Pike County press. (Milford, Pa.) 1895-1925, 1903-05-15
rENNYpAoKHR GEMS
Sayings which Rival Those Of Smell.
fungus-He 1naugurstes a New
School Of Literature

School Of literature
Following are a few extracts from
our simple governors approval of
tile Salus- Grady libel bill
IA mayor of our chief city has
been called a traitor, a senator of
the United States has been denounc
ed as a yokel with sodden brain, and
within the last quarter of a century
two Presidents Of the United States
have been murdered, and in each
instance the cause was easily trace
able to infammatory and careless
newspaper utterance.
"a cartoon in a daily journal of
May defines the question with en-
tire precision. An ugly little dwarf
representing the governor of the
commonwealth stands on a crude
stool. The stool is subordinate to
and placed alongside of a huge
printing press with wheels as large
as those of an OK team, and all are
so arranged as to give the idea that
when the press starts the stool and
its occupant will be thrown to the
ground. Put into words, the cartoon
asserts to the world that the press
is above the law aud greater in
strength than the government.
mo self-respecting people will
permit such an attitude to be long
maintained. In England, a century
ago, the offender would have been
drawn and quartered and his head
stuck upon a pole without the gates.
In America today this is the kind
of arrogance which 'goeth before a
fall.
Bishops. too, hurry into print
without investigation, and with only
such information as comes from
muddy sources, to express their dis
regard for those whom the people
have enrusted with authority.
1T is sad to reflect that some his
torian of 500 years hence, misled by
what he reads, will probably study
the statesman whom he knew to be
able and strong, generous and kind
ly, keeping his promises and paying
his debts, and depict him with the
features of an owl and the propensi-
ties of Nero or Caligula.
For continual, persistent public
violation of the law, the publication
so offending may be ahated by the
courts as a public nuisance.
"When during the War of the Re-
bellion a New York journal forged
proclamation with the name of the
President attached to it, to the great
injury of the nation, then in the
midst of a struggle for life, Mr. Lin
coin promptly suppressed the publi-
cation. The liberty of the press to
scatter injurious falsehood no more
bound him than the withes bound
Samson. He established a precedent
which no doubt will be followed in
the future should a like occasion
demand it.
sYAIPATHIzEs WITH PUsEY
"An upright and worthy gentle
man, trained to the law, who has
worn a sword in the service of his
country, and who bears a name hon
ored in Pennsylvania for more than
two hundred years, because of its
connection with an impressive and
heroic event, is sent by the people to
the Legislature, and in the perform
ance of his duty and upon the re-
sponsibility of his oath, introduces
proper bill which is not agreeable
TO che press
at is not shown thatthe bill would
be harmful or unwise. The policy
is not confronted with argument
pointing out its error or weakness
But some outcast is hired to pervert
his name from Pusey into Pussy
and to draw contorted cats which
are scattered broadcast over the
land, in the hope that the vile and
vulgar will smoker at his wife and
children when they pass.
IF it was not so read, then un-
doubtedly there was a failure upon
the part of the House to perform its
duty. Whenever, however, the bill
is signed by the President of the
Senate and the speaker of the House
it is an official certainty that it has
been passed in accordance with the
constitutional requirements, and the
rule governing the action Of those
bodies
"In the present case there was more
than the usual opportunity given for
/ preliminary discussion by the peo-
pie Some such legislation was
recommended in the inaugural ad-
dress.
"The future is ever uncertain, and
the easy way to avoid the dangers
ahead IS to stand still.