The Saint Paul globe. (St. Paul, Minn.) 1896-1905, 1897-03-21
IMPLEMENTS TO EREEDOM

IMPLEMENTS TO FREEDOM.
A few months ago the New York
Evening Post raised it's voice in pro-
test against what is called the "new
journalism" in which two papers of
New York city are competing for pre-
eminence. 1t called on public opinion
to arouse itself and break the silence
that gave warrant to the conclusion
that these papers, with their columns
reeking with scandals and with an ap-
petite for the sensational that found
nothing too disgusting for it's taste,
represented American life and typifed
American character. The older Of the
two papers had so long pursued its pc
culiar methods of purveying what it
esteemed news without protest from
any source, that the appeal Of the Post
was like ''the voice of one crying in the
wilderness" 1t seemed to be leading a
very forlorn hope. But the responses
! came with surprising and gratifying
promptness. 1t began In the action of
the officers of a public library in d.
rectlng that the two papers be removed
from the files and struck off the list
of papers taken. Others followed the
| example, and the revolt against indie
cency in journalism is spreading until
/ it looks as if the clientage of the two
| offenders will be narrowed down to
that of their old competitor, the Police
Gazette.
Injurious as must be the effect of
such journalism" upon the morals of
those who feed their minds with it's
news" there is another phase of eff
feet that touches not only the national
character and reputation, but is an OBJ
struction to the advance Of republican
government abroad. One wonders why
! Germany submits to the pretensions of
its war lord to a divine right to rule.
| and why it is that the spirit Of AS has
not long ago given Germany either a
monarchy reduced to the emptiness of
| a figurehead like England or a repub-
lie. But ask any intelligent German.
familiar with sentiment in that coun-
try. and he will tell you that there is
no influence so patent to deter the ad-
vance of democracy as is the conceD-
ton of republican government in the
United States derived from our papers.
and especially from the excerpts from
our news columns of their papers. The
imperialisS papers especially lose no
! fW fn
frauds and scandals and sagely COM
ment on them as the legitimate prod
uct of republican government.
Lowell was abroad when Agassiz d.ed
and in his poem commemorative of that
! remarkable man, he tells how he read
/ the papers and
desp;se nan
Yet scramble for no less.
ana read of public scandal. private fraud
crime haunting scot-free while the mob ap-
ONCE made vile to bribe unworthfness
! And all the unwholesome mess
Inc iand OF HoneSt Abraham serves of late
To teach the Old World how to wait
and came suddenly upon the startling
line. "Agassfz is dead"
But it is in that couplet that is sum
med up the effect of all this sensational
newsmongering; it teaches 1.-The Old
World how to wait" That is the kerr
mel of the effect upon the progress of
democracy abroad. One understands
better why republican France retains
so much of the arbitrariness of mon
archism in her government, and one
can understand why the German patri
OF. chafing under the militarism of the
empire, still feels it better to endure
the ills it inf1icts than to fly to the
conditions under democracy as shown
by its press. OF the great, silent, actual
life Of the nation they hear nothing.
The quiet. orderly, Iaw-abiding mass
furnish no news" supply no scandals
commit no crimes, but they furnish the
best proof of what democracy is cap-
| able of. Integrity in private and pub
lie life is the rule, ii Is COMMONPLACE
expected and causes no comment TT
is the occasional and relatively rare
! instance of dishonesty in either sphere
that startles and is. therefore. news.
The line that divides legitimate news
from mere sensationalism is a broad
and easily defined one, as a majority
of the papers Of the country amply at
test, but it is the incessant passage of
this line by such papers as those re
ferred to, this eager search for the
morbid. their recklessness of method in
getting it and portraying it. their keen
scent for the nasty, their indifference
to all the decencies of life, their ruth
less, coarse invasion of private life and
dragging from their closets OF family
t skeletons. their, interviews that ara
never had, and. all embellished with
rude pictures that make art blush; it
is all this and more that has at last
provoked public opinion into angry pro-
test and invited an invasion of the
freedom of the press by legislation.
! Public opinion is more powerful than