St. Landry clarion. (Opelousas, La.) 1890-1921, 1890-12-13
PAPERS PEOPLE SHOULD READ.
I The Farmers Vidette.


The farmers as rule do more to
support the newspapers than any
other class of men. They support
them because they take and read them.
The advertiser would not advertise If
the papers were not read by his Gus
toners. So you may say that In the
agricultural. States the workingmen
support the papers While the people
are The ones who make newspapers pos
sible, do they use that judgment III
directing their policy that they should :?
If not they are doing themselves, their
families and their neighbors an injus-
tice. Men should be careful in the
first place what kind of teaching they
carry into their families, and what
kind of principlez they are taught.
The newspaper has much to do in
shaping the opinions of men, young
men especially, and it is well to be
sure that the principles taught by
your family paper are those you wish
your sons and daughters to hold. In
these days, when the press is used by
designing men to build up a popular
opinion in favor Of policies or principles
that will innure to their own welfare
and to the detrim ent of society, and
when large amounts of money are used
to purchase newspapers and hire men
to edit them with the intention of
building up sentiment that does not
exist when society is in a normal con-
dition, we should be more careful than
ever in the selection OF the papers that
we take into our families.
We have seen the agents of the Lou
isiana Lottery Company purchase pa
pers that had been devoted to building
up pure moral sentiment in their res
pectiye fields and turn them into advo-
Gates of lottery principles and teach.
ings. We have seen that where they
have been unable to buy the papers
they have established new ones and
have attempted to deceive the people
by teaching them that the lottery COM
pany is the friend Of education, moral
ity, benevolence and liberty. They
use sophistry for truth and hope that
the people will be fools enough to be-
lieve it.
The lottery company is principal,
composed of class OF men who care
nothing for the nobler sentiments oi
| mankind and their sole object is to gel
opportunity to continue their busines:
or getting something for nothing
Any class Of people who do not believe
in robbery and swindling, the lottery
company looks upon as their inveter
ate enemies, yet when these people
patronize their paper and drink il
their sophistries they become part,
to their success, for their papers eoule
not long exist if the better class OF oul
citizens would withdraw their suppor
from them.
The people should support only sucl
/ papers as teach pure morals and .
| regard for the rights OF mankind
Several such have been started sinc'
the lottery company set out to bu.
up the honest press Of the country
and it is a sad commentary on thu
value the people place on pure teach
ings when we are forced to admit tina
they are not sustained as they shoult
be. The people say they want bette
times and promise many fine things
yet when they come down to the hard
pan of carrying out their part b.
supporting the papers that are work
ing for them they do not properl..
show up.
! We should use our best endeavor
to support pure and honest press, TO
4 it is only through such press tina
our citizens can find expression TO
pure and honest government and goo
social surroundings, as every intelll
gent man wants to see.