The Austin weekly statesman. (Austin, Tex.) 1883-1898, 1894-11-22
THE SUNDAY NEWSPAPER
DISCUSSED BY THE EPISCOPAL
CHURCH CONGRESS.
Sncesbes Alternately Eulogise and Con
denim the Sunday Press-One Tell
ing the Kind of Matter They
Should Contain.


Boston Nov. 1.-THE Sunday
Newspaper" was the topic which en-
gagged the attention of the Episcopal
church congress at Music hall this even
ing. Bishop Lawrence presided.
The first speaker introduced was Rev.
Robert A. Holland, ID. d.. of st. Louis.
| He said in substance that Sunday news
papers were as adverSeaS their number
| and no word that could characterize one
would exactly describe another In IL
mastery manner he showed how the
newspapers of the present day We're
searchlights thrown into every hiding
place Its condemnation turns crowns
| to death caps. Many Il rich scamp fears
| it who does not fear the civil laws. lie
knows not the day nor the hour when
upon some liason, some Orgie, some
swindling. the newspaper will come as a
thief in the night and strip off his false
reputation and wrap him in shame that
shall burn the very flesh from his bones.
Virtue does fcats, and whatever its deeds
are the newspaper notes them as worthy
of the worlds eye. DAY by day, each
day between two nights; Il distinct life
between birth and death; the day that
has no newspapers losing that much Of
the worlds life from cOnscientiousnesS.
TOday's newspaper is IL back number:
tomorrow's an obituary and OdOr of
death. We need the newspapers.
"What of the day in seven called the
day of rest? For myself, must hold in
truth TO its day-a day of the sun-and
that the observance of it to be the hottest
which is sunny-moSt alive with light.
Because it is :; holy day, it is Il holiday.
1t bids men feast not fast. The Sunday
newspaper. without OBTAINING the few
who seek the highest heaven, saves mil
lions of poor souls from listless stupOr
or ignorant pastimes by, drawing their
interest in the worlds daily life to an
amplcr reading than work days
permit. 1t is their one
book. their museum, their library.
Rev. George ID. Curry, ID. d., presented
goes without saying that the secular
newspaper is one of our most important
Institutions; it is necessary to the present
type of civilization; it is thus Indispensable
to free government it is 50 much 50
that you may safely say that it is an eQui-
divine institution, yet the Sunday paper
occupies rs exclusively with other day 5
interest. 1t throws open the stores for
us and puts lis in the midst of the markets
and takes us frequently, in column after
column, through scenes Of sin and horrors.
1t is hard to see how people can justify
the immediate prefacing of their prayers
and their holy communion by partaking
sacramentally an hour before of the world
and the devil through the columns of the
Sunday press"
Richard IL. Dana of Cambridge, Mass.
was the next speaker. For purposes of
comparison Mr. Dana said he had OBJ
tanned p papers from the cities of Bos-
ton, New York, Philadelphia, Bal
timore, Chicago, Cincinnati, St Louis,
Louisville, Atlanta and San Francisco.
What first impressed him was the size of
these journals, the average of them being
i'll reading matter alone equal to one and
Il half times the contents of the New
Testament. The illustrations of the pa
perS were for the most part crude and
martStic. The moral effect of five of
them was bad, and of 20 very doubtful.
Many of the comic pictures relied on vul-
garity for their wit. Only two papers
out of the p had anything like Il serious
bit of church reading. One of these had
two columns and half headed Church
Circles containing an original hymn, il
short prayer or collect, and an address,
and very good one, too. on Bravery"
This constituted about Il thOuSandth part
VI llc pipcT. L he characteristic OF the
Sunday paper that Mr.. Dana had exam
ined was a belittling of subjects treated,
as if to bring them down to the inteli-
gence of inferior minds. There were I'M
doubtedly good articles here and there on
topics of the day, and occasionally well
treated. They made however in the best
papers but small part of the whole
Then too, the man who takes the Sun
day paper Just for the purpose of clanciup
at II few items must remember that he i;
taking it into his home with the illustrn-
tons. the headlines and the allurng read-
ing; the week day paper is usually rrnd to
and from the offices, while the Sunday m
per is read in the home. I'm concmdin~,
Mr. Dana said: so far | have snokrn
of the Sunday papcr only rs if is ot nrcs-
the future if tL" miIlianS Of nn,.o',,
into thc mllions Of families n n" Sn '"T,,,
could r;vn tIn ,o, H. ,,t
~nnd styl" and aIovotnJ 1't tonI", 1''iii" 20
-: " -, va NV a. :