Wheeling register. [volume] (Wheeling, W. Va.) 1878-1935, 1897-05-31

a
Virginia Editorial Society at Weston,
Hon. Virgil A. Lewis read the follow
ing valuable and interesting paper
Mr. President. Ladies and Gentle
men.-It is a rare opportunity that one
has 10 stand before a body so induen-
rial. so important from whatever stand
point we may view it, as this; and l.
therefore. feel that a very high honor
was conferred upon me by those having
The matter in hand, when they placed
my name upon the programme of exer-
cises Of this meeting Of your Associa-
ton.
To me has been assigned the duty Of
the preparation of paper relating to
the History Of Newspaper Work in
West Virginia. In this, as in every
other field Of historic research. much
that is valuable has been lost. but the
field is none the less interesting, for to
that which has been preserved and is
available, greater value attaches.
Tt was Thomas Jefferson who said
Were it left to me to decide whether
we should have a government without
newspapers. or newspapers without
government. 1 should not hesitate a
moment TO prefer the latter
The author of The Declaration of In
dependence and Of the Statute for Re
Igious Freedom in Virginia. could well
say this, knowing as he aid that
people without a government but with
an intelligent press advocating their
rights and liberties. and keeping duty
before them, would speedily found
stable government for themselves;
while a people with government, but
without newspapers. would very soon
become victims of tyranny and oppres-
sion. endurable only by those whose
chains are forged in the darkness of
that ignorance which can exist only
where the newspaper does not exist.
I have often thought that
HISTORY OF NATIONAL JOURNAL
ISM
would be Of vastly created value than
tina, of record of battles won and
lost on bloody fields. for if We desire
to study the institutional history Of
our country. the founding of news
paper has often been Of more import
auce than the result of a battle.
The men who established the first
newspapers on our Atlantic Coast in
the Mississippi Valley. among the
Rocky Mountains, and on the Pacific
Coast. were men who We're rearing
s-roug pillars for this Republic, and
those who have established journalism
ard maintained it in the several COM
monwea,ths composing it, have added
strength largely to these pillars, and
This is not truer elsewhere than in West
Virginia. for this State owes its eX-
lsteuce largely TO the voice of the press
which existed within it's bounds before
the civil war. and certainly much of
lhe intellectual and material develop
nent which has come to it since that
line. is due directly to the same in
duence.
There is no source from which in
formation In regard TO current events.
and which is general history. can bet
ter be derived than from the newspaper.
1t is the Mirror of its Time" IC
records the happenings just as they
are: it reflects. as a general rule, the
sentiment of the country wherein it is
published. In its age-browned files, it
may be. one finds the names and bust
ness Of many persons long since for
gotten. I'm il. transactions are recorded
in the usual every day style, that have
changed the destiny of institutions Of
the State and of the Nation. Thus
great actors are seen playing their part
on the worlds stage, ana new where
are they?
NEWSPAPER \ MIGHTY FORCE.
The enterprise. or calling, or iustitu-
tiou. producing such results as these,
must be a mighty force and to know Of
it fully. implies a knowledge Of its
history. Historians have been called
the "Book-keopers Of the Nation" aud
if they are. and if the newspaper be
the chief source of history, then the
men who fill the columns of news
papers. weekly and daily must be the
"Double-entry Book-keepers.' for they
make the original entries from which
the compilers of q later day, make their
ledger entries and take off the balance
sheets which show the progress Of the
State. onward and upward toward the
perfect and enduring commonwealth.
The first white settlement in West
VIRGINIA was made in the Eastern Pan
Handle. and here. as might be expect
ed begins the History of Journalism in
our State
THE FIRST NEWSPAPER
that published the local happenings in
any part of West Virginia, was not IT.
self printed within the limits Of the
state. was the Virginia Gazetteer ard
Winchester Advertiser. the first issue
Of which appeared on wednesday, July
18th. 1857. Wilocks K Co. publishers.