The Virginia enterprise. [volume] (Virginia, St. Louis County, Minn.) 1893-19??, 1910-11-04

writer's evidently are not men of
Convictions. They have few prin-
ciples which they hold with earn
and regard al of pre- emf.
nent inportance. They publish
those facts and arguments which
favor their party or religious sect
and suppress and shilfully manage
those facts, aud opinions which
make against them. 1t must. be
granted that in 80 far as a news
is incincere it lie immoral and
demoraliaing: The notorious par.
tisan temper of many of our lead
ing dailies aud weeklies forces
them to descend to inexcusable
observation-disclosures per.
sonalities." They often delight in
and open brazen false
hood. Many of them consider. them
this to be their duty. If a man be-
comes conspicuous in a public posi-
ton (be he personally ever so mod
esD his private character and af.
fairs are made matters of news
paper comment to crafty the in
sane passion for gossip which rules
the public taste, or to excite the
and contempt of his OPP
ponents. Vituperation of a politi-
cal opponent is esteemed one of the
cardinal virtues, if we must Judge
from the practice of even our best
journals about election time. Fine
reading this would make for a class
of fourth-reader grade boys! Alas
too much of the writing in the
modern daily is done by men who
are smart rather than solid, and apt
rather than trustworthy. No mat
ter how able the correspondence, or
prompt and trustworthy the news,
if the editor in the saucturn be
grinning, sneering Mephistopheies
and the tone of the editorials be
that of persistent Islander, and ban
ter of everything which honest and
clean men reverence and brave men
are ready to die for, then though
the whole community may be made
to laugh. the influence of such a
paper is oralizing, for it attacks
the moral forces of that commun.
ity. 1t cannot be denied that there
are some such papers and such
should never be allowed in a pub.
lie school room.
NEWSPAPER STYLE.
Again, the clear, unpretending,
direct, treuchant and nervous Eng
lish that we hear 80 much about
as being the usual style
of the newspaper writer is not met
with as often as that other style
which is characterized by excess of
statement, carelessness, pretension,
extravaganza blatherskite, and
every manner of literary sin which
is an offense to the lover of a pure
ana simple dictiOn.
1t is principle of pedagogy that
only the best and most nearly cor
rect forms, examples and models
should be kept before the growing,
forming mind of the pupil. This is
as true in the development OF his
moral character as in the forming
of his handwriting or his syntax.
Correct grammatical forms are not
induced by keeping the blackboard
covered with examples of false
syntax, neither will moral elevation
be attained in the school that stud.
les the glaring scare heads in the
daily newspaper setting forth in
aippant bravado the carrying on of
Dr.. Crippen who was recently sen.
fenced to death for wife murder, or
Harry Thaw, the notorious degen.
crate. the divorce scandals, the
suicides, the murders, the lynch
lngs, the burnings at the stake, the
thieving, grating and other moral
that fills every issue of
The modern daily-a sad comment
On the taste of our people, for the
papers are no better or no worse
han the people who read them.
REAL, NOT PSEUDO SCIENCE
1t is better that the boys and
girls know something about chem
stry and physics-the real science,
before they are introduced by the
newspaper advertisements to,"King
5oloman, the Hindo Clairvoyant,"
and other occult
sciences. And what shall be said
Of the cartoons, the colored supple
ment, and advertising cuts as moral
teachers or works of art? Perhaps
the least said the better. We wish
the cartoonists would occasionally
picture "Uncle Sam" the school
boys ideal, as decent, sober mind
ed, temperate, and gentleman
without a cigar in his mouth, who
always plays a fair game aud
scorns to "stack the cards." The
colored supplements are positively
and seldom teach the les
sons of the square DEAL" They