Rensselaer Republican, Volume 13, Number 35, Rensselaer, Jasper County, 19 May 1881 — The Great Newspaper. [ARTICLE]

The Great Newspaper.

tanfeßepnhlteee. In an addreaa before the Brooklyn Preebytery Rev. J. M. Sherwood said: 1 . “It is well to bear in mind, that the religious weekly la no longer the sole | or chief paper that Is read by ministers and church members. The daily secular press has invaded the field, and U already omnipresent, and almost supreme as an educational power, not only In state, but in the church, and, tor the moot part, it is characterised by greater enterprise and independence, greater ' breadth of view and freedom of criticism In every department of thought and life, than we fTrTrf in our church journals. Hence, the religious . weekly of today—as every man of discernment and broad observation knows—is not the power it once waa; Its opinions have little weight; its policy and principles scarcely affect the religious thought and life of to-day, while the daily secular press is fast taking its place, and gaining the ears and hearts of the people, and making its way into every house bold every day of the week, not excepting even the Sabbath: full of information, ready In discussion; fearless, almost unbridled in criticism, reviewing every current question and phase of life, secular, social, political and religious, thereby educating and controlling the great world by its potent forces, and imperiling the very existence of our comparatively feeble and shackled religious weeklies- The change is marvelous as it Is sudden. It was easy to Ehiloeophixc upon the causes which ave produced it, but it la Impossible to forecast the effects of it on the religious sentiments and character of the next generation. The fact, however, suggests tremendous possibilities.'’

Nearly all the great dailies in this country now publish Bonday editions, containing m>t only the current news, but original -and selected matters bearing upon all the leading topics of the time. These topics, sacred or secular, are discussed from the journalistic or popular standpoint. The discussion is not always profound, and necessarily eannot be exhaustive: but it is intended to be, and generally is, bright, forcible, intelligible and impartial. It is not for the highly educated few, but the moderately educated many; and its brevity and clearness commend it to them as mere length and learning would utterly fail to do. The consequence ia that nine-tenths of what the people knowconcerning the most interesting and important questions of the day Is derived from this source. A great newspaper nowadays represents great capital. Its proprietors, setting principle aside altogether, cannot afford to weaken any of the healthy restraints which wisdom and experience have imposed upon society. They have tjieir all at stake upon the public peace and prosperity, and those cannot exist when the restraints are removed On the other hand, as history proves that the gravest danger to society lies in the ignorance of the many—making them the willing tools of the few —the popular education which modern journalism provides is a protectioti to the social structure. It strengthens its weakest point, the foundation, by rendering perilous popular delusions, if not impossible, at least' short-lived. It teaches* the people not only to do their own thinking, but to stand guard over themselves. It is at once “guide, philosopher and friend,” and may be safely trusted in the most critical emergency. , Modern journalism is not faultless by any means, but its faults are of the head rather than of the heart, and seldom very serious. Jf the fault-finder would only search for and point out the merits they might help to cure much of which thejscomplain.