Mississippi leader. (Jackson, Miss.) 1892-1895, 1892-05-26

titttAt may H. icN@s
Holland has divided the world of
human beings into three great classes
-"artist, teacher, taught" OF the
first division. there are only few
whose souls have been fred by n
spark from that divine flame, that lit
creations morning with the mandate
''Let there he light" But, of what
use to the world would be the artist
bearing aloft the insignia of his crea-
tive genius to the multitude who live
in the lowlands of thought, without
the Interpretation of the teacher, who,
dwelling Gin the midst" link the two
extremes ? The press, as profession,
occupy this useful middle ground.
More than many of you realize, you
stand between men and their desti
MICS. To no other vocation does the
world extend such ready. universal
wclcOme-not even the minister. with
his glad message of salvation. Every
community recognizes in the editor
and his paper, that he comes to erect
a platform of the broadcast democrat
ie principles that the world knows.
All classes and conditions meet and
mingle there. For commerce, your
columns, like vast mirrors, reflect to
the world the products of your soil,
aud the industries of your people.
Resi- onsive to your call, homeless
emigrants from the world beyond the
sea come in hOrdes, to "make the sOli-
tary places glad" by converting the
wilderness into homes. Here the pro-
Queer and consumer meet to deter
mine rates of barter and exchange.
Between capital and labor you stand
10 arbitrate the terms. From the
promontory of your position, with a
far-reaching sweep of vision, you see
the grand craft of political economy
that needs safe, sure plotting. You
look around and find man in the
obscurity of private life, whose brain
| and Drawn combine the clements of
leadership. By pour pen he is intro
duced to the world beyond him. The
press echo the call until the people
hear and begin to clamor for his SER
vices and thus, at every election of
the public officer you stand between
men and their destinies.
There is no factt in the home so
potent in the education of the youth
of the land as the newspaper; 1T is
the mothers best ally in character
building.
The heart strings of the business
man may contract and harden, so as
| to become as metallic as the coin lie
! handles, but no pressure on his time
can exclude the welcome always wait
ing for the daily paper, whose columns
are the vibrating medium between him
and his latest venture in stocks and
bonds. Tins, on and on, through
every vocation, home aud community,
YOU stand Sin the midst and through
the majesty and magnitude of your
position, you are in touch with the
throbbing life around you. IT'S yours
to lend the uplifting hand for the bet
| termcnt of your kind. How have you
met this demand Let the files of
your papers answer.
Have You helped to make a man II
leader who was unworthy of the peO-
pies trust?
Has the desire to appease the men
tai craving Of the age for excitement
tempted you to give startling news
before knowing both sides of the ques.
ton
Have you a purer standard for your
own fire sides than appears i'll your
columns for your neighbours homes |?
Have you invaded the sacred precinct
of the family circle and dragged the
skeleton from the closet there, and ex-
posed it to the cold, cruel glare of the
public gaze? Did you stop to think
that perhaps you lent your aid in
making that same skeleton by the
kind of reading you furnished for that
home? Has consideration of your
own interest betrayed you into silence
when issues of greatest moment plead
i'm pathetic tones that you voice pro-
test and speak out boldly for the
right?
Let memory do honest, earnest
work, as you review the file, and see
if aught appears on record to awaken
the following lament that stirred Mar
tin Luther's soul: otis thing terri
BILE and full of danger to raise ones
voice and speak in the midst of those
whom we have for judges; when l
think on it, feel that could hearth
" wish to bury all in silence, and
pass sponge over what I've writ
ten" Your subscribers know your
papers. You go Gin the midst" of
their homes, and they are as well
acquainted with the nature of their
daily, weekly and monthly visitors as
with the surface of the earth on which
they live. They have learned where
to find the mountain heights of pure,
elevating thought, and where the
marshy, ''Dismal Swamps" are heavy
and heaving with the miasma gener-
ated by rejecting perverted public
opinion. They know where the polit-
ical volcanoes burn and scOrch the air
with flaming breath, and roll their
blighting tides of hate into the peo-
pied valleys below, where the plains
are covered with nettles and thistles,
and rue grows rank and riotous where
only hearts ease flowers should bloom.
They know the part where the
butterflies of society find allurenent
among the gorgeous blossoms OF folly
and fashion, as well as where the
gurgling streams of comfort wind
within the vale of peace.