The sun., 1889-12-13
A Speech at the Goethe BANQUET.

There is a society In town called the
GOETHE Society. and on Monday it cele-
brated its fourteenth anniversary by din
ner. Among the erudite German and GOETHE
scholars present were Mrs. Jenny June
CRoLY, Mrs. FRANK LESLIE, Aunt FANNY
BARROW, Mr.. WILLIAM WINTER, Mr.. c. B.
PEET, and Mr.. JOHN ELDERK1N.
Perhaps the most important speech Of the
evening was made by Mr.. CHARLES r. MIL
IEB, the editor Of the Ne1D York Times 1t
was in response to the toast, The Relation
Of the Press to Literature" which Mr.. MIL
IIER interpreted to mean that literature and
the press are things separate and apart, and
he commended the toastmaster for empha-
sising the distinction. The newspaper"
said Mr.. MILLER, "is not part Of literature,
never has been part and never will be until
It becomes worthless as newspaper"
Such a view from such source strikes US
with some surprise. Is not the Netr York Times
itself standing refutation Of the assertion
OF Mr.. MILLERp Literature, in the sense In
which he spoke Of it, is writing which Is
marked by artistic quality. grace Of express
sion, and what Is called style. II the literary
character Of the Times were not thus distin-
satisfaction to large number OF readers SUBJ
jects 80 dull. dreary, ,juicoiess, and repellentas
free trade and civil service reform Yet our
neighbor seems to be able to handle them
with profundity Of thought and great So
briefly, and at the same time with 30 much
literary grace that its editorial essays COM
mand a share Of the public attention.
MIR. MILLER spoke, perhaps. with becoming
modesty, but we cannot suffer him to dispar-
age the work uf his own hands along
with the whole newspaper profession.
II the Netu York Times is not litera-
ture, nine-tenths Of the books published
at this period are assuredly not literature.
Simply because its young men apply the lit
erary art to the manufacture Of newspaper
essays rather than volumes upon the ques-
tions Of politics, reform. and political econ
omy, there is no justification in shutting them
out from the ranks OF men Of letters.
Neither can we agree with Mr.. MILLER
that "the function OF the press Is not to
create anything permanent, but only some
thing which will have interest but for a
day" and that 1.-The influence of the press
upon literature Is slight, II any" The func-
tion Of the press as we understand 1t. is to
influence the course Of public sentiment, to
direct the public policy, to discern and fore
see the logical conclusion Of political doc
trines and tendencies and in this republic
to instruct the people in tho art Of self-gov-
ernment. So conducted, sound newspaper
following out consistent principle, exercises
a valuable and lasting powor. It is not
for a day, but for all time, and its discus
sions are the more likely to be effective
because their text Is In passing events, and
they come In chapters published daily and
presented in a way to attract the public
consideration. The number of books read is
few in comparison with the numbero OF news
papers carefully studied; and as the develop
ment OF the newspaper goes on, the public
demand for it steadily increases. The old
essay and the old pamphlet have gone out Of
vogue, and have been succeeded by the news
paper article, so much more provocative
OF interest. One chief reason why we hear
so many complaints OF the decline OF the
conventional literature In these days is that
the best informed and most productive minds
are now employing their energies In news
papers and periodicals And why do they do
this? 1t Is because they can thus secure
more regular and better material recon-
pense. and because they can WELD a wider
and greater influence. They not only get
avastly larger audience but they also gain
the enormous advantage of iteration. Day
by day they can hammer their thoughts
into the minds Of the people, 30 slow to re-
ceive and welcome new ideas and give up
old prejudlces and conceptions.
Nor is 1t true that well-edited newspaper
exercises little or no influence on literature.
Much OF the very best writing. judged by a
high literary standard, is prepared at this
period for newspapers. There are men now
engaged on newspapers who would have
been singled out for wide literary fame
hundred years ago. We have read news
paper articles as perfect In literary execution
and as well deserving to rank with artistic
literature % anything which the masters
Of style have produced. Such articles
constitute an example and lesson In
literary art. and help to clarity the
thoughts OF many thousands OF people.
Even the unleRrned know and enjoy good
English, and their taste Is improved by 1t.
A well-written newspaper, lucid, logical, and