The great West. [volume] (St. Paul, Minn.) 1889-18??, 1890-02-21
MINNESOTA EDITORS
They Meet in St. Paul in State
Convention and Transact
Business.
An Interesting Gathering and
Much Done that was VAL
liable and Pleasant.

ISOLATION assembled at the chamber OF COM
merce in St. Paul for business, Joel
P. Heatwole, of the Mortified News, the
president, occupying the chair. There
were present about one hundred and fifty
members, representing the principal papers
in the state. Immediately upon calling
the meeting to order Mr.. Heatwole began
the reading of the presidents annual adj
dress, of which the following is an abstract:
"Iregard the local newspaper as one of the
strongest moral agencies OF modern times.
The great weakness Of the country news
paper of to-day is that there is no fixed or
recognized standard for admission to the
profession, and, therefor, it often becomes
the common plunder-ground of the men,
bers of all the other professions If doctor,
clergyman or lawyer tails to secure ade-
Quate support from the public he at once
gets types and press and blossoms into q
iull-fedged country journalist.
ut seems to me there is too little recog-
milton among the local newspaper fraternity
teachers of the communities which give
them support. l would remark that no
calling among men needs a more painstak-
ing apprenticeship than that of weekly
journalism. In no business is the technical
field wider, or the details. to be mastered
more complicated. The country journalist
must be printer and pressmar; have fair
knowledge of the stationer's business; be
thoroughly posted in politics; know indi-
vidually all or nearly all of the people of
his town; understand human nature in all
its phases, and finally will fail unless he
knows the science Of finance in all its minute
details better than the banker. He ought
to be fairly good writer, have the
instinct and the cheek of the reporter, that
perfect independence which is only born of
clear conscience and perfect rectitude of
motives which under no possible combine
ton of circumstances would place his
opinions in the public market for sale to
the highest bidder. The local newspaper
should be clean, printed clearly with good
type, and pure morally, so that its influence
will always be good in the community. In
diligence in coarse wit and slanderous allu
sions bespeak of low moral tone in COM
munity that supports no less than in
the man who publishes the local newspaper.
Next to cleanliness and courtesy should be
reckoned the virtue of reliability and truth
fulness. OF course, those of us who con-
derstand that the demands of party fire.
quently interfere seriously with our highest
individual conception of entire rectitude.
Who of you has not been compelled to sup
port, in obedience to the command of the
convention or caucus, some man whom you
believed to be untitled for the position? 1t
makes no difference; there is only one way
over the difficulty. Take your medicine.
And. after ALL this may be the best thing to
do, for perhaps the voice Of the majority is
more wise and judicious than any one indi-
viduaps sense of right or wrong. The ed
itor should be cautious that he does not
mistake spleen tor virtue and the virulent
assaults Of disordered liver for the whis-
Pering of the deity within his bosom. The
manager of a newspaper should mercilessly
exclude purely personal matters, and not
base his excuse for acting in opposition to
his friends and party associates upon the
purely arbitrary and altogether selfish AK
iOm i own this paper There is too little
profit to-day in the newspaper field, and
the poverty of our profession is clearly
traceable to bad men who tasten themselves
upon our honorable guild"
w. J. G. Kenyon, general passenger agent
of the Burlington road, the accredited edit
or and publisher of the Burlington Hustler.
read a paper upon the Relation of the
General Passenger Agent to the Public"
with editorial mileage, and limited that the
editors who sold this mileage were known
and recorded in the confidential memo
randa of the railroads. At the same time,
he frankly stated that many editors gave
very much more advertising than they got
mileage in return for.
A general discussion OF this mileage ques-
ton followed, in which nearly. every one
agreed that when an editor put his name to
the agreement upon the mileage book that
he would not transfer any ofthe mileage he
was bound to keep that agreement. One
leading member of the association said that
he knew two or three prominent editors in
the state who sold their mileage and boldly
said they owned it and had a right to sell
it. He had accidentally seen the conf
dental memoranda of one of the railroads,
and the names oftwO of these editors were
recorded thereon.
the Business Management" It was full
of practical suggestions. 1t mattered not
how ably a newspaper was edited with poor
business management a paper could not
succeed,
H. E. Hoard's address was upon partisan
journalism. The gentleman contended
that no man owns his newspaper. He
may be in possession and control, own the
office, types, presses, material and stock
He may control its issue, dictate its course,
sell its advertising space, and sell or trans
fer this interest, possession and control;
but he is not the sole owner of the paper.
The public is part owner, and its interest
is no less certain and positive because no
papers are drawn or recorded that establish
the fact OF co-partnership." A newspaper
should treat subjects on all sides rather than
in a partisan way.
A heated discussion followed, which was
taken part in by nearly every one. Several
contended that man owned his own news
paper and was at liberty to run it to suit
himself, SO long as he kept within the
bounds of decency.
Mr.. J. A. Johnson was called upon for a
paper upon the Law of Libel" in the alb
sence of D. Sinclair, to whom the subject
was originally assigned. Mr.. Johnson had
nothing prepared in writing, and made
only brief humorous talk upon the SUBJ
ject.
President Heatwole appointed the follow
ing committees: Committee on resolutions,
L. P. Hunt, G. N. Lamphere, Ed c. Grotty;
delegates, Irving Todd. w. B. Mitchell, A.
B. Allen, H. E. Hoard and w. G. Day.
Mr.. Kenyon informed the association
that if they would secure for St. Paul the
National Editorial association for 1891 the
Burlington road would carry all editors
and publishers coming via Chicago to St.
Paul and return free of charge.
BANQUET AT THE WINDSOR.
In the evening a banquet was given to