University Missourian. [volume] (Columbia, Mo.) 1908-1916, 1908-12-16
.R. LEON HARRISON, rabbi of
Temple Israel in st. Louis, points
= ,,,. tLa nnuor- and tho dufioa

the preacher and the journalist should
be sworn confederates. For in a drop
of that printers ink are embryonic ser
mons. creeds and lifelong influences.
And further. as children of the mod
ern age. We are intensely interested in
this instrument OF concentration that
reduces distance to mathematical
point. Supercilious culture may perhaps
dismiss this subject with smile or a
sigh. Do you turn with relief To class
ical literature: Literature has immor-
;ality, but journalism ubiquity. Liter
ature has a voice everywhere but jour
nalism has eyes everywhere. I.itera-
ture makes then now" journalism
changes there" to here
/ Epitome of Progress.
/ HE future historian will point to
( the daily press "a the most aston
i,iiing and characteristic feature of our
times. He will describe it as the sen
sorium and ccrebrum OF two hemis-
pheres. He will declare to the com
ing man that the journal was the epi
tome OF scientific and mechanical pro-
gress, artistic and literary. too; in Il
word. of civilization. Where else can be
fonnd. struck of by single feat. a his
tory. Il bulletin. a magazine: informa
tion. detection, Judgment. punishment.
Ill blended. stamped into type and seat
tered into "A million hands: \ sermon L.
preached to a nation: on the same page
a filthy scandal spreads contamination.
The best and the worst in man. the
bcastly and godlike all find description
and publicity in the fierce light tha:
beats upon the daily printed page.
America is pre-eminently the country
of journalism. Could Sir William
Berkcly Of Virginia have foreseen this
day, Thank Cod he said. we have
neither free school nor printing press,
and I hope We may not have them for
a hundred years to come
Not 50. thought his mighty contem-
porary. John Milton. Give me liberty"
cried Milton. TO know. to utter and to
argue freely according to conscience,
above all other liberties"
The world has moved since the days
of Berkely and Milton. Yet has it over
come all lingering doubts as to the I'M
mixed blessing of this daily messenger?
We recognize primarily that the press
is an educator. The history of the
world is spread out upon our breakfast
table. We travel in our armchair. The
provincial is swept out into the cosmO-
politan. BY this wizardry. the villager
shares in the councils of Parliament and
Reichstag. and forei gn thought waves
break on nameless distant shores.
In enlightened sympathies thus the
rustic may become a citizen of the
world. He may also. in a measure. en-
ter into the republic of letters and list
Ell to its famous sons. He has pass
ports into laboratories. where Solidity
becomes crystal-clear and the diseased
are poisoned back into health. He has
the cloak OF darkness. the shoes of
swiftness. the wisdom of clairvoyance
Evil of Some Journals.
DUT such vision is pitiless and sees
~ more. Is there any new thing?
the world cries. and the answer is
not unmixed good Homes are unroof-
ed and unwalled. vice is photographed.
the sewerage Of society j. turned into
the public street. News il the demand
The scandal the shameful sin. the vio-
lated sanctities of the household are
painted and set before the /!
startled eyes of innocence and child |
mind cannot he repaired. Many of our
pubic journals are unfit for admission !
into our homes. They are foul and vile |
and come from men as foul and vile as |
their handiwork.
Is this education or demoralizationg |
Can we Judge nation by its journals: |
Can We base history on the record |
Of police courts: We forget often that |
a newspaper is largely a bulletin of
moral pathology. 1t tears off the band
ages from the characters of men and |
shows Us the reeking wounds beneath.
But why is not goodness. philanthropy.
nobleness equally precious item OF
news?
It is news when a man falls not when
ne rises; his crimes fill more pages than
MS virtues. The moral tribunal OF the
press erects rather pillory Of ignominy
han a pedestal Of fame.
The newspaper has also a moral func- i