St. Paul daily globe. [volume] (Saint Paul, Minn.) 1884-1896, 1893-07-31

lines, has made its impress on the
newspaper world. The experiments OF
the latter are yet in their infancy; but
they are so numerous. so varied, so
resourceful. that all question of their
ultimate success has already been
abandoned.
1t will have been observed that in
writing this paper | have had i'll mind
particularly the daily journalism of
New York. In other cities the news
paper workers condition may vary
slightly according To local environment.
OAs the essential principles are the
same everywhere in America.
The Disadvantages.
Briefly, the disadvantages of Journal
ism as a permanent vocation are the
Limitation to income, the Insecurity of
place, the comparative imposslbility of
ever working except for hire. the i'm
personality of the work, the absolute
power which the newspaper has over
the newspaper man, the constant drain
upon both mental and physical forces,
and the fact that old age is almost as
fatal TO employment as death itself.
Another serious disadvantage. and by
no means the least, Is the jealousy and
per men. Many of the changes
in place are due to the wire-pulling,
the backbiting and the petty consplr-
acies of the men themselves. The ambi-
ton of the average newspaper man
does not reach to the proprietorship of
newspaper. But it does reach to some
place with more power and more salary
than that he occupies. Advancement
IS what he seeks, and advancement can
be had only by change of place, and a
change of place can be had only with
the consent of the proprietor or his
direct representative. The proprietor
thus becomes sort of despOt, at whose
feet his vassals sue for favor, and to
influence whom plots and cOunterplots
are laid until the honest, straightfor-
ward, guileless man is so sick of such
underhand work that he is all too will
ing to quit the contest and seek some
other field. Hence IL is that the best
places are not always held by the best
men. The courtier is often more sue
ceSsful, temporarily at least, than the
Journalist.
The Advantages.
The advantages of journalism as a
vocation, as l have hinled above. de-
POhO SCl1 Oii bllC DOlub VI flGns IL ID
probable that the lower grades of physi-
clans, lawyers and preachers 90 not
earn greater monetary compensation for
their labors than newspaper men. The
same statement applies to the lower
grades Of men in commercial pursuits.
Hence it will be seen that in the mere
matter of furnishing a livelihood, jour
nalism does not compare unfavorably
with other vocations. But it is to the
higher grades, to the boundless oppOr-
tunlties afforded to superior talents and
unfiagging industry, that man must
look in choosing his Iife-calling; and in
these journalism without a proprietary
interest suffers in comparison. More
over, while there are innumerable
worthless men In other vocatiOns, men
who lower the general average,
there are no worthless men in
journalism. 1t has no place for
billiards or laggards. Such may
enter. but they are sp eedily discovered
and mercilessly d ropped. The result is
that journalists as class are intelli-
gent, educated, earnest, industrious
and it is not the least advantage of the
calling to be with these and of these. An
OluSI dufdutdSc VI jour ileS III the
character of the work the journalist has
to do. The world is his field OF labor,
mankind his constant study. Under
these conditions labor never becomes
inSipId or embarrassing. Each rising
sun brings with it new turn of the
Kaleidoscope of human affairs, as rich
in color. as wonderful in grouping, as
that of the day which is gone. There is
always an opportunity, even for the
humblest, to do some good; and if the
mighty power of the newspaper is only
rightly directed and justly exercised,
there is an exultation in achievement
which is shared by every active agent
in its production.