Ellsworth American. [volume] (Ellsworth, Me.) 1855-current, 1892-10-20
Unite Press and Pulpit.
The Rev. Henry Hopkins Of Kansas City,
Mo-, Sounds the Trumpet Cali for a Great
Municipal Reform-The Editors Respon-
sibility-Province and Power of the Press.


Kansas City the Rev. Henry Hopkins spoke
on the subject of municipal reform and
the vast influence which the press and
pulpit could WELD for good IL united In
one common effort in behalf Of humanity.
In opening the Rev. Hopkins alluded to
the great reform movement now going on
| In New York, an account If which has
been published in The Star In this move
| ment the churches of all denominations
and the newspapers are standing shoulder
| to shoulder for the common good. Dur
Ing the week the preacher received let
ter from Walter Vrooman, secretary Of
the committee of organization, New York
| city. asking him TO introduce the subject
IN Kansas City through the medium of his
| pulpit. The speaker suggested and out
lined similar line of campaign to be pur-
sued here and devoted some time to re-
view OF the province of the newspaper aud
the moral responsibility Of its proprietors
and writer's as the great engine of modern
thought. He concluded with The Appeal
Of Christian Congregation to the News
| paper" as follows:
| Moulding the Life of the Republic.
'lf could voice your opinion aud feel
| ing toward the great newspaper would
| not be right in saying: We are glad and
| grateful whenever we think OF this great
and free principslity in the midst OF our
| life armed with sdch tremendous potency
| to be the ally Of the home the church and
the school; of free government and human
| progress in the republic and throughout
the wide world OF manklnd? The awful
| problem OF paupcrl>m and degradation, OF
vice and crime. increasingly press upon
| our hearts and couscieuces. We are Civ
ing more OF our thought and effort to
them but we are profoundly impressed
with the idea That for any large and per
mancnt success there mus, be a more
earnest and close union of all the moral
forces OF our common life. To secure the
regeneration of individual character
through conscious cooperation with a d.
vine power confesses the fundamental idea
that actuates us, but we believe that to
change the outward conditions Of life is
also essential-and that for this a, least
all good citizens can and ought to work
together. The churches have in the past
greatly wasted their energies in wars OF
opinion and In denominational rivalries.
We are trying TO get over this folly and
We earnestly wish that the newspapers
might so far cease their personal and par
tlsan animositle- as to unite their mighty
influence In common effort together with
US against the visible great evils of so
ciety. In victorious union of moral
forces the newspaper must be a principal
factor. The press is now shaping the
social and political world Of the twentieth
century The new generation which the
pubic schools are pouring out in tens OF
millions is getting its tastes, opinions and
standards from 1t. The press Is more and
more determining legislation and the laws
ura INN itt,y Al.
republic. We recognize the fact that
large part OF the population read nothing
else. The newspapers reach their tens Of
millions of readers every day. 1t Is
constant influence a tireless and perpetual
reteration Of impression.
The Press Called to an Accounting
we are compelled in the light of these
facts TO lay large blame for many existing
evils at the door of the newspaper. We
have poignant sense OF the wrongs we
suffer at the hands OF their managers, for
they touch interests dear as life in our
homes They affect the character and des-
tiny Of our daughters and our sons Our
young people read every day through the
disproportion and exaggeration of the
average paper libel on human life In
the average newspaper crimes and sorrows
are treated as choice morsels, given the
best place and Haunted in startling head
lines. This directly and powerfully fos-
ters crime by the prominence given to ii in
the public mind.
The germs of the best things in our
civilization are inseparable from the scan
titles OF life and these are treated with
lightness and irrevcrence in the average
newspaper.
privacy is essential to tie existence of
the holest instincts and is condition of
all personal dignity. but this is often bru-
tally Invaded by the average newspaper.
TO deidealize public life and persist
emily deny moral excellence to men in high
stations for partisan reasons is the con
slant occupation OF the average new,pa-
per. But this Is to undermine the faith OF
the young in goodness Itself so that they
will Cease TO believe in truth or honor or
virtue and Will not care to practice il. For
what is false or vile or vulgar We do not
at all accept the excuse that you must give
the people what they want. Africa wants
rum; India opium. A vast public wants
the means Of sensual qualification. Shall
we make a pig-sty out of our city for
them7 The truth Is that the appetite for
backguarding and sensatioualism grows
by what it feeds on. To supply the de
maud Is to create greater demand The
editor stimulates and creates the appetite
for that by which he profits, just as the
saloon keeper does. We gladly concede
the quasi public character of your occupa-
tion and appreciate the value of the uso
of the impersonal form in the expression
of opinion. But we understand perfectly
that every journal has responsible head
aud we insist that this individual man, be
he in the couniing-rOom or the editors
chair, Is as much under moral law in the
exercise of his profession as in the most
personal actions of private life. There is
| no divided responsibility or editorial i'm
personality or anonymous authorship that
can take the chief outside the pale Of the
great principles Of ethics. The use of the
printing press only makes duty more sa-
cred and responsibility more weighty. The
possession of measureless power to crush
the weak and destroy the helpless only in
creases the guilt and infamy of its exer-
else. Suppose the judge or the minister
of religion were to modulate his public ut
terances to increase his gains; were to
use the influence of his office to put bad
| men into public station for the sake of
party success; were to use his court or his
| pulpit as medium to secure personal re-
venge or for the dissemination Of careless
| rumors that he did not know the truth
| Of, affecting the reputation of the public
or private citizen. We fail to see Why IL
is any mole respectable for a newspaper
| proprietor to do these things. You would
not, Mr.. Editor, in speech to your neigh
Dor say what you do not know 10 be true.
You would not In conversation prejudge
a case and create a prejudice against a
man that would endanger his life or destroy
his usefulness. You would not under any
circumstances mention with your lips in
the presence of ladies' shameful details
that you print in your paper, to be seen by
your daughter and mine and in l0,0 900 fam
lilies. You would not personally act as a
go-between for impOstors and charlatans
and their victims as you do in your adver.
tising columns.
Gentlemen Of the press, we recognize
the fact that there is no more difficult task
under the stars than the conducting of a
great daily paper which shall record the
history, reflect the sentiments, educate the
characters and lead the progress Of ths
whole people. We continually wonder a,
the measure Of your success and glory il
the grandeur of your achievement We
gladly testify that the best papers treat
religion and the pulpit fairly.
The Field an Open One.
1.-The press as whole affords an oper
field for the battle between good and evil
We have been accustomed to feel and tG
say that that was all we asked for oul
ethic, our reform, for our philanthropy
Do not misrepresent US. Pour in the light
But under the increasing stress of the con
fiict and in the light of the new great hope.