“Freedom of the press is guaranteed only to those who own one” - A.J. Liebling
My father Bob Wilson took this to heart, and bought one and started his own newspaper, the Prairie Post of Maroa, Illinois in 1958, and ran it until he died in 1972. It never had a circulation of more than 2500 or so, but every week, he would fire off editorials at everyone and everything from local events to the actions of the nations of the world.
He may have been a Quaker peace activist in a Republican district, but his love and support of the farming communities garnered him enough respect that he eventually ran for the U.S. House of Representatives in 1962, though he lost. (He might have tried again, had he not died of an accident while only 49.) Many of his views ring true today. And he might have been willing to change the ones that fell behind the times. Although raised in the casual racism of the 1920s and 1930s, at the age of 15 he took stock of what he was being taught and discarded much of it as being wrong, and lived his life with respect for all.
I decided to transcribe his old editorials (I may make a book for some of my relatives) and every once in a while I will repost one here, as a view of how the world has changed wildly, or remained stubbornly the same.
December 1, 1960
WHY NOT AT HOME?
There has been another murder on a lonely road; another high-school boy stabbed to death, his sweetheart dragged away into the bushes.
What can be done about these “Lover's Lane” molestations?
Let no-one sniff and exclaim, “They shouldn't have been out there in the first place!” Let us not acquiesce in these dreadful crimes. Which of us is too old to recall those teen years, when the moon glowed with a melting radiance we thought had never been seen by anyone before?
More police protection? Certainly. The “Lover's Lanes” should be – and generally are – regular check-points of the night patrol. Many a young couple's live have been saved by an officer with a flashlight and the kindly comment, “Look, why don't you drive into town and park under a streetlight. It isn't safe out here.”
More rigid control of known sex criminals? Certainly. Sex murders are generally solved by riffling through the file of known offenders, who have drawn repeated light sentences for window-peeping or indecent exposure. These people should be committed by court order to undergo psychiatric treatment.
These measures may help, but there is only one real preventative. The failure is in the home.
It should be understood that teen-agers are not “just kids.” They are young adults, who within a few years will be married. They have ahead of them a period of discovery and adjustment.
When boys are girls are old enough to “go together”, they will seek privacy. Must they find it in parked automobiles on lonely roads? Cannot home life be arranged to respect a daughter's right to a little privacy when “her young man” comes to call?
If Father grumbles about having to read his magazine in the kitchen, let him remember the dangers of those starlight trysts, including the danger of carbon monoxide gas from an idling motor. If one of those long, hungry basketball players brings Daughter home and raids the ice box, or the kids shake the house till 1 a.m. with those new dance steps, let the Old Man take note they are at least safe at home, and he will receive no calls from the coroner at 3 a.m.
At home too, some of the cultural influence of a good home can be expected to moderate the behavior of young people; certainly more so than strange, dark and secret surroundings would do.
A sense of humor is invaluable here, as nearly everywhere else. And with most of the men we know, who were once eighteen themselves, a long and accurate memory helps a great deal.
December 23, 1960
THOUGHTS AT CHRISTMAS
Christmas is a time to examine, not the breadth of our differences, but the depth of our unity.
The writing of editorials is a very personal thing. A newspaper is read by one person at a time, and the relationship, with the answers and comments we constantly receive, gives us the feeling of personal contact – with you.
Being personal is origin, editorials freely reveal the shape and size of the box from which they came. Whether the concepts proposed are grand or petty, stands clearly revealed to the reader.
As opposed to news, which should be uncolored and impartial, editorials are distinctly statements of opinion, and as such they are open to error. Since it is Christmas, we will level with you; we DO know that the things we write are frequently prejudiced... and sometimes even mistaken.
We do know that we sometimes tread the toes of perfectly wonderful people who strongly disagree with us, and we are sorry for it.
