318 



Missouri Agricultural Report. 



REPORT OF SESSION DEVOTED TO THE COUNTRY 



NEWSPAPER. 



INTRODUCTORY REMARKS BY H. F. CHILDERS. 



(Mr. Childers, who acted as chairman of the Meeting, is Editor of Tlie Troy Free 



Press and The Columbia Herald.) 



This conference has taken up some of the problems of rural 



life, and I am glad to see so many peo- 

 ple here this afternoon when other 

 questions of vital interest are to be dis- 

 cussed. I do not know whether you 

 have taken the trouble to look through 

 the program of the week on this sub- 

 ject, but one thing that attracted my 

 attention when I first saw the program 

 before it was submitted to the printer 

 was that especially the three depart- 

 ments that are called upon to discuss 

 this subject of rural life and the better- 

 ment of rural conditions are the church, 

 H. F. Childers. the school and the country newspaper. 



Now, I do not know whether you gave the matter the same 

 attention that I did, but it seems to me that comes mighty near 

 comprehending the little world that we country people live in, and 

 I speak as a country newspaper man. The church is a great factor, 

 of course, in building up and ennobling and beautifying and mak- 

 ing better our rural life, and the school has its place and the editor 

 has his sphere. But, if you will pardon me for being perhaps just 

 a little bit egotistical on that subject, it occurs to me that the 

 country newspaper man is the practical preacher of the three; he 

 certainly has the greatest opportunity. He addresses more people 

 week by week than either the preacher or the teacher. His oppor- 

 tunities, I say, are greater, and if he does not take advantage of his 

 opportunities, then he misses a great deal in life that he might 

 otherwise make use of. 



This afternoon the newspaper men of the country are going 

 to talk to this gathering for a while on this subject of the better- 

 ment of our rural life. I know that you will enjoy what they have 

 to say. I am acquainted with the gentlemen, I believe, who are 



