THE
Vol. XXII.
THE HESPERIAN.
Issued soiru-momlily by tlie Hksphrian Association of tlio Univer
sity of Nebraska.
PAUL PIZEY, '93 Managing Editor
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DIRECTORY.
PALLADIAN LITERARY SOCIETY.
H. G. Barber, Pres. Annie Treat; Secy.
UNIVERSITY UNION LITERARY SOCIETY.
W. F. Wolfe, Pres. A. G. Chapman, See'
DELI AN LITERARY SOCIETY.
John P. Williams, Pres. Myrtle Barnes, Sec'y
PHILOMATHIAN LITERARY SOCIETY.
R. A. Barnes, Pres. Maude Cleghorn, Sec'y.
UNIVERSITY Y, M. C. A.
John L. Marshall, Jr., Pres. H. A. Senter, Sec'y.
UNIVERSITY Y. W. C. A.
Miss Bessie Merrill, Pres. Miss Emma Boose, Sec'y.
ATHLETIC ASSOCIATION.
Chas. F. Stroman, Pres. Fred Baunks, Sec'y.
ORATORICAL ASSOCIATION.
Rufus Bentley, Pres. Adam McMULLEN, Sec'y.
SCIENTIFIC CLUB.
H. A. Senter, Pres. H. G. Barber, Sec'y.
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Hesperian.
UNIVERSITY of NEBRASKA.
LINCOLN, NEBRASKA, APRIL i, 1S93.
No. 11
EMTORIAJ.
' Wo Americans hear so much about the
power of a "free press," and the bene
fits that come from it, that we are liable,
unhesitatingly, to look upon the press as
conducive only of good. As freedom is
better than slavery, so a free press is better
than a shackled one. That magic word,
"free," has been the open sesame, and in
contemplation of it, we have become unmind
ful of the abuses and shortcomings of the
press itself. That the press exerts a mighty
influence, he is foolish who denies; but he is
more foolish who asserts that it is always
oxerted for good. Wo have records of bad
men who, having been placed in positions of
trust and honor on the bench or in legisla
tive halls, have "quit their meanness;" but
history has yet to record the first instance of
a newspaper man who has experienced a
change of heart under similar conditions.
It is useless to deny that the modern news
paper wilfully and maliciously misrepresents
facts in order to disgrace an enemy, help a
friend, or carry the day for its party. The
truth h sometimes told in indifferent cases;
probably because man is naturally a lazy
animal, and a little more exertion is usually
required to lie than to tell the truth. In
cases involving friends or enemies of the
papers, one can only read papers of opposite
views and strike an average, on the supposi
tion that the prevaricators of the respective
papers are of about equal brilliancy and
talent; he will, by this means, come very
close to the truth. In the case of political
candidates, the regard of the average news
paper for truth is enforced only by the statute
governing libel. In all cases involving pol
itics, the most bitter attacks, the most scan.