The daily morning Astorian. [volume] (Astoria, Oregon) 1883-1899, 1895-01-13
tttsr 1rKr nANA.
Rich Men and Newspapers Discussed
at Comell's Founders Day.

Ithica, Jan. 11.-Tounders Day wa
appropriately celebrated at Cornell. tn
principal exercise being an address Il
the armory by Charles A. Dana, editoi
of the New York Sun. The exercises
began at Il o'clock with music, the ar
mory being crowded to the door witt
townspeople and students, probabl,
$500 in number. On the platform wer'
Mr.. Dana, Presiden Schurman, DR.. G
M. Tyler, and Hon. H. w. Sage. Presi
dent Schurman made few remarks
pertaining to Founders Day, and al
80 introduced Mr.. Dana, who said:
'I esteem myself fortunate in being
chosen to make the Founders Day ad
dress to the students and officers oi
this famous university Every age re-
auires new exemplars TO do the wori
that age has to do in the vast drama Of
mans existence on earth. There are
two kinds of usefulness in this age
The first is the man Of thought in the
realm of science and invention, such
as Edison"
Mr.. Dana then spoke few moments
on the wonders this age has produced
in the way of inventions. He then
stated that the second class Of useful
men was that of those endowed with
the gift of amassing wealth or getting
riches, against whom people are wont
to disclaim, and against whom leglsla-
ton is directed. Among these, he said,
were Ezra Cornell and Henry Sage,
These two men knew how to save, and
to give for great public enterprises and
uses Wealthy men were useful and
necessary part of the age, and were
doing good.
He then turned his attention to the
newspaper, saying it was a primary
necessity; that man must have his
breakfast, but he also must have his
paper. The newspaper profession re
quired the utmost learning. Many
newspapers were very sparsely sup
piled with this necessary article. Mr..
Dana then described the evolution as
regards typesetting, by the advent OF
typesetting machines, and described
their workings. He then spoke of the
greatly reduced cost of paper, and said
that it was so cheap now that some
papers with circulation of 100000 could
strike off a few additional hundred
thousands at little cost, and ship them
to, say, Glen's Falls, where they could
be made into paper boxes, while the
newspaper got the benefit of additional
circulation.
Mr.. Dana was emphatic as to certain
kinds of newspapers. He stated that
if one of the young men before him
were to start in the newspaper business
he must decide what kind of paper he
would like to edit There are two
kinds. One newspaper for sensible
people, and another for fools. He had
high testimony that there were certain
portions of every community made up
of fools, and therefore it was perfectly
right to provide newspapers for them.
Some newspapers were taking care of
this class-in fact making specially
of it, The Sunday newspaper, Mr.. Dana
thought, was a good institution. If It'll
were wrong to make it, 1t was wrong to
read it, and the American people had
stamped it with their approval, because
the circulation of Sunday newspapers
is double that of the daily, and as long
as people will buy them, they will be
made. People complained because, per-
haps, there were noxious things in the
newspapers, but there would always
be. The newspaper was the mirror of
the days eventr, and had to chronicle
the good things and the bad, and, as
the bad predominated, naturally some
thing noxious would have to be chron'
icled If one paper did not print
certain item, people would take another
that did. If divine providence per
mitted such things to occur, surely we
must be permitted to tell the facts to
each other.
Mr.. Dana then spoke Of the necessity
of a newspaper having Independence.
AS to the qualifications of a newspaper
man, he said he must have a complete
education, and especially a knowledge
of the English language, otherwise he
may write that which he does not
mean. He must also be practical, have
a knowledge of chemistry, electricity,
history and political economy. The
latter was not so essential, he thought,
because no one understood it. He then
spoke of news agencies, the pay of em-
ployes of papers, etc. The artists EN-
ployed on papers also received atten-
ton. First of Importance on newspa>
pers he put reporters, enlarging on their
gift of knowing the truth when they
saw it. Mr.. Dana then expiated on the
value of free press. In closing he
gave some maxims:
First, never be in a hurry; second,
all the goodness of good egg can't
make up for the badness of a bad egg;
third, stand by the Stars and Stripes
and stand steadfast for liberty"
Mr. Dana's address took one hour and
a quarter for delivery.