The Ocala banner. (Ocala, Marion County, Fla.) 1883-194?, 1908-04-10
WATTERsoN ON THE PRESS
Nothing that the great Louisville

Nothing that the great Louisville
editor, Hon. Hon. Henry Watterson,
said in the course of conversation
while in Tampa Sunday was more
strongly put and more characteristic
of the man than his remarks on the
eminence of tht newspaper profession.
Mr.. Watterson was reminded that
he had on numerous re- lions been
favO~ab1y mentioned for nigh public
c6Ce, not excluding the presidency.
He said:
A great many people would ordi-
narily believe that such honorable
mention would be accepted by me as
81 comp.iment-but l regard it as,
rather. 2 reflection. I have such an
exalted idea of the newspaper profess
sion, the work to which | have de-
vo-ed my life. the standard of charac-
ter and ability which journalism ex-
acts and xemplifes that l would per
sonally consider election to any office,
even TO the presidency. anything but a
promotion"
SOntinuing, Mr.. Watterson said:
Forty years Of ultimate acquaintance
with public men. politicians, those
who sit in the high places of official
power have demonstrated to me con
clusively that in the glamour and
glare of such careers there is nothing
attTactive-surely nothing sufficient
to lead a self-respecting newspaper
man to abandon his own calling for
the deceptive and the delirious influ-
ences of politics. You may compare
the men who have composed the
American congress for, say, the past
decade, with the men who have, in
the same period, composed the news
paper profession of this country, and
you Will find that neither in ability, in
character, in lofty purpose, in power
for good have the lawmakers averag-
ed up with the newspaper-makers. !
This may seem far-fetched, but it is
true, as a comparison, man for nan,
class for class. work for work, will !
demonstrate to any fair-minded in
vestigatOr.
"Thus it is that l have always sti- |
fed any occasional ambition that may
have arisen within me in all these
years to descend from the high plane !
of a journalist to the level of a poll |
tician-and | have deliberately ignOr |
ed all the seductive beckOnings OF
my friends, intent upon thwarting my
by thrusting me into an
arena where frequently one must
sacrifice his dearest ideals in order to !
keep the pace or forfeit his self-re
spect that he may receive the plaudits
of others, who, nine times out of ten, !
fatter you that they may lead you
astray and fawn upon you that they
may despoil you"
Asked for an idea as to the great
need of the newspaper profession in
this country today, the desideratum
for its further uplift and Improvement.
Mr.. Watterson declared with much
feeling:
More truth-not the truth Of ex-
pediency, but the genuine, the unas-
sailable truth The unvarying print
ing of truth by the press, regardless
of whom it may help or hurt, will
make the press really what it should
be, the controlling force of this ma
ton It would thus become a power
greater than party, for the truth
would often wipe out party lines;
and it would create a sentiment in
this country which would absolutely
insure, upon whatever question. in
the solution of whatever problem, the
triumph of Justice, Liberty and Right
eousness. Tampa Evening News.