The Democratic advocate. [volume] (Westminster, Md.) 1865-1972, 1894-01-20
Newspapers and Their Readers.

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who never read the daily or weekly news
paper even in this enlightened nineteenth
century, and singuErrly enough, they have
title in common save this one popularity.
THAT they are behind the age is not more
evident than that some of them are missing
the chance of obtaining a liberal educa-
ton without the loss of time and the ex-
penditure of money involved in univer-
sity course
Men who cannot read would naturally
be expected to care nothing for the news
paper And yet it would be great mis-
take to suppose that all men of this sort
are thus Indifferent There are many IL
literate men who are eager to know what
is going on, and they are among the best
patrons of public journals. While they
cannot read, they listen to others, and
usually have retentive memories. 1t is
great mistake to suppose that all the illit-
crate are also ignorant.
Some people are too parsimonious to pat
ronize the newspaper They imagine that
their chief duty in life is to make all they
can and save all they can, in order that
their children may have good time after
they have gone to the cemetery. They
indulge in no luxuries and no comforts
with which they can dispense, and as they
look upon the newspaper as luxury they
will have nothing to dv with it. Their
children grow up rude, uncultured, isnor-
ant and starved in mind because of the
folly of those parents.
There is class Of highly cultured peo-
pie in the country who will not read any
book which is less than half century old,
because they do not believe anything is
literature which has not stood the test of
time, and the newspaper, in their critical
opinion, is not literature and never can be.
They live in the past They have only
vague idea of what the world is talking and
thinking about and are of very little use to
themselves or to anybody else.
Other good people do not take news
paper into their homes simply because of
carelessness. They know they ought to
take one for the benefit of their children,
if not for their own information; they mean
to do it some day, but keep putting it off,
partly because there are so many good pc
riodicals that they find it difficult to make
a choice between them, and partly because
they have formed such a habit of putting
off until tomorrow what ought to be done
today that they find it hard to act with
decision
The citizen of a free country who does
not take modern journal does himself
and his family great wrong. He cannot
intelligently discharge the duties of citi-
zenship unless he has some knowledge of
the present day problems which are en-
crossing public attention. To be familiar
with the wisdom of the fathers of antiquity
is not enough. He cannot be Of much
service to his reighbors unless he is in
sympathy with them, and he cannot un-
derstand them or be in touch with them
unless he has breathed the modern spirit.
The newspaper of the present day is the
most marvellous product of this wonderful
age. 1t has gross defects, it is true, but
it is the representative of the Thought of
the average people of its age and the fairly
accurate mirror of passing events. Each
morning it gives Its readers full report of
the local happenings and the substance of
all interesting events in every part of the
world. 1t has its representatives in every
important town and county who allow
nothing of Importance to escape their vigi-
LANCE. In every section of the United
States, in South America, Europe, Asia,
Africa and the islands of the sea. men and
women are engaged in collecting news for
its readers. The matter published in each
issue represents daily expenditure of
thousands of dollars, and it would be i'm
possible save for the cooperative system
known as the Associated Press.
Everybody ought to take newspaper
and if but one can be taken it should be
the local paper, because it chronicles the
news of the immediate neighhorhood in
full, without peglecting an epitome of the
really important general news. If this ar
ticle should come under the observation of
any one who is raising family of boys and
girls without the. beneficial influence of
family paper, may we not urge an imme-
diate change for the better,