Again and again we receive evidence that most of our readers understand what we are trying to do. We are trying hard to express an honest point of view; not that our readers may adopt it entire, but that they may use it as a starting point and a stimulus toward reaching conclusions of their own.
We are not really printers as such. We admit that we are fond of an attractive type face, and a clean cut illustration, but we think of a newspaper, not as a print job but as a means of communication. We feel that people should hold opinions, and should communicate them. Each of us has a responsibility to testify to what we believe. Even when we stand silent, this can itself be a testimony.
George Fox, the founder of the Quaker faith, used to stand up in churches after the sermon, and engage the ministers in discussion... “Ye say the Bible says thus and so”, he would declare, “but what do YOU say, out of the Spirit that is in YOU?”
Fox, and the Society of Friends that followed him, have for much of three hundred years been persecuted by orthodox Christians because they “belittled” or “questioned” the Christian Gospel. Not so. They simply were – and are – convinced that the same Spirit out of which the Scriptures arose, is still abroad in the world today. It is important to hold opinions and express them, but we ought to be prepared to correct them against the Source of All Truth. All of us should know where to find such help. Your minister may know. Many ministers do know.
When we have formed our opinions, and validated them against the truest and the best we know, we ought still to remember that we may find it very expensive to express them. No man in such a position can ignore the feelings of his wife on something which touches the family finances. If it costs twenty dollars in immediate cash income to express an unpopular opinion, some wives would rather have the new hat they could buy with the twenty dollars! If a bold editorial policy costs an editor the price of a new dining room suite, or even a new car... what then? The man whose wife believes in him, and who will help him break the locks and set ideas free like caged birds... such a woman should be cherished.
Christmas is a time to give gifts; we offer you our Christmas greetings issue. When you have looked it over you may understand that the profit margin on such a piece of work is almost nil. It is the loyal support of all the business people who use our papers throughout the year that makes it possible.
Christmas is a time to thank others for the gifts they give us. We hope every member of our staff, both paid and volunteer, knows how much his (or her) help means to this venture.
How can be express thanks to all of you, our subscribers, who have surrounded and lifted our little enterprise with a very tide of friendly interest and support? It is you who have made the Prairie Post, already the largest weekly in Mid-central Illinois, continue to grow month by month till it is just now passing 2400 PAID subscribers! It is you again who have welcomed our new Lincoln Graphic family of weeklies, including the Atlanta Argus, the McLean Lens, the Armington Helper, the New Holland Journal, and the Middletown Ledger. We thank every one of you who has made it possible for this group to grow from a total subscriber's list of 1100 last spring to the present 1750 PAID subscriptions out of the two thousand distributed weekly.
During the recent election, we raised hopes in some quarters, and tempers in others. We named names and backed candidates. We are of the conviction that no adult can escape politics any more than he can escape breathing; what should really concern him is whether he – and his children – breathe clean air or foul. The current of the times far more than out small efforts dictated that (almost) all the men we supported were elected to office. If we were rather hard on some political figures when they held power, you will note we have left them alone in defeat. History has an outside rubbish can marked for ungenerous winners.
At Christmas we send greetings to the winners, and ask them to remember their promises; not only to their backers, but to ALL the people they represent. We send greetings to those who lost, and pledge to them our support, party or no party, should they in another time campaign for the right as we see the right.
In newspaper circles it is often said that the old-time “personal journalism” is dead. The little papers print the news and the ads, and keep silent editorially, hoping the big papers will let them survive another year. The big papers, many of them, appear to be corporate monsters spitting out mechanical standards of thought and belief.
We see the need for an independent voice, a different point of reference, an antidote for the massive doses of conformity fed us by the giant media. Does anyone suppose the whole truth comes down the assembly line in one big shiny package? Do our mouths open automatically to swallow the automatic dosage? Or is there yet room for the questioning individual? After all, a very small pin may prick a very large balloon!
At Christmastime we send you our grateful good wishes, and we look forward to another year with you!