The Montgomery advertiser., 1906-05-18
SPEECH OF MAJOR HEMPHILL
 AT BANQUET TO PUBLISHERS

The speech of Major J. C. HemphilI. or The Charleston News and Courier and retiring president of the southern Pubiishers Association. was one of the happtest features of the banquet ten- dered to the visiting newspaper men Wednesday night, at the Pickwick- Major Hemphfii responding to toast to The Press' was eloquent and force ful. He spoke as follows:
 'On a recent occasion the following toast was offered to the press: The Press--it stands for the impartial ad- ministration of the laws; for honesty in public office; for the purity Of the material prosperity of the country.
 4T do not know of any better or more truthful or comprehensive appre- citation of the press than is contained in this statement. The glory of the lawyers achievements fills all the pag- es ofNhistory. He Is distinguished for his patience. his patriotism. his power ty, his charity, his long-sufferinG. his self -abnegation and his unselftshness. That, at any rate, is what the lawyer thinks about himself. Then there are the physician and the minister. both of whom must be reckoned among the conservative forces of soci+sy. but even at the risk of doing violence to the characteristic and natural modesty Of
 
 in fairness that the newspaper deserves consideration because of its broad hu- manizing and civiliziHg influence
 There are yellow newspapers. but there are also yellow preachers, yellow doctors and yellow lawyers for whose empirjcism the only unfailinE specific is that freedom of speech which Is the very bedrock of our American institu tions, a lash upon the back of Vice nd fhc dafanpa nf VfrfnA T A not mean to say that there are no un- worthy newspapers--their name s le- gion--and their existence is reproach to the guild of Journalism not less than a menace to society, but do most earn estly contend that taking them by and large, the newspapers of this State and the South will not suffer by compar- ison with any of the so-caifed learned professions either in incentive to &C., tien, quality of courage, or utility of achievement. The press speaks with myriad tongues. It Is the voice of all mankind. It touches every spring of human thought and feeling and hope. It keeps the world informed from day to day and week to week of what the world is doing.
 "A famine in Ireland or India. war in South Africa, or in Manchuria. panic toclx exchange In New Yorln Liverpool, revolution in sana 1ffhgo or in Russia, a divorce suit msChicago. or earthquake and fire in San Francisco, a revival of religion in Montgomery or a massacve Of Chris tians in Macedonia, carnival in New Orleans or an insurance dinner in New York. 4Pennypacksf in Pennsylvania or Tom Lawson in Boston. the blowing up of Grand Duke or the doings of Mothers Congress. thousand happen ings of greater or less moment make up the infinite variety with which the modern newspaper serves it's public.
 Progress of Newspapers.
 That the service Is not always equal to what the educated public demands is the best test that could be applied to the press. Twenty years ago the news paper. with which am connected re- ceived from $500 to 4,50o words by telegraph a day by wires which were used for the transmission of 'Commer- ciai business during the hours of day. light; now it receives by leased wire and special operators from i5.000 to 17,000 words a day, besides the news from a corps of well equipped corres- pondents covering every point of van tage, It is so with all the rest of our contemporaries similarly situated. The popular hunger and thirst for the ''lat- est intelligence' must be satisfied. It is the business of the newspaper to meet the requirements of an exaeting and sometimes exasperating public. This has been made possible by tho invention of machinery which now en- ables one man working half the time to do the work of six men or more, and presses to print editions in a few hours which ten years ago could not have been printed at all. The growth of the press has fully kept pace with the growth of the country-it would be