The Topeka state journal. [volume] (Topeka, Kansas) 1892-1980, 1915-01-29

newspaper game. the speaker decided
1t was not because Of the hope Of rh1k-
Ing q fortune or the desire OF making
a living but that 1t was probably q
response to the call for service.
do not care to place any nickel
plated halos on the brow OF the coun-
try newspaper man." said the speaker.
Others have answered this call of SER
vice. The doctor, who leaves his
downy couch at winter smidni9hts hour
to minister to the ills of men who never
pay their bills. is Answering this can
of service just the same as you. who
are beat out of your subscription
money by the same fellow. The teacher:
who tolls away year In and year OUT
with urchins that parents at home can
not handle. trying to make the worio
little more fit to live in, and a few OF
it's people q little better fitted to live,
and taking as pay a salary that Is lit
tie more than an existence, is answer
ing this call The preacher. who by
precept ard practice points the way to
higher and better things, and accepts
as pay whatever the world offers, Is
vice. ALI of these things are entitled
to their full need Of praise
Field for Service.
But tc the newspaper man much
more responsibility is given. Where
the doctor; serves fifty people in week.
the teacher possibly seventy-five and
the preacher two hundred. the editor
ministers to practically the entire COM
munity every week IN the entire year.
1t is he that must uphold every ideal
that il right, and put his stamp of dis
approval on things that are wrong.
The Doctor does not go to his case un-
less he 10 called: the teachers actfvl-
ties are limited to his particular class;
the preacher serves largely his own
congregation. But the newspaper is ex-
pected to tackle every problem that
comes up IN the entire community, and
see that It IL solved right, the editor
knowing full well that his constituency
will not make any allowance for human
fallibility. He must guard the COM
munity against its own mistakes. and
furnish 1t with the vision of what it is
yet to be. He must labor, and build.
and think, and plan, not for himself
alone but for all his fellows. In his
efforts to rise he must draw the whole
community with him. He must really
serve.
TIE Ideal Editor.
1.-The world of todap needs the faith
full country editor who has q conception
Of his responsibility, and who will be
true to his trust. For the world today
needs the leavening Righteousness OF
the people this editor serves-the right
living, law abiding, GOd-fearing people
Of the country communities. Our big
cities and the great business world
seem to be money mad. We are meas
uring everything by the dollar. We are
not writing great poems. carving great
statues, painting immortal pictures. We
are merely piling up dollars. and cali
ing that great. We are urging our
children to get riches, and not to be
too particular as to the mode of the
getting. If there is to be salvation for
America, there must be found a differ
ent symbol of success than the dol
lar mark. The Almighty Dollar is show
ing signs of disease and decay. and is
proving to be a menace to things worth
while, rather than an emblem of real
success. Why not raise alOft the SYM
Dol of service to take it's place? Why
not count him greatest who serves
most?
IF we can have this symbol Of sue
cess revised, we have hopes that the
time may come when there will be
country editors who may rightfully be
called great"
| The Free Newspaper.
H. Richmond of; the Indeaena-
ence Free Press told the newspaper
men that under certain conditions and
with. careful mana cment a free daily
newspaper can be made q financial
success, but he warned his hearers to
dislodge the free daily microbe if they
chance it. There must be business
prosperity in the town where it is
/
competition in all lines of retail. trade,
The free daily that enters a field oc-
| cupied by. sluggish and unenterpris-
| ing newspapers has an advantages be-
yOnd measure, especially IL 1t is con-
Quoted with discriminating care in its
| news and editorial departments. The
reading public is prone to absorb
with avidity all the current news that
can be presented, and If the news is
published without price each issue is
| met with a spontaneous and over
whelming demand. In his eaRerness
to get paper free the average man
will not hesitate to ask for a second
or even third copy. presumably to
take home to WHEY or the hired girl.
From the very nature Of the propo-
sition of something for nothing the
| free daily must be limited in size and
every available, line Of it's advertising
space must be forced to yield the max
imum income. It's publisher escapes
the baneful necessity OF padding
too fres uently. in the newspaper Office
that is producing an eight-page paper
in a fOur-page town.
| DislodSe the MicrObe.
After recounting his previous experi-
ences the Independence editor said:
had me an Insight nto
there. There is no better residence town
/ In all Kansas. To Independence I went
In July: 1872. ! launched the Daily Free
1t free throughout the city. In order moi
to trespass too strongly upon the pre-
| serves of the two afternoon newspapers
| in the city. the Free Press took the morn
ing field. After a year of very successful
business during which 1 paid out over
5000 for labor and paper. my conscience
I smote me. Like the quack doctor,
longed for the legitimate. the ethical Ii
may have been early piety. early train
ing. or some other factor remotely con-
nected with my newspaper career that
i caused me to abhOr the word Free but
the impulse became irresistible to swing
myself into more ethical channel o.
Il work and the Daily Free Press suddenl,
appeared on a pay subscription basis witt
q nominal price and q far more whole