The morning call. [volume] (San Francisco [Calif.]) 1878-1895, 1890-10-24
1.-THE INFLUENCE OF THE PRINTED
PAGE"
Intellectual Progress and How 1t May
he PrnmOted.

intellectual Progress and HOW III may
BE Promoted.
Editor ToBdn'S Column, Morning Call:
The following is the Influence of the
printed page" delivered at the first meeting
of the women journalists of the Pacific
Coast: p.
have been thinking much Of late, in cornec-
lion with the rapidly increasing interest in the
public libraries of Southern California. of tie
cumulative power of the printed page, of what
paper, pen and Ink are now doing for humanity.
lnyOlunIarily my mind reaches backward to
the massive stone tablets, the only history books
and newspapers left 10 US by the Oldest cviZa-
TONS contrasting these with the fral and perish
able materials now in use; and trying TO realize
The magnitude OF the work which tie press Is
doing IN promoting the unity OF mankind and
Tie brotherhood OF nations.
In the earlier part OF The century the news
papeT usually represented the ideas and con-
VictiOns Of some leading mind, who centralized
upon it the thought of other accordant minds,
who thus organized their opinions into a policy.
thus it was with the New York Tribune in
politics, and the New York Independent in re-
ugion, though an eminent divine said OF the
later. " il would be an excellent paper ii II had
experienced religion"
| know Of no more interesting study in soct-
ology than that of Tie evolution of the novel and
lie uewspaI er. The editor or author VINO takes
his reader along with hm-who takes the great
est number of readers-is lie necromancer OF
modern times.
AIelisious enthusiast saw In a vision the sec
end coming Of our Lord. by way OF The type, with
a printers cap upon his head. And II Is a sWeegly
solemn thought that immortality must be printed
before il is realized.
Whatever the task set for humanity, a tyranny
10 be OveIIhrOWn, superstition 10 be demolished,
a continent 10 be reclaimed to the service Of hui
mainly, the printed page must do the work.
The printed page supplies thoughts for thou
sands OF minds, giving 10 each his proper share,
according TO the capacity TO receive and the di-
lection Of growth. Not absolute truth, of course;
That Is not 10 be expected for centuries 10 come,
II. indeed, the soul OF man can find In any state
IueHt Of truth more than tent for the night.
And, again, we should remember that the earthen
vessels winch hold Tile truth ale small ana leiky,
aud the dust OF ages past is constantly blowing
!gIO Them; but at the bottom lies a precious
seed, WITCH. though it lie dormant as long as the
seed Of wheat in the Egyptian sarcODhagus, W III
SVTout at last
Think of lie growth Of the anti-slavery move
meIt ia the United States; lie truth upon which
IL was founded was very old, the duty of its aD-
pljcatOn fell from lips that spake as never man
srake, yet tie centuries passed by uuheeding,
uuieehng, until its leaYen OF uuth had per-
meated all the land.
Que Of the most interesting things to observe
10 tie relations CT Truth TO journalism is the
power il has TO 60 behind The foIm of popular
expression and show lis interior substance. ana
practical relations 10 existing conditions.
Whether 1t be Ia religion, politics, sociology,
Ihe circle OF fellowship Win those OF lSinded as
ylTatiOuS and desires.
In your profession. as in the more private
walks OF lie, think The best Kind OF advocacy
Of any Kind or form OF truth is 10 STOW where II
is now; whether it is rising from US or to be seen
IN fuller splendor elsewhere, or whether II Is
b setting To rise again in new form. When lie
ImmOrtalS dwell on earth, from IIalo 10 our day,
lhey worked upon this theory
= Professor George Wilson. one OF the most de
hghtul OF writer's, has APPLY said, Tie stars OF
heaven are IN our eyes the emblems OF eternity;
hey are
THE LETTERS IN GODS ALPHABET
or the universe, printing in light the cyclicle
record OF the nTmament; but we have been
taught That his leteTed fImamenI OF Beayen
shah day all It's scattered stars fan, like
The ruined type setting OF printer, into one
mingled mass"
II Gods paper, pen and Ink are thus perish
able, shall We complain that ours Will not en-
dune? IL is the writer that shall be immortal
not the writing
Tue printed psge has scarcel begun Its work
lI the world
Even If modern inventions should so far dis
place II that the hearing ear, instead oil the see.
ing eye, should receive lie continuous wave OF
current Information and Thought concerning
world vide interests, IL will sill be needed +
lie preservation Of all that Is precious IN the
past
should Benamy's dream be realized in my
day. so that may hear the sermon or the dlylner
tones OF praise aud prayer IN the privacy OF my
home, SIN must reach out 10 the shelves OF my
library TOR communion with the thought OF all
To-day The light OF the printed word is thrown
upon darkest Africa, or, carrying with II
mighty wave of human sympathy. II pierceS The
depth Of Siberian prisons; 1t adiates into mex
haustible fields Of moral and material enterprise.
