St. Landry democrat., 1889-07-27
The Journalist as a Victim.

The following, which we extract from
an address of 6. C. Matthews, managing
editor of the Memphis Appeal, will DO re-
cogniz,d by those who have been long
connected with the press as an exacs, ano
at the same time, eloquent ana IorcioAo %
preston of the truth:
"Blessed is he that expects nothing, Ior
verily he shall not be disappointed. nave
known so many journalists to DIE Oh heal'-
break: have seen so many old men, long
in the harness of the newspaper, drlnklns
the bitter cup of disappointment L nave
seen the ardor of SO many young me1
chilled have seen so many mlddleageo
men belpless, helpless and dismayed, that
I wonder sometimes if the arduous laoors
of journalism, find any adequate compen-
sation. | have observed an ambitious,
earnest and devoted journalist, elated by
the general acclaim on one day, over
wheImed by the execrations of the public
or party the next have known re-
norter to do admirable work for three hun
dred and sixty four days in year only to
be denounced without mercy for an mad
yertant error on the three hundred and
sixty-ffth. | have known an editor to be
serenaded by delightful populace ON one
night, only to be greeted by the derlslVe
shouts of mob the week thereafter.
have known generous, suggestive and
courteous editor to exhaust his energies IN
uplifting an individual or cause, only
to be forgotten when the beneficiary had
attained the fruition of his or its asplra-
tons. The curse of my life is the man
who takes my service, or the service OF the
paper which | may happen to be connected,
as a matter of course. The average news
paper man, being honorable and devoted
to his vocation, and sensible of his obllga-
lions to his constituency, does not desire
Office or pecuniary emoluments as the re-
ward of his labor in behalf of worthy
enterprise, but he desires and. has the
right to desire, the complete, unequlVocal
and positive acknowledgement OF the value
of his work. But he rarely gets 1t from
the beneficiary. l know of the silent,
unassuming,. noble spirits who live the
life OF hermits, yet whose work moves the
world. | know how they become the po-
tentialities in society, and yet go to their
graves without personal recognition.
cit was Thomas Jefferson who said that
| if he had to choose between government
| without newspapers and newspapers with
| out government, he would choose the latter
| condition. Let US remember that we hold
| the lever that moves the world that 1t IS
for us to be besought rather than to beseech.
| Let US bear ourselves not vain. glorlously
but proudly. l hold that the editor who
is sympathetic, who strives to find the
| right amid the wrong, who aims to tell
| the truth, who is charitable, who knows
when to suppress the publication of a
fact as well as to print it, who is honest
and Just, and who never crooks the hinge
of the knee that thrift may follow fawning
I say, hold that such an editor is
society's strongest bulwark. But if he
does not put aside his desire for other
reouittal of his own conscience, his heart
will surely break, his last days will be
| filed with bitterness, and he will prove,
| indeed, the victim of supreme folly"