The Dallas Daily Herald

THOUGHTS ON JOURNALISM.

Men do not take the trouble to think out the reasons of our prosperity, or to thoughtfully enquire into the causes which produce it. They read the daily paper carelessly for a few moments each morning, and throw it aside without a thought of what that paper is doing for him and his. So accustomed has he become to daily (and nightly) steady, unwavering, persistent effort of the press to build up and develop our city and county, to introduce capital and immigration, to spread all over the face of the earth the news of this wonderful State, its climate, soils and productions, that he thinks it as a matter of course, and of right that this news, this continuous effort, must be kept up without his assistance, save in the pitiful sum that he pays for his monthly or yearly subscription.

He forgets that without that very paper no invitation would be extended to the immigrant and the capitalist to come among us to develop and enlarge the industries in which he is so vitally interested; he forgets that that daily sheet, with a devotion to his interests and those of his county and State, is working for him: he fails to appreciate the darkness and ignorance that would follow were that press driven from the face of the earth. All this arises from the fact that the man fails to think, for did he but reflect for one moment, every motive of gratitude, every motive of honor and of interest, would prompt him to a swift and heartfelt support of that paper which has and continues to be the devoted friend of himself and family, the fearless advocate and defender of every right that is dear to a citizen and a freeman.

We feel persuaded that the hearts of men, especially those of the South, are not ungrateful, and that the listless manner in which they support the greatest instrumentality in strengthening, purifying and exalting society arises from the fact that they are thoughtless, careless and unappreciative, from an ignorance of the great amount of money, labor and brains requisite to run a daily journal.

As some great writer has remarked, the press, like other great blessings and necessities, is so common, and we are so largely benefited by it without thinking of it, that nothing would fully impress us with a sense of its measureless importance but its loss.

It is panorama of the world, reflecting all that is grand in nature, majestic in law, gorgeous in art, rich in principle, exalted in morals, lovely in humanity, refined in sympathy, firm in faith, buoyant in hope, illustrious in charity, upright in dealing, good in man and Godlike in religion."

and it stands to-day the living matchless exemplar of a faithful, unspeakable devotion to the highest and noblest interests of a chivalrous and intelligent people.

Let us then reflect for a moment upon these things, and in that sober moment of thought and retrospect, write down an irrevocable determination to henceforth lend a larger, freer, more appreciative support to this great moral lever which moves the world, and must for good or evil control the destinies of men.