The sun., 1906-02-24
Professor, ID. ID. and Newspapers.

Professor, ID. ID. and Newspapers.
Thursday was a night of triumph for
the sociologists and thinkers. At the
dinner Of the American Newspaper Pub
fishers Association the Rev. DAVID j.
BURRELL, known in old far off unhappy
days as "Mr. PLATTs pastor" shep-
herded and shooed the newspapers. Il
don't care what the editors think, the
worthy man cried. Naturally not. He
is thinker himself And he thinks
once or twice week, seldom and might
lily, whereas a poor devil of an editor
may have to think seven days a week.
There is no respite in his war. DR..
BURREIL is much too powerful mind
to take his thought at second hand.
What want. he shouted with keen
remembrance of Mr. EMERsoN's Little
man, why 80 hot, what | want is the
news. The editor is not the big man,
in my opinion; the big man is the man
that gives me the news" 1t will occur
to some of the persons engaged in the
job of giving him the news that the news
10 Cbltci, NNAltCb, pClDi'
it percolates the intelligence of DR.. BUR-
RELL, whom it enables to form his own
opinions without the assistance of the
editors He believes 80. 1t is the hap
piness Of many such eminent souls to
imagine that they are independent and
original and need no assistance from
the deboshed crew Of editors. Yet DR..
BURRELL went on to say that he wanted
a newspaper independent of its adver-
tising columns, as if there were no such
newspaper; and he talked about the
wickedness of certain advertising mat
ter. In other words, the worthy divine
who thinks he does his own thinking
merely repeated the opinions Of a modest
youth on weekly newspaper who
knows and suspects nothing about the
daily newspaper, never had or needed
any opportunity to get information
about it,. and who as matter of per-
sonal interest and business is occupied
in sounding the praises of the magazine
and the weekly; and he actually makes
dupe of "Mr. PLATTs pastor" and
sets that worthy person to playing what
stop he pleases.
At this same banquet of high thought
the Hon. FREDERICK MORGAN DAyEN-
PORT, professor of political science at tlat
excellent institution, Hamilton College,
professed the newspaper business, theo-
retical and applied, with that profound
knowledge innate, 30 to speak, in the
college professor. In fact, letters from
many professors and assistant professors
have appeared in licentious press, and
some professors and assistant professors
have been on college weekly or monthly
and drunk deep of the sincere milk of
| journalism. Professor DAVENPORT spoke
not as a professor, an ornamental per-
sonage but as zone of the plain people" y;
and he told the hushed multitude that
"the plain people think that the average
newspaper exhibits too great mixture
of ideals" whatever that is. Also the
plain people think "the newspapers-not
all, but many OF them-are controlled
too much by their business ends and
class prejudices.'
If it were so it were a grievous fault.
Glass prejudices and business ends are
unknown out of the newspaper business.
But the professor is not speaking from
his own knowledge. He is repeating
opinions once heard in great volume of
sound at dollar dinners and other haunts
of intellectual revelry. When our old
friend General JACOB SILICA CoXEY
was making the highways of the nation
hum with the tread of marching men he
expressed publcly-and we have had
the happiness of hearing him express
privately-the theories Of the newspaper
business now hot in the mouths of after
dinner philosophers like Dr. BuRRELI.
and Professor DAVENPORT CoXEY held
that nobody on a newspaper was free
to utter in print his honest opinion. He
firmly believed that every intelligent
man not bought by the Money Power
agreed with him. All newspaper men
must be bought or they would think as
CoXEY did and as did his once eminent
son-in-law, CARL BROWNE, who made
him coat of the skin of goat and
talked free silver in it. Out of the old
fields cometh this new corn The lofty
minds that want no editors to do their
thinking for them let takers do it for
them and advertise cheerfully and
lberally the business ends of those
takers.
"The good man who endowed my
professorship, says Professor DAvEN-
PORT, Il am happy to say, has been in
heaven for fifty years" Now, is that
good man half so happy in heaven as
the ordinary professor, protesting all
knowledge, Is on earth? Doubted. We
sympathize with the agitation of the