Rock Island daily Argus. (Rock Island, Ill.) 1886-1893, 1889-04-05
THE PRESS.

a F1owery Description OF the News.
paper-lts influence and Place In
Live Commun nifty. by. a Bright Mem
Der OF the, Profession.
At q banquet given to the Business
Mems Association of Davenport by
Manager Crank of the Kimball house,
Wednesday night, B. F. Tillinghast,
managing editor of the Democrat Gazette
and well known in this city. responded
to the toast, "The Press" The address,
coming as 1t does, from one OF the most
practical. thorough and successful jour-
nsllsts in the west, may be regarded, as
it indeed IS. one OF the best descriptions
of the newspaper, its position, influence
and policy. This was the toast:
mo more truthful sentiment can be
expressed than found In the words of
Wendell Phillips. from which / quote
What gunpowder did for war the print
ing press has done for the mind, aud the
statesman is no longer clad in the steel
Of special education, but every reading
man 10 his Judge" And from another
eminent author THE productions of
the press, fast as steam can make and
carry them, go abroad through the land
silent as snow-fakes, but potent as
thunder"
And this was the response made by
Mr.. Tillinghast:
Mr. Chairman and Gentlemen OF the Davenport
Business Mems Association:
II may appear strange To you when
say that the banqueting board which we
surround reminds me very much of q
good newspaper. There have been
spread before us with lavish hand and 10
admirable taste, the good things OF life.
These have been cooked TO turn, spiced
TO a nicely, and favored to d, the most
cspricious fancy. There has been moths
ing left out, and nobody has been libeled
There have been meats for the strong.
salads for the social, and the staff ,of life
for all. Under one cover you have found
politics. and under another the law. In
the courses as they have been served
were the quotations OF the stock board,
the records of congress, in brief, oil the
delicacies Of the Journalistic menu. 1t
would be unwise. as we'll as dangers
to try to assimilate all the dishes
that hospitality has placed before
us. This is why / have thought OF
the table and The press as having points
in common. Every paragraph found in
the paper that ought TO come with the
coffee in the morning and with the tea in
the evening is not prescribed for all.
Ones meat is another's poison. Take
what you like, remembering that many
men have many minds, and that while
some OF the dishes, as an old philosopher
says OF books, are to he tasted, others
may be swallowed. ana some chewed and
digested. 1t Is this wide range that
crowds the columns, or at least fills the
pages OF the daily sheet, making it ia
truth a map of the busy life.
Diverse are the views that have been
given OF the mission of the press. A
commander of armies linked 1t with wal
when he said: -Four hostile newspapers
are more to be feared than q thousand
bayonets." But the French emperor wal
baDished, as every editor ought to be who
sways his pc wer like despot A critic
who spoke from the platform in this city
a few evenings since thought the news.
paper should not be "a staguant goose
pond of village gossip" But he bor-
rowed the words from keen satirist. who
applied them TO human sponges and not
to men OF business affairs. The states
man would have this great ear-gallsry
filled with justice, law and liberty, for
getting that the world 10 governed toe
much. And the theorist breaches that
the press should always be an engine to
elevate the people and mould them by
giving daily precepts from the moral
code. Those views have dinued our
ears with such persistence that deafness,
fear, comes like a reliet when geuer
Gus sentiment honors the press ct such q
time az this.
Rather than adopt any of these opin.
ions shall choose more modern motto
1t is this: The greatest happiness Of
the greatest number" The best ONCE Of
a newspaper is to represent we'll the in
terests OF its time and place. To collect
the news from the ends Of the earth; to
outrun Puck by putting q girdle round
about the earth in less than forty min
utes. The time may have been when the
editor was an oracle, but it 10 waste of
good intentions TO so regard him now
He knows no more than the average of
his readers. He must give without re-
bate ell he gets or be lsggard in the
close contest. He must be - bringer OF
unwelcome news" as well as courier OF
glad tidings. more than this he must be
moved, governed, thoroughly saturated
with that feeling and pride of local 10y
atty that devotion to home and home in
terssts that is akin to family ties. The
editor cannot be hermit. He must
know, and be known Of, men. He must
share their aspirations. be acquainted
with their plans, and be guided by their
wisdom. He il q part Of the community
in which he lives, and though he should
not govern, he may help TO lead the
way.
In more direct words. Dir. Chairman
and gentlemen, the press begs to be con.
sidered, not your servant, but your help
er. 1t tenders freely its services to pro,
mote the common good. Alone 1t can
achieve little, but with your cooperation
the mountain may be moved. The press
is not planted on pedestal; 1t rests on
the same level with every interest here
represented. .
Gentlemen. the press awaits
your pleasure.