THE IRRIGATION AGE. 



VOL. xv. 



CHICAGO, APRIL, 1900. 



NO. 7, 



THE PROGRESS OF WESTERN AMERICfl. 



The Sheldon 

 Experiment. 



The experiment of the Rev. 

 Sheldon has been carried 

 out and the much-talked-of 

 newspaper issued. Wheth- 

 er it has been a success financially we are 

 not yet able to say, but doubtless it was, 

 since the curiosity of the public was 

 aroused and would create a demand for 

 the paper for the brief time it was issued 

 under Mr. Sheldon's supervision. That 

 its success or failure for the brief period 

 of a week was any criterion of the ultimate 

 success of a publication of this nature, all 

 newspaper men will deny. Had Mr. 

 Sheldon continued his experiment for a 

 year or more it would have been of value 

 as proving either the wisdom or the folly 

 of his attempt, but a week or a month or 

 several months is too short a time. From 

 the three or four copies at hand we are at 

 a loss to know why the publication was 

 called a daily "newspaper." It was a 

 daily, it is true, but it was more in the 

 nature of a temperance organ or church 

 publication, and while either of these may 

 contain many valuable things and be a 

 power for good, they can not be news- 

 papers since they contain no news It is 

 a question whether experiments such as 

 the one entered into by Mr. Sheldon do 

 not do far more harm than good to the 

 cause of religion; whether they do not 

 bring ridicule upon Christianity. That 

 there is a necessity for a better newspaper 



for a cleaner, purer, more honest press 

 is conceded but that the Eev. Sheldon has 

 done anything toward helping the good 

 work aloug is open to doubt. Ex- Senator 

 Ingalls deals with this subject in a new 

 Kansas publication known as the Knocker 

 He points out that when Christ was on 

 earth he did not concern himself with 

 earthly affairs but with spiritual ones. 

 His was a spiritual kingdom. ; 'Eender 

 unto Caesar the things which are Caesar's" 

 is the keynote to his treatment of political 

 and public matters, and to attempt to say 

 how Christ would conduct a newspaper is, 

 in Mr. Ingalls' opinion, to lower our con- 

 ception of this perfect nature and is in- 

 compatible with the scene in Gethsemane 

 and the suffering on the cross. 



School 



Savings 



Banks. 



If there is one thing in which 

 Americans are lax it is in 

 economy. Poor Eichard's 

 maxim in regard to saving the 

 pence is but little heeded. We would save 

 the pounds or dollars if we had them but 

 "small change" is very apt to be frittered 

 away. This is more especially true of the 

 laboring classes of the city than of coun- 

 try dwellers, probabiy bacause there are 

 so many more opportunities to spend mon- 

 ey foolishly, so many attractive things to 

 wheedle the money out of ones pocket. 

 The children of the poor begin at an early 

 age to run with their pennies to the "can- 



