposes to base
such a sentence as this:
'Crime, crime, crime; blood, blood, blood;
fire. flood, earthquake-such is the endless
procession of horrors which crowd the canvas
every weary day. until the very glut of crimes
makes us insensible, and the superabundance
of horrors makes 1t impossible for us to be
longer Mortified"
And it is to be said that not one out Of
these eleven specified articles had more than
single small headline, so that none of them
fell under the criticism of being published
with flaming and sensational captions, which
would be inferred from the disingenuous man
ner in which DR.. Baylss introduces the cata-