The Hawaiian star. [volume] (Honolulu [Oahu]) 1893-1912, 1894-04-05
pANA0N JOURNALISM


NV a'hNtN MANNNa
possnt fbint ihe Douerss AZ Nert Sue.
oessni iu uatInr 5ouruausts. bot
Good rdu,auou D. Valuable wbs,
oresiss said ou ants suJsot
IN "a lecture delivered st Union collrc
au fhU education ueodpd in preparation .
flr Journalism Charlie Dana said
The number of intellectual young men .
who aro looking 8t th'. new profession. I
which f0f ihe wont ul hcIfer name ve .
caU tho profession .f journalism. is very .
grat D suppose fhHt ! receive myself Uy. .
trr day, taking U1e day with nn0ther, bali F.
"a dozen lafDrs from men, many uf them .
college graduates. asking for employment .
aud Hn opportunity Ui showing what De- iu .
them Ol course they cannot an get 90 Boo F.
lhe same papgr Sow and Chen one obtains
place. hut generally thp rule that is 0b.
served Iu Bli wen organized newspaper ol-
foes is chat thc boys who began at The Dee
ginning ore taken rap step hy step Boz accord
auce with choir faculties and their merits
The boys who begin at the bottom come
out at the Top At the same time these
boys d8 uol a.l start out with the best out
ft-that BE- t1 Say, with the best education
D
thoritio- who doubted whether high edu-
cation was of amy great use Go a journalist
Horace Greeley told me several times that
the real newspaper man was the boy who
had slept on newspapers and ate ink. Az
though ] served him for several years and
we were very near Iu our personal relations.
] think De always had little grudge
against me because ] came up through a
college.
what sort Of preparation, what sort Of
preliminary education should % man have
who means 20 devote himself TO tins bust
ue.sP There are colleges which have lately
introduced schools of journalism or depart
ments of journalism, where they propose
20 teach the art Of newspaper making, to
instruct the student iu the methods he
should employ and 10 do him out so that
be can go 90 newspaper Office and make
newspaper Well, will not say that is not
useful But there has been a department
Of journalism at Cornell university Tor sew
eral years, and ! have never found that a
student OF graduate who had pursued that
department there Instead of pursuing other
studies was Of any great avail as "A practical
worker In the newspaper work that be had
been trying TO learn.
In fact, it seems to me, II | may be al
lowed a little criticism, that the COLLEGES
generally are rather branching out too
much, until they are inclined To take the
whole universe into their curriculum and
TO teach things which do not exactly be-
long there. Give the young man a first
class course Of general education. and If |
could have my way every young man who
is going TO be a newspaper man and who is
not absolutely rebellious against it should
learn Greek and Latin after the good old
fashion.
! had rather take young fellow who
knows the Ajax of SOphocles, and who has
read Tacitus, and can scan every ode of
Horace / would rather take him to report
a prize fight or a spelling match, for in
stance, than TO take one who has never had
those advantages. believe in the colleges.
believe in high education, but | do not
believe IN scattering your fire before you
are in the face Of the enemy.
There is no question that accuracy, the
faculty Of seeing a thing as it is, Of know
ing for instance that it Is q and not 2%
and saying sO-that Is one of the first and
most precious ends of good education.
Next to that ] would put the ability to
know how and where most promptly to
look for what you don't know and what
you want 10 know. Thirdly, | would put
Dr. Walkers great object, being able to
tell what you know and 70 tell 1t accurate
ly, precisely, without eXaggeration, with
out prejudice, the fact Just as tits, whether
IL be a report Of baseball game, or Of "A ser.
mon, or Of a lecture on electricity, whatever
10 may be, 10 get the thing exactly ms it Is.
The man who can do this Is a very well
educated man.
In addition come the qualities of person
al talent and genius. Now genius is a great
factor. When we think of such a genius
as the one / have just mentioned-the late
Mr.. Greeley, why, our minds may well be
filled with admiration. ! do not suppose
more than one or two gentlemen here ever
knew Mr. Greeley personally, but he was a
man Of immense ability, Of instincts of ex-
taordinary correctness in many respects,
and Of the power Of eXpressiOn-of telling
what he knew in delightfully."- picturesque,
humorous way-which not merely instruct
ed the hearer and reader, but gave him a
sense Of delight and satisfaction from the
mere art that was applied in the telling
He had had no great advantages of educa
ton. He had to pick up his education as
he went along, reading in the winter even
ings by the freight, and never wasting a
chance Of learning something.
But he lacked one Of the most precious
faculties, which 1t is another great object
Of the college education to cultivate and
DTlIk OuLs anu llldJ Is WHAT we VIII call Ili
critical faculty, the judgment which, wher
proposition is stated TO you or a fact Il
reported looks at it calmly and says, "That
is true" or else, That is false" the judg
ment, the instinct, the developed and cul
tivated instinct which knows the truth
when it is presented and detects error wher
It comes Incorporating before you, without
the necessity OF any long examination {,
ascertain whether it is truth or error.
The next thing that would dwell upoI
would be the knowledge of politics and es
pecially American politics This is a very
hard subject. Its history is difficult.
you go back to the foundation Of the re
public, you will find it was extremely com
plicated even then, and it requires yer,
careful study and very elevated impair
TALLY to make your analysis at all salts
factory to yourself as you go through tn
work. Still it is indispensable to a maj
who means to ill an important place il
journalism, and all who begin upon it Gel
tainly have that intention
Songs Of the Roustabouts.
It was grand sight to the small boys O
Lexington to see the deckhands swagger
ing along one at each end of coal box anC