The farmer and mechanic. [volume] (Raleigh, N.C.) 18??-19??, 1913-10-07
RELIGIOUS JOURNAL ROUNDS
OUT 100 YEARS OF PUBLICATION
Church Papers Present a Problem-1n General Thew S,f
fer Serious Decline From Ancient Prestige.
(By The Religious Rambler,

1oI 10 q ~
papers lie. it is today. chiefly CON
cerned with religious news. ganeral
ana local. The variety and extern and
historic paper would make its carly
ieauers rub their eyes. 4 fac-simile
81 the first issue forms part of the
observers centennial number.
subscribers For u Century :
a really amazing fact, revealed bvS
TINS paper, that there are still some
iaihliles which "a taken the paper
for a hundred years. OF
lhose who have taken it for above
aeNehty-nVe years, a long list is print
ed. The editor says, 1T is probable
tnat the "ChriStian Observer has sew
eral subscribers who have
mad the paper in their homes two gem
eratlOnS or more
Despite the prosperity of the cob
server the recent history of religious
has been rather a dolOrOus
one. The mortality among the old
fashioned papers, which once were
rated among the country's leading
p"uolicatIo1lS, has been great. The
Ne" Aork Observer which recently
came to an inglorious end, was a no
table instance of this.
The reasons for the decline among
church papers are various. One is the
growth of religious tolerance: peOple
are not particularly affected by the
Sectarlan argument; and the paper
whose editorial staple is abuse OF 9th
er denominations finds subscribers
ever beautifully fewer. The inability
OF the small papers to maintain a level
or contents up to the plans of the
modern taste has driven many readers
TO the few large religious papers. Ad-
lVcrtiSerS have been Withdrawing their
patronage from church press by the
wholesale, and the worthy have thus
suffered with the unworthy. The in
creased attention paid by the dailv
newspapers 10 religious matters Is re-
puted to be a factor in the situation.
iInen, as = haunting spectre, there is
the possibility that the lack Of SUPPORT
Tor religious papers is due to sheer
absence of interest in religion on the
part of the families from which this
form Of journalism once drew it's sup
port.
n New Type of Church. Press.
Critical and ever desperate as is the
state of the religious press, it is re
lieved by the fact that q few churcf
+, WeeklleS are emerging t"riumphantly
and introducing a new ype Of jour
: nalism. Foremost among these, il
point of circulation, at least, is The
Continent which dominates tht
Presbyterian field in the North. Tht
l"Christian Advocate'' of New York
1liJ 'SSii = NJ ~ A1A& 03ii - EEC
!! since DR.. ECnman has superseded d.
Buckley as editor. The ChurchInan'
: has had difficulty in securing al edito
TO suit the taste of its governing
; board; but it still holds a place in tn
front rank of successful church pa
pers. The "Congregationalist' met it
perplexities by having the denOmina
tional publishing society take it over
< and it is a w~ell-edited, h~igh-grad
: publication. The Baptist s"Standard,
n of Chicago, also belongs in this s1nal
: first rank group. All these are demon
inational; in the INSTRUMENTATION
field 1.-The Christian Herald" TIL
lSunday School Times" and "Th
christian EndeavOr World are con
~spicuOusly successful.
: These papers stand on their oW
merits as first-class publications The
: have strong editorial management,
> high-grade corps of original writers
and they are broad gauge and inde
pendent in their policy. They reall
lead religious thought.
. For q hundred years the religion
2 newspaper has been a powerful forc
4 in shaping material life and ideals. L
history during the next generate
o will be an index of the state of IL
e ligiOn in America.
CASE OF RENEGADE PRIEST.