II shows US the magician heely within his
silent chamber eYOklng The hidden forces CT
drop OF water or liberatlng others which change
tile reck 10 sand, and so proving
The world was built in order,
And II. atoms march IN tune
Rhyme, the pipe and Time, the warder
May yet dissolve both sun and moon.
There are many Otherwise reasonable persons
Who, concedng the quickenlng influence OF the
newspaper and Of leading mind in the editorial
char, yet deprecate random reading as a dlssl-
patton OF lie mind, and retain an almost super
stItOus reverence for the book.
The best thing have seen upon this subject Is
in the July number OF Current Literature, and
las direct bearing upon lie mission of the
newspaper. Here IL Is
Immortality in literature Is supposed to con-
sist In continuing 10 be read by future genera
tons. This is an Illusion which must be aban-
doued. We shall not be read in the future, We
know it, We rejoice In H. and we congratulate The
future uuOn it.
But we snail have labored to advance the way
Of looking at things. We shall have so guided The
future that it Will not need 10 read u.s. and what
we doing Is simply an Important step In the
development OF humanity"
| IKE Ihe spirit of thi-. and II you labor in
this spirit, without nasting, without rest you
will find yourselves continually initiating new
movements. giving force and activity, clearneSs
and precision to The thought of The time, through
thousands OF Individual minds. There Is no
Work given 10 human hands comparable with il.
! am thankful 10 see the appearance OF woman
iu journalism, both because | believe her ntu.
ence Will be good morally and intellectually,
and because she needs IL for most Complete
emancipation from the tbralidOm OF the past.
Woman as woman is still iuhablting The shell
Of a dead past, and has been meIe listener to
The great voices whose statements OF great
truths have been partial aud incomplete because
they dld not include hers.
For ages the cup Of truth when passed 10 her
il Us was greatly diluted; the sentiment of The
commanded That size should swallow il
whether she liked IL or not. When she received
il in its puTest form she could die for ii. She
burned
LIKE ANY OTHER MARTYR.
/ think Lave heard 1t said that woman was
created to listen and not TO speak; but Paul
lived before lie newspaper age-before tile
Right 10 speak carried with II the right 10 be
heard wherever her message was needed, as
surely as the light 10 think carries with ii the
light 10 express ones thought.
The human soul, regardless OF SEX presses re-
sistlessly 10 express itself. Only through ex
preston OF some kind 1t truly lives. 1t Is not
enough 10 live, 10 know TO love- even under the
most comfortable conditions. Lie, knowledge
love, must be projected beyond ones self into
some foIm Of statement OF activity before They
are called.
The great wide world of truth. applied In ma
teIial things-aw, social gOyernment-cau never
he explored, its laws aseeTtained, the application
Of these laws determined, by man or by woman
alone.
Too vital to be crystaIlized into any perma-
Deni dogma, doctrine or creed, all truths renew
themselves ID applications which are seen in the
steps Of human progress
The high-water mark of this progress Is seen
on occasions like this which brings US together
to-day.
1t may be that we are building better than we
know or even dream.
The world was never before what ii is today
where every form OF truth which has ever IN
spired mankind finds new application, or is
seen in new light.
l take 1t, lie proper thing you propose TO do is
TO give b-tter, more complete expression to I lie
thought of yOui lime. not 10 reproduce or dupll-
Gale anything.
Without depreciatng The rich legacy of the
las', you will give hospitable welcome TO new
forms OF thought and fresh records OF human
experience.
1hete is always room for sncb efforts; nature
herself puts new clothes for every new season.
No LII nature ever exhausted Tie myriad phases
OF lie ana passion.
In all That has been written we catch only a
FAINT murmur OF The sea OF human HE, and every
century should express It's own lie.
Every new statement OF an Old truth helps us
TO appreciate IL more and more, as the diamond
brlglitens with new setting. The struggle for
originality is painful ana useless Que, While
there is Infinite variety In The surfaces from
Which Truth is reflected, and 10 the cIearness OF
lie lenses through which IL Is seen.
WeDeVeT need fear That the fountains viii be
exhausted. Humanity Is too great-there Is TOO
much Of God IN if-for this 10 be possible.