Ellsworth American. [volume] (Ellsworth, Me.) 1855-current, 1892-03-24

ours to this friend that there is, in tn,
evolution of the matter that constitutes
newspaper, any such thing as natura
| selection or the survival of the fittest
lie looks upon newspaper as big liter
sry dump cart upon whose cspacious body
the editor shovels anything that will pass
for reading matter. He imagiues the
scribe working with a frantic zeal born
OF pure desperation, always making the
closest kind of connections on publication
day, and always liable to send his paper to
his readers short of measure. Under such
circumstances the "fll up" friend feels il
his duty, as a truly phlanthropic citizen
to give the editor lift, He fakes up two
or three solid columns of generalizations
and carries them to the sauctum He
| goes away with the air Of man who
has laid up treasures in heaven, and is
fully persuaded that the sigh with which
the editor received his manuscript was
| the joyous anthem of spirit freed from
| cares.
| Now what are we to do under such cir
cumstances? Shall we try to impress up
| on our friend that the hare never painted
after the water brook as the soul of the
editor pants, at all times. for real genuine
| news; for live matters of local interest,
including personal items? Shall we i'm
press upon him that the yearning desires
of his soul are cirCumscrihed by these
considerations: II would be useless He
would gravely assure us that his contri
button was the best of news iussmuch
a. none of our patrons had ever read 1t
before. Then he goes, leaving the edi-
tor In an agoniZed quaudary whether To
intiict the "fll up" article upon his read
Frs or allenatc his well-mesning friend by
consiguing 1t to the waste basket Per
haps he will print it trusting to the future
for immunity from further such shic
tipns. and While his comp a~itor> are put
ting II into type he Will gsze ruefuly up-
an the great stacks of exchanges cncum.
herring the >auCtum and sigh aloud to
think that, In wilderness OF intellectual
means. he should be forced to suhSi,t up
on hI~ks
No self-rcSpecting editor will ever make
q mole Of himself and buTruw below the
surface for the purpose Of uuearthiug
and placing beneath the public n,~tril~
carrion thai werr best left buried. Bat
while the trne urnalis, Will refrain r. N
work Of this kind he viii NOT fai, tp deal
frankly and fcaric~.ly with those current
events, or matters of history, which are
essentially public IN their character.
In this category come crimes, sport.
aud ali ma,,ers. personal Or otherHi~
which, from the very nature Of things.
are outside the pale Of Legitimate privacy
1t i true that some papers recognize no
such bounds, hut -uch are not the ones
that expect ar receive their support from
the better elements of society.
How fully an editor should place re-
ports of criminal matters before his real
ers l. much mooted question. Some
reformrrs even take the ground that re-
ports of this character should be rigidlv
confined to a brief statement Of facts.
with al absolute suppression of ali mat
ters of detail They are forever citing
US To foreign examples which they deem
especially worthy of our emulation
But in considering this phase Of news
paper policy the very important fact
must not be lost sight Of, that the
American people are sovereign people
They are de 'itre and he fdcio the rulers
# the nation. The question which we
here consider then, involves the wider
one Of how far, under a Republican form
of government 1t would oe safe for the
public to be kept in ignorance Of the
current events of the day. a correct
understanding of which il essential 10
the formation OF the public sentiment
that evolves and entOrces the laws Of
the land
There Were those who criticised in for
mer days, with exceeding bitterness. the
action of the press in placing before the
public, with VIVID and living force. the
horrors of human slavery Such things
they asserted, should have no place in the
columns of reputable journals. They
were sensational; they were not tit read
ing for family circles. An. brethren,
there was fallacy which to-day all recog
mis-" 1t was at family iresiies that the
forces grew which finally crushed out that
gigantic evil. When at length the
moral sense of the nation had been
aroused, human bondage was doomed
within its borders With all honor to
Beecher and his associates in the pu pit :;
To Philips and his co-laborer, on the
platform, we still believe that the great
est power in bringing universal freedom
to our land, was an untrammeled press,
that fearlessly and out-pokenly revealed
10 thinking people the horrors Of the
Lave system. The name of William
Lloyd Garrison leads all others in the
noble list of the brave men and women
who fought this great battle for human
rights. and achieved a victory that added
a new lustre to the proud title of Ameri-
can citizenship. Nor should it be forgot
ten that through the columns Of an
American newspaper, Mrs stoves
y ncle Toms Cabin" was tir-t set forth
/ on it, mission OF light. Who can measure.
who can adequately estimate the tremrn
/ dpus scope Of it, influence for freed pm
1 ard for God: The enlightened con
| science Of to-day is amazed that a people
: subscribing to the belief that 'all men
/ are created free and equal" and have,
! therefore, an inaleuable right t. "life aud
/ liberty and the pursuit Of happiness =
/ should have so long tolerated system
/ fundamentally and vitality opposed to it.
| But not alone a. regards slavery have
mighty results been achieved by a vigor
Gus and plain spoken presentation Of
I truth on the part of the newspapers. The
/ public whipping post is found to-day in
| but one STATE of the American union-the
/ State of Delaware, and even here, it- use
| has become an exceedingly rare occur
renee. 1t faded away with the growth OF
a newspaper press that did not hesitate To
picture its workings. with fidelity that
doomed it to popular condemnation.
Dueling was, in like manner, driven
from our land, though not till some of
the best blood in the country had been
sacrificed to its barbarites. In more re
| cent times we find that great social octo-
pGs, the Louisiana lottery, brought to bay
by the exposure of an outspoken press
Cut off by Federal law from the use of
the United States mails. it Is but a ones
ton of short time before it will become
a thing of the past.
Many and vigorous protests have been
made against the publication of the de
tails of prize fights, and yet it has been
the publication of these details that has
secured the passage of stringent laws
prohibiting such exhibitions in nearly
every State in the Union, and has aroused
public sentiment certainly destined tc
bring about in course of time the total
suppression of this sport" Indeed /,
can scarcely have escaped the attention
of careful newspaper readers in these
later days, that most battles of this kind
like the celebrated one Of ancient Samson
are now waged with jaw bones.
And while | am speaking of this matter
l recall a friends description of hall
hour passed by him at a newsstand the
day succeeding the Sullivan Kilrain fight
1t was just after the metropolitan news
papers had arrived. The continuous line
of citizens that came and went reminded
him of Fourth of July procession. AL
classes, all vOcations, both secular and
religious. were represented there, and tn,
great. the small the good. the bad, thu
wise, the otherwise, trod in prOmiscuOus
confusion upon one anOthers' heels in s
frantic eagerness to secure the fullest re
turns from the seat of war Most OF
them denounced the whole affair in un
measured terms. The secular press
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