Evening star., 1952-03-30

The Star reprints on this page an
address delivered last Friday by
Samuel II. Kdufmdnn, president OF
The EUeninO Star Newspaper Co., at
national dinner OF the Newcomer
Society OF EnglGnd, honoring The
Star on its hundredth GnniueYsGry.
The dinner iCGs held at the May
foiOer Hotel.
The Newcomen Society, which
seeks to promote cultural ties be-
ttDeen Great Britain and the United
States. takes its name from Thomas
NeDcomen, tnuentor OF one OF the
first steam engines.
My fellow members Of Newcomer:
WE OF THE STAR are proud of
" the honor done us here to-
night, and we are grateful for it. II
is just possible that The Evening Star
Newspaper Co. owes q further and
even more special debt of gratitude
to Thomas Newcomer. The ances-
tors Of the present owners, you see,
came into possession of The Star in
1857 because man named william
Wallach was discouraged with the
general state of things.
We do not know precisely why
he felt so discouraged-but we have
one clue. In addition to owning
The Star. Mr.. Wallach ran q fruit
plantation on Maryland's Eastern
Shore, and he bought steamboat to
transport his produce to the Balti-
more market. He knew a good deal
about the newspaper business, but
very little about boats-and practi-
cally nothing at all about Newco-
mems atmospheric steam engine. The
result was that one fine day he
wrecked his boat by running it into
the vessel Of a competitor. It was
not long after this that he decided to
sell The Star.
Had 1t not been, for Thomas New
eomen and his great invention, Mr..
Wallach's overall sense of discourage
ment might never have reached the
requisite level Of intensity. In that
lamentable event, the history Of The
Star would have been quite different
from what it has been.
THE Industrial age, which New
i comen helped usher in, has
proved fascinating one. Some of
the fascination lies in the story of
the mechanical developments which
characterized the era. Even more Of
1t lies in mans attempt to cope with
the responsibilities which those de-
velopments imposed on civilization.
The same thing is true of the story
Of a century of journalism as ex-
emplified by, The Star. There is
considerable interest in the factual
record Of our newspapers life and
growth. But there also is interest
In the increasing responsibility that
has attended this growth-the prob
lens Of duty and ethics that have
had to be faced and still have to
be faced-how we in the newspaper
business have tried to solve these
problems In the past, and how we
are trying to solve them now. And
there is more nourishing food for
thought in these questions than there
could be in any bareboneS history of
The Star. no matter how appetizingly
served.
an next December Is. as you
" know, exactly 100 years will
have passed since The Star began
publishing. In that period Of time,
q new concept Of the journalistic
function has evolved-the idea that
q newspaper should have one purpose
in life, and only one purpose: To
serve the public; to serve it with the
truth. AS sample study in the de-
velopment of this idea, The Star
has an unusual advantage. It Is
not so much that our paper has taken
the idea more seriously and applied
1t harder than other newspapers, al
though we like to think that The
Star has been close to the front of
the march. It Is rather q question
Of continuity of development.
For the past IS years. ownership
and management of The Star have
been in the hands Of one group of
people. In 1868, Samuel H. Kauff-
mann was elected president Of the
company. The ideas of the man of
the same name who had the honor
Of taking over in 1949 may be diff
ferent from his grandfather's. but
they descended from those earlier
ideas in an unbroken line Of train
ing and experience. Opinions diff
fer, Of course, as to whether this
particular sort Of continuity Is de-
Sirable-there are some who think
it tends to in-grow the institution
concerned. But the stability Of our
operation has given those of us work.
ing on The Star today an unusual
perspective on the trend Of ideas
in our trade. And the trend itself
is more easily discernible in the case
Of The Star than in the case of other
papers.
When q newspaper changes hands
frequently, the alterations Of aim
and attitude through which it passes
can be explained too easily in terms
Of the changing whims of manage
ment. But when newspaper stays
for long time in the same set of
hands, the development of its policy
depends on the natural process of
growing up-the growing up Of the
entire industry as well as the indi-
vidual paper.
The Star. in other terms, provides
us with case history In which we
can study, in its purest form, the
process by which newspaper strug-
giles toward maturity Of conscience.
One further word Of preface, Mr..
Chairman. In the course Of these
remarks. there win be q good deal