East Oregonian : E.O. (Pendleton, OR) 1888-current, 1911-01-05
FROM JOHN f. LATHRoP.


Editor East Oregonian:-
have the East oregonian of De-
cember "a and quite naturally l read
it with a great deal of interest. l had
already sent you a Christmas greet
ing. and now you are sending me one
which l deeply appreciate. l would
like to express my appreciation with
out filling the expression with gush,
and at the same time telling you, as
| have before, how close to my heart
the East Oregonian is. l put ten ac-
tive years into that paper and If l
ever learned anything about the max
ing of newspapers and magazines ana
the putting up of political truths to
the people and fighting the good fight
for civic purity, l shall always look
back to those years l spent at the
editorial desk of the East Oregonian
as the years of my training. That
paper was my college of journalism
For ten years l knew its innermost
thought; for ten years scarce day
went by in which l did not contro-
ute to its columns; and yet IN All
those ten years, the man who was
over me, Mr.. c. 5. Jackson, never
gave me out one instruction: Print
the truth"
So that l know that never dirty
dollar found its way into the treasury
of the East Oregonian Publishing
company l know it, first, because
the man at the head of it would not
accept such dollars. l know it, sec
ond, because had he accepted them
1RIlNareu
only by means of some instruction TO
me; but, l repeat, only one lnstruc-
ton was given; Print the truth.
remember well the day when we en-
| larged from a six column to a seven
column folio, and we thought we were
some pumpkins; and then | remember
| that greater day when we installed
the Mergenthaler typesetting machlne'
and enlarged to eight pages. we were
several pumpkins then.
And l remember, too, when the
East Oregonian sent me to the hlon-
dixie in 1897, on six hours notice, to
stay a year, which 1 did, and came
back rich-in eXperience-delicac
prevents me from pursuing this sup
ject of riches further.
l think the greatest moment IN my
budding newspaper career, however,
was when an attempt was maze 10
place the politics of the city OF rem
dieton on a partisan basis. somehow
or other the glimmer of the dawnins
light of the political progressive
movement illuminated my youthtul
mind, and | thought l saw in TINS
proposal something which was not 10
lead in the right direction. jackson
was absent from the city and SO d.
rected the force of the East Orego-
nian in what was probably a very
crudely written editorial against the
movement. The East Oregonians in
fluence was sufficient to prevent 1t.
The paper never became party or
gan, but has stood for that which the
editor believed to be for the best in
terests of the people.
am delighted to see from time TO
) time that the East Oregonian stands
in that same Independent attitude,
criticising on every side of the polit-
cal fence as criticism is deserved.
Six thousand times the East Ore
gonian, as a daily paper. has sent its
message out to the people of eastern
Oregon. Who can estimate the po-
tency of such a work? Who can
measure the responsibility to the
people? 1t is enough to make an
earnest man and a patriot tremble,
lest he WELD that influence in man
r ner not to measure up to the great
opportunity. 1t means that into the
warn and woof of the daily thoughts
> of the people in half state, the pa
| per's opinions and advocates are IN
= terwoyen. 1t means that men are
= now full grown and active in the az
, fairs of the communities, who have
, been more or less educated in their
I conceptions of civic duty by the East
4 Oregonian. For many of these men
were children when it was launched
as a daily.
i 7 am proud to have been known as
, q writer on the East Oregonian, be-
n cause never, during the eighteen years
= since I first sat at an editorial desf
:. in the offices of that paper, has i
+ failed of it's duty to the public. Per
+ haps larger responsibilities have come
a to me in later years, with a widel
h field of endeavor. 1t has been m!
privilege to write for publications
e having an aggregate circulation o.
nearly 100000 copies, and yet thu
training and the principles which were
o developed by the East Oregonian have
g been my most valued assets.
: And so, with earnestness and pleas
q ure, 1 return the greetings Of the ed
h itor of the East Oregonian; and to th'
;. family of its graduates who have gon'
q to other fields of labor and to tn
a present members of its staff 1 repea
= the message you sent in your edito
a rial of December "a, as told by oil
,. Rip Van Wrinkle:
"Und may we all life long UNI
q brosber."
@ Very cordially yours,
JOHN E. LATHROP.