Yorkville enquirer. [volume] (Yorkville, S.C.) 1855-2006, 1915-06-29
SOUTH CAROLINA'S DAILY PRESS
Study Of the Newspapers as They Are and
Should Be.
HISTORY CHARACTERISTICS AND TENDENCY
Duty of the Newspapers to Correctly Record Con-
dtions as They Are, and to Advise to Con-
dtions as They Should Be.

editor of The Yorkville Enquirer, to
be read before the South Carolina
State Press association at Chick
Springs today:
Mr.. President, Ladies and Gentlemen
of the South Carolina State Press
Association:
Your committee has assigned to me
the duty of reading to you paper on
1.-The Daily Press: Its Shortcomings,
Advantages and Opportunities, ana
although duly appreciative Of the
high honor conferred, / feel myself
weighted down with a sense of respon-
sibility that seems to well-nigh coun-
terbalance that honor.
have no fault to find with the sub
iect. because it would be difficult for
us to think of one that may be consid-
ed with more profit. The most seri-
Gus objection to it is its Incompetent
sible vastness, reaching from the light
of heaven to the darkness OF hell, ana
taking in all that is good and bad
throughout the universe.
Upon receipt Of your secretary's no.
tice l felt very much complimented at
having been selected for this assign
ment: but since then l have repented,
because of a sickening realization or
nv unworthiness and incompetence.
AS to whether your committee in
tended me to attempt the Daily Press
Universal or more particularly the
Daily Press Of South Carolina, 1 have
not been definitely advised. 1 am sor-
nv of this omission, for If my instruc-
tions had been more specific, my re-
sponsibility would be somewhat less.
However, what 1 shall say will be in
tended to apply more directly to the
Daily Press of South Carolina.
Discussion of the Daily Press Uni
versal would involve a more or less te-
dious rehash of history that is already
in print, and which would be Of little
present or future interest to the men,
bers of this association; but discussion
of the Daily Press of South Carolina
will tend to something more practical.
1t may help to give us keener and
closer insight into the character, char
acteristics and motives OF the more
potent forces by which we ourselves
are, to a greater or less extent, guild
ed or misguided, in our daily lives.
Also by such a discussion We may be
able to gain a higher conception of our
responsibilities and duties; but If So
warn you in advance, it will most
likely be because of something l
should say and am failing 10 say, rath-
er than because Of anything am real
ly going to say.
1t is hardly worth while to declare
in this presence that the function OF
the Daily Press of South Carolina, is
the same as that of the Daily Press
Universal-to correctly and intelli-
gently collect and publish all current
facts of wholesome human interest as
they develop, and to comment thereon
i'm such manner as will inform and en-
tighten the individual in his own in
terest, in the interest or truth and In
the interest of the public. To the ex-
tent that the Daily Press Of South
Carolina is doing this it is living up
to the highest conceptions of the time
honored profession of journalism, an
honor to itself and to God, and an in
valuable asset to the commonwealth,
Likewise to the extent it prostitutes its
high office in the furtherance of what
it conceives to be the selfish interests
of it's owners or attaches, social, COM
mercial, political or otherwise, it is a
liability rather than an asset, men
ace rather than a safeguard, and a
reproach rather than an honor. These
l give you as the test by which to
Judge the Daily Press Of South Caro-
lima, and l leave it with you to an
alyze the testimony.
Although South Carolina is one of
the oldest states Of the Union, our
Daily Press, for reasons that hardly
seem to require explanation, is quite
modern. 1 am not quite SO years of
age; but with a single exception l re-
daily paper now being published In
the state. The exception is the
Charleston News and Courier, which
came into existence in 1904. My earli-
est recollection of it is an eight-col-
umn folio, previous to 1876, with F.
w. Dawson easily the best all round
newspaper man the state has ever
known. as the managing editor. The
next oldest newspaper in the state is
the Greenville News, established in
1874 by a man named Speights; but
which became better known a few
years later under the editorship of A.
B. Williams. Following the News, in
the order of seniority, comes the Spar
tanburg Herald, established in 1890.
Next comes the Columbia State, in
1891, and then the Sumter Item, Flor
ence Times and Charleston Post in
1894, the Columbia Record in 1897,
Spartanburg Journal In 1900, the
Greenville Piedmont in 1902, the Or
angeburg News in 1904, the Rock Hill
Herald and Greenwood Journal in
1911, and the Anderson Intelligencer
in 1913.
If l were toasting the press in an
after dinner speech, 1 might, after
making this enumeration, very prop.
erly drift into an eXtravagant flight
of imagination and deliver a high
sounding eulogy on such noble pal
ladium of the peoples liberties; but
am not attempting to deliver an after
dinner speech. / realize that / am ad-
dressing an audience, made up Of mer
and women whose training and eXpe-
rience have taught them the finer dis
tinctions of their profession. Yol
know the difference between a purel.
commercial or political newspaper
conducted on the basis of the dollar
or self-seeking power, and the patri
otic journal conducted for the public
gnod apd Won would not have me IN,