The Madison daily leader. [volume] (Madison, S.D.) 1890-current, 1896-09-09
Buckeye State Republican Press
! Association Meets at
[ Canton.
An Address by Charles Emory
Smith Outlining News
paper Progress.
Country Papers of Today Better
Than the Best a Hundred
Years Ago.

CANTON, O.. Sept. 9.-The Republi.
can Editorial association assembled in
Elks Hall at 10 80 a. In. The venerable
John Hopley of Bucyrus was in the
chair, with Colonel r. B. Brown of the
GAINESVILLE Courier, vice president, and
G. B. Mccoy of Coshocton, secretary.
An able paper on the financial question
was read by H. P. Boyden Of the Gin.
cinnati Commercial Tribune. The edi.
tors W Ill call on Major Mckinley at 80
p. m. The feature of the afternoon
session of the Republican Ohio editors
was an address by Hon. Charles Emory
Smith, editor of the Philadelphia Press,
and ex minister to Russia. Mr.. Smith
eloquently said, in part, on "The Cam
paign Of Education"
lit is high privilege and distinction
to address this notable body in this
memorable year ON this interesting occa.
sion. l am fully sensible OF the
honor you do me, and beg to return
my grateful acknowledgements. When
jefferson said that he would rather
have newspapers without government
than government without newspapers,
he indicated the vital part which news
papers pay under free institutions.
That was hundred years ago. They
were then printed with all the limita.
tions Of the hand press, with only the
infrequent mail as their feeder and
only the stage coach as their distributor.
Today liberty is their vital breath, but
the telegraph is their nerve center and
the railroad their arterial circulation.
Government has expanded and popula.
tion multiplied twenty-fold but news
papers, circulation and resources and in
fluences, have multiplied a thousand
fold. A hundred years ago newspapers
were sentinels at the outpost. Today
they hold the central citadel az leaders
and exponents they are the very life
blood of free discussion.
Great Editors Contrasted.
Horace Greely was the greatest con.
troversialist and moral force the world
has ever seen in the editorial profession,
but Whitelaw Reid, with consummate
skill, organizes and directs far more
complete and progressive journalism.
Thurlow Weed was an unrivaled politi.
cal orator and seer, but Charles A. Dana,
master Of every weapon, wields a rapier
or fires Gatling broadside of which
the leader of the preceding generation
never dreamed. James Gordon Bennett,
the elder, raced the pony or few the
carrier pigeon, but James Gorden Ben.
nett, the younger, speaks to two cont.
nents at once.
The journalism Of the interior Ohio
town surpasses that Of the metropolis
30 years ago, and the great newspapers
of New York, Philadelphia, Boston,
Baltimore, Cincinnati, Cleveland, Chi.
cago and St. Louis have grown incal.
culably in scope, resources, expenses,
profits and power. The intimate con.
nection between politics and journalism
suggests the thought of the hour. This
is prominently campaign of educa.
tion. 1t is thus peculiarly our cam.
paign.
Things to BE Learned and Taught
We must first educate ourselves. We
must educate the people in elemental
principles. We must educate them to
understand that we cannot have two
standards of value any more than two
standards of weight or length. In our
modern civilization the function Of a
measure of value is even more import
ant than its functions as a medium of
exchange. Our exchanges aggregate
sixty thousand millions a year, but our
money in circulation is fifteen hundred
millions. The bulk of the exchanges is
effected with checks and other instru-
ments of credit. But though money
itself is not exchanged all exchanges
are measured in the dollar
unit Of value and the security
and safety Of the whole volume
depend upon the integrity of that dollar
unit, Just as the safety of every sale of
cloth depends upon the integrity of the
yard unit. You can make yardstick
of wood or ofivory. but they must have
the same length. You can make a
dollar Of gold or silver, but they must
have the same value You sell cloth
and measure the quantity i'll yards you
pay and measure the amount in dollars.
and whether you measure in half yards
called yards, or in fifty cent dollars
called hundred cent dollars. the transac.
tion is equally fraudulent and dishonest
IRON Mines Shut Down.
VIRGINIA, Mimi, Sept. 9.-The Fayal
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