Is not "knowledge power" and will not "the truth make us free"? When mankind earnestly seeks after the truth, receives, cherishes and faithfully endeavors to judiciously utilize it, suffering amongst humanity will disappear like frost before a summer sun; for God is good, His mercy endureth for ever and His truth unto all generations. It is time for Republicans who revere Lincoln, to heartily join with Democrats who truly honor Jefferson and Jackson, and drive the money changers out of the temple of our govern ment. If the problems which confront us are to be solved; if our nation is to go triumphantly forward as "the land of the free and the home of the brave," we must cut loose from debasing political strifes and the slimy politicians of all parties and "isms"; we must reverence and use our Constitution, resolved rationally to consider and firmly to establish upright economic government. With clearer insight into the unchangeable principle of Divine Justice, unto which all of nature's laws respond, there will come a melting away of the debasing strifes of the past and the present. A conception faint at first, but growing, expanding, becoming more and more intense, more and more lucid, will sway us, control us and lead us aright; will lead us into the pathway of true advancement; and will urge us to receive Divine assistance as we labor to purify, to ennoble, to elevate ourselves and all mankind. Edward Stren SULLETIN Contemporary Journalism In this department of The Editorial Review we publish each month the history and growth of a newspaper of prominence. In this number we sketch the successful career of the Independence Daily Reporter. We also reprint here carefully selected editorials on the vital questions of the day, in which public opinion is reflected and presented unbiasedly in the most forceful and telling manner. To the individual reader it would be an almost impossible task to cull these editorials, for it involves the perusal of thousands of newspapers. Through its trained staff, however, The Editorial Review is able to present this compendious résumé of the best, keenest and most up-to-date contemporary opinion, as set forth in the leading newspapers, the value of which for future reference can not be overestimated. INDEPENDENCE DAILY REPORTER. THIRTY years ago when The Reporter was established, Independence was merely a small frontier village. The latent wealth of its soil and oil and natural gas deposits was still to be revealed. Prior to the appearance of The Reporter two dailies had been published in Independence, but as they lived for only a short time, the towns people had to depend for news on the Kansas City papers that were delivered in Independence at seven o'clock each evening. Ralph C. Harper and Samuel Wassam saw the opportunity for founding a newspaper whose local news, in addition to the general, should offer a feature of special interest. The first edition was issued from the office of The Kansan. The Reporter appeared as a four-column quarto, and for many weeks was printed on a job press, one page at a time. The two publishers were general utility men and performed all the services arising from the publication of a newspaper, even to the delivery of the printed sheets, one partner taking charge of the east and the other the west side of the town. The new venture met with a cordial reception, and it soon made many friends. The first important story published in The Reporter was the announcement of the death of President James A. Garfield. In 1882 the newspaper had a home of its own and acquired from mortgages the plant and machinery of a defunct weekly, The Living Age. At this juncture Mr. Wassam retired, and the senior member of the firm, owing to stringency of times, was obliged to turn the plant back to the mortgagees. Dr. McCulley, however, and C. H. Harper continued the publication, and negotiations were completed whereby Mrs. Harriet E. Harper and C. H. Harper became proprietors, retaining this connection until the summer of 1885, when The Reporter was purchased by F. N. Sickels. Under the new editorship the newspaper made firmer the foundation upon which it had been erected, and the equipment of the plant was greatly improved, in spite of financially hard times in the West. In 1898 the equipment was moved to the rear of the building then ocupied, where adjoining plants were maintained by Mr. Sickles and former State Senator Henry W. Young. The lattér started a newspaper called "The Populist," now The Independence Times. Still another removal was made to the Baden Building. The paper, begun as a morning issue, became eventually an evening journal. Mr. Sickels remained proprietor and editor from 1885 to February, 1894, except in 1891-2-3, when he was connected with the United States Pension Agency at Topeka. During that period of absence his son, Walter S. Sickels, was publisher and editor. In February, 1894, The Reporter became the property of S. De Wolf and Allison M. Oliphant. During their ownership H. G. James, the present publisher, became interested, in a newspaper sense, in The Reporter. Kansas was in the midst of an oil boom, and Independence became a Mecca for men interested in that enterprise. In order to supply the demand for oil news, Mr. James opened negotia tions with the proprietors of The Reporter which finally, on September 1, 1894, led to his purchase of the property. In taking it over, his aim was to give it a distinctive character as an authority on mid-continent oil, the new industry that had developed cities out of villages. The Reporter is a most important factor in the prosperity of Independence, and maintains a high standard of efficiency. It moved into its present magnificent home on July 4, 1909, where it has an equipment of the most modern and approved type. The Reporter is Republican in politics, but is fair minded and holds that a public official, no matter what his politics may be, should be supported so long as he remains true to the trust imposed upon him by the people. It is quick to condemn malfeasance in office, and ever ready, regardless of politics, to give credit where due. Honesty and fairness with its business patrons, combined with its high aims and tenets, have been its key note of success. The personnel of the staff has had much to do with the upbuilding of The Reporter, all the departments being influenced by a family feeling that makes every one work loyally for the good of the paper which has done so much for Independence and that section of the country, and which has become one of the powerful organs of public opinion in the United States. PROHIBITION. (Independence Daily Reporter.) It speaks volumes for prohibition that there are twenty-seven counties in Kansas with no one in the county almshouses. Contrasted with those eastern States where every township has a crowded poor house and where the number of dependent poor and insane is increasing with alarming rapidity as the result of liquor, this Kansas record of prohibition speaks stronger than mere words can put it. Another mighty testimonial to prohibition is the fact that Kansas is the richest State per capita in America. In this big county every third person is a property owner. In the 105 counties of the State there are 411 aged and infirm poor, 45 insane, 47 inebriates, 158 idiots and feeble minded, 51 blind, 25 deaf and 13 children. There are 4,600 in the nine State charitable institutions. The expenditure of the board for the maintenance of the nine institutions for the fiscal year 1910 was $808,110, and for the fiscal year 1911, $834,571. This is a remarkable record for a great State like Kansas and ought to carry its own enforced prohibition to other States. |