The Guthrie daily leader. [volume] (Guthrie, Okla.) 1893-1996, 1905-06-08
Social Service Press
Paper BY
]. II. POTTS,
of Troy,N. y.

of Troy,N. X

The press shoua feel the obliga
ton to social ser4ce This is sci
preservation. wha would the pres
be without society AS idle as ,
painted ship upon, painted ocean.
or as a Yankee snip upon the trading
ocean.
Far be it fromt me TO concede that
the press perforrfs no social service
It's service in ID s direction is vast
Its very existen& ia a social service
that is supreme. The best thing about
humanity is that it is social and the
chief witness to bthat society as well
as the greatest ffctor in preserving &C.
is the press
Conversatiop is the string on which
the beads of society are grouped. Con-
yersation-from the murmur of the
insect through the jabbe-ing OF the
monkey to the grunt of the man or
the chatter of the woman. And the
press Is conversation magnifed-the
gossip's megaphone Lyman Abbott
left the pulpit because he could tank
leader through the press. SO dad r.
p. Roe. So did Henry Van Dyke. So
have and win others
The patron genius Of The press is
not Gutenberg, although he got types
ready to star together, but Harvey
who proved circulation. Where is the
man who could live without the news
paper? In my schoolboy days my
teacher called attention to the psy-
Geological accuracy with which the
opening chapters Of David Copper
field were headed. First chapter I
am born. Second chapter per
ceive' Dickens might have followed
thi with a chapter entitled 4 in
quire fer the daily paper
The first social service which the
press performs is 20 be society's cham
pion, its mouthpiece, to tongue out a
message Of defiance that win pene-
trate the cobwebs obscuring the en-
frances to every mythologic cave.
"The next social service of the
press is in declaring the unity of life.
The newspapers leaves are for the
healing of the denominations. There
IS a centrifugal force trying TO hurl
things apart. The newspaper is Sir
Isaac Newton declaring the attraction
Of gravity Why is it that the fall
of the apple - Edeu meant banish-
ment with a flaming sword, while the
fall of the apple in our orchards
means domesticity beside a blazing
fgeside? II is because we barrel our
fall apples And the newspaper is
the cooper In the sheet seen in
the vision as let down from heaven
there was nothing common OF I'M
clean In the sheets printed on earth
everything is common, although some
things are unclean The man OF
woman who is to give the neck to
the hCneman is taught by the news
paper that he or she has a part in
the social system. Even the bridge
party may feel that the flmy strands
of its cables have a place n human
whether or no they will
carry safely over Jordan. Into the
of the newspaper every deity
is welcomed.
The press Is q social servant be-
cause it is everybody's servant. The
objector may say: There is so much
in the newspaper that does not ring
my doorbell, that does not appeal to
me-. But his is not the only house
on the block The sun shines into the
alleys, or ought to. Ours is the motto |
Of the old saint, and nothing is alien
10 us The first step IN conversion is /
he recognition of individuality. How |
does the church recognize individual |
ty? BY inviting everybody to come |
20 church How does the press rec |
1gnize individuality? By inviting ey-
srybody to the newspaper office No !
BY going nto everybody's home. What |
4 recognition Of personal dignity TO
have ones name in the newspaper! /
Talk about the great American priv /
lege being the ballot box Not at all. /
There idtots criminals. abd often
women, are excluded. But they get
nto the newspapers Everybody's
shoe, Shiny or clean, hobnaileG OF of
slippery smoothness. can tread the
great white walk Of the newspaper
.heet. More than one dramatic press
.gent has said 20 us Speak we'll Of
ne if you can; roast me if you must;
,ut, for heaven sake, don't ignore
ne. We are hearing nowadays that
he sovereign remedy for social ins
s publicity and that the street lamp
S the brightest Pinkerton Of them all
md the newspaper is everybodys
Peter at the open gate
4 the heaven Of recognition, with MS
.ey lest.
"A characteristic element in the so
ial service Of the press is that It
xalts the present time. We are told /
hat today is the heir Of an the ages
iut there is a disposition 70 appoint
or that heir an older guardian who
hall spend the youngsters money and