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About Hesperian student / (Lincoln [Neb.]) 1872-1885 | View Entire Issue (Oct. 1, 1878)
MMttSMMttaMaaa No. 7. Till! INl'IiUJiNOU AND KKSI'ONSimMTY OK THE AMKIUGAN l'UICSS. 481 TIIE INFLUENCE AND RESVONSI- BILITY OF THE AMERICAN PRESS. Tlio nineteenth contury has not been without iv partial revolution in the man nors imd intellectual development of so. cioty If durability and statclinoss of ar tiflco, were the characteristics of a pist age, utility and symmetry are distinctly modern. If the architect formerly studied tho moro masculine beauty of the Doric structure, ho now having added stronght to beauty, traces moro accurately the ofloml. nato graces of the Corinthian. If tho cou rier formerly dashed along tho Now Eng. land highway, ho now yields to tho advan tages of ulcctric speech. Those changes, theso social revolu. lions are emblems of a nation's progress. Society then to bo progressive must bo active. Its currents of industry are as essential to maintain its health, as the cur rents of the sea to maintain tho purity of its waters. Then, when wo look abroad upon tho great sea of American industry, we aro led to inquire by what hand theso curronts of industry aro moved, and by what power they are guided within their proper cliau nels. Mysterious It may seem, yet deep within tho realms of tho social circle its works aro visible to the penetrating oye. The printing press is that hand and its Influence Is its power. Though weak in its influence it is already mighty in its youth. It has hurled tyranny from his throne and placed his sceptre in tho hands of liberty and freedom. Bigotry and oiiperstitlon have vanished liko the mist. And man in both body and mind stands comparatively free from the fottors of former dogmas. Freedom of thought only made way for freedom of speech. Tho one granted the other was irresistible. Every theory has now its advocates. Even tho collogo has not mistaken the tendency of tho ago, but boasts of its college journalism as though it drove tho largest and most influential quill in tho land. With us this is decidedly an ago of activity and tho -dally newspapor Is its characteristic. Tho buyer without tho tho latest quotations Is out of tho market, The politician without tho latest returns is out of humor. If meat and wine satis ties tho Englishman for dinner, hot bread and a morning paper satisfies tho amcri. can for breakfast. At tho table on the street, in the ofllce, the contents of tho paper is read, masticated and duly swol lowed. When we sec tho necessity of accurate knowledge, when we seo this mania for reading, when wo contemplate tho demands of tho millions of readers, then only can we realize tho intrinsic valuo of tho dusty type, hurled promis cuously within its case. If tho effects of tho stage arc lasting, tho cHocts'.ot tho newspaper aro constant. If tho stage formerly swayed the minds of a few hundreds, tho press now moulds tho minds of tho millions. Upon those manners and Institutions, that rest in the moro immediato control of the citizen, tho influence of tho press fs evidently most efl'ectual. If tho rostrum has been tho queen, tho press has been an acknowledged king, that has swayed tho destinies of the republic with imperial sway. For placing side by sldo the ex tromo views of monarchy and democracy, it has succeeded in tho maintenance of a healthy system of republicanism. If now laws aro to bo enacted, if reform is to bo instigated, if oppression is to bo de nounced and freedom extolled, it is tho press, tho vox populi that leads the van, or guards tho rear. If a now movement is contemplated by the statesmen, if a now development of scienco is to bo utilized, if society in gen oral Is to bo relieved of its parasites, it is tho periodical, the journal, tho magazine, and tho newspaper, each with its appeal that must reach tho citizen and his home. Thus do wo see the magic influence of &m