The St. Louis Republic. [volume] (St. Louis, Mo.) 1888-1919, 1904-05-20

. Ind (
= Treasurer-J Irwin steel. The Tel !
q egram. Ashland. Pa. Z
o Place of meeting in 1895. Guthrie. {
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| Henry watterson. editor OF the Louis
| vile Courier-Journal posed the real
"Star-Eyed Goddess of Reform" for the
editorial page at the morning session of
| the National Editorial Association yester-
| day morning. He brought to bear on his
| argument for reform in the editorial
| page his forty years of editorial writing
| and he could not have asked Tor closer at
| tentiOn or warmer welcome from the
| editors OF the United States. His idea OF
| the editorial page was indorssd. too. by
| applause when he made his most telling
| points and at the conclusion of his address
he was cheered rs no other speaker at the
annual convention OF the editors has been
cheered.
Colonel Watterson. who has been in i'll
health for some time. spoke but briefly.
but his speech was TO the point and the
side remarks he made were heartily ap-
plauded. The pert paragraph should be
allowed to die n natural death-no fow-
crs,'' said the Colonel and editors laughed
and cheered. Il am nothing now and 1
have never been nothing but hard-work-
ing newspaper man." was another OF the
Coloners assertions that evoked applause.
Apart from Colonel Watterson's address
the morning session might have been
dubbed a morning with the funmakers."
Edmund Vance Cooke. the Cleveland hu-
morous poet. gave some Of his pot-lucll-
with-a-poet poems and caused a lot of
ttIIOhfaF nd anna
Homer Davenport. he Of cartooniSt fame.
and gave the lie to the old saying that a
car1oonist is never funny.
Davenport gave a talk about SilYerton.
Ore. where he was raised and hand he
once belonged TO In that town. and any
body who has ever lived in country town
band would have laughed as heartily as
did the editors. the majority of whom
knew the prototypes of the Silverton band
and the town OF SIlverton He drew car
eral others with his nimble fingers and. IL
ne DON Know. he can be told that he
made big hit with the pencil pushers and
typewriter rnsnipulators.
Colonel Henry Watterson. editor Of the
Louisville Courier-Journal. delivered an
address on The Editorial Press He
spoke as follows:
mice and its men: inevitably. more mice than
There Is the r,ousnE politician with his ron
fos:on Of the little and the biz IN public affairs.
small thinss sI n,sn in Sara slea 81 ant sarr IN
ing the bubble reputation cen at the barrels
6uns; and. along with 1t. the wherewithal to
sp Their 1 I, the ss.n ogs1s man q letters who has
top-heayy with his critical fads. his fancied
originality. his spites and envies rsttIinE
sndsee though fW ss RaEas sRams.r
chiefly furnished with stolen goods. And then
nalist. whose wares mostly secondhand. who
imports his wit and manufactures his news
finger bowl in case he happens 10 he ACQUAINTED
with that homelr utensl.
ANTITHESIS OF THE MICE.
The antitheses 10 these several discreiitahl-
though not always disreputsbis persons Is the
public man Of integrity and Judgment. who is
not afraid TO do right; the literary man who
possessed OF some knowledge OF the world Of
life ami thought a. well "a of books is not
free with his resentnsents: and the newspaper
writer who can give and take without hru-
belliccse. brings to the corrha, clean hands and
little accuracy both Of Indignation and state
In making this brief resume ! hope that no
one Of you will consider me needlesslv aEsres-
siye or personally offensive.
Primarily. the daily newspaper is the history
simply having no other end in view, It's value
TO the community would be priceless Intelligent |
dsred by pressure. could reach nth their S own con-
cIusions But as a rule. the daily newspaper |
accepts no such limitation. It sets up for a |
teacher as we'll as historian
vCrd-public opinion. Yet It is not always the |
puelic-too often /; IS some private-intere-t |
cles nttins the one into the the other Without
that sense Of accountability TO Gcd AMI truth |
mans heart and wht does @ lie s at the bottom Hsrn
OF eveIy good mans heart. We read now and /,
ously. as Il levity a merit. whilst pur- /
suing the like whimsical concei'. that which \
IS merely pert is too often mistaken for wit
SHOULD BE REFORMED
The editorial psEe is valuable to the degree |
that IL aids the reader TO digest the news II /
should either be reformed abandoned Under |
a certain spell which has crept upon the mod |
ern newspaper it is becoming II IT has not /
not even ornamental-reminding one of those 1
clusters Of artificial flower. which the more /
to to decorate the tables and 10 deceive the way
Yet ought the editorial pare after the ex-
hilaraton-the distractions and eScitements-of /
.s,, ,se news pages. 20 be as raised dais in the
Ssssn Sss; an & eIevsiion from which TO survey me
better 10 set forth this passing shoS. and its
ready chorus to explain II.
Is the solar system Of the editorial pages which
SHOULD %r;i be held subject 70 thes- precepts:
to his face. and might not. say in the hearing
Avoid equally intimation and Intimidation
reduce 20 assertion and TO sustain with prnof
me eading article" being the rationale
ot the most important and Interesting piece OF
the days news should have a beginning =
Middle and an end: should be concise and in
rlslNe: seeking TO assist the reader in his ,f-
i"it 70 comprehend the situation.
satirc should keep within the bounds rf the |
probable. Wit under the restraints Of s.nse. |
and even invcctiye-shorn OF adjective ami |
adNerb. and stripped To the ysist-Should strike
u sui from the shoulder TO hit only above the
The per; paragraph should be allowed to die
natural death: no flowers
The editorial page thus conceived and exc
:uted. thus inspired and parti;ioned. could not
time al once a power and a feature arm
oi 'he seryiGe and commercial asset.
WOULD SOON RIVAL NEWS
Under the rule Of a supervision wholly ade- |
auate, IL would rival the news depart
rienis In point Of popular consideration and |
interest one single editorial enibodying the |
apansses y outlined and appearing each day
tellgent readers aS an essential part Of their |
morning paper: how much more a page cover |
ng the entire range Of the days doings. |
'uni and its kind. from gay to grave, from
lively TO severe |
Except II be thus delivered the editorial page
were best extinguished. To set apart a certain
of large type: TO NIL these columns with per |
!unctcfy matter: with matter as lifeless as |
dolls stuffed with sawdust equally wanting the
clements of conviction and continuity; one |
BY any Eleam Of light, undiver>ifed even by |
trick Of fancy. uniform only In dullness. is TO |
disiisurs the pare. To degrade the editorial
.i'n.rns SIs directed . and made W BY nan OF IN
2r brilliant man-meTely man OF sound un- |
5erstanding constant and Conscientious in hts |
work. upright and elevated in his purpose. haY-
ng sufficient krowledge Of affairs. an honest |
b<arf and level head-tte g,,oH ~ Euch NJ. |