The San Francisco call. [volume] (San Francisco [Calif.]) 1895-1913, 1904-10-02

There would be no greater force ex-
listing in the world as an aid to civil
ization and human fraternity than the
press II its vast powers were employed
20 the nOblest purposes 1t ought to
resemble a mighty ship, which. with
brave, true men at the helm, moves
ever on q straight course, cleaving the
waters Of darkness ana error, and
making direct for the highest shores
OF peace and promise But il must be
4 ship indeed, grandIy built, nObly
manned and steadily steered-nOt
crazy, water logged vessel, creaking
with the thud of every wave, or bob
bling backward and forward uncertain
y in q gale. Its position at the pres
enJ day is, or appears TO be. rather the
latter than the former. UnQueStion-
ably the people, taken in the mass,
do not rely upon 1t. They read the
newspa overwhelmingly they often
read the worst kind Of newspaper
but they almost Immediately forget
everything in them except the head
lines and one or two unpleasant police
cases. And why do they forget? Sim
ply because first Of all they are not
sufficiently interested. and secondly, be-
cause they do not believe the news they
read. A Workiugman told me the other
day that he had been saving sixpence
a week on two halfpenny papers which
he had been accustomed to take in for
the past year. Il found EN- out in
ten lives all on top of ane another in
two weeks" he candidly explained
and so 1 thought 1 light as well keep
my money for something more useful
So I started putting the ha1fpence by
for-my little kddie and I'm going to
stick to it. There's five shillings in the
savings bank already"
CHANGING back to the early journal
ism of the past century,Nwhen Dickens
and Thackeray wrote for the news
papers C-there were giants in those
days'D one cannot help being struck by
the great deterioration in the whole
tone" of the press at the present time
as contrasted with that which prevailed
in the dawn of the Victorian era There
is dignity, refinement and power in the
leading articles of the Times and other
journals then in vogue, such as must
needs have compelled people not only
TO read. but TO think. The vulgar per
sonaI' note; the flippant sneer at this,
that or 'tother parsonage; the monkey
like mockery of women. the seuSeless
gibes flung at poets and poetry, the
clOwnish kick at sentiment-were ali
apparently unknown.
True it is that the Times still holds
its own as a journal where one may
look in vain for sensatiOnalism (save in
its advertisements of the Encyclopedia
like that Of grim old lion surrounded
by cubs of all sizes and ages that zap
and snap at its whiskers and take lib
critics with it's tail. 1t can be said, how
ever. that all the better, higher class
periodicals, such as the Morning Post
and the Standard, are in the same posi-
ton: the yapping and swapping goes on
around them precisely in the same way
circulation five times as large that
OF any penny morning journal" etc
And the question of the circulation OF
any particular newspaper resolves itself
into two points-hrStiy, the amount of
money il puts into the pockets of its
proprietors or proprietor. and, secondly,
the influence it has or is likely to have
on the manners and morals Of the pub
lie The last is by far the most i'm
portant matter. though the first is nat
urally the leading motif Of its publica-
ton. Herein we touch the keynote Of
responsibility. How and in what way
are the majority Of people swayed or
affected by the statements and opinions
of some one man or several men en-
pIoyed on the worlds press? On this
point it may perhaps be asked whether
any newspaper is really justified in set
ting before readers Of all ages and tenn
peraments daily fare of suicides, muir
derS, divorce cases, sudden deaths or
abnormal horrors" of every kind to
startle, depreSs or warp the mind away
from sane and healthful outlook upon
life and the things il life in general?
A very brilliant and able journalist
tells me that 'if We don't put these
things in we are so deadly dull" One
can but smile at this candid statement
Of ineflciency. The idea that there can