The midland journal. (Rising Sun, Md.) 1885-1947, 1896-05-01
Search for the Cause.

Brother Couden of the Perryville
Record moralizes last week on the
depravity of the daily press but
does not attempt to search for the
cause. There is always a cause for
such a travesty of decency, morality,
good taste and common sense, as
the sensational daily paper presents.
1t is not accidental but deliberately
planned for a diabolical purpose
and ordered by the directors of
those sheets. The lesson which
history teaches is that when domi-
neering ambition orlicentious wealth
sought to enslave the people or
keep them quiet after having them
enslaved, their attention was sought
to be diverted from the cause of
their misfortune and oppression by
amusements and sensational sur
prises. In times and countries
when and where the masses were
illiterate games, shows and holiday
entertainments were provided full
of spectacular display and exciting
incident. In the midst of this fleet
ing and transient excitement the
people were prone to forget their
wrongs. Civilization has advanced
a pace and those shows do not lay
hold on the minds of the masses as
formerly. The public school has
lifted them to a higher plane and
the printed page has been substi
tuted in large measure to feed the
victim with excitiments that will
serve to draw away his attention
from his bonds and wrongs.
The daily paper is now substi-
tuted for the grosser sports of long
ago, which appealed through eye
and ear to excite the feelings.
Crime of every grade is now depicted
daily in the most artistic style of
the reporter, trained for this work.
Every class of exciting incident from
the most light and trifling to the
horrible and tragic, with every in
termediate grade, from grave to
gay, all are mustered and arranged
with consumate art on the pages of
the same paper. The Sunday paper
is especially rich in this bizarre
literature, and every cross roads
village is flooded with these papers
by hundreds, sold at nominal
price. The minds of the masses
are stuffed with this moral poison
and their taste depraved and I'M
fitted to enjoy any thing which
contains food for thought. There
is method and design, deep, dark
devilish design, in all this. The
"money power" is behind this
hellish plot weaving its meshes
about the people while like the
vampire bat it luis them into I'M
consciousness by its poisoned news
paper spell. The better nature of
the public is becoming blunted to
crime. A few extra dollars added
to the missionary or other church
fund, and the whilom lion roar of
pulpit and pew sinks to that Of the
''sucking dove" A few years ago
when the Philadelphia Press at
tempted to issue a modest little
Sunday sheet every pulpit in the
Quaker city sent up a roar like the
thunders from Sinai againstit it. Now
the Philadelphia Sunday paper
takes its place beside hymn and
prayer book, the most attractive of
the three.
Brother Couden, there is a well
ordered human design in this thing,
q fundamental cause, which is de-
vouring the substance of the
American people, blotting out their
manhood and degrading them in
their own eyes by the morphine
spell of poverty, while it spreads
it's net of moral degradation over,
and weaves it's chains of wage
slavery about them. Seek and you
will find it, then rise up and help
smite these Midianites of the gold
trust who carry off the harvests of
the DeODle.