The morning call., 1893-10-28
A. DECENT PRESS.
Strong Determination to
Obtain 1t.
THE. CLERGY UNANIMOUS.
Five Hundred Pledged to Its
:: Advocacy.
VIEWS OF VARIOUS MINISTER'S.
. Causes of Complaint Against the Pa
pers and Means to Effect Re-
.-...>: form of the Evils.
VIEWS OF VARIOUS MINISTER'S.

:: have already pledged themselves TO preach
= npon the su bject, and number of churches
:: have promised support to the movement.
- Prominent dlvines Of various denOmina-
<tions were interviewed yesterday by CALL
: reporters, and one and all spoke en-
Enthusiastically of the work which the ladies
have undertaken.
= 'Fhe agitation is of so recent date that
Il have scarcely had time TO give it the
consideration I would wish to-" observed
: Rev::J. O., a. Henry of the First Baptist
= ChGrch. Il consider, however, that 1HE
CkIL occupies an exceptional position in
the matter" he continued reflectively.
eft is: as clean and creditable paper as is
published in San Francisco. There Is
HOnpa ratively little in it that could be
criticized, but If l were speaking to re-
*pofter from another paper. l might be able
to point out good deal in his sheet that
needs revision.
.s..With. regard to where the reform
should lie. | think tie ladies' points in
thelf petition are all well taken. Too
IL Uch place is given to persOnalit IN
Efa6y OF the papers. They are too free in
.rLfe:nse of names and in the running of
regulations. In fact, our modern press is
:to6Iond of dragging out secrets OF home
.Afe:: and personal histories with which
neither it nor its readers have any con-
Germ"
Inreply to the question of where the re-
T.: form should lie Mr.. Henry observed:
*nIhe tone of our press as whole would
certainly bs vastly improved II the adVeT-
. Using system were Tigidly Sifted down-if
it would strike out all the advertisements
: of Quack physicians, spiTituallstIc hags and
: massage paTlors and other immoral rub
. bisb. Each paper depends for support
;. upon the majority OF the people. and the
: majority are certainly against having such
matter 10 the daily papers.
:: There are certain forms of charity and
religion, on the other hand, that might
proftably receive a larger space. The
average paper on the Pacific Coast gives
little attention to the better element OF
the community. Some space given to the
sweet and sacred side of life would go far
toward cOunteracting the baser element
emanating from the criminal classes.
: at seems to me that an editor should
publish nothing which he would not be
willing for his wife and children to read.
A great deal of the present sensational
and prnrent matter would be excluded
under that censorship.
CLOSELY connected with this matter of
? reform of the daily press is that of the
periodicals for sale on the newsstauds.
There certainly ought to be some law pro-
EIbiting the sale of such sheets as the !
Polite Gazette and the Police News. Only |
the other day gentleman from New 7 ork !
remarked to me that, bad as that city is, |
the displays Of such periodicals as are con-
stantly seen on our San Francisco news |
stands would be prohibited in New York.
s"I'his matter of press reform was brought
up at the close of our meeting last night, |
and as q church we pledged ourselves to
aid the movement. There is no matter of
greater importance than the one IN hand.
@Our literature is our life, and the people
: who constantly read impure matter will
inevitably drift in the direction Of sensa-
tionalism and impurity."
?. 81 am satisfied that there is very wide !
spread discomfort upon this matter" said
: Rev. w. d. Williams, ID, of the Plymouth |
= CONGREGATIONAL Church. "As for the
grounds of complaint, l do not know so
MUCH about that, however.
."0hly last week" be continued refiec-
lively, II delivered lecture in one town
= in Contra Costa County, and preached in |
:; another. In both places heard remarks
TO the effect, How is it your San Francisco
papers are so full of crimes that we are
not interested IN reading them| These
g complaints seem to be very persistent
among the best class of readers.
Last evening a lady addressed the
prayer-meeting upon the subject She
fweT particularly upon the demOralizng
effect Of detailed accounts OF prize-fghts.
think that many of US must have wish
at times that the press would give us a
little less of the pugilistic. 1t might too
spare us some of the details of murders
and. other crimes.
.+'The ladies are getting a number OF sig
natures, among others those of the big
advertisers, which will count for more
than the signatures of a bssketful of
women. Of course. l have great respect |
for the ladies. and | think that all classes |
: of the people will cooperate with them. |
The Hebrews, for instance. We have no
class of people more careful about the in |
: ~stTuetlOn aud moral training of their chill |
dram than the .ipWS TbpU will hn or
much interested in purifying the press as
: We;are.
:. :'>'rHE CALL is the paper of my choice,'
continued DIR. Williams. sit is as much |
as Lean do to follow one newspaper. |
don't see no " 1t could be improved upon |
very much. As for the editorials / could |
not utter a criticism. The editorials are |
all right as they are"
Rev. II. ID. Wikoff of the Fourth Con-
gregati0nal Church observed: This ladies |
. are taking the ground that higher moral |
tone should prevail, and certainly here is |
considerable need for reform in that re- |
spect. Some of the advertising, for in
stance, needs strict revision.
I'm nv opinion the papers should en- !
courage the reporting of more that appeals |
TO the high-tOned moral element of the /
cOnimunitv | have noticed with a good !
deal of pleasure lately the space given in
The CALL to churches and religious assem- |
bl1es, in fact l have been tempted to write |
an articleabOut 1T.
:, When asked his opinion as to how the |
public would like the movement MI !
Wikoff observed: Certainly Christian |
people would aid the movement if they let |
it be known that they deprecate every |
thing not in line with high morals Let |
them patr0nize those papers that are the |
purest"
well judging from a readers stand |
point" observed Rev. F. B. Pullen of the |
Third Congregational Church, Il should |
say that the papers might exercise wiser
scrutiny in that which gets into their
columns In the matter of news.
'Reporters write out in unnecessary |
detail what can often give satisfaction
only TO morbid taste. The papers ought
to give more space to things that interest
the best members of the community. Now,
very important religious gathering has
just taken place at Worcester, Mass. 1t
has been ignored in San Francisco, and
yet 1t Was Of more general interest than
the detailed account of the latest murder
Plenty Of space is given to prize fights,
but events of more public interest are
crowded into corners.
The public ought to be able to look
upon the press as an educator, not a mere
paDderer to its tastes. Whoever it is is
L. - i