The Manchester journal. [volume] (Manchester, Vt.) 1861-current, 1906-01-25
spEEcH or col. O q. N. HARVEY.

spEECH or COL. O q. N. NARvGY
DELIVERED BEFoRI IHE MEMBERS or Til
| VERMONT PRESS ASSOCIATION
The following speech Ia the latter part O.
most entertaining ard Instructive ad
drsss, the forepart Of which was more per
sonal In lie nature, delivered by Col. Hsr
vey at the Van Ness House on the evening
Of Jan ith, 1906.
To those OF us--and we are stll In |
large mbIority-who have the welfare o.
,ur country at heart, the tendency o.
American jourpslism, whether for the bet
OF or the worse, 10 an ever-interestipg snt
vitality important subject. The night be
ore he sailed for his sorely tried land thai
.stute statesman, Mr.. Witte, said to me
You call this free country, but 1t is no,
free II Is not a. free ~ mine. Your peo.
pie have a master, and that master 10 NOR,
utccratic and lnnnitely more potent thar
The Emperor Of Russia. The newspaper
syOur ruler" One could not but be i'm
pressed by such an utterancs from such 9
,ource, but Ii was not precisely stated, as,
4 course, we all know. The newspaper
hssl 10 such power as Mr.. Witte attributed
% IL. 1t lie one only Of many agencies used
by the Almighty In working out the des-
my Of this great nation and wonderful
people, but In point Of efie clivenesi 1t pro-
bably stands second to Christianity. How
vitality essential, therefore, II is to keep ltt
standard high! Personally, cannot see
that 1t has lowered 10 the past twenty
years. Our great metropolitan newspapers
have their faults, recognized by all, and
sseply appreciated by themselves. They
are more noisy than their predecessors Of
he past generation, but they are no less
brave. The most significant and encoursg.
log fact 10 that the political partisanship
which once rested upon newspaper offices
- black As the Ink OF the Russian censor
oas lifted. The joui nslism Of courage has
supplsnted the journalism Of circulation |;
he journalism Of intellect and conscience
we're never 30 flee from fetters % 1t is to
day. How trifllng the minor defects, how
ever numerous, In the light Of this great
truth
THE COUNTRY NEWSPAPER.
am not as familiar with the country
newspaper as wish we're, but so far az
can Judge from the opport tunities at my
command It seems to be holding Its own.
IL Ia not unusual to hear criticised what 10
termed often the pettiness Of the abund-
ancs Of personal paragraphs which oil the
pagts. But there 10 another side to that.
The dissemination Of information, however
unimportart apparently, has tended to en-
ightment since the world began. II 1t be
true, ~ undoubtedly 1t Is that there 10 no
better study for man than man bimsslf,
hos can the average person be induced to
prosecute IL unconsciously so easily as by
placing before him at regular intervals the
records Of doings OF other individualsf
Undoubtedly the country newspaper has
ctaneed nightly since the good old
days, but we all know that evolution
has been the direct result OF conditions,
of improved transportation facilities, Of
the cheapness with which daily paper,
can now be produced and sold. Tb,
field itself has changed necessarily, and It
IA credit rather than the reverse that tn
country newspaper has met the require
ments. Whether there may not be happy
mean between the philosophical and some.
what heavy journal Of the past, and the
seemingly inconsequential paper Of thu
present, 10 an interesting speculation. In
oue re'pect believe that, generally speak
I g,,here 10 room for marked improvement,
have sometimes thought could detect
tendency on the part OF the editors OF
weekly papers towards lsziness In tbeii
owD writing.
There seems to have grown up an i'm.
precision that the people Of rural commuui.
ties now look to the out ide journals for
their general information and for theta op
inions. This 10 undoubtedly true to q Ger
tain degree, and will doubtless continue t.
be the case but IL does rot seem that thai
neld Of endesvor should be neglected en-
tiiely on that account; nor reed II be.
There 10 nothing the average reader sppre.
cis,es 90 much as something written direct
ly icr him. The impress upon his mltd Of
views formed and expressed 10 far away
cites for . multi .ode Of others like himself
Is vague aud una ing. Il has DO pr.
sorsi bearing. !. doss no, no home.
depicts the ssntiment Of foreign commur.
ty, rot biz own. II | wers now conduct
log that defupct oerelict once called either
the Pescbam Putriot or tbs P~scham Dem.
oerat, ore column, snd always the same
column, would be filed every week with
out fail by what personally thought res
psctirg The larger events oi he week from
The view point q my iviroEment ard III
e1ylroument Of my readers, X would ~
b. a. thoroughly done ~ By the great
mslrppeM ~ irur- sls. Bot T. would b.
done ~ ty on. ~ tie family .bose jsb !
"a. to ., sl,z@ The sffairs Of the world sys
ma icsily ara simply h the vefpscula,
u ne conn aaliy iot lbe benefit OF the
o,her usmsers Il Is ttI, sort Of persona
reis ionshlp 's-Abilfbed between he writer
AID the resa.r that sets attention, holds
il, AID snskes direct tangible lnfusrce. IL
nsans The hardest kind of work, much
s .~axs thtokans srS /. .~~s.t.