Daily inter mountain., 1900-12-27
LEGAL ADVERTISEMENTS

osition with the utmost deference-is 1t
necessary. simply because one is Jour-
nalist to forfeit good manners ana 10
become as boorish with the pen as Il
drunken ..coster' with the tongue. Is
it required of the man who sits down
to write articles or paragraphs for
newspapers that he should set aside
every code of honor. every thought of
kindness or consideration for the feel
ings of others. every rule of good breed
ing and education which helps To mould
a man into tha; finest product of civil
iZation--a gentleman?
| accuse no one. l simply ask is it
necessary?
Latterly our newspapers have been
fun of horrors-daily bills of morbid
fare for the senses, while feeding moth
ing to the intellect. The Massacre OF
the Legations at Pekin'' has turned our
blood cold and made our hearts sick
We have, metaphorically speaking. torn
our hair. ground our teeth and eNecrat-
ed the Chinese We have Through our
press) as good as called the Chinese min
User in London Il liar, though he swore
upon his honor and by his life that
the legations were safe.
When France was discussing her
"Dreyfus affair our press could not let
her alone. Each little penster from the
highest to the lowest, got into clean
clericals at once and preached at her.
France has her own journalists and Il
Zola to talk to her in the way she best
understands: but our English ''oracles'
did not care for that. They went on
AT her like several Methodist parsons
rating one 'orrid example"
Later on, and possibly by way of a
quid pro quo. some scurrious Paris
boulevardier caricatured the queen. And
then our press did exactly what 1t ought
not to have done-toOk notice of that
petty and vulgar offense against good
manners-an offense which all intelli-
gent French people repudlate.
Our press has often caricatured the
kaiser, but our "sketchy bits need new
Ell hope for such compliment to their
| cleverness as notice from the whole
press of Germany.
Unfortunately we have on our press
certain careless or otherwise
editors. whose ediorship is merely
nominal ana who. no doubt. through in
attention to any but financial results,
allo wthings to be printed in the col
umns of the newspapers they are sup
posed to control which are totally un-
worthy of England and England's rep
utation for honor.
England is too grea for such little
ness. and Englishmen have right to
| demand that their press should be more
| honestly representative of themselves
| Unfortunately. however. all our news
papers emanate from London chiefly
just as all the leading French news
| papers emanate from Paris.
| The local or country editor is gen.
orally an irresponsible person. He is
| nearly always sef-opinionated and APP
! parently knows how to govern the
| country SO well that it is a wonder he
| is not made a cabinet minister. He has
| a far-seeing knowledge of men and
! events, and he is quite aware-oh, yes
quite aware.-of the malice harboreG
against him by certain persons in the
! neighborhood.
| All. the country editor! God bless
him Many and many hearty laugh
does he give me gratis by his quain
title ways; and my laughter is not b,
any means unkind, but most trul,
friendly and sympathetic. His position
is an exceedingly difficult one, and h
can never be expected to attain to tn
dignity of honestly representing in hi
printed columns the real feeling of tn
people among whom he lives.
Thus, taking all these points into con
sdera ton, it will be seen that the popu
lation of the large provincial cite!
towns and villages hold ideas opinion
and principles which never get into til
papers, therefore the papers cannot !
said to truly represent them. And
London. also, we may take it for gram
ed that there are millions of people fC
whom the press finds no vOce-mllion
composing great laboring silence whiC
one day may of itself break into strange
ly discordant speech.
|