The Caucasian. (Clinton, N.C.) 188?-1913, 1895-11-14
THE PRACTICES
OF THE PRESS.
How knowledge Came Above the
Worlds Horizon and Made
Light For The People.
EHOW IT Is DARKENED.

ny he Pisteeratss Prsss Of To- Dey-rA.
ssDDr~ssies OF rs~ss Paid ss--W Ass .
BiG Editor said ss . Basssss-Ne0s He
marks CosssraiIg the Dsoosrssts Frss,
sf North Carslias-And what 10 Hs.
Failed 10 DE.
I'm Thousands Of years the sun o'
ison. and only the very top VI she sosia
pyramid could catch its beams.r
The invention Of printing Was tn.
worlds sunrise, which drove the blaci
shadows well down the sides Of tn.
strata Of society still wrapped in the
was confined 80 the few. Monks, in
their cloisters and cells, and noble,
and scholars, held the lever which Lord
Bacon said lis power" Later, politi
cal leaders led the masses, even ..
shepherds led their hocks along The
fields and along she mountain-side.
In the days Of JsffersoR and Hamilton
Calhoun, Webster and Clay, The,
thought for millisas, Who were dev otees
q the shrine Of their resHscti.e schoois.
That 10 changed noW. The better part
Of the press, has flooded the dark
places Of earth with light. Millions
are drinking At the crystal fountains
1t has given voice 70 an immense class
Of the population, who before were q
mere inert mass, but who contribuSe
powerfully to the formation Of public
opinion, and who in their majesty will
force those policies and she adoption
Of laws deemed ascessary to the vel
fare Of the country.
Shortly ago, with the old hand pres. !.
two men cO1ld make only tWo hundred
Impressions an hour. The great Hoe
presses now print, fold and paste, a
sixteen page paper at speed OF
twenty-fOur thousand per hour.
The farmer, the working-man,s says
John Swinton-who have been the
bond slaves OF wealth and power
these giants, upon whose shoulders
rests governments and empires, have
begun to think They hare learned io
read!
And now, since the masses-and We
speak particularly Of Americans-are
reading and thinking for themselves. il
is more important than ever that the
Press should be pure-should be free
in fact, and not base slave of faction
4 servile tool of party-that it should
perform its great function, without
fear aud without reprOach."
What is the function Of the Press?
Says Grimke: 1.-THE Press is a com
pOaent part Of the machinery OF free
government. 1t is the organ OF public
opinion, and the great Office which i,
performs 10 to effect . distribution OF
power throughout the country. Ii.
business is to distribute knowedge, {,
blazOn truth, and to diffuse q common
sympathy among the great mass of th.
population"
Says another "If the Press were an.
initiated, if truth was thereby sedu.
lousy concealed, il it were to substi.
tute partisauship for principle, free
institutions would be in danger, knowl.
edge of real conditions would be con.
fined to a few political "bOsses," and
usurpatiOn would be heaped upon usur.
patton"
Says Remelin: "When DeBow de.
clared that the Press constitutes tn.
Egis of American liberty he used q
misleading figure of speech: for tn.
Press is danger rs we'll rs q
shield; and both for and against lib.
srty, according to the hands it is in, OI
the words and manner of its employ.
ment. Like all educational agencies
the Press is beneficial only to the de.
gree to which it is rightfully devel.
Oped, organized and used. Mankind
has made bitter experiences on thi.
point with its Churches, and it would
be a pity il America were to repea,
them as to it's Press"
Let US see if the Press of Americs
and the Democratic Press Of Nortf
Carolina measures up to the grand
purposes above set out.
Does it "distribute knowledge. bla.
zOn truth and diffuse sesympathy!" Who
dare say that it does? Does it not at
tempt to cover the corruptions Of party
and protect the powerful against thu
poor? Does it not place party above
principle, and sedulously concea
truth" whenever it suits its purpose?'
Is 1t not . danger As we'll a. /,
shield" for and against liberty, &C.
cOrding to the hand it is in?
II pure Press brings light, q cor.
rupt Press must bring darkness. II q
Press free from serviiity and oppres.
sion means liberty, . trucking, unscru.
pulous Press will help to forge the fet
ters Of industrial and intellectua
slavery.
A cursOry examination of the Pres!
OF this country, and Of the so-cslleC
Democratic Press Of North Carolina
will show that the larger part of boti
are either subsidized tools Of the mOney
power or cringing syeophants ant
slaves Of party.
The metropolitan Press of the na
tion 10, to-day, with one or two excep
tions, but hired brsvos with poisonet
laggers to stab the truth and the in
terests Of the people 1T the nod o
milliOnaires, and our Pharoah at th,
White House.
The Press 10 . terrible instrument O
party corruption and oppression, ant
in the hands Of the CaliGula at wash
inStOn il is . mighty battering-rau
against the Constitution and the insti
tutions erected By the Fathers Of tn,
Republic.
At . great Press banquet in New
York not long ago, . speaker said
There 10 no such thing - an inde
pendent Press in America. You knov
it and know it. l km paid $50
week TO keep honest opinions out O
the paper of which l am now editor
We are tools and vassais Of rich mel
behind the scenes. We are intellec
tual prostitutes"
Not only this, but the Press 10, in to
many cases, the means BY which tn
blood-suckinE Trusts and Honopolie
Of the country accomplish their thiev
ish and infamous purposes. When on
Of these bands Of highwaymen start ar
expedition against industrial freedom
and the bread Of the people, the 6rs
thing it does 10 to entrench itself be
hind the Press. One case will illus
trate this point. The city of Toled
desired to own its own gas pipe line
A great gas monopoly objected and q
once purchased the Toledo Daily. Thi
paper had previously sustained tb
city with the greatest power, de
nouncing the gas companies ~ q gan,
| Of thieves. As soon as i. became an in
strument Of the monopoly it turne
upon the city with the ferocity of
tiger, and declared that the city Faith
ers were blatant demagogues, con