Jasper County Democrat, Volume 6, Number 36, Rensselaer, Jasper County, 12 December 1903 — OUR DAILY PAPERS. [ARTICLE]

OUR DAILY PAPERS.

An Institution Upon Which Modern Life Is Dependent. The interrelation of Journalism and home life has undergone a complete revolution with our modem conditions. Half a century ago journalism was little more than political pamphleteering, with a few scraps of general news. When Horace Greeley began the New Yorker, when Thurlow Weed was the great whig editor, when Edwin Croswell spoke for the Albany regency, politics was the altogether dominant note. A little crime, a small budget of foreign news when the fortnightly steamer arrived, sometimes a letter of travel, a President's message, a speech of Clay or Webster—these things filled np the columns. How vastly different, how all-em-bracing the newspapers of our day! The great modern paper has become not only the daily mirror of the world, but the complete expression of our business and home life. We are dependent on it In almost all relations. The merchant must have it not merely for the general news, but for Its accurate reflection of the currents of business. /The housewife must have it for Its indispensable report of what enters do largely into home life. The educator must have it for its dally suggestion and material Indeed, whether we acknowledge It or not, the newspaper has become the controlling influence In determining our standards of living, education, fashion and almost everything else. The spirit and strength with which the best papers have broadened themselves to the largest requirements of our modern life are worthy of all admiration. They offer rich sources of suggestiveness and culture for all. They have their dally lessons in history. They not only satisfy the boy with their sports, but they stimulate him with their Incentives to broader knowledge. They not only meet the demands of the women and the girls for the fashions, but quicken their interest in the larger relations and prizes of life. The breadth of information and the range of inquiry covered by the best newspapers are marvelous, and their value as an educative and molding force Is Incalculable.—Good Housekeeping.